- Location
- East Sussex
This weekend there was a Rally at Ashford in Kent so near enough (just about - 2 hours each way) for me to travel there and back in a day -which I did 2 days running.
On Saturday I took Rajah and it was lovely because he clearly recognised the venue as soon as we arrived. I only entered him for one class, Level 3, in the morning and then came home. He worked really well, looking relaxed and happy and scored 199, giving us 3rd place.
On Sunday I took Tess and stayed all day entering both L3 and L4. Well it was an interesting day and I felt I learnt a lot. In the morning in L3 Tess was really unfocused and disengaged for most of the round and I came out feeling very dispirited. To my surprise we scored 175 (which is the minimum score to qualify) and were awarded 4th place. So although we weren't very good neither were most other people
I had a good think over the lunch break and decided to try using the ball as a promised reward in the afternoon. I know Tess loves her ball more than food but I've been reluctant to use it as sometimes when training if she's known it's potentially available she has kept looking towards it. So before we entered the ring I showed her the ball, put it in my bag on the ground and told her she could have it afterwards. Well she was cracking - really focused on me and bouncing along like she does when we're training, full of energy and purpose. (When we'd finished I grabbed my bag, rushed off to an area away from everyone and tossed her precious ball for her.)
BUT when it came to the results we only scored 177. I asked to see my score sheet and we had lost loads of marks for overly large turns - 9 on the first exercise! It was a spiral and apparently I had walked too far away from the cones. I didn't even know that you were supposed to walk close to the cones, as in the rules it just says to 'loop around the cones'. I wonder if a different judge would have marked it differently, but now I know I can make sure I walk closer to the cones in future. We also lost marks for inconsistent pace - and that was fair as I started off slowly expecting to have to coax Tess round as I had in the morning, but when it became obvious she was engaged I walked much more quickly.
Despite being disappointed in the score, I feel I now know that the promise of her ball trumps all other distractions for Tess so I have a plan for the future, and I can tidy up my footwork and try to be more accurate. I was just so pleased to have her behave in the way she does when we're training - jolly and bouncy.
On Saturday I took Rajah and it was lovely because he clearly recognised the venue as soon as we arrived. I only entered him for one class, Level 3, in the morning and then came home. He worked really well, looking relaxed and happy and scored 199, giving us 3rd place.
On Sunday I took Tess and stayed all day entering both L3 and L4. Well it was an interesting day and I felt I learnt a lot. In the morning in L3 Tess was really unfocused and disengaged for most of the round and I came out feeling very dispirited. To my surprise we scored 175 (which is the minimum score to qualify) and were awarded 4th place. So although we weren't very good neither were most other people
I had a good think over the lunch break and decided to try using the ball as a promised reward in the afternoon. I know Tess loves her ball more than food but I've been reluctant to use it as sometimes when training if she's known it's potentially available she has kept looking towards it. So before we entered the ring I showed her the ball, put it in my bag on the ground and told her she could have it afterwards. Well she was cracking - really focused on me and bouncing along like she does when we're training, full of energy and purpose. (When we'd finished I grabbed my bag, rushed off to an area away from everyone and tossed her precious ball for her.)
BUT when it came to the results we only scored 177. I asked to see my score sheet and we had lost loads of marks for overly large turns - 9 on the first exercise! It was a spiral and apparently I had walked too far away from the cones. I didn't even know that you were supposed to walk close to the cones, as in the rules it just says to 'loop around the cones'. I wonder if a different judge would have marked it differently, but now I know I can make sure I walk closer to the cones in future. We also lost marks for inconsistent pace - and that was fair as I started off slowly expecting to have to coax Tess round as I had in the morning, but when it became obvious she was engaged I walked much more quickly.
Despite being disappointed in the score, I feel I now know that the promise of her ball trumps all other distractions for Tess so I have a plan for the future, and I can tidy up my footwork and try to be more accurate. I was just so pleased to have her behave in the way she does when we're training - jolly and bouncy.
