Mish gains her first sports title, and all 4 dogs get their Herding Instinct Certificate - May 2013

Wow, May has started with a flurry of activity. Earlier in February, we entered Mischa in a Rally Trial, thinking just to try it out. We had a great time and Mish really enjoyed herself (she's a real show off sometimes) and quickly bitten by this new sporting bug, we looked for more trials. This weekend was our first chance to enter another one, and knowing that Dolce also likes Obedience (in fact he's better than Mish WHEN he applies himself) we entered them both. As predicted, Dolce needed a practice run and some time to settle in before gaining a qualifying score of 83/100 with his second trial. Mischa qualified in both trials with scores of 88 and 90/100. She has now earnt her Rally Novice title. This is our very first sporting title ever. I was thrilled that Mischa took me on this ride. I am really enjoying the thrill that comes with competing in the sporting arena. Its less about how pretty she looks or how well a judge knows and likes a breed and all about teamwork, working together to achieve a common purpose. It just thrills me when it works and even when it doesnt its a learning experience for us both.
That was just the Saturday.
On the Sunday we'd entered Herding and had signed up all 4 Lappies to test their Instinct.
I am thrilled to say that all 4 of the dogs gained their Herding Instinct Certificates. Mischa saw sheep a few weeks ago for a quick run, for Dolce its been 12 months and it was Summer and Titans very first time meeting sheep.
You wouldnt know it though, because Titan was like lightning, switching on for the sheep and Summer was pretty quick off the mark too. Titan was that fast we didnt even get any photos of him. But he made lots of people chuckle and gush over how clever he was. He wasnt listening because he still wanted the sheep. This boy has potential.
In the Canberra area we haven't found anyone that does Herding training or practice yet, so we just don't know how much we'll be able to develop the instinct unless we travel, so we may not get much further with it. But its nice to know the instinct is there.

Bitten by the Rally bug, i entered Dolce and Mischa into more Rally trials. They were held at the ACT Companion Dog Club showgrounds and we arrived in plenty of time. A mishap with getting Mish officially measured shook her confidence a little but she'd settled again in time for her first Rally Advanced trial. This trial is all off leash and the temptation and excitement got a little too much for Mischa at times with her bouncing ahead of me. This cost a bunch of points but i was so delighted to see her so happy and Mischa still got a pass with 79/100. 

Then it was Dolce's turn. I'd had him out for some practice to make sure he was settled. Dolce was a little shaky on the first two stations and i nearly lost him on the 3rd but then suddenly he switched on and gave me amazing focus. Dolce qualified with a score of 91/100 and thrilled me by taking 3rd place.