Black Acorn Dogs

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Rally Obedience Competition

Whoo hoo! Thanks to my dad and Billy, who sent me in the right direction for getting the video off my darn camera (awesome camera, but the software it came with stinks), I have some video of our Rally Obedience trial last weekend. I'm linking rather than embedding it here because, while I may think it's absolutely fascinating, it's probably not the most riveting thing I've posted.

Ebony's Rally Obedience Run

I'm particularly proud of this run because it is our best ever, both in the quality of our work and the actual final score, which was 204. All four of our runs were very nice last weekend, which also made me very happy. My main goal wasn't to have qualifying runs (aka "passing" if you think of these tests in a "pass/fail" sense), but to get and keep Ebby's focus. In our other trials, there have been points where she has gotten stressed out and I've lost her. You can see a shadow of that in the beginning of the video, where she starts paying more attention to what's going on in the next ring, but we got it back on the video as well as consistently for the rest of the weekend. I couldn't have asked for more. It's been two and a half years since Ebony came home with us, but every month that passes leaves me more amazed than the last at how well she's doing and how far she has come. And I'm coming to realize that far from peaking, she's only just begun to show what she can do.

My videographer was a friend of ours from our local Shiloh group. It was a surprise, and a particularly nice one, that she came out to check out the Rally trial and to cheer us on. I won't be surprised to see her girl out there sometime next year!

Trial was at Breakaway Action Dogs in Frederick, MD on October 14 and 15.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Brookville Rarities Show Fall 2006

Somehow I've delayed posting a bunch of pictures and quick stories about what I've been up to this month. Well, here are a few shots from the Brookville show at the begining of this month. The event is mostly a Rarities Dog Show with Shiloh Shepherd Specialties, but I kept very busy this trip helping to run the NKC Obedience trial that ran at the same time. I also set up a Rally Obedience practice course on Saturday, and we had a bunch of dogs and handler give it a try. I got a bunch of photos and video, though none so lovely as the ones taken by those taken by Heather Yates (http://www.macshilohs.com). The two below were Heather's, and there are quite a few more fabulous shots that I do not have posted anywhere at this time.


Photos:
http://www.blackacorndogs.com/files/albums/2006.09.30_Brookville/index.html

Video:
http://www.blackacorndogs.com/files/albums/2006.09.30_Brookville/index0003.html

For those interested, this is the link for the full obedience trial results:
http://www.blackacorndogs.com/results_2006.09.30_Brookville.html

[For some sad reason, my site is down at the moment I'm posting this, but it ought to be back up soon]

Despite the nice tank top in the shots below, the weekend was COLD COLD COLD. While it had warmed up considerably on Sunday afternoon, Friday night and Saturday morning were absolutely bitter. I tented at the fairgrounds, and the first thing I did on Saturday AM was put my hand in Ebony's water bowl in the tent. I was shocked that there was not a layer of ice across the top. Luckily, I had enough gear that I kept warm while I slept, because I've tented when I did not have enough to stay warm and it is miserable.

As you can see in some of the pictures above, Heather and James also stayed on-site in a camper, and Lori, Marti, and Cher stayed in Lori's RV. With the evening-time addition of Tracy and Gary, we had more fun in the evenings than you can shake a stick at. (Hey James, hmm... Fun, Onna Stick? Er, that sounds vaguely dirty... nevermind). Heather and James made steaks and corn pudding and waffles and Lori made/brought a whole bunch of stuff and Marti had her special "ooey gooey" brownies. I came home at the end of the weekend with more inside jokes than I've probably had in one event since I was in high school, including the newly invented drink I got to coin a name for: Hillbilly Mimosas. Lemonade and champagne with breakfast... who'da thunk?

With all that going on, I never did get to see any of the actual dog show itself. I can't wait until the next one in May.


Erica and Ebony display 3rd and 4th place ribbons from the NKC Obedience trial at 'Brookville Classic' Rarities Dog Show in Brookville, PA September 30-October 1, 2006 Posted by Picasa


Erica and Ebony at Brookville, PA Rarities Dog Show Posted by Picasa