A big piece of humble pie

And no it didn't taste as good as the pumpkin pie or the straw...wait that was cherry pie or or or. Let's just say that Moose is well Moose and made a few changes to the Novice B patterns this weekend.

FIrst, yes he NQ'd both days. But I will say, not with out entertaining the crowd and not with out a few great moments either.

Second, he's a flirt. Third, I think he learned his lesson and eating a 1/2 bag of training treats on Friday was not a good idea. Clear a room he can.

So Friday I get to Rus and Sherilyn's- time to squeeze puppies then off to eat our way through Sam's. Home for some tasty tacos, little bit of last minute work with Moose and a good night's sleep before the big day. Now we have early ring times and wouldn't you know it, someone is first to go in the class. RRRRR-but it's best to get it over and done with first rather then wait to see how awesome the competition is.

Good on leash heel with one no sit. Average figure 8-he was doing a little lagging and some sniffing. Again, attribute that to an upset tummy. Stand for exam--perfect score with that every time. Now comes the oh no moment-off leash heeling. Good start, good turn, slow-good, normal-okay, about turn, where in the heck is my dog???????? Yeap, as a show dog should, he stayed on the inside of the ring-duh mom?! Halt, and yes he sat. Forward-oh well, right turn, fast, well he kept up!!! Normal, about turn and wouldn't you know it-he's right where he should be. And halt--ended on a good note with the judge commenting-you know, when they do that, it means that they are smarter then the handler. Great, just what I wanted to hear.

Now to the recall. Worried about this as he's had some red head moments and thought twice about coming during training this week. On a good note, he anticipated it, took three strides before I called him and then went-Oh oh, and stopped. Waited for the call, came, sat, finish. All you can do is take a big ol' bite of humble pie, and enjoy it. He did his typical Moose down and flirted with the poodle next door, but didn't move. Good Moose.

So by now I'm thinking I'm a horrible handler, trainer and what not--needless to say, we weren't the only one with issues, so I felt slightly better. Head back to Rus and Sherilyn's and more puppy squeezing.

For the rest of the day we shopped, went back and watched Angelic do some rally and then temperment tested the pups. Had a great dinner with Angelic, her hubby, Rus, Sherilyn and Bekka. Sherilyn makes a mean lasagana-heehee and to end it with a strawberry/ rhub.... make that a mislabeled cherry pie and it was just too much fun. That's exactly the way it's supposed to be.

Up again today and I left room for more humble pie during breakfast. Once again, I had my fill. Better on leash heel, better figure 8, perfect stand, then the dreaded off leash. This time when it came time to sit, we had to scratch our collar and stop to smell the gate post. And yes, once again, he made his own pattern, but this time he wandered way away, then decided that maybe the stewards would pet him. Thought better of his visiting idea and decided to stop and watch me do the rest of the pattern. Judge said if he had come back at least part way to heel, it would have passed. I will say though, that the recall was perfect!!!

But it gets better. Next dog in, a boxer named Winston. Good all the way around until the off leash. Yeap, stopped and scratched his collar about the same place Moose did, but his handler was priceless. Realising that her dog is not at heel, turns says "oh shit" then a loud "Winston Heel". Had to say it one more time later on but we were all rolling. Everyone was giggling, his handler didn't realize what she said first and when we all commented on that, just laughed her head off. Lots of other dogs were the same way today--horrible off leash heeling, even those that qualified yesterday, nq'd today. Glad it just wasn't us!

Small steps are all I could have hoped for today and an ace on recall-I'll take it. But litte does Moose know that he too will be eating humble pie as he has just enrolled in private lessons with Kay to learn more about the fine art of offleash heeling.

Time to unpack--few Christmas presents to hide, dog food and other doggie items to put away then it's play time with the Ms.

Hugs to all and everyonce in awhile a good piece of humble pie is just what we all need.

Later gators....
C