Brady and I before Tracking.
Brady lost his mind Saturday and mine went right along with his! Not sure if he was weirded out by the number of people there watching or if he was picking up on my nervous energy, but it wasn’t pretty.
Tracking – The first leg of tracking looked great. Then he air scented the first article and never indicated on it. Then he blew the last article.
Tracking score 73
OB – I got nervous and when I got to the starting point, I never looked to the judge to have him ok my start and the other person had not put their dog in a down yet. I took the leash off Brady and started heeling down the field. The judge stopped me and I had to go back to the start. It totally threw me off and then I realized that I had not waited for him to tell me to begin that exercise. Brady wasn’t sure what was going on and he decided Pat and my mom looked like a safer option so he went into the crowd. It took me several commands to get him to come back to me, but he did and then we restarted. By then I was so rattled that I never counted a footstep, but just went out there and did it the best I could. All in all it wasn’t too bad, but it was an awful start.
Obedience Score 72 (I think- all I remember is we passed)
Protection – Brady ran the first blind (#5) beautifully and ran directly towards the “hot” blind (#6), but decided to cruise the crowd again. I restated the revere command he ran out of the crowd and then ran #5 again and then went into # 6. The rest of his protection work looked great.
Protection score 83
I have a whole new appreciation for all the people who go out there to show and compete with their dog. Needless to say, I will forever be remembered as the girl whose dog ran off the field….not once, but twice. After all the time and energy…..all the training we had done….I never ever thought any of those things would happen. It looked like I was trialing a stranger’s dog…not the picture I was going for.
Congratulations!! Thank you so much for sharing with us all of your and Brady’s accomplishments! I’m so proud for you and have enjoyed the pictures and reading about the great effort both of you have made. Keep on trucking!
Yep…none of us knew who that dog was that Michelle showed up with, it looked like Brady, but he did things we have never-ever-ever seen from him.
I was most proud of Michelle. What do you do in your very first IPO competition (her second dog competition counting her BH last Fall where the two of them were totally AWEsome) and your dog is giving you behavior you have never seen before? You don’t have the experience to fall back on, so what do you do? Michelle pulled it together and carried on. I am sure the nerves were off the chart but she didn’t show it.
Congrats and thanks for sharing Michelle. I can only imagine the look on your face when he took off for the crowd…the second time! 🙂 The one sure positive that came out of this is that Brady’s performance will make for GREAT stories for you to tell in the years to come.
sounds stressful, but still successful. well done in keeping your head, Michelle!
I show nearly every weekend and still get nervous; I keep a tin of peppermints in my treat bag (that I leave ringside) and munch on them whenever I’m feeling nervous. I’ll also take Xanax if my stress level is way over the top.
Michelle did incredibly well that day, don’t let her fool you. Brady got a bit confused during his first IPO trial, but Michelle kept it together and didn’t falter once. She got control of Brady and soldiered on.
A huge congratulations to both Michelle and Brady… and a big thank you for making the first IPO trial I attended a memorable one. =)
Life is a series of tests, and you passed! Brady kept you on your toes for this one, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re an amazing team and should be immensely proud.
Congratulations on the IPO1 and kudos for all the work you’ve put into titling and trialing your own dog, even if he was acting like another dog on trial day! If it’s any comfort, it makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that even Perfect Brady can have an off day, and still come out victorious.
Big hugs to you both!
Congratulations Michelle and Brady for such a HUGE accomplishment.
I have seen some of my club members practice for IPO1 & I can’t even imagine going thru this routine with my dogs at this time. And, to conquer and pass in spite of the challenges you went thru… that is impressive! Like Jennie said, your hiccups make us all feel as if we “may” be able to get there… someday.
Again, both of you deserve the greatest congrats for passing both the IPO1 & the AD!
You made the best out of a very unexpected situation. Not an easy task even for an experienced handler. Well done, Michelle. Congratulations to you & Brady.
The IPO2 will be a breeze!
Keep Heart, Michelle! You guys did a great job! Congrats!
It even happens at agility trials! And I say this from personal experience! LOL 🙂
Michelle and Brady CONGRATULATIONS on the new title. You kept it together and got the job done, good for you!
Hey Michelle: One thing I forget to mention in the above post…is that I think that what people will remember is; there is that beautiful girl with a beautiful dog who now is IP01!!!!
Congratulations Michelle and Brady.
When Dylan was doing obedience he didn’t get the greatest scores at times. When he got his 2nd leg of his Utility Dog Title it was a very hot day and he BARELY squeaked by but he qualified, and a Q is a Q!! (He was the only dog to qualify that day so got 1st place with such a poor score). He went on to earn his UD Title and no one but me remembers his scores!
Brady earned his IPO1 and you should be very proud, and especially proud of earning his AD the very next day!
Way to go.
Congratulations…Good Job…Now you have the title AND a great story!! Very proud of you for keeping your head:)