Companion Dog!

For those unfamiliar with AKC obedience, the first level obedience title is the CD (Companion Dog). The first exercise is heel-on-lead, including the figure eight.  Then; stand for exam, heel-off-lead, and the recall, with the finish (returning to heel position).  All these exercises are performed individually.  Then the stays are performed as a group, all the dogs in a line.  One minute sits, and three minute downs.   Highest possible score is 200, a qualifying score is 170, with at least half the possible points on each exercise.   Qualifying earns a leg- 3 legs gets the title. Now that Elmo was trained, and had earned his CGC, I felt ready to start competing for the CD.  Our first try was in Albany, OR, in February of 2001.  It was not a success, which was my fault.  I was so nervous at being in the ring, that Elmo could not do the heel-on-lead, blowing the first exercise!  Once I realized we'd disqualified, I relaxed, and he did fine on the other exercises. Undaunted, I returned to competition in March.  I entered him in the Timberland Dog Show, in Centralia, Washington, on March 10th and 11th; and the Chintimini Dog Show, in Corvallis, Oregon, on March 17th and 18th.  It soon became very obvious that Elmo really enjoys obedience competiton!

Success!  At Timberland, on March 10th, Elmo earned his first novice leg!  His heeling was quite sloppy (I'm afraid heeling is a bit boring for both of us), but his recall was superb.  He scored 186, a quite respectable score!  I was very pleased with him! On March 11th, Elmo apparently felt the need to jazz up the routine a bit.  I could tell he was feeling goofy as we went through the heeling pattern, it was even sloppier- but he was having a great time!  Then came the recall.... Not content to trot across the ring and sit calmly in front of me (correct)  Elmo chose to charge across the ring, full throttle, failing to give himself time to stop so that he crashed into my legs.  He began to sit, then decided he would rather show me how happy he was to be with me, after such a long separation by jumping up on me 2 or 3 times.  Finally, he subsided to a sloppy sit- I believe he was plotting his next move. The judge thought it was really cute, and I have to say, I think she went easy on scoring him.  I wouldn't have given him the 185 points that he received.   This was good for 4th place!  Now he not only had a second leg, he had a white ribbon, to go with the 2 green qualifying ribbons!  (all qualifiers in AKC obedience receive a green ribbon)

On to Corvallis!  Unfortunately, at the Chintimini show, obedience was outside, on concrete, though under cover.  It was quite cold on Saturday.  Expecting a smooth-coated dog to lay on that cold, clammy concrete was just too much!  He stayed, but he sat up, so he disqualified. I don't feel too bad about it.  Out of 17 dogs in the class, only 3 qualified.  Not only was it cold, it was loud, with lots of things going on around the ring.  I didn't expect too much on Sunday, but I went back anyway. Sunday was warmer, he enjoyed the individual exercises.  His recall wasn't as nice as Saturday's, and he seemed to forget he was heeling for a moment, but not too bad on the whole.  I played with him to keep him warm before the stays.  On the down, I was a nervous wreck. HE DID IT!!  He had qualified! When we went back in for the ribbons, we discovered that, of 11 dogs, 4 had qualified.  We were bound to get a placement.  We got 2nd!  At 182.5, our score was only one point below the first place dog- the distractions at this venue were just too much for high scores.  I was so thrilled!  Our first title!  My boy was now, on his AKC record; Yankeestaff Lickle Me Elmo, CD Beauty AND brains!  What a dog!