Lance Obedience Trial
Lance was entered one day of the obedience trial this weekend. My main goal was for Lance to hold his out of sight sit although I certainly would have taken a UDX leg.
Open
Jumping straight to the good news- Lance held his sit! He was still stressed setting up but remained sitting even with the dog next to him getting up and nervously not waning to be caught. I was so ecstatic on my return that I created quite the controversy as I leashed up Lance and thanked the judge as I walked out of the ring so I could reward the corgi. While an exhibitor can not ask to be excused in obedience as only the judge has the power to make that call, they can not make you stay in the ring :) My judge was highly confused, but I talked to a rep who was there about it and she assured me that I handled it properly and the judge should know to just mark the exhibitor absent.
Unfortunately, we also NQed in individual exercises. On the drop on recall Lance stopped when I told him to lie down but then stared at the steward walking over with his dumbbell instead of actually lying down. He apparently was so enamored with her that he kept staring, although did finally down on my 2nd cue, and needed even a 2nd cue to come to me! The rest of the exercises went pretty well. Lance had a no sit on his front after the broad jump and some crooked finishes.
On the positive side, because we NQed before going into the stays it gave me the confidence to pull him from the down and reward him for the sit. It wasn't planned. I actually didn't think of doing it until I walked back in sight and saw him still sitting there. But I think it was a good move for him. I'll keep in mind doing it in the future, but it sure would be an expensive way to train.
Utility
Not as focused. Heeling was ok, but we actually had a lag on the fast time and for the corgi that is shocking. NQ on signals as he sat instead of lying down. Huh, 2 NQs for not downing. No sit on our glove pivot, again. Benefit to already NQing was I was able to give him a verbal cue. Go outs he drifted towards the glove corner. Big positive is that despite being in the #3 corner he went across the ring to take the correct jump! 2nd go out wasn't quite as drifty but he didn't sit so I gave a 2nd verbal.
I decided to enter one day of another AKC trial the end of the month. In the meantime we'll keep working on our sit stays and we have a CDSP obedience trial next weekend.
Hey!!! Way to go on that sit-stay and for rewarding him the way you see fit!
I didn't know competitors in obedience can't ask to be excused. Not sure I get that... So if your dog is really stressing or whatnot and you want to end the run, what are you supposed to do? I guess just do what you did, thank the judge and leave the ring?
In AKC only the judge has the power to excuse exhibitors. This is because the number of dogs effect OTCH points and thus excused dogs don't count for points. A couple of years ago it was supposed to be clarified to all judges that although if an exhibitor asks permission to be excused the judge cannot grant it (unless the person says their dog is sick), an exhibitor who simply leaves the ring is to be marked as "absent" from the remaining exercises and thus still counts for points as long as they did at least one exercise.
So yes, I thanked the judge and told her I was leaving. I've seen people do it before, usually after the dog lies down on the group sit, and haven't seen any chaos surrounding it! The rep did say that telling the judge to "mark me absent" from the down would have also made it clear, but that my wording was just fine.
AKC agility doesn't have the stupid rule about excusals but obedience regulations are still tied with conformation regulations...
Well done on being able to find a moment that was super rewarding for Lance. I had no idea you technically aren't supposed to excuse yourself from the obedience ring. Glad you knew the rules!
Ah ok... Good to know! Thanks for the explanation.