Vito Rally Excellent #1
Stepped back into AKC's rally ring for the first time in 3.5yrs. When I was deciding whether to enter this trial I was originally going to see if Open B was a possibility for the Toller. But after the worry he had in Pre Open a 2 weeks ago I thought rally might be a good idea to try. And then I realized I never did rally excellent with Vito before so bonus titling opportunity this year for Vito! Actually all 3 of Vito's rally advanced legs were all "tests" of ring readiness (and all 3 with meh results at the time).
Start was MUCH better than our recent Pre Open experience. Heeled into the ring with great attitude and connection. Remembered eye contact during leash removal. And then failed handing off the leash to the steward as Vito had to go see who was behind us. But connected back quickly and did a nice job on teh course. Not quiet the level of drive I want, but no lagging and no worried moments. I did take advantage of talking allowed in rally and praised him on any right circles/turns and the fast time to prevent any possible lagging.
Ended up with a 98 for his first Q. My guess of a point lost for the back up 3 steps as he swung out his butt on the first step and then fixed it. And the second point for a crooked/forged left finish.
Going back in for rewards I'm not sure was going on with Vito. Walked in the ring beautifully and super focused. And then he started staring at the judge talking, very fixated. I did some chest petting and talking to him but he kept staring. And when they started calling up the placements Vito started some very light whining. Ended up in 4th place and he had no problem moving up to stand in front but did try to jump on the steward handing over the ribbon.
Overall very pleased with his level of focus and effort. In two more weeks I had also entered him in rally excellent on Saturday and then am trying Pre Open again on Sunday. This weekends trial and the one in two weeks are both at my club, so I'm hoping that location will help him.
It very well could be Zumi's teeth! I think Jackal went through a slow chewing period as a puppy too hehe.
I'm glad Vito did better. Do you think he prefers Rally to Agility?
A little late with the food advice ;) Knowing what I know now about Zumi at 8mo of age, Zumi's reluctance to work for food in public is mainly just a lower interest in food vs toys. At that age teething certainly didn't help, but even now it's low and I've tried some different brands. Working her with food vs toys is a huge difference in the level of drive I get, which in some sense is very nice as I can use food for precision and toys for energy. In public I mainly have to work "trained" behaviors as she's still hot and cold on whether she will eat so I use a toy 90% of the time and thus don't shape things.
When Zumi turned 6mo and about the time I usually decrese food amount in dogs, she suddenly stopped finishing her breakfast, so I lowered the amount and she slowly ate it all again. And then a few weeks later she stopped finishing it, so I lowered it again and now we're at the level where she usually eats all her food at home and eventually gets to eating in her crate at the club!
Hehehehe I know I'm late on offering advice! When I get so far behind on blogs I sometimes forget that I'm not reading current material as I'm catching up. I should probably not comment, but I can't help it! I love commenting. :D
That's actually kind of funny about Zumi because so many people have such food obsessed dogs (like Jackal) that transferring them to toys can be almost impossible. You have the opposite problem hehehe. It sounds like you're getting it figured out though. It sounds like she'll be good at limiting her own food intake to what she actually needs though. Storm was so good at that. Jackal would eat until he exploded if he could! That's why this diet has been so hard.