Toller Obedience- Advanced Teamwork Trial

Sat- Wildcard Open

Very happy outside of the ring!  Heeled perfectly all the way to the ring and then lost it a little bit.  Wouldn't look at me for taking of the leash and jumped on the steward coming up behind him.  Setting up in heel for the first exercise he wouldn't fix himself to line up straight and kept glancing around him.  But then we took that first step and he turned it on!  Thank God!  There was a few more glances in the heeling and I ended up giving him a 2nd command (likely unnecessary as he glanced away right at the fast time.  But mostly he was attentive and drivey in the heeling.

Jumped on me nicely at the finish of heeling and played with me on the way to the figure 8.  More looking at the stewards coming in and again he had a hard time setting up in heel.  But then he did a fantastic job of staying focused and driving for the actual figure 8!

Basically the same issues for the drop on recall, retrieves, and broad jump.  Looking around on the setup and slow to sit but great attitude on the actual exercises.  Actually I think he did less looking around at each new setup.  And for the first time in a recent trial he actually did a beautiful broad jump!

Our "Wildcard" exercise (get to skip 1 exercise) was the long sit.  We joined the group stays at the down stay where Vito did his very first out of sight stay in a trial.  He seemed confused going into the ring and setting up, and then even more confused when the judge moved us from the end into the middle (in catalog order).  But the stay itself seemed relax as far as I can tell.

During awards Vito was absolutely fixated on the stewards with the milkbone biscuits.  I could get him to do a sit stay but he would not look at me and barely move to turn away.

Sun- Advanced Teamwork
The big day!  Outlook was not high for actually passing the exercises.  I just hoped that he wouldn't lose confidence and be hesitant about not knowing what to do.  Confidently failing is what I wanted!

So yeah, we failed every single exercise other than heeling for a grand total of 30 something points out of 200!  Even the down in motion which he should have nailed, we failed the call to heel portion.  I'm not sure what he was thinking!
But awesomeness!  I am so happy with how he handled the ring and I think that is the most fun we have ever had at a trial.  There was a little glancing around in the heeling but it was even better than Saturday's Open run.  And then he got his toy in the ring!!!  And then he confidently brought me back a little plastic fire truck on our scent object.  Happy, wrong, Toller!