Heart's Journey from Rally to Beginner Novice to Novice April 28 2014
What can Train the Top Dog Way! do for you and your puppy? Create a confident and happy dog who is a joy to show!
Black Labrador Retriever, Heart, is my newest obedience partner. It is a privilege to enter with ring with such a wonderful and talented young dog! Heart and I are having such fun in the ring together. I am very proud of my girl. She is not two years old yet, but she is handling the show environments with great maturity.
Heart is a good example of the benefit of using both Rally and the new non-regular Beginner Novice Class as precursors to showing in Novice obedience. I would not have been sure of my decision to bring her out in Novice B without having the opportunity to show her at a couple of very busy and noisy shows in Beginner Novice, which followed several shows in Novice Rally. Using these class as a stepping stone to go from obedience matches and competing in Rally Novice to Beginner Novice to Novice has proved to be a wonderful opportunity. I highly recommend making use of the non-regular obedience classes and Rally for the obedience dog.
Heart and I were also fortunate to be able to compete and, ultimately, to win our Novice class at Rally Nationals. This was another excellent opportunity to gain valuable ring experience in the rare setting of AKC Nationals. Heart was super there, and I did everything that I could to ensure that she had a positive experience. I look forward to our next shows together and to the upcoming All Star tournament in August!
Below is a video from our latest show. She earned her CD the week before, and this is her fifth time in the ring in Novice B. She won the class with a 198.5, following up on her first four scores of 199.5, 199.5, 199 (HIT) and 198.5 (HIT).