Moriah is my black and tan German Shepherd. She's five years old already (I got her when she was about ten weeks old), but when she was younger I took her through some obedience classes and have continued to work with her, occasionally. I've always planned on entering her in some AKC shows and getting her obedience title, but it just never seemed to work out. Most of the AKC show are on the other side of the state from me or down south a few hours. There is a weekend circuit only a couple hours away from me that usually happens on Memorial Weekend and that's the one I thought I'd aim for. But the timing was never right. She was either in season or possibly pregnant or going to be bred or something.
Well, this year I decided to finally enter some things in our local fair, just for fun. One advantage of entering the fair is, you get in free! Ok, so our local fair doesn't really cost that much, but we like to go more than one day, and it does add up. So I entered some photos and was thinking about entering Moriah in an obedience class, but was under the impression the classes were on Sabbath (Saturday), so didn't think that was an option for me.
One day I ran into a friend in town who regularly shows her dog at the fair and she informed me that the open dog classes were on Thursday. So I entered! Then I thought, "Oh, my, what have I done?" I used to show dogs, but it's been over twenty years ago. And Moriah hasn't been out and about much lately, and we don't have a lot of time to practice!
Well, Thursday arrived and we were off early to the fair. (We were told that our class wouldn't be until one or so in the afternoon, but I wanted to go watch and support the 4H kids and their horses).
We checked in with the dog ring when the obedience classes started, but didn't actually compete until between four and five o'clock! It had been a long, hot day and I wondered how Moriah would do.
For those who aren't familiar with this kind of thing. This class is done all on leash. The judge puts you and your dog through a heeling pattern with left turns, right turns, about turns, halts, fast, slow and normal walking. There is also a "stand of exam" where you stand your dog, leave it and the judge goes up and touches your dog, then you return to the heel position. Of course, the dog can't move during this process. Then the "recall". You leave your dog on a sit, go to the end of the leash and call the dog too you. The dog should come straight in and sit facing you, then the judge gives the command, "finish" and your dog should return to the heel position by itself. When everyone has done their individual turns, the whole class (or half depending on the ring size) goes back in for the sits and downs. This is where the judge has everyone sit and leave their dog (to the end of the leash) for one minute. It's amazing how long a minute seems when you're doing this and hoping your dog doesn't move! We all return when the judge says so, then repeat the process with a "down" for three minutes.
When our turn came she did pretty well, but the performance wasn't close to perfect, that's for sure! Of course, I could have practiced more too! After everyone had their individual performances and we had done the long sits and downs we were called back in for the awards.
To my surprise and delight, Moriah received the Grand Champion award (1st place) with a score of 196 out of 200! Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. And even though this was just our little 'ol country fair, the class was judged with AKC rules and an AKC judge, so that meant something to me.
Now I'm encouraged to try a bit harder to find some shows and get that title!
And for those who may be wondering (my friend was already teasing me about this), "No, she wasn't the only dog in the class!" *smile*
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