Danny completed his first-ever rally obedience event!
The first trial I
completely tanked. My dog was totally distracted and showed more interest in
sniffing the floor and looking at other dogs than anything rally. We made about
a million mistakes and I got a non-qualifying score, which came as no surprise.
I watched another competitor, who had a larger, reactive dog, have a similarly awful
run. She packed up and went home, and I could totally and completely empathize
with her because I saw the similarities between us and I felt the same way she
must have felt and entertained the same thoughts about going home. But I wanted
to try again.
I gradually formulated an action plan, going with my gut feelings
about what my dog needed, and put some strategies in place in and out of the
ring. I got Danny better acclimated to the environment and focusing on me. Now,
we were ready to rally. We did a reasonable job, and scored 204 (of a possible
210). Danny took 3rd place!