# 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite work!



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Holy crap this was a big "dog" weekend for me!

Friday was the beginning of the AKC Apple Blossom Cluster. It was our first time in Rally Advanced (A). The course was relatively simple, but Kenya and I had never done a jump on a course before, only practiced it by itself a few times. That, and it was a solid wall type jump, not a bar. No biggie for me, but you just never know what will scare a dog in the ring. Well, we breezed through the course and placed first!!

Then in the evening we went over to a different town for training with our new Schutzhund club. It's at Kenya's breeder's facility and she had a dog that needed to do bite work to prepare for her breed survey. Our training director is a police dog trainer so he worked Julie's dog, then us newbies got to wear the sleeve. He said he would use his dog b/c he trusted that she would bite lower on the sleeve. So my first time wearing a sleeve doing ANY form of bite work and where does the dog bite? My elbow and upper arm! Oops! So I have some bruises there and the initial bite in the unprotected area of the sleeve was a bit of a shock but it was still fun. I did a second turn and she did a bark and hold type exercise. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, maybe b/c I trusted this dog and the trainer, but it was kind of hard to know how to stand, when to turn, etc and the trainer was yelling instructions but the dog was barking so I didn't really hear.

Saturday we went back to the dog show and got another decent course except a 180 degree pivot left, which is hard for me to do without a dog at my side, lol! We did OK again, but were the last to go so the judge called the qualifiers back in and I was still waiting for a score. She said I qualified so we quick scooted in the ring. Then she called the winning dog and my friend said "that's your number!" so we won again! That win was on time b/c we tied with someone else.

This morning was our last day, lots of pressure b/c of the winning streak and wanting the title. The course was very hard. There was a panel jump and that thing with treats and toys on the floor. In Excellent A, only ONE dog even qualified! Kenya's breeder was there to cheer us on and take pictures. Despite both of us being dead tired, Kenya was quite lively in the ring, hehe, and got ahead of me a few times but I always say I'd much rather loose points for her being too excited than having a dog that's totally checked out (as many were since it was the third day of showing). We did Q and got second place.

One thing I'm really happy about is not the wins and title, but on Friday night I was mentioning to our SchH club trainer that Kenya and I are doing the ATTS TT in July and I was concerned b/c the tester is a police dog trainer and Kenya is more of a shy, submissive dog. Our trainer said he knew this guy and seemed to think well of him and he also said that if Kenya behaves and reacts as she has during our club training, he is confident she will easily pass. Phew, that's a big weight off my shoulders! I've been worried about the TT b/c it's not something we can "train" for.

So now Kenya is U-CH Alta Tollhaus Krieger Lamb Chop RA CGC

Pics:













































Video of me getting bit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JANzEXImbB0

Next weekend is our herding instinct test, then the weekend after that is Therapy Dog International test....


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## tawnyhillshepherds (Mar 30, 2008)

Hey Congrats Looks like you had a very busy successful fun wknd! Kenya is a great looking GSD!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Congrats to you and Kenya on the sucessful weekend! The bitework was awesome for your first time~very brave)


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Wow--I have no idea what any of that means but that is an impressive number of ribbons!







Sounds like Kenya and you had fun too which is what counts in my book!


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## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a spectacular weekend. Wow.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*



> Originally Posted By: BowWowMeowWow--I have no idea what any of that means but that is an impressive number of ribbons!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL, it's funny reading this b/c I've had Kenya less than a year and started rally in the fall of 2007 and had NO idea what it was! Luanne from this board actually got me to try the intro class. I thought it sounded pretty dumb, but figured I needed all the training experience I could get, Kenya being my first dog.

The new title is RA which stands for Rally Advanced. The first level is Novice where the dog is on a leash. Advanced is the second level and the dog is off leash, plus there are some more difficult exercises used (jumping, left pivots, fronts and finishes with no stepping/shuffling of feet allowed, food and toys on the floor...). The third level is Excellent, also off leash and even harder exercises like the dog heeling backwards, moving stand-stay, etc. To get a title, you need to get a qualifying score three times. There's 100 points total and you need 70 to qualify. You can also disqualify if you do certain things, regardless of score (for example, a dog running out of the ring, skipping/missing an exercise....today a handler was NQed b/c she verbally corrected the dog and it cowered for half a second).

The green ribbons are ones you get if you receive a qualifying score, so you get one even if you didn't place 1-4th. The other colors are placements. The big ribbon we got when we received the Novice title. Today they didn't have any title ribbons, boo.


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Congratulations Lies and Kenya on a very big and busy weekend.


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## luanne (May 27, 2004)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Congrats to Lies and Kenya. With Kenya's previous show experiences and Lies' excellent handling, it was a match made in Heaven! They really are neat to watch.

How are your Friday night injuries doing? Starting to change all kinds of interesting colors yet?

Lu


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Thanks Lu now where's your brag thread? Gracie looked really good today!

My leg looks like leopard print except it's purple/black on flesh color, lol. I think my arm is as bad as it will get (not too bad) but the bruises on my leg are still rising. It might turn out like when I was bit/shook at the shelter and I had a subcutaneous rainbow!


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## luanne (May 27, 2004)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Ha ha, very funny. You don't get a brag thread for an NQ! There were 9 of us I think and she NQ'd 4. The winner in Novice A had an 85? 

Yeah, those leg bruises seem to hang on for a bit. I've had Hunter jump and hold on a few times and gave me bruises that I still have small remants of...it was quite awhile ago!


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Congrats!! Sounds like a very successful and fun weekend! Way to go


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## Deejays_Owner (Oct 5, 2005)

Sounds like a Fun weekend,


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

What a great weekend and good job done by the both of you! So many ribbons with wonderful photos. I love this statement:



> Quote: I'd much rather loose points for her being too excited than having a dog that's totally checked out (as many were since it was the third day of showing).


with that attitude you'll go far in all the venues you pursue with your pup!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Thanks MRL, I lost my points yesterday b/c Kenya got excited and jumped up on me three times, lol.


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## CMorton (Oct 28, 2000)

Congrats!! What a busy and exciting weekend!


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

!!!


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

What a great weekend for you!!!!!


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## 24kgsd (Aug 26, 2005)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*

Congratulations Liesje! Chopper/Kenya loves you so much and is so happy to work with you!

Best,

Julie


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

*Re: 3 RA legs, new title, placements, and bite wor*








and keep up the good work!!


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