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Stories of Spur: Dogging it in competition

Stories of Spur: Dogging it in competition
Spur competes in AKC obedience trials. He is a miniature schnauzer. This will chronicle his life on the "campaign trail" as he and his handler compete against dogs of all breeds for high titles.
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Michele McCormick
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michelemc - > Stories of Spur: Dogging it in competition
Spur Gets Ready for '09
Well, I have to admit - I have not been a very good blogger.  It's been a while since I've been here, and my hope for '09 is to get my priorities straight!

We have been working, but we have also been a little distracted.  My "other life" as a PR consultant has kept me a little busy.

But Spur has not been totally neglected!  In November, we went to a daylong workshop with the amazing Sylvia Bishop, here from England for the series of workshops she has offered for several years now.  Sylvia is in her early seventies, and I'm not sure how much longer she'll be crossing the pond to help us Yankees out, so I'm trying to absorb all she has to say.

The big lesson this time was that a lot of training can be done in a very little space.  In other words, early darkness and cold wet weather are not excuses to avoid training.  We can work our fronts, our turns, a little heeling, retrieves, signals and other exercises in the house quite easily.

Sylvia is also not a fan of overdoing.  If an exercise is done correctly, she sees no reason to repeat it ad infinitum.  Move on!

Spur's poor scores during our quest for the Utility Dog title were due to the things that happen on a small scale.  Crooked fronts, butt out finishes and automatic finishes robbed us of many points.  So it makes a lot of sense for us to work these details.

We also went to the Hangtown BOB match in early December, where we showed in Utility and in Open - the first time we've been in the Open ring in more than a year.  He wasn't perfect, but given that long absence I was very pleased with how he did.

And, I must say, I was thrilled with his go outs, which were essentially directed to a blank wall.  We've come a long way from the days when he had no idea what to do on the go.  Now he races with real enthusiasm.

I'm thinking it will be spring before we're in an actual trial ring.  In the meantime, we have a vigorous schedule with trainer Mary Vogler, we'll be looking for matches, practicing at least a few minutes most days - and I hope to be a better blogger.

We have high hopes for the New Year, and so we need to keep all aspects of the program on track.

Look for us on Twitter as well!
Topics: miniature schnauzer, dog training, obedience training, Spur, michele mccormick
posted by michelemc on Thursday, December 25, 2008 at 07:45 PM
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