Jake's (Rally) Excellent Adventure

This is reprinted from a private note with the kind permission of the author, Jake's owner, Diana C. 

Rally competition is an obedience-type sport, much more relaxed than traditional obedience competition. In rally, the owner and dog go through a course designed by the judge reading signs along the way with various instructions. It's a great way to build rapport with your dog and learn about AKC events. Go to http://classic.akc.org/events/rally/getting_started.cfm for a more complete description. 

To earn the title Jake is working on, Rally Advanced Excellent, the dog and owner team must qualify (Q) in both the advanced and excellent classes at the same trial. Ten times.  Not easy considering the creativity many whippets like to demonstrate when asked to do anything remotely resembling obedience.

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Our first entries for the RAE (Rally Advanced Excellent title) were Friday. It was a tough environment. The courses were set super close to the ring gates, it was very loud, they were preparing food for the judges not far on the one side. There was a hole in the roof...drips and a puddle between where you are and the dog runs to go over the jump. As we approached the sign in Excellent, I said sit. Jake went into a bow and stretched his little heart out. I said JAKE SIT and he went into a down. We had to redo. His heeling was really wide and his jump was about 20 yards long. He earned a 95 and 3rd place. 

In Advanced, his heeling was better.  We almost had an oops. The judge used the same jump with one sign in between them. She just eliminated the second jump and you moved to the next sign. Well, little Jake likes patterns and he was ready to take off for the second jump when I yelled (excited not mad tone) and it clicked in his liddle head. "Oh I supposed to be with you?" A couple of people actually cheered and the judge gave a sigh of relief!  He got a 99, 2nd place, and that gave him his first double Q.

Saturday AKC had a My Dog Can Do That ring with agility equipment. (Note: My Dog Can Do That is an AKC program offered at many shows, pet expos, etc, that allows the public to try agility and rally with the help of experienced trainers.)  So I took Jake in. we did a couple of jumps and weave poles. He had never been through a chute tunnel. LAUGH Your PANTS OFF!  A lady helped twice holding Jake while I held it open. Then he was zooming through and scooting around me with pure joy...he was the CUTEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

He enjoyed going through the regular tunnel. I was slow getting to the end so he back tracked and caught up to me with a silly expression on his face. I thought the ladies at ringside were gonna fall off their chairs laughing.

Back to rally. I knew when we got to the ring entrance for Excellent there was gonna be a problem. We got to sign #5 It was a sit, stand, down  He did the sit and the stand very nicely. He went down for a milisecond and then lifted his butt and started crawling backwards. I know Jake so I decided not to take a redo...figured I'd lose major points either way. So we continued. He ended up with an 89 (thank you, Lord!). 

Next was Advanced. Who was the dog that came in with me and where did he come from? Be nice if he hung around for awhile. He earned a 100 and 4th place. In real life, he was the fastest dog in the rally ring, but also the slowest sitter. So that gave him his 2nd RAE leg. Only eight more to go...

PuPpY PoWeR

Diana

Greyhound: Oneco Matate (Rocky) CD-H, NTD, RL1, RLV, AOE-V, W-HDFDX/MF, W-FD/MF, CGC, (retired) TDI

Greyhound: URO1 Oneco Isabella (Belle) CD-H, ATD, RL2 (AOE-L2),W-DDFD/HTM, W-DDFD/MF, W-CH.HDFD/MF,  W-FDM/MF,  W-FDX/HTM, W-TFD/MF-X2,  W-BFD/MF, W-BBFD/HTM, W-BBFD/MF, CGC,  (retired) TDI

Whippet: URO2 Timbreblue's Mysterious Dream Warrior (Jake): BN, CDX-C, RE, RL1, RL2, RL3, AOE-L1, L2, L3,  TDCH, DSA, W-D1DFD/MF, W-FDX/MF, W-FD/HTM, W-BB/MF,  CGC, POYC Therapy dog.

Why girlz rool (ghost-written for Rini)

On this blog there have been a number of posts about how awesome the whippet boys are, how sweet, how cuddly, and how they obey better. Well Rini wants the record set straight about whippet girls. Yes, they are manipulative and cunning ... but that is because they are SMART. Whippet girls can figure out English words and put together complex situations like "at around 7pm Mom looks at Dad and says 'Well...OK...' which means that it is dinner time and she is about to feed us" so the GIRL whippets go nuts! The boys are clueless.

Yes, the boys are cuddly, and they are more likely to curl up in your lap or follow you from room to room. But if your GIRL whippet believes that you may have a treat in store or something she might be interested in, she is not going to leave your side!

Girl whippets learn obedience lessons faster, and how to break the rules faster. They may learn faster, but they get bored faster, which keeps you on your toes -- a good thing, right??

Girl whippets will cuddle on your pillow all night with you. They will love you to the ends of the earth. Especially if it means you might share a midnight snack with them.

Who could resist this face?

I actually had to change up my evening routine because of Miss Rini. She learned that after dinner I was likely to hand out chewies if she came to me and oh-so-sweetly put her paw on my lap. It was sooooo cute! And I would respond by going to get chewies for everyone -- Rini first of course!

Once I realized I was being played like a harp, I started skipping a day or two of chewies, to keep her guessing. She soon figured out that I could go a day or two with no chewie-handout, but beyond that I was powerless to her charms. So she REALLY turns it on during day three. She climbs in my lap, gives me kisses, drapes herself on me, and she KNOWS that I will break down.

Boys may be awesome, but girl whippets know the secret code to your heart. Be warned. =)

Bully sticks at a great price on Amazon!

Wow! I don't usually share shopping scores, but I just got 50-ct bully sticks (6") for $50 including shipping on Amazon. They last a long time and my whips are nuts about them. Usually they are crazy expensive so I don't buy them. But in this case they are made in North & South America (no China) and I trust this company (Value Pet Supplies).

The pork twist chewies I used to buy were made in China and although I've NEVER had a problem with them, I wanted to make a change, given the recalls and reports of problems with Chinese-made chewies. Here's the link in case you want to check them out: Value Pet Bully Sticks 6" 50-ct (other quantities available).

A Whippet Picaso?

Okay, so we've never won Westminster. We've never even competed in the AKC/Eukanuba National Dog Show and we've never even been to Crufts. We don't have the top obedience whippet in the country. (Wait, is that an oxymoron?) We haven't put an addition on the house to hold the trophies. But I don't know any other breeder who can boast of a whippet who paints.

Actually I can't boast about it either. Yes, we bred Jake, but owner Diana has put the work and the joy into his training. Have fun watching this one!