Something new for us

I am going to try Novice Intermediate (CDI) with Spryte.  I have never done it before, always going straight from Novice into Open. Problem was with Alaska and Strider it took two to three years before I was ready for Open after completing Novice.  That is a long time to be away from the obedience ring!

This time with Spryte I did it a little different.  From day one we have been working on all the exercises in obedience from novice through to utility.  They are all in various stages of completion.  With some exercises (directed jumping) looking very good and some that leave a lot to be desired (drop on recall!).  My plan with teaching everything from the beginning was to avoid big breaks between competition. It is working well, but we still have many months ahead of us before we are ready for Open.

I was a little disappointed looking at the upcoming trials, especially the Cal-K9 trial, thinking we are not ready for Open and I don't see the point in entering Novice again.  There was nothing for us to do.  Then it hit me, Novice Intermediate!  What a great idea to have a transitional class that works on Open exercises in smaller parts.  Things like a moving down in heal position, and a recall on the flat and over a jump with the dumbbell.  Looking at the rules I realised Spryte was ready for most of the exercises.  So I thought "what the hell, lets give it a try!".  So I have entered her in both the cal-K9's trials and the CKOC trials.  I'm excited to try something new, and happy we can come out and play while continuing to train for Open!

I had to share  this recent picture of Snap, she looks like she is really loving all this snow!