Courses, Hollywood Dog Obed. Club - 9/27/2009

There was only 1 issue semi-worth mentioning & I bring it up simply as an fyi/lesson for all.

The issue had to do with an exhibitor who was not thrilled with their dog's VMO measurement. No problem, I can understand their concern when a dog measures up, but as I indicated, they would have an opportunity to receive a 3rd tie-breaker measurement - no big deal.

However, the issue accelerated when the exhibitor turned their back to me during the conversation and continued to verbally express their displeasure amongst a crowd of people.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I certainly don't expect everyone to agree with me. However, how you handle your disagreement is what counts and that's the point I'd like to make. There's no need to be disrespectful and in this case, verbalizing in a passive-aggressive manner to a crowd is poor sportsmanship.

As one of the witness exhibitors said to me "I'm so impressed with how you held your ground and wasn't intimidated by their poor behavior." The truth is, judges are NOT out there to screw people. While most exhibitors realize that, there are the select few who chose to take everything as a personal assault. Bottom line, if you don't agree with the judge, the issue is NOT up for debate, negotiation, commentary or criticism and emotions & knee-jerk reactions need to be avoided as they're comparable to a two-year old sticking their tongue out at an adult.

Learn from others' bad behavior and just don't go their.

OK, onto the Excellent Standard course.

On paper, this looked a bit wicked in a few places, specifically the #12 jump to the a-frame. However, I LOVED how it ran and the #10 - #13 sequence was my absolute favorite. But before I jump ahead of myself, let me back up a bit.

Sequence #4-6 was a straight line and except for just a few dogs, there were no off-courses. The larger challenge turned out to be the push-out to the #10 jump. Several handlers pushed out and then pulled back too early, causing a refusal at this jump.

Now on to my favorite section....I just loved the slalom-like maneuvering dogs did from #10 - #13. First it was the left turn to #10 & #11, then the right turn to #12, then the left turn to #13. This portion really highlighted the dog's athletic ability and kept both the handier and dog engaged. For me personally, it was very fun to watch.

The last sequence, #15 - #18 was handled quite nicely with no real surprises. Handlers were great at holding their ground after the chute to ensure the dogs would come in to them and stop their forward momentum toward the off-course jump. This group made it look easy!

Thanks again for another wonderful weekend.

I'm so glad to say that I caught an early flight home and won't be traveling until mid-October. I miss my home, husband and dogs, so this will be a nice break from the frequent flyer marathon I've been on this last month.

Oh, the only other noteworthy item was that the guy next to me on the airplane started talking about how he didn't enjoy sex with his x-wife and how his new wife was 'Wow!'. I couldn't even begin to tell you how that subject came up, but I'm getting really good at redirecting conversations back into 'safe territory'. Well, as the country song says 'God is great, Beer is good and people are crazy....'