Westminster!

[Labradorks]

For anyone who missed the Obedience and wanted to see it, here is the link: WKC Dog Show Live Stream - Ring 10, WKC Dog Show Live Stream - Ring 10 USANETWORK on USTREAM. Dogs

What are you wearing so we can see you?!?!

[Labradorks]

I had class tonight and Westminster was the talk of the town! We were all disappointed that we did not have heart-shaped helium balloons to do our figure-8s with.

[fidgetyknees]

For anyone who missed the Obedience and wanted to see it, here is the link: WKC Dog Show Live Stream - Ring 10, WKC Dog Show Live Stream - Ring 10 USANETWORK on USTREAM. Dogs

Thanks, will watch when I get home tonight. Really starting to get into it with my guy. I totally think we will get into it this time though his agiliry training is priority number 1 then obedience number 2 and then hunt training needs to start sometime too.

[Annette47]

What are you wearing so we can see you?!?!

LOL ... a light blue hoodie with a pink UnderArmour logo on it ... on my right is my trainer, who was wearing a light purple sweatshirt. w

[Labradorks]

I watched two of the finals last night. I loved watching the dogs have fun and the owners going with it and not freaking out over mistakes. The golden was so sweet and trying really hard. I just wanted to hug him and say, "it's OK, you can fetch the hat if you want to!"

[Annette47]

Here is a news story with pictures .... we are in the background of the cover shot, LOL.

NJ dog wins obedience competition at Westminster Dog Show - Photo Gallery - NJ.com

[barry581]

You had some great seats!!!! Since there was no commentary on that video link you posted, I had no idea what was going on, especially the first hour or so. can you give an overview???

[Annette47]

You had some great seats!!!! Since there was no commentary on that video link you posted, I had no idea what was going on, especially the first hour or so. can you give an overview???

The first round, so for about the first 3 hours or so before lunch, they did “standard” Obedience exercises. Trying to remember exactly what, but there were signals (Utility) a single go-out (Utility), a retrieve over the high jump (Open), a drop-on-recall (Open) and a single scent article (Utility). Then at the end, they did a bizarre group stay - kind of like a group version of the Beginner Novice stay where the dog (in this case a two groups sitting back to back) sits still in the middle of the ring while the handler walks around the ring. After that there was a 4 dog run-off that turned out to be for the last finalist spot.

After lunch, they had the 10 finalists (top scorers) come back in and do a “freestyle” round, where they could basically make up their own routine (max of 6 minutes) showcasing their dog’s training and ability. I think the idea was to showcase some of the other ways the skills taught for Obedience could be used - for example, one dog retrieved (and stacked) several food dishes for the owner. There were a few rules (I’m not sure exactly what they were) such as there had to be a jump, and there had to be a retrieve, but the rest seemed to be pretty wide open. Some of the entries were quite creative. I think my favorite was the woman with a MH Lab who incorporated some field drills into hers. Lots of people who train with the sort of games we do (such as spins and touches while heeling, backing up in a down, etc) incorporated those. Apparently the guy with the Rottie hadn’t expected to make the finals so he didn’t have anything prepared and pretty much had to make something up during the lunch hour! Many people brought props of some sort or another. I have absolutely NO idea how that part was scored.

The total possible score for the day was 270, so I’m guessing (but am really not sure) that the freestyle part counted for the 70? There was a run-off for the winner, too who won with a 269. It was between Heart (the Lab that won) and Smartie (a Belgian Tervuren) who had won the Agility the day before. Honestly, it could easily have gone either way. I had thought the Lab won the run-off but my trainer (who is a judge) would have given it to the Terv - we were focused on different things, but either way it was VERY close.

It was kind of bizarre, and most of us thought the freestyle should have been exhibition only as we can’t figure out how it would have been scored, plus quite a few major players didn’t come because they didn’t want to have to put together a routine. The purpose was to present Obedience in a way that would make it more appealing to the general public - I think they had NO idea how many people would come to watch, but they had a pretty good audience, both of local Obedience people like us, and of random people who wandered by and got sucked in.

[barry581]

Ahhhhhh Ok. Most of the recap was the freestyle. I thought it may have been some kind of exhibition. I wouldn't have thought it was part of the competition!

"It was kind of bizarre, and most of us thought the freestyle should have been exhibition only as we can’t figure out how it would have been scored, plus quite a few major players didn’t come because they didn’t want to have to put together a routine."

One of the ladies I've been training with has a top 5 ranked Labrador, and she didn't go. This may have been why. It was really fun to watch, however, how do you score what each did??? All the dogs were really good, but it basically came down to choreography.

[doubledip1]

Labrador #3 in sporting! Congratulations Cyrus :-)