I didn't take and action pictures today as my legs were giving me a lot of trouble. But I did take some individual pictures of a few different Sunkist dogs.
While the Masters dogs were running, the Barn Hunt winners were announced. In second place with a time of 10.57 seconds was Klev'r (Boogie's half brother). Coming in first place, with a time of 7.31 seconds was Boogie!! For his efforts he was awarded the perpetual rat and a very cool Killer Rat shirt with a skull and crossbones on it. He paraded around the area looking very dapper in his Killer Rat shirt.
Here is the Barn Hunt winner (in his spiffy new duds) and his brilliant handler!
As soon as Masters was finished it was time for Juniors. And first up was Boogie! I wasn't nearly as nervous as yesterday but Boogie was just as excited. He knew exactly what was going on. I had to pick him up and hold him as we waited our turn as all he wanted to do was pull toward the tunnel. He was choking himself so much that he was wheezing again just like yesterday. Interestingly enough, as soon as I pick him up he holds totally still but stares very intently at the test area.
I carried him up about five feet from the start line and set him down. I then let him pull me two to three feet toward the line. The second I put my hand on his chest he freezes and allows me to take the collar off - all the while he is staring at the tunnel entrance.
After getting the leash off I let him inch toward the line...being very careful that neither of us goes over the line. Again you can see we are nowhere near being in danger of that. I need to get more brave and set him up closer in the future just to make sure he has the scent line (even though that was no problem for him this weekend). I watch the judge for the signal to start. I then look down to make sure Boogie is focused on the start. Is he ever! He is staring intently at the tunnel entrance. Perfect.
I let him go using no commands (one is allowed). I figure I won't use any signals that way if I do one intentionally then we are still okay. The last thing I want to do is mess up causing us to fail! The second my hands are off him he races to the tunnel.
As you can see, he immediately enters the tunnel without hesitation.
Today it seemed like it took forever for him to navigate his way through the tunnels to get to the rats. In actuality it took him just 12 seconds - which is considered fast...it's just slow by his standards! And it seemed like forever as I stand there waiting to hear him start working.
Once he got to the rats, he worked really well by barking very nicely, never breaking for more than two to three seconds. Those couple seconds always scare me even though the dog is allowed to break for up to 10 seconds. Like yesterday, it seemed like I was there for months waiting for that darn clock to tick on and on.
At 45 seconds the judge called me over but motioned for me to be very quiet as he continued timing.
Boogie was great and continued to work the remainder of the time. The judge finally raised the lid and instructed me to retrieve Boogie.
I reached in, praised him nicely by petting his back as instructed...
...and then started to take him out...
at which time he started screaming like crazy and wanting back in.
When I got Boogie out, the judge said he had performed absolutely perfectly. The judge commented this was a good sign for the rest of the class. He later told me we almost blew it...by being so good that none of the other dogs could come close to Boogie's performance. How nice was that of him to say. As it turned out, only three dogs out of 14 passed.
Yippee! Way to go Boogie! I am so proud of him - he just earned his Junior Earthdog title. He went two for two in his very first Earthdog Test. And he won the Barn Hunt! I am so proud of him I'm about to burst.
A little later in the day as we were waiting for the Junior class to get finished, Boogie got to play with his new little four month old cousin, Simon. This puppy had just been born when we were in Las Cruces in December so we had seen it as a little black blob. Like always, Boogie had a great time playing and was the absolutely perfect playmate.
The last group to go today was the Senior class. The next test we go to, Boogie will be in Seniors. It is considered the hardest class and Boogie has never experienced it at all. So when the last dog finished we ran out to the site and Boogie was allowed to give it a try! Both the judge and the AKC rep told me not to get discouraged if he didn't find the entrance as the wind was blowing the scent over to the false entrance/exit. In addition, the correct tunnel entrance is hidden so the dogs can't see it - they must find it by scent. Many of the Senior dogs did have entrance problem due to the winds.
Boogie was very eager to give it a try! I set him down at the line (which is twice as far away from the entrance as in Juniors) and let him go. He immediately took off as fast as he could go - directly into the correct entrance! Good Boy!! About 10 seconds later he popped out the false exit. He took one quick look around and did a u-turn right back into the tunnel. Good Boy!! About three seconds later he was at the rats and working hard. Good Boy!! At this level they have to work for 90 seconds - but the club was in a hurry to get things torn down so after about 10 seconds the rats were taken out. It was then time for me to do the recall. I called and called trying everything I could think of. But he was barking harder at the empty cage than he did at the cage with rats. Oh no, this is big trouble. So we ignored him and started taking away all the tumbleweeds, logs, and other woodsy item we had used to decorate the area to make it look natural. Hmmm, Boogie is still barking. We couldn't wait any longer (it had been about four minutes) so we had to open the lid and take him out. Well, we sure know what we need to work on!!
But he did so many hard things right that we were very encouraged. The people at this event were so nice. Everyone was so nice to us and they were all telling us how impressed they were with little Boogie. It was really nice to have our breeders there as well to watch Boogie excel at his very first test.
Poor Mike really had to do a lot of work. He was always digging tunnels, carrying things all over, taking down the Masters course, and then at the end he shoveled dirt back into to the empty troughs, and then drove to a house to help unload all the tunnels back into the shed. Boogie owes Mike a huge thanks!
Overall, we had a great weekend all around. So before Boogie's first birthday he is now known as Sunkist Shake Rattle And Roll, RN, JE. Very cool - what a good boy!
PS - The AKC rep that attended the test wrote up a nice article along with pictures and posted them on the AKC website. To my surprise she included a picture of Boogie and me. Click on the picture and it will enlarge and will include a description. Here's the link if you're interested. http://www.akc.org/events/earthdog/az_earthdog_club/2008/
Debbie
4/6/08
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