The show was lovely and well run, we had nice size rings and a lovely ice cream van to keep us going.
Faith enjoyed her day enough but wasn’t as happy as Saturday but a) 2 days competing are hard and b) I should probably have trained our first round in the ring (Beginners) and worked the 2nd (Novice) as I think her belief in the reward coming had faded a bit by the time we reached heel free. However, I was still over the moon with her compared to how shes been over the last year or so, she was happy and focused on me and thats my aim right now, happy Faith!
I didn’t enjoy my day so much, I was a little sad the judge didn’t want to give any feedback after the round as its hard as a beginner not to understand your marks or how to improve at all but ultimately I guess that’s up to them. In stays Faith did them and I am super happy about that after Saturday but the judge had a word with steward after who came to speak with me about taking my hands out of my pockets on return and it looking like a second command, to be fair I don’t actually know how it looks to others but as I took my hands out of my pockets and moved my wrists (I have double carpal tunnel) I personally actually hoped she wouldn’t break her stay ! But I will bear it in mind in future and move them only once Faith has been released. In between all of that I had parked next to someone who let their dog pee up me and my things all afternoon so I left early instead of staying like I normally do to clap everyone on their awards. I guess for me its still a little early returning to things after losing Kodi and I still feel quite fragile and over sensitive.
It turns out Faith did gain a 5th Place at the show and don’t get me wrong I am grateful for the shows and all the effort they put in running them and I am always pleased for Faith when she gains a place but for me its never about the rosettes, ribbons or places but about how much we enjoy our time together.
I haven’t got anything booked obedience wise for a while now so I think I will have more of a break then look at trying one again later in the year and see how I feel then. Faith wont care either way if we carry on doing obedience competitions or not as shes just happy training for them but I might feel more robust after some more downtime and then maybe enjoy them again.
Never let it be said that a dog is just a dog, they are family and losing them hurts like hell…..
Oh I did forget to say however that I enjoyed a lovely training round thanks to a super friendly judge and steward, we trained Novice at Halstead and they were so lovely, Faith had a really great time in the ring and so did I ! Was a lovely bit of sunshine in a grey day.
