Judge – Rob Summerfield
Faith
Placed 2nd in Beginners Class
Brilliant day at Oxhey Obedience show! Aim of the day was just for Faith to have as much fun as possible and the mission was achieved!
We did an earlyish round around something like 11 am I think, it was a scorcher of a day and whilst I had Faiths cool coat and made sure she was well hydrated I didn’t really know how she would be in the ring but I need not have worried, we lost some marks as when I set off she started a pace late and my turns are always awful (working on them!) but she was super. We have had crooked entries on recall but she nailed that and the finish. Dumbell was next and we’ve had bad chomping issues for what seems like years haha but she did a super clean retrieve and pick up, no chomps and a lovely present, hold and finish. Heel off lead is always better for us than on lead and it was with us dropping just a half mark overall.
She was stacked with enthusiasm and in between each exercise was super bouncy and joyous and the whole round was just a total pleasure.
We then mooched in the sun for hours enjoying watching others and chatting around the rings which it turns out was a mistake as when we returned to the ring for the award ceremony I found out Faith and I were joint 1st place along a lady and her Mali which meant we would need to compete again! I really should have given her cool time in the car but never dreamed we would be in a runoff for 1st!
Sadly we lost the runoff, mainly retrieve as Faith ran out great but fumbled the pickup and upon return chomped really badly then spat it out, I figure she was just hot and tired and done bless her. I couldn’t fault her for trying though and heelwork was great. Mali had a lovely round but had dumbell problems too, she ran out but didn’t want to pick up, she did eventually and we ended up coming 2nd. I was really pleased at pre Covid break Faith was struggling to find her joy after being had a go at a few times in and around the rings by other dogs and it had just knocked her confidence, both shows she has done this year she has had loads of fun and that’s what it is all about!
