Astro, Mr. Rally Novice!

Super Love This Boy!

Astro and I had an awesome weekend at the Scottsdale and Superstition Kennel Club shows March 3 & 4.  Astro and I earned his Rally Novice A title on Saturday with a perfect score of 100!!  Oh my gosh, I never thought that my little guy and I would do such a thing. It's two weeks later and I am still so excited and proud of him!

Keeping him happy before our turn.  He almost looks like he's in the conformation ring.

In the weeks after our first trial I did some practice with Astro at home, at agility practices in between our turn, and I took him out in town one day.  I wanted to have him practice with a lot of distractions around and have him play with me in different areas too. These shows are outside and pretty big.  I thought there would be a bigger chance of Astro getting distracted because of everything going on at the show and being outside he can see all kinds of things going on up close and it the distance.  The obedience rings are in the back of the site, but there's still lots of things happening around us.

Here's our run.  Thanks to Eric for this video.  My parents were able to come on Saturday, which was really nice.  I'm pretty sure Astro is throwing stars and sparks from his wagging tail.  Also, did you see the little halo floating above his head.  ;-)

And because who doesn't want to see that cute boy again, here's the same run a little closer.  Thanks to Chris for taking all the pictures and this video, and for a great weekend!

That's us, Team 9.  Did we really do that?  WOOHOO!!  I'm pretty sure all the Novice A teams qualified on Saturday and Sunday.  Yay!

The nice orange ribbon is for finishing our Rally Novice title.  This is the first time that I've trained and worked with my dog to earn a title.  Zephyr has his Field Championship and I had to make sure he was is shape for that, but I didn't have to tell him how to course, he knows exactly how to do that.  :-)  Astro and I finished Rally Novice in three trials with three first places.  It's so exciting and unexpected to have such great success.

Let's Go!

We had another great day on Sunday.  It was warmer, about 80, but Astro hung in there.  I had taken Astro back to his crate to stay in the shade and rest because there were still a lot of Novice B dogs to go and then Novice A.

Doing a little sniffing of the grass.

Then I saw the dogs that I knew were right before us were up and I hurried to get back over.  They were going out of order.  It turned out we still had a few dogs before us, but I was a little thrown off of our routine and flustered.  I think Astro sensed this and it effected his focus at first.  He was looking around a little at first and sniffed the grass some.  But, then we got into it and he did great.

Hi there cutie!  Thanks for waiting while I checked the sign.

Finishing the Spiral.  Now we're in our groove.

The Sit then Down.

"Okay Astro, get ready for the long Slow."

Whoa there pony boy, keep it slow all the way to the finish.

Excellent Job Asty!

Let's Play!

This is so fun!

Astro did it again, a 99 and 1st Place!  I think he's consistent. :-) 

"A Pupcake For Me!"

On Saturday night some friends and I went to Sprinkles, a cupcake store.  Yum!  They also have cupcakes for dogs and I had to get some.

"And Me Too!"

"Holy Cow, these are Scrumptuous!!"

"Um, are you gonna share?"

Of course there was some shopping that occurred at the show.

"Sweet dreams, Astro."

Zephyr had a great weekend too.  He stayed at the grandparents' during the day while we were at the show and had fun playing in the yard.  He was pooped when we got home.

"Sweet dreams, Zephyr."