it's been a while

I am having really hard time keeping up with the blog with everything that is going on  in my life. I'll just keep on trying.
Brandy and I trying to make a comeback into obedience ring so last Sunday we went to the match and entered open and utility. Brandy did pretty well in both. The only big mistake she made in utility was her getting confused on the "come" signal and trying to get in heel position instead of the front. It's funny how she didn't make the same mistake in our practice sessions before the match, or after the match. Utility is a hard class and I can clearly see how all those distractions at the match break her concentration. hopefully weather will keep on getting nicer and we will have some opportunities to practice signals with a lot of distractions in some public places.
In open Brandy decided at one exercise to finish to the left, rather than to the right ( walking behind me into the heel position). I wouldn't really mind it if she made it nicely into the heel position, but of course she ended up horribly crooked. Which means we need to work on the left finishes a lot, in case she decides to do the same things at the trial in hopes that she will at least make it straight.
We had to give up on our Utility class for now because of time constraints, so we have to practice on our own. Luckily the weather was very nice to us and it allows me to work on the utility exercises during my lunch break.
We have so much work ahead of us that at times it's pretty overwhelming and we really need to finish our CDX, which means that we need to get two more legs. Sigh.. I kind of gave up on practicing open exercises for time being, at this point I will be happy to just qualify and we can work on improving our heeling later when the weather gets better, but  we still have to worry about those pesky stays. This weekend we are going to a local dog show and I hope that I will find an opportunity to practice stays and signals in the show environment.

Mozart on the other hand is getting bored. While I was out walking Brandy he decided to go shopping. He is going to get in trouble one day for sticking his head where it doesn't belong. Luckily for him we have started working on formal retrieve, so soon he will be carrying those bags for me in his mouth:-)