Shaq & Shasta Update
3/19/99Copyright © 2001 Ray Hebert
Howdy all,
Just got back from a quick trip down to Irvine for work. Was supposed to fly back on Friday, but meetings went long and I had to take the Saturday morning flight. Well enough of my whining, this is about the kids.
Saturday morning Shaq was scheduled to compete in a field trial at 11, my flight could not arrive on Saturday until 2:30. So I called the person organizing the trial and explained my dilemma. He got ahold of one of the other teams and got us switched out to 5pm. Since we were going on last I asked if I could enter Shasta as well. So both got to compete.
In a field trial the dogs are expected to do things that you would expect to encounter in a hunting situation. So there are retrieves, running obstacle courses, working a field and doing some basic obedience stuff. If it had been in the summer time there would have been water retrieves, but with it being a bit chilly they did not have this task. Much to Shaq's chagrin. Scoring is on a point basis, with 100 points being the maximum. A whole routine usually takes about 30 minutes.
Shaq is very good at these competitions. His best score was 85, he has usually lost points on a routine called "double blind retrieve" where you blind fold the dog, throw two bumpers (dummies) out into the field then send the dog out to retrieve. You direct the dog with hand signals and commands. Very difficult for both the dog and the handler.
As soon as I got in, I got the kids calmed down and put into the car for a half hour drive up to Burbank South Dakota. Both the kids had their heads out the window the whole way. Having a great time. We arrived about 15 minutes prior to our start time, much to the relief of the organizers. I usually like to show up at least two hours early to get Shaq acclimated and to do some warm up routines. The organizers were very nice and let us have a few extra minutes to get Shaq settled and ready to go.
Shaq started out well with a few easy exercises. It was evident right from the start that he was really on top of his game. He got his retrieves and was doing a great Job of listening. He did his single blind retrieve perfectly. At this time he had only lost a couple of points.
Next came the dreaded double blind retrieve. I put the blind fold on him and watched the bumpers being shot out. They set the bumpers up so that they were in a straight line away from me. This is the most difficult double blind I have ever seen. Usually they are placed to the out in the field to the right and left. So that you are sending them out to get the one on the right side of the field then the one on the left side of the field.
I had to send Shaq out to retrieve the farthest bumper first. The real challenge is that to do this he has to run right by the first bumper. So I took a deep breath and sent Shaq out. He ran right up to the first one and picked it up. I called for him to sit and he did, then gave the drop command. Which he did, but with a very puzzled look on his face. Sort of if you don't want me to get this why did you send me out? I gave the out command for him to go further out he gave me a dirty look and went further out. He found the next bumper picked it up, stopped and looked back to see if this was the one I wanted. I gave the come command and he came charging back with it. I then sent him out and he got the first one quickly and came back.
We ended up the competition with some distracted stays. In the end Shaq scored a whooping 93 and took fourth place. There was a tie for first between three dogs who scored perfect scores.
Shasta was another story. I have not done much work with her on complicated retrieves. This being her first competition I did not want her to get overly frustrated by not being able to complete a number of the tasks. So I told the judges that we would wave all of the complicated tasks with the exception of the single blind retrieve.
So we started the exercise with the working the field routine. In this exercise the dog is sent out to canvas the field. They are expected quarter a field and methodically search it. Shasta is a natural at this. When we go out for hikes she spends her time searching. So we did well here.
Next came the single sighted retrieve. Here she balked a couple of times, but eventually got the bumper. We did a few other exercises and then came the single blind retrieve. She did not like having a blind fold on her at all. I took the blind fold off and said "go" (Shaq's command is "Ok") this is supposed to send the dog out into the field. Shasta was confused. She is used to seeing the bumper being thrown out. So she balked at first it took about 10 times to get her to go out in the field. She went out and started to quarter the field. I called for her to sit so I could give her directions. She looked at me like I was crazy and went on with her quartering. She found the bumper and brought it back. But she got it which is the important thing, and she had a lot of fun doing it. Now I just need to get off my lazy ass and spend some more time with her so that she knows what to do.
We finished up with a few easier exercises. In the end Shasta finished up with a 43. Very good for not doing about 40 points worth of tasks.
So I'm very proud of both kids. Shaq with his 93, could not have asked for a better performance. Shasta with her 43, very good for a first time. Both very much enjoyed the competition.
Well that is the Shaq and Shasta update.
Hope all of you have a pleasant weekend.
Shaq, Shasta & Ray
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