Crazy 8 (1) - Gimme did well again. There was a bit more extraneous barking and I had to remind her twice to do more than stand in the middle of the ring yelling, "There's rats here!" She got three rats for 50 points, bringing us up to 880 total, so we are still on track to get another title this weekend.
Masters (1) - Gimme found a rat tube, then a tunnel, another rat, a tunnel, a tunnel again, and then found another rat. Then she started her walk-n-bark routine, so I called it and was correct. We had 3 rats. She ended with just under a minute to spare for Fourth Place. This is our first Q toward a RATCHX.
Crazy 8 (2) - Gimme was fired up to run Crazy 8, she is really getting into this class. She picked up another 60 points. We needed just 60 more for the next title, which I was sure would be doable during Monday's two runs.
I took this picture of Gimme resting in the back of the van between classes. Her special place is 40x40 inches and yet she lays with her face all smushed up against the front for affect. I think the message is about showing how put-upon she is.Masters (2) - In order to move things along quickly, they had us "pre-blind" in another part of the attached building near the other 2 dogs in the blind before us, which means they didn't have to completely reset the ring just for us. Gimme did a great job finding all 5 rats. I am getting to where I have a sense of when there are 5 rats. For one thing her energy level is higher and she starts finding rats much faster. She finished with 2 minutes to spare (a full minute faster than for 3 rats) and got Second place. This is her second leg toward a RATCHX.
Gimme had a great day, qualifying in all four runs. It's a "quadfecta"! Yay Gimme...
Monday --
Crazy 8 (1) - Gimme was raring to go, she thinks this whole waiting thing is unacceptable. She found a rat right away, then climb, volunteered a tunnel and another two rats. Then she indicated another rat and the judge asked me where and I pointed under the leaner bale where Gimme had pawed and the judge said "no". We got to continue searching and she found another rat just in time. The judge explained to me about the false alert. Gimme alerted under the leaner and the rat tube was actually against the base bale on the far side.
From the top, it looked like this. The gray background square is the first layer of bales, which Gimme was standing on. The tan rectangles are the second layers of bales and the burlap-textured rectangle is the leaner. Gimme indicated under the leaner (blue arrow) and the rat tube (red) was on the far side. Close, but not close enough. Obviously I'd prefer she had called it acceptable, but I understand the distinction and it would have looked pretty foolish trying to remove an invisible tube.Masters (1) - Q again. 5 of 5 rats and Gimme did a really good job. It really suits her to have a blind all to herself. I think she was getting a little tired, but there was no doubt she'd be ready to do it some more. Go girl!
Crazy 8 (2) - Gimme ran around like a little maniac finding rats. She also did another extra tunnel. She earned 60 points new title CZ8S.
Masters (2) - Gimme was very solid here, finding 4 of 4 rats with two extra tunnels. She had a great time.
We ended the weekend with two new titles: RATCH and CZ8S (53 total titles now). Gimme picked up four MasterB Q's (needs ten total) toward a RATCHX. I wasn't planning to go beyond a RATCH, but she's doing so well, it seems silly to stop. Gimme Q'd 11 out of 12 runs, and the last 10 Q's were in-a-row.
We got some really nice compliments from the judge and Janet. Janet runs these trials and always has nice sized blinds. She's been there for our whole barn hunt career and all it's ups and downs. Another person who has been there for the whole journey is Jeanette. She always works as gate steward and/or volunteer coordinator, so we know her well. She told me that Gimme and I could easily be voted Most Improved Team. So sweet.
I know Gimme and I have an unusual ring pattern, but it really works. She runs around barking and settles on a general area. I tell her either, "stop yelling at me", "I know there are rats here" or "you can't just bark in the middle", then "I need more information". Then she gets closer and barks toward a more limited area, to which I say, "can you be more specific". This usually results in her getting her face right next to the tube to bark at it, often pawing the tube. I point at it and say, "is this the rat", so she yells louder and paws more vigorously - then I call it. We are getting to the point where she is starting to skip some of these steps, which I've been expecting.
In theory you aren't supposed to talk to dogs in sentences when you are training or performing. I do with Gimme more than any other dog I've known and she certainly seems to understand what it all means.
Here are two pictures of Gimme with all her loot. You can see two new toys on the ground (on the right) and her new beaver toy on the bale next to her. All the ribbons are for me.
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