2008 Dog Sports Open, Beginner OB only

Weight pull, Protection, Agility, Flyball... you name it!

Postby mnp13 » August 25th, 2008, 3:15 pm

The 10th annual Dog Sports Open was held in St. Johns, Michigan, August 16-17, 2008

The theme was "Dog Sport's Greatest Hits." All of the obedience was taken from the best of the past 9 years of trials.

This year was the first year they had an obedience only catagory. The trial was created as a personal protection trial, but there are lots of us who have dogs that don't do protection, but still wanted to try our hand at the unique challenges of the DSO.

You come onto the field where the Mistress of Ceremonies presents you with a hot dog to carry with you for the entire trial. You must return the hot dog undamaged (and uneaten) at the end of your obedience exercises. It was up to you to figure out the best way to carry it. Your dog watches you get the hotdog, so they know you have it! This was inspired by the 2001 DSO "When Canada Invades" where the handlers had to carry a raw chicken with them.
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Next you get into your gas powered golf cart and head to the next station. You put your dog in a position of control and hit the gas. Ideally, your dog stays calmly where you put it for the ride, but the noise, smell and jerkiness of the ride was a little much for some dogs. This was inspired by the 2006 DSO "A Nightmare on Lowell Street" where you had to drive your dog around on a golf cart to try and deliver a pizza.
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Not all of the dogs were amuzed.
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Next you arrive in the park where you sit on a glider with your dog to enjoy the scenery. For extra points you can rock with your dog. A police woman trots up on her horse and yells at you for having a dog in the park. You must leave your dog on the bench and get your ticket from her. Inspired by the 2002 DSO "Big City Park"
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After the horse leaves, you heel to the next obstical
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Your next obstical is the stairs. You bring your dog to the top, then put them in a position of control and go back down the way you came. You then go to the other side and call them to you. The stairs are "broken" meaning some steps have a large drop between them and some a smaller one, they are also different widths. Your dog has to come down the stairs to you and cross through a pool of water that has a fake Christmas tree in it to create squshy footing. The footing issue was from 2005's DSO, "Down on the Bayou."
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Ruby decided to dry off after her trip through the pool
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Next you head for the ginormous A-frame, which you have to climb over with your dog. The A-frame came from 2007 - Jailbreak
First you get your dog up on the platform:
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Put it in a position of control:
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Then you climb up:
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get your dog over the top:
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and onto the platform on the other side:
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then you climb down
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and call your dog
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Now, off through the Poppy Fields from 2004's Wizard of Oz (the pinwheels and flowers were spinning, the camera froze their motion)
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Next we arrive at a starnge situation from 2000's Rest Area. You see a car fire and the owner of the car is trying to get back into their car to retreive their wallet! You put your dog in a position of control and go rescue the owner from himself. He is quite insistant that he must get back into the car, so you have to get physical and shove him away from it.
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Some dogs just weren't all that concerned
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Now off to the giant alligator teeter from Down on the Bayou, you have to cross this with your dog.
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Your last job is to return your hot dog.
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Some people had a better place to keep it safe than others
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Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
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Postby Hundilein » August 25th, 2008, 3:22 pm

I LOVE this! I may have to steal some ideas for my basic manners classes. I always do an obstacle course as part of graduation, and my students have lots of fun with it. Unfortunately, the room I teach in is tiny, but I could be creative with some things.
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Postby amazincc » August 25th, 2008, 3:26 pm

Where'd you keep your hot dog??? :o
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Postby mnp13 » August 25th, 2008, 3:26 pm

On Friday we were there while they were setting up for the DSO. There was a pickup truck on the field pulling a large trailer, about 15 people moving the A-frame and stairs, and random dogs running around. Cheryl taught a beginner obedience class in the same field, in the middle of all of it.

She has also ridden Ceeasar (the horse used in the trial) during classes and taught entirely from horseback. Sometimes there are goats on the field, and she allows dogs in heat to come to all classes.

Dogs leave her classes as close to bomb proof as you can get.
Michelle

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Postby mnp13 » August 25th, 2008, 3:28 pm

amazincc wrote:Where'd you keep your hot dog??? :o


In a pink, baby powder scented poop bag in my right pocket.

In intermediate we had to carry an entire package of hotdogs that was so old that the hotdogs were gray and the "juice" was greenish. That writeup should be done in a few days.
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Postby amazincc » August 25th, 2008, 3:31 pm

mnp13 wrote:In a pink, baby powder scented poop bag in my right pocket.

Good one! lol

In intermediate we had to carry an entire package of hotdogs that was so old that the hotdogs were gray and the "juice" was greenish. That writeup should be done in a few days.

:puke: ... I mean... looking forward to pics. :mrgreen:
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Postby Hoyden » August 25th, 2008, 3:34 pm

This sounds so awesome. Someday I'll make it there. I'd love to see how Birdie does with those kinds of distractions.

She can ignore meat. Ice cream & cheese are a different story though.

The owners of the Renaissance Faire get a kick out of telling people than when their dogs can lay down in front of the bottom bleacher and totally disregard four men on horse back in full plate armor beating the snot out of each other from the saddle while galloping around, then commencing to fight on the ground after being knocked from the saddle, less than four feet a way, then they can discuss allowing dogs into the Faire.
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She taking all the stars down from her sky to hang them up someplace new, where there's better weather and the sky's a different blue. ~ Autumn Fields
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Postby Jenn » August 25th, 2008, 3:41 pm

Way to go gang :)

Ruby rolling around during the fire rescue made me laugh out loud.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » August 25th, 2008, 4:26 pm

And Michelle forgot to mention that Ruby received 3rd place in obedience and Layla received 4th place! :clap:
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Postby Jenn » August 25th, 2008, 4:35 pm

:clap:
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Postby katiek0417 » August 25th, 2008, 4:45 pm

Congrats Kendell and Michelle! Michelle, I love the pics of Ruby "not caring." I so wish I had made it out there...
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Postby mnp13 » August 25th, 2008, 5:40 pm

pitbullmamaliz wrote:And Michelle forgot to mention that Ruby received 3rd place in obedience and Layla received 4th place! :clap:


And Danielle WON!
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Postby ellie@ny » August 25th, 2008, 6:43 pm

Congrats!Seems like fun!
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Postby Leslie H » August 26th, 2008, 9:14 am

Excellent, I've been wondering how things went. I wish Cheryl Carlson lived in New England.
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Postby Megan Welch » August 26th, 2008, 10:08 pm

Leslie H wrote:Excellent, I've been wondering how things went. I wish Cheryl Carlson lived in New England.


Leslie, we all wish Cheryl lived in New England. With the distractions she comes up with, no one can compare in my opinion. By the way how are you two pups doing? I am trying to come to the event in October at least for Sunday. Is the obedience offered to all breeds? I haven't seen my CT crew for a while, I miss you guys!
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Postby Leslie H » August 27th, 2008, 9:22 am

Hey Megan! OB is all breeds. By all means come on down, we'd all love to see you. Everything is fine here dog wise, and in general. We'll be in Taunton MA in a couple weeks, that's a little closer for you maybe. (Conf and WP). That's very cool that you got to judge.
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Postby SisMorphine » August 27th, 2008, 9:49 am

Congrats on doing so well everyone!! Next year . . . I know I say that every year but this time I mean it ;)
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Postby dlynne1123 » August 29th, 2008, 2:44 pm

What is the event in MA again? I'd love to attend even if just to watch.

I wanted to say the DSO was one of the most organized and creative events I've ever seen or heard of and I also wish Cheryl lived out here too. I feel blessed to have met Cheryl and her club members. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful and eager to give advice. I'm glad I got to do something with my little 'problem dog' Ryder, and now we're heading for the UKC family dog in May. I never expected to have enough confidence to enter let alone place, so it was a great experience for me and gets me motivated to work with my puppy. Cheryl even taught me some things about decoying! YAY :D

Definately planning on another road trip with megan to the DSO next year and maybe I"ll have a dog in the general beginner that can bark and do a civil!!! We'll see if my bully can bark or just be mute :dance:

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