I left Shelby at home, knowing that it wouldn't be a super long day. I had to wait for Master to finish, and that took some time, even though there were only 4 braces. Then the judge decided to relax for a bit (the very idea!). Finally they started Senior around 12:15. Spot and I were #14 out of 15, so we didn't get to go until around 1:30. It was agony waiting and waiting. At least the weather and the company were good.
This was our first attemp at Senior at a trial. The judge made a point of saying that once you recall your dog, you may call from the entrance, and once they exit the earth you can go and get them. However, and this is important, you can not call once you go to get them. You can only call from the entrance.
When it was our turn, Spot was ready to go-he almost slipped my hands and passed the markers, which would have sucked. Once I released him he ran directly to the entrance, popped his head in, turned around and looked at me, then went in again. He went directly to the rats and started work. He worked the full 90 seconds, barking and biting and digging. Then they removed the rats. The judge didn't immediately say "call your dog". He waited a minute then gave me a signal. So by that time Spot was already leaving the rats, and I only called once before he was out the false exit. He saw me and wanted to come, but there was brush in the way, so I tried to get him, but realized I couldn't. I saw that Spot was turning around to go back into the tunnel, but knew I couldn't call him from where I was or we wouldn't Q. So I turned and ran back to the entrance, hoping Spot would follow. Once I got back to the entrace I called him again, since you can call as much as you want from there. Spot came and I grabbed him and we Q'd. Yay! I think the judge got a kick out of it, he said "good for you!" Out of 15 dogs, there were 4 Qs.
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