# It's official, our first training competition



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Ricky and I are registered in our first judged Obedience competition at the Palm Springs Kennel Club show in Indio, CA on January 10. This is a BIG, BIG show! Last year, there were 54 Havanese registered in Conformation alone. AKC revised everything in early December, so we are entered into the "Preferred Novice" category which is beginner level Obedience. Most of the exercises are done on leash with both hand and voice cues allowed which should be a piece of cake for the both of us. Our biggest problem will be working on grass. Ricky has a tendency to lag with his nose down to the ground, sniffing, rather than paying attention to me. We are practicing exclusively on grass now, several times a day for short periods of time, to get our game down.

This is going to be fun! We always follow up the training sessions with some energetic play time. Ricky is always enthusiastic to go outside to practice and then play together.

Several friends and family want to come and watch and root. That is fine I tell them if it is from a distance so that Ricky will not be distracted during our trial. Then afterwards we will all party like it is 2016!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Ricky and I are registered in our first judged Obedience competition at the Palm Springs Kennel Club show in Indio, CA on January 10. This is a BIG, BIG show! Last year, there were 54 Havanese registered in Conformation alone. AKC revised everything in early December, so we are entered into the "Preferred Novice" category which is beginner level Obedience. Most of the exercises are done on leash with both hand and voice cues allowed which should be a piece of cake for the both of us. Our biggest problem will be working on grass. Ricky has a tendency to lag with his nose down to the ground, sniffing, rather than paying attention to me. We are practicing exclusively on grass now, several times a day for short periods of time, to get our game down.
> 
> This is going to be fun! We always follow up the training sessions with some energetic play time. Ricky is always enthusiastic to go outside to practice and then play together.
> 
> Several friends and family want to come and watch and root. That is fine I tell them if it is from a distance so that Ricky will not be distracted during our trial. Then afterwards we will all party like it is 2016!


Awesome!!! I am sure you two will do great!!! Make sure you get a rule book, though, and read the rules THOROUGHLY. Except for stays, Preferred Novice is EXACTLY the same as Novice. (Novice has group sits and downs, Preferred Novice has an individual sit (or down) stay while the handler walks around the ring) That means there are only two places you can use both a hand signal and a verbal cue, and those are as you are leaving the dog for the stand for exam and the recall. At all other times you must use ONLY one or the other. In some places, it would just be points off for double commands (although those can quickly add up!) but in other places, you could NQ yourself that way.

Both Preferred Novice and regular Novice are about half and half on and off leash... more time off leash, actually, especially if you count the time moving between exercises. The only on leash exercises are the first heeling pattern and the figure 8.

Beginner Novice is almost completely on leash. If I remember correctly, the only place when the dog is off leash is for the half ring recall.


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## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

Congrats, we will all be rooting for you and Ricky. Enjoy your practicing Ricky and be a good boy for your Popi.


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Exciting! Will be waiting to hear how it all goes.


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Make sure someone gets a video so you can share it with us! Good luck, have fun!


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Good luck! Can't wait to hear how he does!


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## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Good luck Ricky. I'm sure you'll do great!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Good Luck Ricky!!!


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

We got all our paperwork today! We will be in the ring Sunday, January 10 at 12pm. Thanks for all the good wishes.

The weather here is constant rain so it is hindering our training, but I think we are going to be okay.

There are 57 Havanese registered in Conformation! This is exciting!

Ricky and Popi


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Good luck on Sunday, Ricky!


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## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Good luck Ricky. You're going to be great. Will someone be able to video you for us to see?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> We got all our paperwork today! We will be in the ring Sunday, January 10 at 12pm. Thanks for all the good wishes.
> 
> The weather here is constant rain so it is hindering our training, but I think we are going to be okay.
> 
> ...


You guys are going to do great. Just remember to enjoy the experience, no matter WHAT happens, it's time well spent with your buddy! ...And breathe. Always remember to breathe!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Good luck, but most of all, have fun, both of you!


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

I'll be thinking of you! Hope all goes well!


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Good luck this weekend!


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Thanks everyone. Light rain today so light, brief workouts between showers. Supposed to be partly cloudy and dry tomorrow.

- memorize rules for Preferred Novice competition....check.
- get Ricky looking his best......check.
- organize schedule with Momi for tomorrow........check.
- feed Popi his favorite meal (spaghetti and meatballs).........check
- go to bed early and get a good nights sleep......check

It is 8:15 pm and Ricky is on the sofa next to Momi, sleeping peacefully. All is well.

Ricky's Popi


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Rooting for you Ricky and Popi! Have a fun day!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Cheering you and Popi on tomorrow!!! Hope you have lot's of fun!


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Go Ricky!


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## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Let us know how it went. Good luck!


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Have a great, fun, day today at the competition. Go Ricky and Popi!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

The Randall Havanese Gang is rooting for Ricky!!!


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm thinking of you! Good luck!


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## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

Good luck Momi, Popi and little Ricky. I know you will have a blast.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Anxious to hear about how the day goes!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Go Ricky!!!! :biggrin1:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I keep checking back to see how they did, then remembering that they are three hours behind me, so it's still only mid-day!

This is like waiting for Kentucky Derby results! They should have televised it!


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Well, our first judged Obedience competition is now history. The day was overcast, but dry and in the low 60's; quite pleasant. Ricky, Momi, and I were relaxed and had a good time. There were around 6500 dogs of various breeds in competition. It was a pleasure participating in such a well organized event. We were surprised by the high prices in the vendor section though, higher than retail.

We watched the Havanese Conformation competition for a while. We saw some beautiful Havanese. In our opinion, Ricky could still be competitive in Conformation if he were intact, but we are biased.

Then it was our assigned time in Preferred Novice obedience competition. Momi didn't want to distract Ricky and she left the area. Our judge was a very nice woman from Minneapolis. She was the judge for all the various Novice competitions today. We watched the Beginner Novice competition which preceded Preferred Novice. Beginner Novice is 90% on lease and 10% off. I learned that Preferred Novice was 50/50% on lease and off. I had been made to believe that Beginner Novice had been replaced by Preferred Novice. Otherwise, I would have entered us in Beginner Novice. The competitors in Preferred Novice were all veterans that had done this several times.

It was now our turn! Ricky and I were relaxed and we were having fun. Ricky started his on leash work and he was near perfect. :whoo: My footwork was impeccable. :whoo: Ricky's on leash "Figure Eight" was one of his best ever! :whoo: Then it was time for off leash work which started with "Stand for Inspection." Ricky stood like a rock and probably had the best "stand" in the entire class! :cheer2:

Now we had to do "heel" and "turns" off leash and Ricky lost focus at that point. He started to wander around the ring, sniffing the grass, and watching the activities outside the ring, and would not respond to my commands. As a result we did not qualify and were given an "NQ."

The judge took us aside and said we were in the wrong competition. We should have entered Beginner Novice which she had just judged. She said Ricky's concentration on me on leash was excellent and he had nailed all of his on leash exercises and some of the off leash exercises too! She said that Ricky would have definitely qualified in Beginner Novice and we would have finished somewhere in the top three in that class with probably in excess of 190 points out of 200. She was very supportive and encouraged us to keep trying and we have a very bright future for such a young dog but work through Beginner Novice first.

So, it is not the results I had hoped for, but it was a valuable learning experience. Ricky did much better than his non-judged competition a couple of months ago! He didn't charge from the ring like he did before and he didn't potty in the ring like the dog before us! :surprise: We are not discouraged since our improvement over the last couple of months is significant. We were just in over our heads in this class. We will be back to training tomorrow and looking for the next venue where we can participate. This is a bonding team experience for us and we are both committed to getting better at it.

Ricky's Popi


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Too bad about the confusion as to the group you competed in. It sounds like Ricky did a good job for his experience level. He will certainly do great next time and I am sure this was a good learning experience for both of you!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

More people NQ than Q in any obedience competition. It's NOT easy!!! It sounds like you and Ricky did a great job, considering your level of experience. I'm really glad to hear that, over all, it was a good experience for both of you! Great job!!!!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

It was almost like being there, reading your report on the day, thank you! And it does sound like Ricky and you did a good job, and for his first trial, especially, having fun is most important. Well, always having fun is important! 

I bet you all sleep well tonight!


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Glad you had a good day, and Ricky did as well as he did.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> More people NQ than Q in any obedience competition. It's NOT easy!!! It sounds like you and Ricky did a great job, considering your level of experience. I'm really glad to hear that, over all, it was a good experience for both of you! Great job!!!!


Karen, I am confused. I just went over the latest AKC Obedience Rules and there is no mention of Beginner Novice rules, judging, criteria, etc. There are sections for Preferred Novice and Novice A/B (which is more demanding than Preferred) but nothing about Beginner Novice. And the AKC application did not have a category for Beginner Novice, only Preferred Novice and Novice A/B. This is one of the many reasons why I thought that Beginner Novice had been eliminated and replaced by Preferred Novice. Yet there were people there today competing in Beginner Novice so I am not looking in the right place.

Beginner Novice had signs throughout the ring that the handler followed and the judge gave no verbal directions. The only off lease work was "stand for inspection", "recall", and "sit/walk around the ring". Ricky does those things with ease. His biggest problem is heeling off lease.

What am I missing? Where should I look? It is a bit frustrating!

Ricky's Popi


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## Ollie"s Mom (May 23, 2014)

I think you did a fantastic job and that you were put in the wrong competition for your level of experience. Obviously the judge was great and wanted you to know how well Ricky would have done had he been in the correct level of competition. Way to go we are all really proud of you Ricky.  Cannot wait to cheer you on in your next event.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Karen, I am confused. I just went over the latest AKC Obedience Rules and there is no mention of Beginner Novice rules, judging, criteria, etc. There are sections for Preferred Novice and Novice A/B (which is more demanding than Preferred) but nothing about Beginner Novice. And the AKC application did not have a category for Beginner Novice, only Preferred Novice and Novice A/B. This is one of the many reasons why I thought that Beginner Novice had been eliminated and replaced by Preferred Novice. Yet there were people there today competing in Beginner Novice so I am not looking in the right place.
> 
> Beginner Novice had signs throughout the ring that the handler followed and the judge gave no verbal directions. The only off lease work was "stand for inspection", "recall", and "sit/walk around the ring". Ricky does those things with ease. His biggest problem is heeling off lease.
> 
> ...


Are you trying to find the rules on line, or did you buy a rule book? Unfortunately, you will find that AKC is not always "user friendly". They "updated and improved" the web site over a year ago now, and now it's really hard to find things other than "pet" stuff, and they also left older versions of things. I'm on my iPad now, but when I get downstairs onto the computer, I'll send you the link for the current rules and regs, and also a link to where you can actually purchase a hard copy. I strongly recommend that you purchase a hard copy of both the obedience and rally rules. (separate books) I was afraid that you were confused by what you had posted a couple of weeks ago. Any time you have a problem like that, FEEL FREE to PM me!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Here's a link to the Dec. 1, 2015 (most recent) rules:

http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf

Here's the link to the book store page, where you can purchase the hard copy:

https://www.apps.akc.org//apps/store/index.cfm?view=category&cde_category=EVNTRULE

You have to go back a LONG way to find a rule book without Beginner Novice, though... That class has been in existence since 2010. Preferred Novice was essentially also available for the past couple of years... It was just called "Pre-Novice" instead of "Preferred Novice". The rules, however, were exactly the same for the class, it just wasn't part of a "alternative titling track". The "preferred" classes differ from the "regular" classes in only two substantial ways. 1. There are no group stays, and 2. You may jump 1/2 the height of the dog. (which is about half the regular jump height, so these classes can be good for dogs with infirmities) Fortunately for those of us who have "Pre" class titles, our titles have been grandfathered into the new program, so we don't have to go back and do them again.

If you were using the correct version of the rule book, the problem may have been that you were looking at the titling track classes. Beginner Novice is considered an "OPTIONAL titling class", which means that it is not part of a "track". You can enter these classes at any time, with no prerequisites, and you can even go backwards if you want. Most people don't do it, but a dog with a Utility title COULD be entered in the Beginner Novice "B" class. (You would be in BN "A", so you would NOT be competing against these people!!!) All the Optional Titling classes are listed AFTER the two titling tracks, so you may have missed them. Beginner Novice is on page 78.

Don't feel bad that you couldn't figure this out on your own. As I've mentioned, my instructor is a judge, as well as having numerous UDX's under her belt. Whenever we complain about something in AKC not making sense, she says, "They don't have to make sense, their the AKC". The judges have to go to trainings from time to time, and she says the rep for our area says this to the judges all the time.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> Are you trying to find the rules on line, or did you buy a rule book?.........I was afraid that you were confused by what you had posted a couple of weeks ago.


Yes, I was looking online and yes, confused is my middle name!



krandall said:


> Here's a link to the Dec. 1, 2015 (most recent) rules:
> 
> http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf


There it is, what I am looking for, Chapter 16!!!!!!! Okay, I will order a hard copy. They were probably selling them at the show yesterday at the AKC booth, but it didn't even cross my mind, I was so focused on "other" things.

Thank you so much Karen! :x I still have lots of questions about titling/non-titling. optional/non-optional, and track/non-track (seems like an AKC flow chart would be useful here),,,,,,but let me absorb the rules first to un-confuse myself. I can PM you questions, but I wonder if it might be of more value to others who might want to try their hand at obedience competition, to talk about it here on HF in a new, dedicated thread.

gracias, Rick's Popi


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Yes, I was looking online and yes, confused is my middle name!
> 
> There it is, what I am looking for, Chapter 16!!!!!!! Okay, I will order a hard copy. They were probably selling them at the show yesterday at the AKC booth, but it didn't even cross my mind, I was so focused on "other" things.
> 
> ...


Absolutely! I just didn't want to bore people. Believe me, I am JUST as confused over the conformation rules, what various awards mean... "Winner's Bitch", "Best of Winners", "Award of Merit" What do those MEAN?!?!  And TOTALLY clueless on how those translate to points... which I DO know is also related to the number of dogs competing. Oy Vey!!!


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Momi and Popi had so many people stop and ask about Ricky at the show yesterday:

- that is the cutest dog I have ever seen, what breed is it, Shar Pei? - OMG, there is a Havanese, may I pet him him? - I have had xxxxx dogs in the past but I think I want a Havanese now, can I ask you some questions? - is it true that Havanese are as intelligent as I have heard? - Come on, you can't tell me that dog doesn't shed - do Havanese travel well? - how much time does it take to brush him? - I have seen Havanese in just about every color, are they a mixed breed? - your dog is so self-confident, is that typical of Havanese? - I thought that Havanese were delicate and un-sturdy, your guy is built like a baby tank! - how much does he weigh, I would guess about 25 pounds? - you are going to compete in obedience, I thought Havanese were only good for conformation! - my neighbor is breeding Havanese in her home and is selling them for $500, is that a good deal? - is your dog for sale?

I try to be honest with people in my answers, giving both the pros and cons of the breed, without blurting out, THIS IS THE BEST DAYAM BREED IN THE WORLD!

We ran into a couple from San Diego who had "his" and "her" Havanese. His dog's name is.....drumroll............Ricky Ricardo (cymbals clash)! Our Ricky wanted to play with their two dogs, but they were uninterested.

Ricky's Popi


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> Absolutely! I just didn't want to bore people. Believe me, I am JUST as confused over the conformation rules, what various awards mean... "Winner's Bitch", "Best of Winners", "Award of Merit" What do those MEAN?!?!  And TOTALLY clueless on how those translate to points... which I DO know is also related to the number of dogs competing. Oy Vey!!!


Ain't that the truth! I keep seeing these podiums in conformation with a sign underneath that says "BOB" Who the hello is BOB? :grin2:

Ricky's Popi


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## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Wow, sounds like an amazing day even though you NQ'd. But it sounds like you both did a great job and we are all proud of you. Thank you for the play by play. And yes, a new thread with discussions about competition rules would be beneficial to anyone interested rather then a private conversation. Karen, I don't find your explanations boring at all. It's enlightening.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Laurmann2000 said:


> Wow, sounds like an amazing day even though you NQ'd. But it sounds like you both did a great job and we are all proud of you. Thank you for the play by play. And yes, a new thread with discussions about competition rules would be beneficial to anyone interested rather then a private conversation. Karen, I don't find your explanations boring at all. It's enlightening.


How do I triple "LIKE" something?

Rickys Popi


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Wow, Ricky. You are a champ in my eyes!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Sounds like a fun day! I'm proud of you and Popi for all your work to be able to compete!  Your our star!!!


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