Worth the Wait

FINALLY!  Not that we had many chances for this, but it's still been a long road...  (Maybe I'm just impatient. haha ;-)

There are only a couple UKC obedience trials in my area per year, so it's always quite a gap between opportunities to compete.  (And then I have to contend with the "other" rulebooks in my head confusing me in the ring.  LOL  Which is what killed us this spring.)  Thankfully the weather cooperated and I was able to enter UDSNNE's December trials in Westford, MA.

The day started with a beautiful sunrise on the drive down (one perk to getting up and out early!)  I reviewed my notes several times so I had some idea of what I was supposed to be doing out there.  haha  And packed the American cheese - Tripp's very most favorite - as his post-competition reward...

We had two chances to place.  And only one Utility leg needed.  I told him he better get it this time!  LOL  Well, here comes his first turn in the ring.  It wasn't perfect, but it was really quite nice overall.  I lost as many points as he did, but I was still very happy with our performance.  And Go Tripp, he titled right then and there!  :-)  Yes!!  For that, I gave him BOTH pieces of cheese!  Well deserved.

Don't worry, he still had string cheese and chicken for trial two.  Sure, we could have left, but after all, I paid for the entry, you know I'm gonna take it!  And as the judge said, it never hurts to have a "buffer leg" just in case.  ;-) 

Of course, what does he do on the leg that doesn't count but get a better score.  LOL  Hey, I'm ok with that though!  And we even had a brief moment of excitement when packing up to leave - I was told to stay a bit longer as we were in the running for High In Trial!  Woah!  On the plus side, it was a short wait at that point for the trial to end.  On the down side, we were beat out at the last minute.  But it's all good, and I'm ok with "runner up" for HIT.  :-)  Either way, a fine day to finish his UUD!

Geez, Tripp, so serious! LOL

Handsome in his well earned medal. :-)

The title medallion we've been chasing for a year. Personalized - wow!! Even prettier and more special than expected!