WilliamsGreg took Ari, never having handled him, out on for the routine. He has just blown me off for the PDC and this was the PSA 1 which was harder. They got an 83 I think but lost 5 points because on the down Ari thought that he was to go with Greg so he did. The next day he got 88.
When they pass obedience
(75 of 100) they get to go on to protection. If not, they’re done. In the first protection scenario, the team has to heel to the vehicle and then a wide collar is put on the dog. They get in the vehicle and a guy comes up, talks, the dog is fired up and then there is the attack with gunshots. The dog is to fight, the guy freezes, the dog outs and guards. You get 3 times to out but the handler says it once and waits until the judge says out again. I lost a point in NY because I said out twice and wouldn’t have needed to.
In the second scenario when Greg handled Ari, he didn’t ask for the arm presentation. This was early June and Ari wasn’t used to the inside arm bite and it was that scenario this cost him the title by 1 point. On the other hand it’s an automatic 5 point deduction if you ask for the arm presentation. This is the scenario that you never know what will be used for a distraction. I’ve seen spray bottles in each hand squirting water in the dogs face, gallon jugs of water poured on the dog, a hose, (we’ve
worked on all this stuff with Mark Keating) jugs of rocks, an air horn and at the last trial, the decoy charged through 16 cardboard boxes (4 wide/4 high) before the dog saw him. Only one dog passed that day. The 3rd scenario is the courage test and a suitcase type item is thrown at the dog to fend them off. Here he asked for the arm presentation.
With every scenario and the obedience there is an evaluation. Overall this day Ari scored 82% which is very good but since he missed the one scenario by a point he didn’t title.
NOW if he will just do it for me!
