Shimmer is IN the ring !!!

Yes, last night was the Big Dog's debut..I never thought we'd see the day! Shimmer ran in novice snooker and novice gamblers at the Gosnells Games Trial. I had no idea what she was going to do and was prepared for anything. I planned a very nice simple flowing snooker course (uh-missing out the last 'colour' so apparently it wasn't legal, oops, you can tell I don't really do games much!) She was bouncing all over me before we went in, 'hopping in' with great enthusiasm and smiling all over her face. I did a reasonable lead-out to get into position and released her..and she was off! Straight over the jumps, turned where I wanted her to turn, powered through the weavers and topped it off with a perfect running dog walk! I was absolutely RAPT with her performance, as Karen said, 'no mess, no fuss, just got on with the job'.

I have never put a dog in the ring with so little skills, normally my dogs are running excellent level courses in training clear before they are entered. However due to all Shim's health issues, she has only run 1 full course at training, and doesnt have any skills past novice level. But she LOVES the game, and I didn't think it would hurt her to have a go.

Novice gamblers was a little beyond her, as I thought it might be. The dog walk only had turning obstacles by it, there was no way of making a straight run, and she can't turn off it yet. She had a go, but I only liked 2 out of her 4 attempts, and 1 she missed. No big deal, we will keep working on it. I must say they are much more fun then stopped contacts! She did manage a 2nd place and Q in gamblers, when the peanut gallery shrieked at me to finish the course when the buzzer went off.

So..VERY pleased with the baby dog..she has a couple of events, then she will give the state trial a go (very low expectations!) Then she will come out and do some training to increase her skills, and probably won't go in the ring again until the end of the year.

As for the other baby dog..she is also coming along well. She is VERY into her training, and would train all day if I was up for it. She is a little energiser bunny that never seems to run out of batteries..and I do mean never ! She could go for a long walk, come home and do some training, and then will bring a toy and BARK her head off if it doesnt get thrown for her. We still haven't managed to convince her to bring the toy back however..

Below are vids of Shim's snooker run and Terra's gamblers run. Note EVERY contact is perfect..HOW does she know the difference between this and a 'real' trial??