Page 1 Obedience heel, down, positions, food refusal
Page 2 Retrieves, little woods, send away, jumps
Page 3 Defense of Handler, Face and Flee
Page 4 Search and Escort, Guard of Object
Page 5 Scores and Thank you

For this trial we invited our first over-the-sea judge, Mr Neal Wallis from Norway. Our decoys were Chris Moody from Amarillo Texas, and Jeremy Norton all the way from Minneapolis (not Wisconsin). The theme for this trial was Braveheart "Freeedom" featuring Wallace hut and village, the killing field with body parts, and the English tent with Wallace on a slab in his final moments. Plenty of Halloween gore for all. Themes in Mondioring are selected to present the dogs with distractions beyond normal field setup. Along with field decoration and distraction, the order and field setup changes according to the host club and the judge's creativity. This enables the judge to observe the dog's work character independent of the handler's assistance. And the themes help create an atmosphere to remind us, this for fun! Around the field, distractions were placed where dogs might notice, the jumps were topped with crows, and a strapped on squirrel. Toys and hats were placed at places where the dog would be on a down. These items caused much more stress for the nervous handlers than the dogs.
Judge Wallis set the field up to be near 75x75 meters (minimum is 60x60). As Jeremy noted; "He said he wanted to use the entire field, and he did. It was a mental challenge for some dogs to traverse the field--where many times the judges use an economy of terrain (because the European club trial fields are generally smaller & more confined, plus they have many more dogs to get through each day), he wanted to use the full acreage. As a decoy, running from one end to the other at altitude was a bit taxing... but it was a good challenge for the handlers and dogs to keep focused wandering from one end of field to the other between exercises."
For saturday entries we had 5 MR1 dogs, 2 MR2, and one MR3. Sunday was 3 MR1 and one MR2 entry. We were lucky this weekend to have experienced dogs for DIW, and our own Endeavor training club black lab who amazed us with his DIW obedience for the MR1 level. We look forward to seeing him trial for the new MR1 obedience title.

Marcia presents herself to Judge Neal Wallis while Shane waits in a down stay, they showed as DIW (Dog in White demo dog) as the MR1 level handlers watched.

Obedience:
heeling, absence, food refusal, send out, retrieve, positions, and search of little wood

In Mondioring there are specific exercises and rules for each level, but the judge uses creativity to devise scenarios that increase difficulties and distractions for each level. Before the handlers compete, they are walked through the course along with a DIW (Dog In White) to demonstrate what is required to the handlers, and so the judge can make adjustments. It is up to the handler (with help from the Deputy Judge) to remember what was instructed. The handlers and the DIW are walked through the exercises at each of the levels.


The trial starts with Judge, DIW team, handlers, and field help walking through the first level of exercises. The handler and dog team enter the field after taking all collars off the dog. The team entered the gate, placed the dog on a stay and reported to the judge. At this time the handler gives information such as names, jump heights and if recall will be by whistle or voice. The MR2 and MR3 handlers will also pick up a small cylinder of wood that will be used for search and scent exercise later on the field. Here I encountered my first handler mistake. I did not have my vest on, and the wood must not be seen by the dog, so my back pocket was out. So I put it in my tiny front pocket and hoped it would not fall out.
As we followed the MR1 DIW around the field, we very quickly realized that Mr Wallis had setup an unusual field. Prep locations were marked with small circles and were not the expected 3 meters perpendicular to start line. And in face Mr Wallis explained we could cue and prep as we liked before the spot, but once there, no cues, we were reporting as ready.

Mondioring heeling differs from Schutzhund and AKC heeling in a number of ways. First, the pattern is unknown until the DIW demonstration is given by the judge. Position is very important, the dog must not forge past the leading leg, but precision is not required with head positions, the dog can look to see where he is going. The handler may be asked to go around or over or sit next to anything. A very important difference is that in schutzhund the handler gives the dog heel commands at change of speed or heeling after the dog has sat. In Mondioring, the command to heel is given at the start, and handler can not speak again until end of exercise. This is true for ALL the exercises and handlers can lose points or zero an entire exercise for speaking out of turn. The patterns seem very simple until you are out there competing. With trial nerves I often go "blank" and as I execute a turn start to panic because I do not know where to go next. Then I remember, head for the pumpkin and breathe!

The main gotcha was to circle around the skeleton and walk over bones - staying within a dotted circle. Ibn moved wide while stepping over the junk and we lost .5 points for that. At least we managed to follow instructions and turn the correct directions.

Terry and Ibn start the heeling pattern for MR2, staying inside dotted line against hay bales. Mike and Pi heel for MR2 circling around and over bones while staying within dotted circle. Terry and Ibn continue heel past one of the bodies on the killing field. Note: this high traffic area is the same place where the decoys will act out their scenario, and the upper level dogs will then search to find and scent the little wood placed by their handler.

The Mondioring down stay (Absence) lasts one long minute with the handler absent and out of sight. Distractions are presented to the dog with difficulty increased at each level where the judge can decide to have the dog sit or down for the stay. This is a long minute and the exercise will be a zero score if the dog lifts his elbows from a down. Saturday's stay was placed the dog in a painted box, next to a pumpkin. The tricky part was we had to leave the dog and walk back BEHIND the dog - all the way back to a blind. Distractions for the dog were in front of the dog - but handler was behind! Ibn always looks for me when I am out of sight, so I waited anxiously in the blind to hear the double horn indicating Ibn had gotten up on his elbows to look for me - causing the exercise to 0. To my relief, the single horn to continue and return sounded and as I came out of the blind I noticed that Ibn's body was turned to face my direction - how had he not zeroed? He had schooched around without lifting up - lucky boy. Sunday down stay seemed much easier, though for Ibn it was even harder. This time he was on a down and I left directly from his side at an angle to a blind that was close enough to see. The closer I am, the more likely he is to pop up. But this day he stuck to his spot with no movement.
The distractions were very effective at getting most the dogs to react a least a little bit. Laurie was great all day long, doing a good job with distractions in front of the dog. For the MR1 dogs she stood behind the hut and made noises through a bull horn. As Aida noted "you had the most wonderful sound effects and distraction talent ever... A wide array of sounds, some animal, some loud noises, some human sounds is great. ". The MR2 and MR3 distraction included a whip which is something folks might use in protection (especially if they have come from Schutzhund) so practicing a long down with whip cracking is something worth thinking about.

MR2 Pi watches Laurie use the whip and exclaim "bad dog" at the stuffed dog.

Bogan watches Laurie make noises during the MR1 down stay, he is positioned facing forward in the box, the handler is hidden in a blind at end of field behind the dog.

SchH3 dogs doing the Absence, or long down for Mondioring. Top is Zac on Saturday, bottom is Ibn on Sunday.

The food refusal was presented next to the cauldron, Laurie tempted the dogs with raw liver suspended by antler horns. The difficulty of food refusal is increased for each level until at level 3 multiple pieces of food is tossed directly on the dog's feet. The dog may actually move to avoid the food, they just must not eat it. Additionally the Judge plants food in various

For food refusal the dog is placed within box shaped lines and next to distraction items. As the handler walks away, Laurie dangles raw liver and drops on his feet. Ibn's face shows his avoidance.

All Mondioring levels must demonstrate a change of positions. The MR1 handlers stood in front of the chain platform, upper levels stood behind and commanded the dog at distance through the change of positions, sit, stand, and down. These positions are whispered to the handler by deputy judge Keith Jobe. The judge can choose the handler to leave the dog in any of the three positions, Judge Wallis had the handler do a random draw, one level was a down, another was a sit. Points are deducted for moving forward toward the handler or missing a position. The number of positions and distractions increase at each level.

Shane, the DIW for MR1, demonstrates the change of positions at distance from handler while Ibn changes into a stand position.

Page 1 Obedience heel, down, positions, food refusal
Page 2 Retrieves, little woods, send away, jumps
Page 3 Defense of Handler, Face and Flee
Page 4 Search and Escort, Guard of Object
Page 5 Scores and Thank you