High Mesa Mondioring Trial November 2008

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 the MR1 teams, Judge Wallis selected a a brown wig from a "dead" warrior, a hairy vest for the MR2, and used William Wallace's big sword for MR3. One command is given to bring, the handler must remain in place and wait for the dog to return the item within 15 seconds. Points are deducted for chewing or dropping the item.



Ibn and I were not so lucky in the retrieve. The hairy vest was too much for Ibn, he picked it up and on the way back, stopped - just out of reach and began to shred to pieces! What is up with that!? So we lost all our retrieve points. Note if I could have reached and grabbed the darn vest without moving my feet, we would have at least gotten partial points. After the retrieves was the send away and Ibn ran straight - to a stuffed dog with intention of tearing it up too. That is part of the problem of being on the field for a long time.

Bogan shows a nice MR1 retrieve of wig back to Steve. Cuchi finds the wig distasteful but returns to Charley. MR2 Pi (top) brings back the hairy warrior vest with good style, Ibn can not resist stopping to shred and play - ending the exercise and receiving zero this day. MR3 Jackson brings Donna the sword of William Wallace for full retrieve points.

In Mondioring there are many exercises, and you are on the field for a long time. It is very important that the handler to "prepare" the dog and give cues before performing the work. For many judges, they have a preparation line is 3 meters from the official start line. The handler cues the dog at the preparation line, then then moves to the start line for an official start. Judge Neal Wallis required a slightly different approach, instructing the handlers to prepare the dog before reaching the prep line, when ready - move to the line to indicate the team is prepared, wait for the horn and move to the start line. The prep lines and spots were painted before and sometimes to the side of the start line. This was awkward for those of us who always practiced cues at prep line exactly 3 meters in front of start. But this did require the handler be more creative with the cues.

One of the more important routines requiring good cues is the "send away". It is important the dog run straight from the handler and not deviate more than 10 meters to either side, he must continue until markers are passed and a horn is sounded for the recall back to handler. It is very easy for the dog to confuse this with the retrieve or the search, and some dogs are attracted off side by toys or markers. Blinds pose a very strong attraction to most the dogs.

MR1 Aida directs Bordeaux down field for the send away. Since both the prep spot and the start line are against the fence, she has chosen a place against the fence, before the prep spot, but still showing the dog down the field between the markers. Mike has moved Pi to the start line against the fence, and sends his dog down field nice and straight.

Ibn was clearly still excited from just finishing his retrieve, where he shredded the vest. I give him a cue for the send away, but the stuffed dog catches his eye. He brings the toy proudly back for a nicely executed retrieve - except this was supposed to be a "send away". He receives a zero for not crossing the line and we continue to next exercise while Deputy judge Keith Jobe seems to scold the instigating toy.

Ibn searches by nose for the little wood, starts back, realizes it is not my scented wood, goes back, finds my little wood and brings back for full points, and with .15 minutes remaining.

The MR2 and MR3 dogs do a scent search for object. The handler is given a small piece of wood at presentation. The wood is scented by the handler and is placed as directed with neutral scent woods around it. The dogs had a very hard time in this search area, working hard but not always finding the wood which was sitting in plain sight and seemed easy to find. But this area was heavily used for the heel routine, and the MR1 scenarios with decoys rolling on the ground. The strong scent of hay and decoy suits may have made this a more difficult exercise. A note for handlers: I was not wearing a vest with pockets, so had to place the wood in my pant pocket where Ibn could not see it. The pocket was small and I worried about it slipping out. The exercise is a zero if the dog sees the wood before being placed for search. Be prepared with a good place to put this wood until used.

Jumps:
Hurdle, Palisade, Long Jump

Some of the most thrilling work is done on the jumps. These exercises require not only physical fitness, but good technical ability. The hurdle is adjustable from 1 to 1.2 meters high. The dog must jump both directions without knocking off the bar, then return to handler standing at the side. The Palisade (vertical wall) starts at 1.8 meters and can be adjusted to a full height of 2.3 meters. The long jump requires a leap of at least 3 meters and can be adjusted up to 4 meters in length. Brevet levels must jump the hurdle and MR1 dogs choose a jump. The MR3 level requires all three jumps.

For many of us, we have trained the jumps, choosing our own preparation spots in relation to where we will start. Judge Neal Wallis provided preparation spots for the jumps, they were placed far enough back and to the side such that the handler could move from the prep spot to a start position of their choosing.

The hurdle with Bordeaux at 1 meter for MR1, Ibn, Pi, and Action Jackson at full height of 1.2 meters.

The Palisade with Ibn and Pi at full MR2 height of 2.1 meters, and Jackson at full MR3 height of 2.3 meters. The preparation spot is very near to where Judge Wallis is standing in the first photo. You indicate your readiness at that spot, then walk far enough out to show the dog an approach, then place them as usual in front of the Palisade to wait for the jump command.

The MR3 competitor must demonstrate all 3 jumps, the Hurdle, the Palisade, and the broad jump. Jackson is shows off his nice style over the broad jump.

High Mesa Mondioring Trial November 2008

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