This time around, I dragged Tom and the rest of the pups since they could use a good outing and after the match we had a shiba meet up to attend. Tetsu perched on Tom's lap while Miyu remained crated, with unleashed dogs around and Tom suffering from a migraine, this seemed like the best option.
I worked with Tikaani for a bit before stepping into the ring, having a hard time getting his focus with all the excitement and new smells around. Once we stepped in the ring though, his focus was right on me, or more specifically the bit of cheese in my hand (I opted FEO)that didn't interest him earlier. He was a bit rough at the beginning of the heel, but sharpened up and did fantastic. He did a wonderful figure eight, and performed the stand/stay perfectly. I was a bit worried about his stand/stay since he had shown head shyness in class, but this judge touched him along the neck instead of the top of the head, to which he gave no reaction to.
Even though it was a Novice match with off leash elements, I opted to keep a hold of his leash with everything but the recall. I wrapped the loosely around his neck in a fashion that if he had decided to go for a joy run it would unwrap and become something to grab onto. But no worries there, he came when called and sat mostly centered to me, facing at a slight angle in prep for the finish. I got him to center and motioned him to finish. Usually he's pretty good with his finish, but this time around he was a bit sloppy. It was probably due to all of the distractions, but he still kept with me.
During the group sit/stay and down/stay, he seemed to be pretty glad to not have to move, especially with all that sun cooking his coat. To his right was a German Shepherd Dog that didn't want to listen, and focused on me every time I treated Tikaani. To his left, was an energetic toy poodle that kept trying to sniff him and also didn't want to hold still. But even with this, Tikaani stayed and only adjusted to a more comfortable down.
When the match was done, I traded Tikaani for Tetsu and walked around to get a peek at what else was going on. There were several vendors and clubs there, I got to pet a toy Xolo and talked to a SARS person. They were about to do a dirt dog demonstration, but it was time for us to clean up and head to the meet up. Apparently, when I was wondering around there was a small scare of a loose Golden Retriever running up to Tom and Tikaani. Miyu was barking her head off in the crate, while Tikaani and the Golden were initiating play bows to each other. This sort of thing really didn't help Tom's headache, but it was a good thing we had switched dogs since Tetsu doesn't appreciate dogs running up to him.
All and all it was a fun day, and after the meet up we brought home some tired pups. They remained dead for the rest of the day, even moaning every time I offered to take them out for potty walks. Well, since we didn't get any pictures of the match, here's one of Tetsu and Miyu at the meet up actually enjoying each others company:
