Our First Handling Class!

Ok, so I have to admit I was very excited to start learning all about Dog Handling. Then we got there and nervousness set in. There were three other dogs there older than Sadie and their owners obviously had done handling before and were just touching up on their knowledge and getting helpful hints from the instructor and practice in the ring with their dogs. I looked at the ring and was very intimidated....ugh....I wouldn't let my poor husband watch. I sent him outside. The instructor started asking the three others what they wanted or needed to go over tonight and they talked about issues they were having with the dog when it went into the ring or was around the Judges. Then they got to me....um, we are just starting out and we know nothing. She immediately put me at ease, explaining we would just take it one step at a time and we were just going to get Sadie used to the ring. We went one at a time around the ring and then she played the role of the Judge and had us position our dogs so the Judge would have the right view of them. She explained how to put them and why to put them that way. She had me stack Sadie on the table (this is when the Judge goes over and looks over your dog)...she said "don't worry about her leg position right now, let's just get her used to the table, although her leg position is great!" WOW that was wonderful to hear! At the end of the class she had us all go around the ring together putting Sadie (nicknamed "the Baby" at the class) at the end of the line. Well she LOVED that. Sadie followed all the other dogs wonderfully, picking her legs up proudly, strutting around the ring. She seems so natural at it and loves learning new things. I must say, once we got into the ring, I was concentrating on her so much that I blocked out everything around me. Let's hope I can continue to do that. The other people there were also very nice and supportive. They watched Sadie and told me with how she was doing right off, I would have her finished to her championship in no time. Time will tell....but we are really working at it!