Playland - February 07 – Hutto, TX



San Gabriel Ringers and East Texas Mondioring co-hosted a fabulous weekend at Canine Headquarters. In addition to 2 trial days, there was a successful decoy certification, lots of training, good food and drink many great moments with friends new and old alike!

The field décor was a playful assortment of stuffed animals, children’s plastic play equipment, other varied toys, an obstacle made from an agility tunnel and child’s play tunnel, regular Schutzhund style blinds, a special metal box hiding place and balloons.

Saturday started with a Brevet program that included heeling, absence, handler’s choice of retrieve, .8m hurdle, defense of handler and face attack with stick. The defense was a simple point to point with the decoy first waving the hand of a giant gorilla in the face of the dog short before the aggression.
Cari Holliday & Isette du loups du Soleil MR BREVET

Level 1 added a send out, change of positions, an absence with the distraction being a hoola hoop being tossed onto a 4 ft Wonder Woman/ Superman punching balloon. Retrieve item was a giant koosh ball and food refusal was hot dog. The defense of handler built on a point to point with a more animated distraction by the gorilla and was followed by flee and face attack with a stick.

Pictured above right, Tammy Doherty & Couer de lion CrackerJack, MR1 , left side, Tim Bartlett & Loki du loups du Soleil MR1

Retrieve item for level 2 was a plastic scuba flipper and also added to the obedience was the little wood exercise, and the handler’s choice of a second jump in addition to the hurdle. The stick attack was over the agility tunnel obstacle, which was littered in front with 50 plastic balls, which had been previously tossed at the dog as an accessory. Hiding place for the decoy in the search and transport was the metal blind and the field décor supplied several escape opportunities. The level 2 defense added on the distraction of a second decoy and a naughty horsey.

Saturday judge’s dinner was at a BBQ dance hall. After dinner, to the delight our the group, judge, Jos Helsen, rode a mechanical bull for several seconds before being launched onto a well padded floor.

A new arrangement of the field supplied a different look for Sunday’s slightly more difficult trial. Brevet’s heeling pattern had the dog’s walking past an animated singing stuffed bear and level 1 and 2 heeling had the dog stopping right next to the toy while it sang and danced. Level 1 retrieve was a stuffed animal and the level 2 was a rubber tire with a rope attached. The distraction for absence was a child’s “popcorn” roller pushed at varied level of intensity while the dog was placed behind a play tunnel. Level 2 accessory was the classic pom-pom made from caution tape and the hiding place for the search was a traditional blind.
Sandrine Clark and Ikoe vom Fruklingsback, MR1

Sunday’s defense had the handler “shopping” in a store where the decoy played the role of a clerk who instructed the handler to “NOT touch any of the valuable merchandise” His comments were mimicked by a parrot who squawked that the stuff was “VERY EXPENSIVE” and “Don’t touch anything!” In Brevet, the forgetful handler was aggressed upon when they picked up a toy. In level 1, the handler picked up two pool noodles which they had a little game of tug with the decoys before the aggression. In Level 2, after the noodle tug, the decoy went off and came back with a giant smiley ball, which was kicked directly at the dog just before the handler was hit.

Dog in white duties were performed by Carlos Gomez & “Graff”, Risa Hunnicut & “Kuda”, Ann Putegnat and “Edoc”, Tammy Doherty & “Crack” and Tim Bartlett & “Manu”.


above, new decoys Dave & Arturo and trial decoy Matt

In addition to Decoy certifications earned by Dave Kroyer and Arturo Terrazas, an impressive amount of “Q’s” A historic first leg of MR2 from the first USA Doberman team of James Hall & “Diablo,” as well as the title earning second legs of MR1 for Tim Bartlett & “Loki” and Tammy Doherty and “Crack”. Sandrine Clark and her GSD, “Ikoe” qualified both days in a row to earn their MR1 title and Brevet was awarded to Cari Holliday and “Issette”

Many thanks to all who made this great weekend possible. Of course, we must remember to thank our dogs who show us the way and brought us all together! Special mention to the generosity of San Gabriel Ringer’s Marki Barta for absorbing the lions share of the costs of a small trial, as a small club, and keeping things running smooth with her no BS attitude as deputy judge. Also East Texas Mondioringer’s trial secretary/co-host Risa Hunnicutt, who has and is learning the to bring alive the Spirit of Mondio on a budget with a BANG!!!

Karen and Dave Kroyer for allowing their field to be turned into a scene that looked like an emerging pre-school.

All the players who came onto the field with their dogs who might say it’s a lot harder AND a lot more fun than it looks??

To the spectators who came from far and near to support the trial and it’s players. It should be especially satisfying to the “old-timers” who are finally able to stand back and enjoy the show while some of the new clubs and faces take the helm for awhile.

Chris Moody & "Diablo" MR Catagory 2

The decoys - Chris Moody who drove 18 hours from home and back so he could go home with a bruised body from working anyone’s dog who asked him. Tim Bartlett and Matt Moore, who in addition to working dogs all weekend, stayed past the closing ceremonies to conduct a decoy certification while every one else was driving home or kicking back and celebrating. Dave and Arturo for giving their best and being patient as we are learning and tweaking the selection process. And of course, all the other decoys that help us train our dogs so that we have more than just obedience and jumps.

And last, but not least, Judge, Jos Helsen and his lovely wife Marlene, who gave their vacation time to face the exhaustion of international travel in order to make this trial possible. For the price of the points, many were shown the holes in training and handling. And later, off the field, for the price of a beer or two, or six, Jos most generously shared news and his knowledge. It was incredibly encouraging to hear Jos say that over the years, he has seen much improvement in our training and handling and he is happy to raise the bar to reflect this progress.

Since we are diverse groups of many personalities and training styles, it would be a lie to say that there are no politics in US Mondioring. BUT, this weekend proves that we can put our differences aside for the sake of the “game” and in turn, we can become better handlers, decoys, and trainers and in some cases, even better people.

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