2015 Dog Show Goals

Having completed the 2014 year in review look back at the accomplishments from the shows Zeus and I attended, I thought it would be a good idea to set some goals for what I want to accomplish together in 2015.  Zeus is our main show dog, so most of the activity is focused on him, but we do show and trial our other dogs as well.

UKC

Conformation – Zeus received his UKC Championship in 2014.  The next step for him in UKC Conformation would be to win his Grand Championship title.  That’s not an easy thing to do, because you have to A)Win the Champion class for your breed 5 times and B)Have wins under at least three different judges.  So if no other UKC Champions show up in your breed at a show, it’s tough get wins that count toward the GCH title.

Rally Obedience – Zeus received his RO1 title in 2014, and completed two of the three legs needed for his RO2 title.  I don’t think we’ll have any problem getting the RO2 title early in 2014.

Agility – After we finish our RO2 title for Rally Obedience, I’d very much like to start doing agility classes with Zeus and work on an his “UAGI” title.  We started practicing jumps in 2014 (in preparation for our AKC Rally Advanced title competition) and both Zeus and I REALLY liked it.  I’m not entirely sure what’s involved in both UKC and AKC Agility, but I think we’ll give it a try.

 RKNA

Sieger – RKNA Sieger shows (the same goes for other US Rottweiler club events like AIRK or USRC) are tough to plan for for ahead of time because you’re don’t often know what shows will take place in any given year more than just a few months in advance.  And just because a club held a show last year is no guarantee they’ll be able to hold one the following year.  As it stands, the only RKNA Sieger Show that is within reasonable travel distance for us that’s on the RKNA calendar right now is the June 6-7 Breed Survey in Ontario, Canada.  It’s been too long since I’ve been to Canada, so it will be a nice show to attend, and our first outside the US.  Zeus currently has two points toward his RKNA Championship title – it sure would be nice to add to that total at some point in 2015.

IPO – I know almost nothing about IPO/Shutzhund, but I have a goal for 2015 to attend a seminar or two somewhere in the world and to try to get smarter about IPO.  There’s a real chicken-and-egg problem I’m running into regarding learning about IPO.   It seems the best way to learn about IPO is just to jump in and do it with folks that know what they’re doing.  But if no one around you knows anything about it, how do you learn?

AKC

Conformation – Because of the whole “tail issue” it’s going to be VERY hard for Zeus to earn his AKC CH title.  The way AKC shows are set up, you have to enter a LOT of shows (and spend much money in the process) to earn enough points.  But I’m only going to show in AKC shows where I can get some feedback from the Rottweiler community that the judge in question is friendly toward natural tailed Rottweilers.  So that will greatly limit the number of AKC shows we can enter.  The first one on our radar is in February – The Hoosier Rottweiler Club Specialty in In Indianapolis, IN.  More locally, the Fort St. Clair Kennel Club has a very nice show in April I’m hoping to attend (the 25th and 26th) but it directly conflicts with the American Rottweiler Club Nationals which is in St. Louis this year at Purina Farms.  But that’s about as far out as I’ve planned for AKC/ARC conformation events.  So my goal for 2015 really is to just try and start getting points!

Rally Obedience – We’re 2 legs shy of Zeus’s RN title, which we should have no problem getting.   I’ll likely wait until Spring to begin really getting ready for R/O trials – it is hard to train in the back yard when there is snow on the ground).  After completing Zeus’s Rally Novice (RN) and Rally Advanced (RA) titles,  I’ll decide if we want to continue further in Rally Obedience or focus on Agility.

Agility – As I indicated above in my UKC write up, I want to start doing some agility classes with Zeus and if possible, compete in both UKC and AKC Agility trials.

IABCA

In January, IABCA returns to my own back yard in Dayton OH with the 2015 IABCA Buckeye State Sieger.  It’s the only IABCA event within reasonable driving distance of Dayton, OH that’s on their calendar presently (last year the almost had a show in Cincinnati but there seems to be no mention of it on their calendar for this year…grrrrr).  Zeus will be about 20 months old in January, which I believe will put him in the IABCA Senior Puppy Class – so our goal for 2015 will be to get the IABCA National Senior Puppy Champion – NatSR – and International Senior Puppy Champion – IntSR – titles.  Last year’s show was fun and great practice, even if IABCA and their titles aren’t particularly significant in the show world.

Of course, we do have three other dogs to think about too – another Rottweiler named Maximus, and two Labrador Retrievers named Hans and Lady.  At a minimum, I’d like to get UKC and AKC first level Rally Obedience titles on all of them (Maximums has his RO1 currently).

That’s about as far as I have things planned out at this point – I’m sure some shows will pop up (particularly in RKNA or AIRK) which aren’t yet on the calendar.