Maverick had a great 5 shows and finished his CD and RN titles (with 98/100 scores). Then my little brown dog shocked me by moving up to Advanced, virtually unpracticed, and scoring two 96/100 legs for his RA title. What a clever boy! Wasn't going to try for the RE (Excellent) this year, but might as well complete the Jedi training and go for it.
Ice had a lovely Utility Obedience run in Great Falls, but went into meltdown mode in the futility ring in Missoula. Utility is HARD. Harder than anything I've ever done with dogs before, but I am confident we will get there. It takes a dog with some mental toughness, and that's Ice's weakness - springers are just soft dogs by breed and nature (field more so than show) - and generally don't like pressure. His skills are complete, what he does is done very well, and it's just a matter of time and persistence now. It will come.
Exhausting week, but super fun. Our next shows are in Enumclaw, WA in August - both conformation and obedience. Then the field stuff starts...