ORTs, Take One

As I mentioned on Thursday, my friend and I headed to West Palm Beach to take the birch odor recognition test. We were able to leave Jacksonville at a decent time and miss most of the traffic. Better still, the weather cooperated and we stayed dry. We ended up in West Palm around 3:30 in the afternoon and stayed at a hotel right on the water. The rate was twice what I like to pay, but it was really, really nice. Semi was a very good boy this trip. Jedi, however, felt like being a jerk so the dogs had to be separated most of the evening. They finally became friends on the way back home. Too late, knuckleheads!

A fellow German Shepherd Dog Club member designs GSD themed shirts. I packed my green one for the trial. Little did I know that my friend packed her blue one. We looked like goofy twins. No matter, everyone was looking at the gorgeous dogs anyway.

My friend and I we're running our dogs back to back. Another friend was only testing clove, so the judge let her in to take pictures of us running our dogs (her hide would be later and in a different box). Unfortunately, she's an iPhone user and my old Android wasn't up to par. This is the best picture of the bunch and it's a bit blurry. Sorry.

So how did we do? Well, Semi passed; Jedi did not. I called alert on the end box, but the odor was really in the box next to it. I should have taken him around again to make sure he was interested in the right box. I was nervous and forgot how long three minutes really is. It didn't help that the staging area was also the potty area. It was full of pea gravel and . . . well . . . pee. Pee (especially girl pee) is Jedi's Kryptonite. By the time we left the staging area to go to the practice boxes Jedi was drooling and unfocused. Damn testicles really make him stupid sometimes. Yes, I'm disappointed, but this early morning view from our hotel softens the blow.

Nice, hunh? Did I mention it was 75 degrees -- the second week of January? Anyway, I have no idea when we'll be able to take the ORT again. I looked at the trial calendar. The closest one in the next six months is in Oklahoma. Uh, no. We're going to keep practicing until something comes along. But for now I need to vacuum my car. Both dogs are blowing coat. We used crates and seat covers, yet there is still enough hair in my car to make a third German shepherd. -- K