Elsa at the Collie Nationals!

Elsa and I recently made the trek to Springfield, MA to compete in the national Collie show! We went in hopes of earning her first Rally-Obedience Excellent leg as well as trying our luck in Novice Obedience! Having never competed in regular obedience, we had a lot to learn. The biggest difference between Rally-O and Obedience is that in Rally-O you can talk and praise your dog the entire time, whereas regular Obedience, you simply tell the dog a command and cannot speak after that. We crammed our training during the weeks before the show, even took a couple of private classes to make sure we had things down pat! As always, Elsa made me extremely proud by not only earning both legs, but by coming home with two blue ribbons! A trophy room is soon to come for my smart little Collie!