So here is your quick recap of this past weekends trial:
Just a few notes on WHY we had most of our problems – the American Bank Center was insanely COLD. Those of you who know me in real life know that I NEVER complain about being cold (I lived in Ithaca for 4 years and never complained) but Goddamn this place was cold. Anyway, that explains a lot of our problems as you will later read about.
Saturday:
Obedience in the Morning: Somehow that Saturday morning I ended up in the ring with a dog who was not Mackenzie. This dog would not pay any attention to me, forgot how to sit, ran with a tight lead throughout the entire Heel on Lead, and then did a beautiful Stand for Exam.
After her Stand for Exam I asked to be excused from the ring.
And then I ran outside and cried a lot and asked my parents if we could just go home and I wanted to quit and never come back and blah blah blah.
Rally in the Afternoon: Our run was wonderful. We went FAST and when we finished the whole crowd went into an uproar (perhaps they watched us that morning too?) Several people told me afterwards that they thought we were going to get 1st place, it was that good.
As it turns out, we did make a few mistakes, but regardless we Q’d with an 83. Fourth place was a score of 85 so we were pretty damn close to placing.
Sunday:
Obedience: This time it WAS Mackenzie in the ring with me. A few things were rough but it was INFINITELY better than Saturday. We obviously got some points off when I was heeling by myself in the Heel Free, but I called her back to me and we finished it out with a fabulous Fast/normal. Again her Stand for Exam was flawless (how did that happen?) and her Recall was nearly perfect (she sat crooked) and she finished beautifully. Even though she was shaking uncontrollably the entire time we were in the ring (from being so cold).
So then we went back into the ring for the group stays and it was
1. a huge black Belgian sheepdog
2. a huge Rhodesian Ridgeback
3. a little tiny Mackenzie
4. a huge Boxer
Everything was going fine until the Rhodesian Ridgeback waltzed on over to his handler. Mackenzie watched him, looked around at the other two dogs, and then ran towards me at FULL SPEED in typical Happy dog style. She screeched to a halt in front position wagging her tail and looking up at me. I smiled and said “Couldn’t stay away for that long huh?” The judge gave us our leashes and excused us for the long down.
Rally: After nearly Qing that morning, I figured we had nothing to worry about in Rally since her attention was so much better. I got the course and let Mackenzie hang out in her crate to try and warm up. Whenever she was out of the crate she was visibly shaking from the cold so we didn’t practice too much. So we were all set to take a break outside when the Judge decided to forgo his lunch break and start the NOVICE class right then. We walked the course and then we started.
I got Mackenzie out and we warmed up with some practice moves and we were all set to go. I had good focus from her and I thought we had it in the bag.
Halfway through the course I’m thinking something was a little off with her. She didn’t want to sit for too long and she was acting a bit odd. So we’re at sign 6 Call Front Finish Right Halt. I call her front, ask her to sit, she looks back at her butt, sits, and then pops a squat.
My dog PEED in the Obedience Ring.
I can blame the cold, I can blame myself, I can blame it on the judge for not taking his lunch break, but I can’t blame Mackenzie. It was too much for her. It was too cold and she couldn’t deal with it.
So we left in shame. I smiled, thanked the judge, and walked out of the ring, took off my armband, got my stuff and called my parents over and we left.
Will I eventually go back in the ring, of course I will. There’s a first show for everyone. Even the OTCH Border Collie in the ring next to us had a “first show” and I’m guessing it wasn’t all Qs and 1st places. So yes, our first show was a disaster, but it could have been worse.
We did come home with one Q and one green ribbon after all. And more importantly a lot of nice compliments from a lot of nice people.
There’s a reason you don’t see Dachshunds in the obedience ring. But you will see this one again. 
