Admin Post: I am so freaking happy with Kenji this weekend. Novice trials are courses made of basic manuevers. Dogs are on leash at this level but it's used more as a safety tether. Points are deducted every time the leash goes tight so I keep it very loose and ask for direction changes and speed changes verbally or with a gesture. Considering there was a group of dogs in the ring beside us, he did awesome. He has another challenge the other dogs don't. Whenever he has to pass behind my back, I can't reach to pass it to my other hand. I usually drop it and grab it when he comes around to the heel position but today I asked him to pick it up and give it to me. And he did! It would have been great had he not stopped to sniff on the way around, but many of the dogs did. What's important is that he actually came around back into the heel position and didn't just wander off. There were a lot of distractions today and a larger crowd. He handled everything so well. He was barked at, stared at, sniffed, had kids waving toys nearby. And he just happily took it all in. I'm super proud of this pup this weekend. Today's the last day of this show and I'm excited to see how he does.