Randy Edwards and Ch. OTCH Poquito's Chile Rio Grande, UDX, SH, OA

"Rio"

Rio is my second dog. My first is a rescue Am-staff, and we were heavy into flyball. So when I went looking for a 2nd "breed" dog, I had flyball and agility in mind. I soon realized Rio would be a "project" flyball dog, so we dropped that goal and got into the AKC Hunt test scene, and well as agility and breed rings. Life with Rio was fun, and he seemed to have talent in everything we tried. By the time Rio was four, he had earned his CH, SH, and Open agility titles. Then we hit a brick wall in Excellent Agility. Rio's breeder urged me to "get into obedience" and this meant (at the time) a CD, maybe a CDX. So off we went to earn a CD. My goal was "the green ribbon", and at age 4 1/2, Rio had his CD. So now we'd get back to agility! Wrong! Rio's breeder said we needed a CDX, so the next year Rio earned his CDX at the Astrohall shows, and even got a placement. The obedience hook was beginning to be set. Rio's breeder (again) suggested I show Rio in Open after his CDX title, so I entered the San Antonio shows the next month, and Rio placed in all 3 shows. We were now beginning to like this "obedience" thing. Now my goal was a UD.

On the advice of several people, I enrolled in classes at Dogwood. This is when I learned how little I knew about obedience training. But I was learning new things every week. I'm so thankful Rio is a forgiving dog. I'm a slower learner than he is, and I made plenty of mistakes. But with constant encouragement and persistence from the trainers at Dogwood, Rio and I were beginning to enjoy Utility. At age 7, Rio earned his UD in 6 shows. Our new goal was a UDX. I knew Rio had the ability, and so we started on our UDX quest. In our 2nd show ( to show in both B classes), Rio placed 2nd in Utility and earned 5 OTCH points. While this was an humbling experience, I was still focused on the UDX, a title I knew Rio could achieve. The OTCH was a goal I never considered. We were not an OTCH caliber team. We continued showing in the B classes, picking up UDX legs and occasionally placing. Competitive obedience was becoming fun. We were meeting a lot of very nice people, and getting a lot of encouragement from them. Eleven months after earning his UD, Rio earned his UDX. Our goal was reached and it was time to "move on". However, I was enjoying obedience, so we continued showing just to "see what happens". An OTCH would be great, but we weren't an OTCH caliber team.

But the folks at Dogwood kept telling me that Rio could earn an OTCH, and after a while I believed them. What a transformation from a "green ribbon" exhibitor! Rio finished his OTCH on November 1, 2003 with the 4th HIT and 4th HC of his career. I'm still humbled by it all. But the best part of this whole journey is I my constant "wiggle-butt" greetings EVERY day.