Mondioring Championship - Italia - Renaissance 2001
October of 2001 I was very fortunate in that I was able to travel and train
in Europe and then attend the World Mondioring Championships in Asti, Italy.
As was the same case as the last year, I had the privledge of being support
person/massuesse/traveling companion to my good friend and mentor Kathy O'Brien,
and her champion malinois Brawney Bombadier Ot Vitosha (aka "Bomber")
To add to the mix, this year I also brought my female mali Ysha who was in full
blown heat.
Because of the events of 9.11, we were faced with even more stress and complications
than a "usual" world competition would offer. Many people tried to
convince us to not travel during this time because of safety issues. With a
bit of trepidation and a larger portion of anger at the thought of being intimidated,
we decided to go anyway. With a temporarily name change from Bomber to "Baby"
for travel purposes, the plan was to fly into Zurich Switzerland on the first
of October, train with Rene Sagarra and his Security Dogs Mondioring Club and
then together drive down to Italy on the 11th for the Championships. Since many
people did indeed decide to not travel, the Swiss Air plane was only half full
and we had lots of room to stretch. Foolishly we enjoyed this and took for granted
that our return would be equally as comfortable. The plane landed in Zurich
and we had to take a bus from the tarmac to the terminal. When we finally cleared
customs and met our Swiss friends Stephan, Harry and Maya, they informed us
that Swiss Air had gone bancrupt while we were in the air. Because of this,
the airport was swamped with travelers who were stuck. Consequently, we spent
the first week of our trip not knowing how we were to get home. Our only source
of news was CNN which only put out war news as this was the time that the US
started bombing Afganistan and the Anthrax started showing up. There were reports
of thousands of people demonstrating against the US in Italy. The following
day at training, there were 20 times the normal amount of planes flying over
and many of them looked like military planes. It was kind of spooky and there
were a few moments that we considered going home early before the competition
if that was the only time that we could book a flight for ourselves and the
dogs. Finally, we ended up having to fly back a day late to Los Angeles, which
added a nine hour drive to our return. Nonetheless, we felt very happy to have
a place with friends to stay and were glad to ultimately get a flight home.
With no compensation besides the knowledge of our gratitude and the small satisfactions
of seeing us learn some, Rene and his club very generously made extra training
sessions to prepare Kathy and Bomber for the Championships as well as to help
me and Ysha, beginners, just learning the fundamentals of dog training and some
of the layers of Mondioring. Stephan, Harry and Maya graciously welcomed us
in their home, a very large and incredibly charming 250 year old farmhouse.
This saved us the expense of a hotel, which like everything in Switzerland is
very, very costly, but more touching was the fact that we got to stay in a home
with friends at this more than usual stressful period of time. They even took
vacation time to entertain us the few moments we weren't making training.
On the 11th we caravaned down to Italy. When we arrived, there was a few hours
of confusion at the trial site, then, on our second attempt, we frantically
followed a guide to the Agritourismo (a sort of B & B on a farm usually)
where Kathy and myself stayed with the other Americans, Ann Putegnat and Neal
Wallis, as well as the Mexican contestant, Humberto Bobadilla, John Rumble and
his family representing the English along with his trainer Johan and Anne, one
of Johan's assistants. Even though the place "Casa Michael" was over
20 km away from the trial site, (we wouldn't have been able to find our way
up or down the hill without the guidance of our innmates and the extroidinarily
kind and lovely Alexia J who made special trips so we could follow her) the
inn was charming and clean, and the food was awesome. The first night in Asti
while Ann, the US Mondioring President and a foundation player of Mondio in
the US, made the incredible selfless sacrafice of attending a meeting with the
stress and frustration of politics, Kathy and I enjoyed a great meal which included
the best ravioli I have ever had. Kathy, a non-drinker, somehow helped me polish
off a whole bottle of the delicious house red wine, which they made there at
the inn. Finally John and his crew, Humberto, and Neil arrived and we enjoyed
some more wine and of course, some dog conversations. .
Friday was the trial date for Level I and II contestants. The theme was medievil
and the huge soccar field was decorated with midevil things like medievil flags
and banners, pavilions, life size standing amour, fake life size horses and
hay bales which were made into a huge decorated archway and also a jump wall
for the obstacle attack. The judges and trial helpers wore medieval costumes-
robes, dresses and tunics. The decoy's bite suits looked like tunics and the
costumes seemed to confuse more than one dog on more than one occasion. There
were 10 contestants for level 1 and 7 for level II. The contestants were dressed
in amour that was actually plastic, but looked real enough from far away and
according to the contestants were heavy enough. A piece of armor was used for
the retrieve and additionally, they were told to carry a chunk of the armor
during the heeling pattern. Food refusal was offered by a costumed helper. For
the absence, a robed helper circled the dog while waving a huge flag and at
level two, the flag waving was much more vigorous and closer of course. Positions,
the little wood and the send out were not very unusual, neither were the face
attack or flee attack, but the defense was interesting in that it had the handler
stand against the hay bale archway, which seemed challenging for some of the
dogs. For the search and transport, the hiding blind was a decorated three sided
box with some step/ladder around it and in the transport, the hay bale jump
wall was used to confuse and steal meters.
This year was the first year that there was another US competitor besides Kathy
O"Brien. At level one, Neal Wallis and his dominant female Nikita earned
the points to win the third place position!!!
For the first time in the Championships, the level III program was split into
two days requiring each competitor to compete on both Saturday and Sunday. On
Saturday, first was the retrieve, which was an unstrung bow, followed by the
medieval dressed guy offering food for the food refusal. Third was the heeling
pattern. While the pattern was relatively simple through and around a pavilion
and other markers, the handler was required to carry a substantial portion of
armor. The final obedience for the day was the absence where the dog, in the
down position, was circled by a pavilion that was carried by four costumed field
helpers. Next were the hurdle and the pallisade, which were followed by the
protection exercises.
First, was the flee attack or stopped attack/call off which had been determined
by the handlers choice at the presentation point when they first came on the
field. It was a secret pick, the result only known by the judge who would send
the red or green flag signal after the dog had passed the flag presentation
point. The search and transport was next, again in the special blind with the
transport movements of the decoy made more difficult. At one point the handler,
decoy and the judges sat on the hay bales. First one of the judges left, then
the other, then the decoy. More than one dog seemed to be confused by the costumes
and decided to go with one of the judges, loosing points. Following this challenging
search and transport was the flee or stopped/call off depending on what they
did in the first attack. The final attack was accessories over the hay bale
jump. Two large brown plastic clubs, were used by the decoy as accessories.
To me, the clubs looked more like they came from a caveman than a renaissance
man, but none the less, the clubs seemed to intimidate more than one dog….
Saturday night was the" International Dinner" where Mondioring enthusiasts
from all over the world share food, drink and conversations in a variety of
languages. While the food offered by the Signora at the B&B could not be
surpassed, the company and conversation that evening was very enjoyable and
entertaining.
On Sunday morning, the obedience exercises started with the send out, which
was set on a slight angle to the perimeter of the field. Next, the little wood
was placed on the asphalt portion of the soccer field with the other woods lined
up in a row beside the handler's wood. The final obedience was the positions,
which used the hay bale archway to increase the difficulty. The broad jump was
then performed, followed by the remaining protection exercises.
The defense of handler seemed to be very challenging. The decoy approached the
handler carrying a large container in his left hand. He circled the handler
and dog in a menacing manner and then walked to the archway. The handler then
walked to the archway and was given a large flag to position in a hole built
into the archway. At that point, the aggression from the decoy occurred. A tension
relieving attack with accessory of a red blanket was next which was followed
by the final exercise, guard of object. The guard object was an armless, legless
armor. The decoy's first attempt was carried out by his kneeling down and backing
up towards the object. Second attempt was preformed with a long necked bugle-like
instrument which had a very disconcerting incredible nasal sound. The final
attempt was made in a relatively simple fashion and then the contestant was
able to collect their dog and make room for the next competitor.
This year, the scores were much lower than the previous year, and the contestants
who matched or bettered their scores, should take satisfaction in knowing they
indeed bettered themselves
The closing ceremony was simple and sweet with the teams marching onto the field
with their countries flag while their national anthem played. Videos and photos
were taken followed by presentation of awards and presents.
Our group decided to travel back to Switzerland that night so we hung out while
waiting for Harry, Stephan and Maya to collect their stuff from the campground
where they had stayed. In that waiting period, I noticed a small group of people
in a dark alley. It turned out that they were with one of the dogs who should
of competed at level 3, but was ill. Right there in front of our eyes, the dog,
who should have had a shot at the highest title died. The owner's mournful wails
of grief was almost unbearable and it was an unwelcome reminder that part of
the price we must pay to have dogs in our lives is that we must bear witness
to their passing and sometimes make the choice to send them. The return drive
was made over an hour longer by the fact that we made an incorrect choice of
direction. It was difficult driving sleep deprived that long way back in the
dark. We were very lucky and grateful we made it in one piece.
While I had received many wonderful supportive emails from European dog friends
after September 11, I was surprised and touched by the intensity of support
from the other Mondioringers considering the fact that there were demonstrations
in Italy against the US the previous week. Additionally, I greatly enjoyed many
conversations with friends new and old alike. I spoke with M. Vincent Porcu,
President of Mondio International who was sincerely interested in how Mondio
was doing in the US as well as other folks from around the world. I got to talk
a little with Fillipo Rocchi whose handling in Mels I had watched on several
occasions on video and whose champion bitch, Roma, Kathy has been trying to
buy. No one laughed (to my faceJ ) at my weak French and Spanish, my virtually
non-existent Italian and German or my inarticulate English. Most people were
friendly and some were quite charming and amusing like Bertrand and Nikki of
Euro Joe Products, who in addition to their great dog sport equipment, had some
spectacular pups with them. The champion dog, third year in a row, was from
their kennels by the way, and they seemed quite pleased.
As far as training, my reminders to myself follow. Practice heeling while carrying
things in left, right and both hands. Also, practice pushing and pulling stuff
like wheelbarrows and carts. This can be helpful in the defense as well as the
heeling pattern. Train so that the dog understands WHO to bite as well as when.
Find more unusual noises to use. Sometimes work angles for the send out. Talk
less and listen more. Listen more and talk less. Know that friendships have
a priceless value. Know that at some point your lessers may better you and your
betters may fall behind, but everyone should be treated with respect. Know that
when some folks get going about their politics, that it comes from their passion,
and passion is in my opinion preferable and more exciting than being boring.
Don't forget to honor your club peoples, helpers, trainers, decoys and of course
your dog, whom without there would be no dog sports. Remember that whenever
and wherever you are with you dog, you are an ambassador for dogs in general
and you breed in particular as well as Mondioring. Train, train, and train some
more and remember to have fun!!
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