Ice Ice Baby!

Well this week has been an odd and challenging week. I got to teach in the snow for the first time on Friday, on Saturday I had to cancel all my lessons with dogs jumping large and was unable to use the contact equipment until 11.30am and then today when I arrived at the field at 1pm to take Groups the ground and A-Frame were still frozen! That late in the afternoon - Crazy! So last minute course alterations had to be made.

But even with the disappointment of cancelled lessons, the challenges of adapting lessons to fit around what we could do and the freezing cold (literally!), I think everyone enjoyed themselves, particularly the Group members today who also got to join in with the piglet herding.

Achievements this week came from:

Anthony & Amy – who finished their lesson with a clear over a technical sequence which required perfect timing and who also (touch wood) seem to have mastered perfect speedy weaves! And I’m not just saying this cause Anthony was kind enough to bring me a hot chocolate in the icey cold – Well done Anthony & Thank you.

Maggie & Saffy and Rosie & Freddie – who got their first Clear Rounds over an entire course in Groups today. Great progress guys – Well done!

I know we’ve had a great week, but I would like it to warm up a bit now so that the large dogs can join in the fun!

Last KC Show of the season : (

Off we headed to Dartmoor at stupid o’clock in the morning unaware of the eventful day which was to ensue.

Sprite had a run today, I wasn’t sure how his one eye would cope with running indoors in dim lighting, but as it was the lighting wasn’t too bad. He was doing a grand job until he landed funny on a jump near the end and twisted the wrong way.... unfortunetly he then couldn’t find me again so just jumped what he could see in the meantime – whoops!

Hex had a good show, but I really must stick to my guns – I’ve spent the last 3 works working on queuing her before corners and speeding up her contacts and in the jumping I wimped out on queuing her so she didn’t see jump 3 until it was too late and demolished it. And in the agility she was doing a lovely round – her A-Frame was the quickest it has ever been, but I sent her wide after it and then as she did the dogwalk, the round felt like a winning one so I panicked and over-worked the contact. If I’d just relaxed and run it was we’d been practicing I’d like to think we would have gone home with a trophy.

Stitch was at his second show and his first indoor show. Having won up at his last show he was also put into the 4-7 COMBINED classes! Mum knows she let him down in the agility – pulling out some ‘disco moves’ instead of handling moves that Stitch might recognise ; ) But he was confident and he flying and his contacts were fantastic. Clever boy!

In the jumping though Mum was fab, I walked the course with her and she talked me through what she had planned and told me that she would be putting her new independent weaves to use so I know that (unlike me) she did stick to her plans and did a cracking clear.

Results:

Hex – 4^th Grade 4 Agility

Gail & Stitch – 2^nd Combined 4-7 Jumping

Sarah & Elliot – Concussion! There’s a link to Sarah’s blog in the top right hand corner of this page if you want to see the video of the amazing flying Sarah. Hope you’re feeling better now hun and sorry my Hex headbutted you too! : s

Despite the wet and mud the show had a great vibe to it and so many of our SWAT friends were doing well – especially Mike & Rio who won the Grade 5 agility by 3 seconds taking him up to Grade 6! What a way to end the season!

As there is only one show left for us this year (and it’s a UKA – booooo!) I hope to be updating the blog with achievements of the up and coming A-SIT members not yet in competition. I have two special mentions this week. Firstly I want to say congrats to Olly & Marley – in the last group they pulled off their first clear round over a FULL course and they only went and did the same thing this week in training. Olly is completely new to Agility and has only been training for 7 months, if he can do a clear over one of MY courses this early on, next year competing in grade 1 should be fun! My second mention is Molly & Ben, Molly is our only A-SIT junior and in just 6 lessons and with the homework she has been putting in, she has taken a shy spaniel which wanted to glue itself to the seating area into a waggy spaniel who is happily completing sequences and progressing quickly with their 2o2o contacts. Keep up the good work guys!