Monday 29 October 2012

A-SIT Fun Day

Well I am sitting at home now knowing that all is packed away (except the gazebo and windbreak which are still drying) and that the A-SIT Fun Day is officially over. All that is left are the soggy results sheets and a couple of spare clear round rosettes.

We usually hold a Fun Day at the start of the Agility season and one at the end, but having lost Sprite in March I was only just about able to function through my usual day to day tasks and was not myself at all, which meant that we only had room for the one this year and this was it! So it was more important to me than ever that the day was a success and I feel that In every way possible it was...apart from the weather which I just can't help! And of course it's just our luck that Saturday the day prior to the competition the weather was glorious and today was fine also!

Obviously I am extremely happy with and for the people who went home with rosettes but I am also feeling all glowy for the people who came for different reasons. A number of people were trying out a competition for the very first time (very brave in the weather we had!) and are now looking more seriously at trying the real deal, some were using the day as a 'training day' to apply things they have practiced in a new environment and of course Matt just wanted to play with Hex!

I was so worried about the weather effecting the day, sick with nerves when I arrived at the field to set up and a tension headache building throughout the day as I worried if people were enjoying themselves or wishing they had never bothered. I needn't have worried as I have had nothing but positive feedback and smiles and thank yous! And I in turn have to thank my Mum for all of her help, Judging and for donating the Trophies for the pre-comp classes, my Dad for catering, Matt for timing, the numerous people who stepped in to scribe and 'relieve' Matt (just for you Derek!), Gill for the use of her fencing for the exercise area, everybody who brought yummy scrummy food - o my goodness what a feast! But also thanks to every single person who attended and kept the mood fun and positive.

So here are the results (along with the times)!

Pre-Comp Agility:
1st - Jennine & Ruby (26.91)
2nd - Wendy & Molly (30.51)
3rd - Karen & Barney (30.69)
Clear Rounds: Sophie & Daisy (33.48) and Martin & Seamus (37.33)

Competition Agility:
1st - Rosie & Freddie (49.26 seconds)
2nd - Molly & Ben (53.95 seconds)

Trophy Dogs Agility:
1st - Sarah & Ru (28.13)
2nd - Gill & Mollyanna (31.20)
Clear Rounds: Gill & Kassey (32.80)

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Pre-Comp Jumping:
1st - Jennine & Ruby (23.83)
2nd - Sadie & Max (30.64)
3rd - Rosemary & Toonie (31.41)
Clear Rounds: Wendy & Molly (37.37) and Sam & Eric (39.88)

Competition Jumping:
1st - Molly & Ben (47.37 with 5F)
Everybody else got eliminated so well done Molly!

Trophy Dogs Jumping:
1st - Sarah & Ru (29.79)
2nd - Gill & Mollyanna (29.81)
Clear Rounds: Anthony & Amy (30.07) and Gill & Kassey (36.51)

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Pre-Comp Steeplechase:
1st - Sadie & Max (35.09)
2nd - Karen & Barney (36.65)
3rd - Sam & Eric (48.38)

Competition Steeplechase:
1st - Stu & Skye (24.70)
2nd - Malcolm & Molly (30.75)
Clear Rounds: Rosie & Freddie (59.74)

Trophy Dogs Steeplechase:
1st - Sarah & Narla (27.27)
2nd - Alex & Sonny (31.61)
Clear Rounds: Sarah & Ru (32.81) and Malcolm & Dylan (33.47)

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And finally there was a very special rosette for the Best A-SIT Member!

1st - Sarah & Ru (25pts)
2nd - Sadie & Max (21pts)
3rd - Jennine & Ruby (20pts)

Points were awarded as follows:
1st = 10pts, 2nd = 9pts, 3rd = 8pts, Clear = 5pts, 5f = 2pts, 10f = 1pt




Monday 22 October 2012

Make a Wish

As an instructor you don't wish for your clients to go out winning everything in sight, what you wish for is happy clients and happy dogs. In the long run you want the dogs to meet their potential and individual personal goals set by their handlers, short term you just want both parts of the partnership to perform how they do in training.

This week a number of A-SIT members took their first steps outside of training and entered the Make A Wish Clear Round Day. A no-pressure event as the runs were only judged on whether you went clear or not, not on how fast you were or whether your clear was any better than anyone else's.

I am SO proud of the members who attended, for taking this big step, supporting a worthy cause (the money raised went towards the Make A Wish Charity) and doing themselves proud.

Well Done to:

Karen & Barney - 3x Clears at their first outing!!!
Sadie & Max - 2x Clears at their first outing
Claire & Sam - 1 Clear at their first outing
Molly & Ben - 1 Clear - their very well deserved first
Ant & Amy - 1 Clear

£378.00 was raised.   :o)

@ BHC Show the following day:

Stitch - 2nd, G5-7 Agility
Stitch - 2nd, 1-7 Steeple Chase
Stitch - 4th, 1-7 Jumping
Stu & Skye - 4th, G3 Agility - At their First Show!!
Anthony & Amy - 4th, G1-2 Agility
Sarah & Narla - 15th, G3 Jumping
Sarah & Ru - Clear, G3 Jumping
Gill & Mollyanna - Clear, 1-7 Jumping
Gill & Kassey - Clear


Thursday 4 October 2012

September Results

No wonder September wizzed by, we had a show every weekend but the last! 2 Day shows were available each weekend, but I decided not to over do it and took some of them as one dayers especially after the busy August I had.

Well done to the following (and do let me know if I've missed anybody out!):

@ Prestbury:
Stitch - 1st, G5-7 Jumping
Wendy & Ryley - 1st, G3 Jumping
Sarah & Ru - 2nd, G2 Agility
Sarah & Ru - 8th, 1-2 Agility
Gill & Mollyanna - 3rd, 1-4 Jumping
Ant & Amy - 7th, G1 Jumping

@ Gillingham:
Sarah & Ru - 3rd, G2
Gill & Mollyanna - 5th, 1-3 Agility
Stu & Ru - Clear 
Hex - Clear, G6 Jumping

@ Blackdown
Stitch - 1st, 5-7 Jumping
Stitch - 2nd, 5-7 Jumping
Stitch - 2nd, 6-7 Agility
Gill & Mollyanna - 1st, 1-3 Agility! Taking them to Grade 4!
Gill & Mollyanna - Clear, 3-4 Jumping
Sarah & Ru - 1st, G2 Agility! Taking them and the rest of the Lindsey Pack to Grade 3!
Sarah & Ru - 3rd, 1-2 Jumping 
Sarah & Narla - 1st, G2 Jumping
Ant & Amy - 4th, G1 Agility

@ Honiton/South Devon
Stitch - 1st, 4-7 Agility! Taking us to Grade 7 and Champ Classes!
Stitch - 1st, 4-7 Jumping
Stitch - 1st, 4-7 Jumping
Stitch - 2nd, 6-7 Agility
Wendy & Ryley - 1st, 1-3 Agility! Taking them to Grade 4!
Wendy & Ryley - 3rd, Grade 3 Agility
Julie & George - 1st, 1-3 Agility
Gill & Mollyanna - 2nd, 1-3 Jumping
Gill & Mollyanna - 4th, 1-3 Jumping
Ant & Amy - 2nd, 1-2 Agility (so, so close to that win!)
Ant & Amy - Clear, 1-2 Jumping
Hex - 5th, 6-7 Agility
Hex - 7th, 4-7 Agility
Gill & Kassey - Clear, 4-7 Jumping
Gill & Kassey - Clear, 4-7 Jumping

TAG

Oh my goodness I have fallen well and truly behind!

I wanted to make sure that I left plenty of time to blog the week long show TAG as it was quite eventful but now it's all a distant fuzzy memory! So i'm going to keep it short.

Highlight for me had to be Hex winning her first G6 Agility! She has come so close recently, it was really nice to get one under our belt. Stitch won a number 8 Jumping Classes so that was good and I got a trip to Alton Towers on the day off and a fat Chinese the night before. So smiles all round (except for during Nemesis Sub Terror!)  : )



Voodoo did go AWOL at 11pm at night on the 2nd night, that was really scary, but Jo caught him down by the rings thank goodness! I also hit a really bad patch mid week, Stitch was continuing to break his 'waits' and self release his contacts, unless we had been eliminating. Either he knew he'd been eliminated or I was acting differently... it appeared to be the later, in which case I was letting him down. I did get quite upset, not because I wasn't winning, but because I just wanted to reproduce what I could in training. It had been nearly a year since Stitch had last one an Agility round and that was all we needed to go G7 and I knew that he was more than capable of doing it. It's not a nice feeling to know that you've let your dog down, I wasn't looking forward to the runs and found myself back in a negative spiral  The pressure was getting to me and I was really tired. But I was at the show with SWAT and my friends picked me back up.

It was at this show that I decided that the G7 win would be worth nothing unless he was ready for Champ classes, which as he was, he most definitely was not! So I started putting Stitch back on every wait he broke, not releasing him unless he was in the position I left him in. I was also putting him back on his contacts  regardless of whether I was clear to the point and holding the contacts he did correctly. I was determined to fix what had been broken and put it behind us.

It was my first time attending TAG Show and it was a very last minute decision to go, but despite the weather and the stress, it was a good show and I think you'll find me back there next year!

Results:

@ TAG
Stitch = 8 x 1st Places
Hex = 1 x 1st, 1 x 4th, 2 x 5ths, 3 x 6ths

@ Dartmoor
Ant & Amy - 3rd, G1 Jumping