They say that things tend to come in 3s; well, Hex had a pole in the jumping, a pole in the agility and I lost my van keys!!! They came out of my pocket in the exercise area and I didn't realise until I was back at the van! Luckily as it had been a sunny day I had left the back of the van open so the dogs could still be let out, so the only panic was - how do I get home?!
It's in situations like this that Agility people really do shine. I went to the secretary's tent and had an announcement put out and a set of keys was handed in!.... not mine though. Abi helped me double check my van and make a quick trip round the exercise area, Sarah and Natalie spent in total (2 trips) approx an hour and 20mins with me walking up and down the length of the HUGE exercise area and eventually the lost was found, but I had 4 offers, including one from a complete stranger to help me get my dogs home and an offer from Nat to take me back up to retrieve my van. I am so SO grateful, if it wasn't for all the fantastically supportive friends (& strangers) I had around me, I would of been in melt-down.
Unfortunately my last runs of the day did suffer though - my mind wasn't with it. I ended up on the wrong side of the line home with Sprite and sent him the wrong way and I wasn't in the right place to work Kif's contacts. Kif did however put in one fab run - his first of the day, he came 28th in the Comb 3-5 Jumping. 28th, you say - pah! But I was soooo pleased with this run, he was up against 280 other dogs and this wasn't a 'Kiffy' course, there was a big straight line across two side of the ring on the way home - and for the first time EVER in the ring, Kif ran the line 'properly', no silly steps, no extra high jumps and no measuring he was FAB. Very VERY pleased.
Hex's poles were due to me rushing and nagging her round corners, but what elsedid she expect after last week? I need to be on this dogs case if she's going to keep choosing her own course! I did some work today at the field to work on her trusting me when I get in front of a jump at speed that I'm not going to get in her landing space and I was pleased with the results. Lets see if we can pick our feet up on Saturday!!!
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
More Good Results
Well not for Hex who decided 3 times to turn a deaf ear and pick her own course. If I had been more on the ball I probably could have saved her mistakes - I think it may have officially been our first ‘off’ day, which is odd because the bits before the eliminations felt amazing - 2 of the E’s were two obstacles from the end!!
But dogs that did listen to their Mummies at Blackdown were:
Sprite
Clear in the Anysize Jumping (This class was a clear rounds only class, no places given. So he did the best he could)
Kif
7th 4-5Comb Jumping
12th 3-4Comb Jumping
Sarah & Elliot
4th 1-3Comb Helter Skelter
Sarah & Jemma
3rd 1-3 Graded Agility
Karen & Mollie
6th 1-2Comb Jumping
9th 1-3Comb Jumping
Jeannette & Tess
3rd in the Small Gr1-3 Graded Agility even with 5 faults (pole down), but places were only given to 2nd so for the third time they have just missed out on a numbered rosette. Next time Girls!
Elsewhere Jane & Boot achieved three 4ths! And would have won the Agility if Jane hadn’t knocked over the last Jump!
Jo & Charlie also had their first show at Blackdown and they were fab, the only real mistakes made were around the weaves which Jo is working on with Charlie at home. Watch this space!
But dogs that did listen to their Mummies at Blackdown were:
Sprite
Clear in the Anysize Jumping (This class was a clear rounds only class, no places given. So he did the best he could)
Kif
7th 4-5Comb Jumping
12th 3-4Comb Jumping
Sarah & Elliot
4th 1-3Comb Helter Skelter
Sarah & Jemma
3rd 1-3 Graded Agility
Karen & Mollie
6th 1-2Comb Jumping
9th 1-3Comb Jumping
Jeannette & Tess
3rd in the Small Gr1-3 Graded Agility even with 5 faults (pole down), but places were only given to 2nd so for the third time they have just missed out on a numbered rosette. Next time Girls!
Elsewhere Jane & Boot achieved three 4ths! And would have won the Agility if Jane hadn’t knocked over the last Jump!
Jo & Charlie also had their first show at Blackdown and they were fab, the only real mistakes made were around the weaves which Jo is working on with Charlie at home. Watch this space!
Monday, 3 May 2010
North Somerset Show
I thoroughly enjoyed judging today, I had a great ring party and some good classes and I was really really pleased with how my courses ran and with the positive feedback I received. So often you miss watching your friends run but for an entire day I got a front row seat!
Inbetween the wind, rain and hail, I somehow managed to get sun burnt! With the weather changing every 30mins, so did my outfit and layers, but I was very proud to be wearing my A-SIT zip-up today because everyone did so well and it was so great to see everyone in their gear as well, representing! Even the dogs were wearing our club colours today, Jeannette and her American friends have made Tess and Pixie the coolest little coats complete with club logo – they looked fantastic, I hope to get my hands on a picture of them soon to share for anyone who missed them.
Anyways on with the important stuff, the results!:
Sarah & Jemma:
2nd – Gr1 Agility (it won’t be long until the red ribbon is in her grasp!)
7th – Combined 1-2 Jumping
Jane & Boot:
6th - Combined 1-2 Jumping
Jeannette & Tess (at their first KC Show):
Clear in Gr1-3 Jumping (They actually finished 7th overall, but unfortunately placed rosettes were only to 6th).
Sarah & Elliot and Jane & Welly also deserve a special mention because these are two very excitable dogs who coped extremely well with the atmosphere that this show provides and the increased nerves that handlers let off from being in front of a public crowd and running in my classes!
Elliot did his waits and Welly got his weave entries and did some beautiful sequences within my courses.
Inbetween the wind, rain and hail, I somehow managed to get sun burnt! With the weather changing every 30mins, so did my outfit and layers, but I was very proud to be wearing my A-SIT zip-up today because everyone did so well and it was so great to see everyone in their gear as well, representing! Even the dogs were wearing our club colours today, Jeannette and her American friends have made Tess and Pixie the coolest little coats complete with club logo – they looked fantastic, I hope to get my hands on a picture of them soon to share for anyone who missed them.
Anyways on with the important stuff, the results!:
Sarah & Jemma:
2nd – Gr1 Agility (it won’t be long until the red ribbon is in her grasp!)
7th – Combined 1-2 Jumping
Jane & Boot:
6th - Combined 1-2 Jumping
Jeannette & Tess (at their first KC Show):
Clear in Gr1-3 Jumping (They actually finished 7th overall, but unfortunately placed rosettes were only to 6th).
Sarah & Elliot and Jane & Welly also deserve a special mention because these are two very excitable dogs who coped extremely well with the atmosphere that this show provides and the increased nerves that handlers let off from being in front of a public crowd and running in my classes!
Elliot did his waits and Welly got his weave entries and did some beautiful sequences within my courses.
Shrewsbury
With my arm improving all the time, I felt my handling was nearly back on form, but I still gave Mum Kif’s Agility runs cause she agreed to come to the show with me last minute to help me set up my tent and keep me company! Saturday was an extremely frustrating day for me with Hex – she had a pole down in the Jumping, but more frustrating she barrel rolled off the side of the see-saw in the Dog Vegas Qualifier, a silly baby mistake which possibly cost her first place – gutted! Sprite seemed back to his spritely self and he was in a really good mood all show, frolicking in the exercise area and sneaking into the tent. Another triumph this weekend was Kif’s contacts – After re-training Kif’s contacts over and over again over the years to try and make him comfortable on them, we have finally decided to go back to the method we feel happiest with (Stop/Go 2o2o) and for the first time in a long time he actually got them in the ring!
So these are the results:
Sprite:
5th – Anysize Jumping
7th – Anysize Jumping
Kif:
14th – Gr3-5 Dog Vegas Agility Qualifier
And other clears with were SO close to being in the places!
Hex:
7th – Gr3 Jumping
14th Gr3 Agility
And now here are the vids (sorry some of Kif's are missed but Mum's still getting the hang of the new camera!):
So these are the results:
Sprite:
5th – Anysize Jumping
7th – Anysize Jumping
Kif:
14th – Gr3-5 Dog Vegas Agility Qualifier
And other clears with were SO close to being in the places!
Hex:
7th – Gr3 Jumping
14th Gr3 Agility
And now here are the vids (sorry some of Kif's are missed but Mum's still getting the hang of the new camera!):
Cornwall/Dartmoor Weekend 24th & 25th April
Ok, so with one thing and another, I have been a very bad blogger so I’m going to blog so individual shows to bring us up to date.
So lets start with the Cornwall/Dartmoor weekend. My first show back since fracturing my arm and at the same venue I did the damage!! I was very wary about running and had to walk and plan my courses very carefully to use my left arm as little as possible. I was also unable to run Kif because Kif requires my arms a lot more than Hex & Sprite do, so Mum kept Kif for another weekend. It was also the first show where I‘ve run Sprite and started to feel he’s getting older (I know he’s over 12 years old now, but he’s never felt like it before), he struggled with corners and was stiffer after his runs then he’s been before. O and Hex and shredded her stopper pads digging in the back garden so she was running with her front feet strapped up for the first time, her contacts were visibly slower and her pads were obviously causing her some discomfort so as soon as I saw a paw on the contact, I released her, it just means I’m going to have to reinforce her stop contacts when her footsies are better. All the same we had the following results:
Hex:
6th – Gr 3 Agility
10th – Gr 3 Jumping
4th – Gr3 Agility
Sprite:
8th – Anysize Jumping
Mum & Kif:
8th – Gr4 Jumping
Karen & Mollie:
3rd - Gr1 Jumping
7th - Gr1-2 Jumping
1st - Members only 1-7 Steeplechase
Jo & Fluke also got a 1st and a 3rd and club friends from SWAT, Toni, Daz, Tash & Abi all went home with trophies so there was lots to celebrate.
Here are a couple of Hex’s vids and Kif's 8th
So lets start with the Cornwall/Dartmoor weekend. My first show back since fracturing my arm and at the same venue I did the damage!! I was very wary about running and had to walk and plan my courses very carefully to use my left arm as little as possible. I was also unable to run Kif because Kif requires my arms a lot more than Hex & Sprite do, so Mum kept Kif for another weekend. It was also the first show where I‘ve run Sprite and started to feel he’s getting older (I know he’s over 12 years old now, but he’s never felt like it before), he struggled with corners and was stiffer after his runs then he’s been before. O and Hex and shredded her stopper pads digging in the back garden so she was running with her front feet strapped up for the first time, her contacts were visibly slower and her pads were obviously causing her some discomfort so as soon as I saw a paw on the contact, I released her, it just means I’m going to have to reinforce her stop contacts when her footsies are better. All the same we had the following results:
Hex:
6th – Gr 3 Agility
10th – Gr 3 Jumping
4th – Gr3 Agility
Sprite:
8th – Anysize Jumping
Mum & Kif:
8th – Gr4 Jumping
Karen & Mollie:
3rd - Gr1 Jumping
7th - Gr1-2 Jumping
1st - Members only 1-7 Steeplechase
Jo & Fluke also got a 1st and a 3rd and club friends from SWAT, Toni, Daz, Tash & Abi all went home with trophies so there was lots to celebrate.
Here are a couple of Hex’s vids and Kif's 8th
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Wallingford
What a beautiful sunny weekend. Shame I had to spend it standing around watching other people enjoy (or curse at) my dogs. But I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
The most fun I had watching was the laser knockout pairs. Mum ran Kif and Hex was run by her breeder, Lisa. I was so nervous for Hex, it was the first time she’s done pairs and the first time Lisa has ever run her but you wouldn’t of known she wasn’t Lisa’s dog! Unfortunately as they got further and further through the rounds I suggested they speed up their baton change and in doing so Lisa missed Hex’s collar. Watch and enjoy....
The team was also great fun, Sam took Hex in this one, but in me putting her last in the team, she worked up a full head of steam by the time it was her go and I have NEVER seen her move so fast – poor Sam had practiced with Hex at the field on Friday and her behaviour in the ring caught us quite by surprise neither of us expected her to react to team this way. You’ll see from the video I took- I was physically shaking!
Outside the fun events we got the following places:
Hex & Mum
Gr3 Jumping: 11th on Saturday, 18th on Sunday
Kif & Mum
Gr4 Jumping: 11th
I did manage to collect one rosette for myself though, the Annual Valgray awards are presented at Wallingford and Sprite was the Valgray Veteran Dog of the Year again.
On a less doggy note, I forgot to include in the newsletter:
Congratulations to Emily & Colin (& their furry Alfie) on the birth of their second child, little Freddie Macpherson, who has already completed a number of Clear Rounds at our field from inside Emily.
Cornwall/Dartmoor this weekend for me and WBSDS for other A-SITters, fingers crossed for some nice weather and good results!
The most fun I had watching was the laser knockout pairs. Mum ran Kif and Hex was run by her breeder, Lisa. I was so nervous for Hex, it was the first time she’s done pairs and the first time Lisa has ever run her but you wouldn’t of known she wasn’t Lisa’s dog! Unfortunately as they got further and further through the rounds I suggested they speed up their baton change and in doing so Lisa missed Hex’s collar. Watch and enjoy....
The team was also great fun, Sam took Hex in this one, but in me putting her last in the team, she worked up a full head of steam by the time it was her go and I have NEVER seen her move so fast – poor Sam had practiced with Hex at the field on Friday and her behaviour in the ring caught us quite by surprise neither of us expected her to react to team this way. You’ll see from the video I took- I was physically shaking!
Outside the fun events we got the following places:
Hex & Mum
Gr3 Jumping: 11th on Saturday, 18th on Sunday
Kif & Mum
Gr4 Jumping: 11th
I did manage to collect one rosette for myself though, the Annual Valgray awards are presented at Wallingford and Sprite was the Valgray Veteran Dog of the Year again.
On a less doggy note, I forgot to include in the newsletter:
Congratulations to Emily & Colin (& their furry Alfie) on the birth of their second child, little Freddie Macpherson, who has already completed a number of Clear Rounds at our field from inside Emily.
Cornwall/Dartmoor this weekend for me and WBSDS for other A-SITters, fingers crossed for some nice weather and good results!
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
What a ‘Crackin’ Weekend!
Well we’ve had A-Sitters all over the place this weekend!
Well done to:
Sarah & Jemma at Dog Vegas for:
20th in Gr1-2 Agility (even with faults – speedy Jem!)
4th in Gr1-4 Jumping
and 2nd in Gr1-4 Agility! So close to going Gr2 she can almost taste it!
Elliot also made great progress with his waits and weaves so a congrats is also deserved there!
Jane and Welly at the Easter UKA show got:
4th in the Steeplechase!
So pleased for them especially considering the drama last week!
And I was at the Kernow K9 Show in Cornwall.
Hex got an 8th in the Gr3 Jumping
and 2nd in the Gr3 Agility
Kif has now qualified for Grade 5!
Unfortunately the other news from Kernow is that I ended up in A&E and I have fractured my elbow. Long story short – I tripped over a tunnel whilst doing a front cross with Sprite. I have an appointment with the fracture clinic tomorrow morning to re-assess the damage and recovery period but it’s looking to be at least a month. Whilst I am unable to compete or drive, I do still hope to attend shows with Mum and other guest handlers stepping in for my furries. I also would like to continue to teach albeit with some assistance from Mum. I am understandably upset – first show of the season and I write myself off – I feel like a bit of a prat but I’m trying to smile through it and appreciate the support I’ve received so far.
If you want to see the damage as it happened go to the Jayphotos website and check out the Veteran Jumping from Sat - they just happened to be photographing dogs coming out of the tunnel on that course *rolls eyes*.
See you all at the field soon! x
Well done to:
Sarah & Jemma at Dog Vegas for:
20th in Gr1-2 Agility (even with faults – speedy Jem!)
4th in Gr1-4 Jumping
and 2nd in Gr1-4 Agility! So close to going Gr2 she can almost taste it!
Elliot also made great progress with his waits and weaves so a congrats is also deserved there!
Jane and Welly at the Easter UKA show got:
4th in the Steeplechase!
So pleased for them especially considering the drama last week!
And I was at the Kernow K9 Show in Cornwall.
Hex got an 8th in the Gr3 Jumping
and 2nd in the Gr3 Agility
Kif has now qualified for Grade 5!
Unfortunately the other news from Kernow is that I ended up in A&E and I have fractured my elbow. Long story short – I tripped over a tunnel whilst doing a front cross with Sprite. I have an appointment with the fracture clinic tomorrow morning to re-assess the damage and recovery period but it’s looking to be at least a month. Whilst I am unable to compete or drive, I do still hope to attend shows with Mum and other guest handlers stepping in for my furries. I also would like to continue to teach albeit with some assistance from Mum. I am understandably upset – first show of the season and I write myself off – I feel like a bit of a prat but I’m trying to smile through it and appreciate the support I’ve received so far.
If you want to see the damage as it happened go to the Jayphotos website and check out the Veteran Jumping from Sat - they just happened to be photographing dogs coming out of the tunnel on that course *rolls eyes*.
See you all at the field soon! x
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