Thames

I was really looking forward to Thames and was missing the DARL Rescue League Final which Stitch qualified for, to attend. The weather forecast was good, there were birthdays to celebrate and a Champ to get stuck into.

But the wind was higher than forecast and from the moment I unsuccessfully tried to set my 'garden' up, the show lost it's feel good vibe. Pat and Martin saved the day, helping me with the bits Mum usually did, this was my first camping show by myself in over a year and I was SO grateful for their help after what had been a long day teaching followed by the drive up there.

Hex was an ABSOLUTE nightmare. Usually Mum takes her while I queue, she takes her out of sight from the rings and keeps her calm, without Mum there and with the rings set up so that I had nowhere to take her away from any agility without losing sight of the ring myself, I had to queue with her. I very, very rarely pull my dog out of a course, I believe you should always end on a positive and that there is always something positive to take from a run, HOWEVER, out of Hex's 5 runs I pulled her out of 3! She had gotten herself in such a state queuing that she trashed most of one course, flew a seesaw and took an unsafe approach to a tyre in another and punctured my arm in the last. For her own safety (and mine!) I removed her from these runs before I had finished them. What a shambles!
There was also a mishap where I missed my Crufts qualifier with her because the ring party were calling 'anything' all day! Argh! Total pet peeve of mine. I didn't want to queue for any length of time with her because of the troubles we were having and because of the heat and yet every time I looked at that ring - huge queue and 'taking anything' - what is the point of running orders then?! When I figured the class must be nearing the end, I asked what they were calling to, hoping they'd say 'the end'.... 'O, we're taking anything'..... 'Grrr, I know but how many dogs do you have left to run?', ' We have Loooooaaads' was the response as she flicked through a giant pad of remaining tickets. 'Okay, I really don't want to join that queue as it is, I'll come back after I've had a cuppa and some cake'.
Next thing I know just as I'm getting myself together to get Hex out the tannoy comes on 'Ring whatever, calling to the end of the class...no wait, sorry, that's class CLOSED'.
What?! They never called to the end, how ANNOYING!

For the first time EVER, Stitch got E'd in a Champ Class - not happy as it was totally my fault. I put him back on the A-Frame in the Crufts Singles (obstacle 2), only to finish the rest of the course with a blinding run - whoops. He was a sod in the Olympia qualifier, barely touching the contacts and going wide off them thinking I was going to put him back on, but then did a beauty of a run in the Agility later that day and coming 2nd - the place we needed in the Olympia class. So many frustrations.

The highlight of the whole weekend was the BBQ we had at Pat's, great food, great company and a dog party to finish which I brought Hex too.

Results:

Stitch - 2nd, G6-7 Agility
Stitch - 5th, 6-7 Agility
Stitch - 6th, C1-7 Olympia Qualifier

Wye Valley

I was extremely happy to be setting off to Wye Valley with Matt in tow, although already missing my Mumma who had departed for France.

Matt was great setting up, although not so great at getting up in the mornings!
We got to see Gili, the future Mummy of his future puppy and the weather wasn't to bad so Matt had a good weekend, O and we had an Indian with our SWAT friends Saturday night, so he really was a happy chappy : )

Both Jennine and I made it into the Superstars Final on Saturday. Hugely scary for Jennine who's first KC Show it was; she now had to run under commentary with an audience but she coped really well, just under working a weave entrance. Stitch was one of the 6 dogs to go clear on the course which was made up of 2 rings and 24 obstacles, unfortunately I lost him in a tunnel in the final round. No cash prize for us : (
But it was really fun and great to have 2 of us representing the club.

Results:

Jennine & Ruby - 2nd, 1-2 Agility
Jennine & Ruby - 16th,
Hex - 3rd, 6-7 Jumping
Stitch - 4th, 1-7 Helter Skelter
Gill & Mollyanna - Clear, 1-7 Jumping
Gill & Mollyanna - Clear, 1-7 Agility

Nottingham

Nottingham - o, Nottingham.
When I discovered my tyre was damaged in the morning and needed to be replaced, I should have decided not to go, when we were 2hrs into the journey and someone passing us signaled for us to check our caravan and we found the skylight to have been ripped from the roof, we should have turned around and when we finally arrived exhausted after a 5 and a half hour drive (which was supposed to be 3 and a half hours) we should have known that it just wasn't going to be our weekend.

We knew we had shut the skylight before we left but the caravan is a 1985 model and the supports had grown brittle and the springs lose, so the high winds had managed to get underneath it and rip it out. I managed to work out how to get Mum ontop of the caravan (I'm wobbly at the best of times and not good with heights) by parking my van along side it, opening the window and having her use that as a step up, Mum saw about covering the hole in an old-school bin-bag manner which did the job :)

Voodoo managed to make it down to the rings un-escorted. He jumped into the van and as Mum let go of his collar for him to take the final hop into his crate, he span, burst out of our garden and ran the distance through the caravans to the rings. I was in my wellies and tried my best follow him, but by the time I made it to the rings he was flitting from one to the other until Laura Chudleigh caught him and returned him to me. Good job I hadn't taken his harness off, it made him much easier to grab!

I just couldn't get my act together in the ring, just a silly mistake in each one, a 5r here, a pole there and with frustration setting in things were never going to get better. I don't think I will be returning to Nottingham again.

Results:
@ Nottingham
Hex - 6th, G6-7 Jumping
Hex - 8th, G6-7 Jumping
Stitch - Clear,  C6-7 Jumping

@UKA
Jennine & Ruby - 12th, Beginners Steeplechase

Blackdown

Local show! Whoop! Lie-in (Well kind of) and 25min drive.

I only had one course to walk for Hex first thing and decided not to run it, it really wasn't a Hex course and I was still a bit wary of running her after the tumble she took at Cornwall a couple of weeks prior.
I did however have Stitch in the same course in Medium and we couldn't have done a worse job so glad I gave it a miss with Hex.

I'd only been at the show a matter of hours and I felt deflated and defeated, the show was seeming like somewhat of an anti-climax after my Champ runs at Vyne. I even debated going home, but decided to stick it out - the forecast promised rain, but it wasn't raining yet so thought I'd kick about until things got wet.

The rain never came, so I stuck about all day and glad I did! Hex only had 2 runs and she ALMOST had another of her G6 wins (just missing out to Tim Jones) and had a 5th in the Combined Jumping, only 0.3 of a second between her and some dogs I would never think she'd keep up with especially on such a blasty course.  Really pleased with her energy at the moment.

Results:

Hex - 2nd, G6-7 Agility
Hex - 5th, C6-7 Agility
Gill & Mollyanna - 2nd, C3-4 Jumping

Shrewsbury/Vyne

A weekend of 'close but no cigar' for me. I came 3rd in the Olympia qualifier I had traveled all the way to Shrewsbury for (top 2 qualify, so I would have rather come 4th or 5th!). I went into the lead when I ran but knew that with 2 wide turns it was beatable - sure enough I got beaten!

At Vyne, I went clear in Champ Jumping putting me in 2nd place and had 10f in the Agility but as only 1 dog in the whole competition got a double clear (Well done Sam Lane) I still qualified 6th overall putting me into the Final.

I got 5r in the Final with a refusal at No3 (The A-Frame) I still don't know how this happened - it's the biggest piece of equipment in the ring , how did he miss it?! But he did miss it and followed me around it. I think having not trained with a collapsible tunnel since November, he was just a bit dazed coming out of it and looked for me, but I handled the rest of the course like I was clear and put in a wicked run which I was more than proud of. Close...but no cigar.

I really expected not to enjoy Champs, I thought I would find them stressful on me and Stitch, but actually the environment is a very supporting one. I am enjoying the challenge of the courses and the ring side atmosphere, the only bit I don't like is the second qualifying run when the pressure is on. Whether I will feel the same when I don't have my Mum to help me prepare Stitch and hold him while I do a last minute walk, only time will tell. But for now I am looking forward to and enjoying them :)

SHREWSBURY:
Stitch - 2nd, 6-7 Jumping
Stitch - 3rd, KC Olympia Qualifier C1-7
Stitch - 5th, G7 Jumping
Stitch - 5th, 6-7 Agility
Anne & Chas - 1st, C1-3 Jumping (one more to go until Grade 4!)
Anne & Chas - 2nd, C1-3 Agility
Anne & Chas - 3rd, G3 Jumping
Anne & Zara - 2nd, G3 Jumping

VYNE:
Stitch - 2nd, Champ Jumping

Cornwall/Dartmoor

I've done that thing again when I don't have time to post about a weekend's work, then the same happens the next weekend, then they build up so I know I need to really sit down and get on with it... and then I don't really remember the show and have to rely on the Agility Club tables for results.

So... Cornwall and Dartmoor.

I was running with a quad injury, Hex slipped and injured her leg and A-SIT collected the following results:

Stitch - G6-7 Jumping, 1st
Stitch - G1-7 Steeplechase, 1st
Stitch - G1-7 Steeplechase, 2nd
Hex - G6-7 Jumping, 3rd
Hex - C4-7 Steeplechase, 10th
Hex - G6-7 Jumping, 2nd
Karen & Mollie - G3 Jumping, 4th
Karen & Mollie - G3 Steeplechase, 6th

Team GB Performance Weekend

I could write so much on this weekend, but I am already behind on my blogs and knackered! It was such an amazing weekend, a huge test of my skills, but more so a test of my nerves.

We arrived Friday afternoon and I had a Lucy Osbourne Group booked that evening concentrating on EO exercises. I didn't know whether my confidence was going to take a huge knock or whether I would leave feeling elated. The venue was outdoors on THICK rubber, I had never run on anything like it so really struggled to shift my weight and sprint away, but Stitch didn't seem bothered at all. The exercises were challenging and gave me a good chance to push the stuff I had been training the past couple of weeks and put them to the test in a new environment with new exciting dogs cheering him on from the side lines.
I left with an 'I can do this' attitude and a good bond with Stitch.

Saturday morning I woke up with butterflies. Excited Butterflies Vs Nervous Butterflies - Butterfly warfair in my tummy. The first course was a jumping course and I neither liked or hated it, but new I'd give it my best shot. Stitch wasn't happy with me leaving him in his wait, I had to hold him funny before hand because FCI rules mean no collar, he didn't like that, but I got a wait, he just released before I had finished his 'ready, set, go' routine. We got all the way around to jump 15 before a lack of trust caused me to over check him, causing him to turn the wrong way and back jump the jump he had just jumped. But I recovered quickly and completed the run confidently.

The Agility did not go so well, I miss timed a snake and Stitch thought I wanted to push him through on the last jump so we got eliminated when he jumped that jump the wrong way, it was quite early on in the course (number 10?) and I let it get to me on the rest of the course, but his contacts looked amazing.

In the team run Stitch and I just had 5 faults and finished 10th overall if the runs were treated individually. I was really pleased with the run and only got 5 where I pulled him off the dog walk early fearing he'd take the jump in front of him and not the one to our left.

It was a very long first day, but I enjoyed the challenge and the courses.

Sunday was the sequence day. As well as the judge and the people behind their laptops taking notes, we now had somebody running up the length of the weaves and our contacts timing us with a stopwatch.

I properly stuffed up on the first sequence, I left Stitch behind a 'sponsored' jump, which means the jump was made up of large flat panels - I couldn't see him when I got into position for his recall, so I moved so that I could see him - released him, but hadn't moved back so nothing was where it was supposed to be and we had the most stupid elimination. I will NEVER make that mistake again!

We did a stonking clear in the 2 sequence which was testing our ability to set our dogs up for the most efficient lines.

The 3rd sequence it turned out was more of a course, we were clear most of the way around, but I underestimated the speed Stitch would come out of a tunnel and he put himself onto a line straight to another tunnel, I didn't spot it until it was too late - he does move rather fast!
I was really attacking this course, knowing it was my last chance to impress so was gutted to have let it slip away but it was the run which I was most proud of all weekend.

Stitch had no problem with the FCI Tyre or the table, I was really impressed with him but predictably my nerves got the better of me. I have come away with only one regret and that was that I didn't apply for Hex to have a go, she would have loved the courses!  I got a lot out of the weekend and got to watch some great agility. Happy days.