Caerphilly, SWAT & Brecon Shows

Wow Zara has been amazing. At Caerphilly she had 3 clears with a 13th in Grade 3 Jumping, I was so pleased with her, she doesn't go clear very often, although we didn't quite get a dragon SWAT was totally amazing, Sunday was disasterous but I was ill and shouldn't really have gone, and the show got cancelled partway through, due to torrential rain. We should have camped but managed to find a lovely B&B that allowed 3 dogs in the rooms, and had a paddock fully fenced in and set aside for dogs. Monday I judged and met some lovely people, some who were ring party, and watched some great runs, the day flew by so fast. Tuesday Ruger almost had a clear, I put him back when he broke his stay and he then ran a fantastic clear (after being E'd). Zara was fantastic with 3 clears out of 4 runs, just one pesky pole, but she had 8th in Grade 3 Agility. She then went on to get 3 out of 3 clears on Wednesday, sadly just not fast enough to be placed, although not far out :) At Brecon yesterday Zara was leading Grade 3 Agility for quite some time and then at the end got pushed out to 3rd, I was so happy with her, she also had a clear in Combined 3&4 Agility. In the jumping both Zara and Ruger had 5 faults in the weaves :( shame as both good runs up to there, Ruger was clear until weave no 10 when he ducked out as apparently I moved slightly towards him, he's getting better as he has had a few runs now with just 5f.

Another Dig It Show

Sadly Wigan Alsatian got cancelled so another weekend off, I think I have had more shows cancelled this year than I have competed at. The Fab show at Dig It was FAB. Not only because of our results, it was well organised and friendly. My first run on Saturday was newbie steeplechase with the little mali, he did a lovely run nice and smooth and clear to the last but one, when I didn't push him to the left so he went round the last jump, so 5R, not to worry it was a lovely run. Zara pretended that she had never been trained in agility in both of her first 2 classes. Ruger ran a lovely jumping but I got us E'd because I stood in his way after he did a lovely front cross so he couldn't jump the correct jump. I had words with Zara after lunch so she decided that she would listen and did a lovely clear in newbie agility to win the class. Ruger's last agility class went haywire as he decided that a twig with leaves on it was a tuggy after jump 4!!!! He then couldn't concentrate as he was looking for toys :( On Sunday Deb had entered with Lassie and went in the ring for newbie steeplechase she fell over partway round, but went on to win the class Lassie's first red rosette :) In newbie jumping I fell over so Ruger stopped to make sure I was ok, he then went clear and won the class Ruger's first red rosette:) (in agility) Do we need a new technique to win? Zara was great with an unlucky pole in steeplechase, but 2 lovely clears in jumping and agility to win both classes. She ran so well, it was good to see after her lameness, although standard height does suit her more than large. Jules was there Sunday with Jette and Flynn who both flew round their courses, Jette winning the steeplechase and Flynn having a fun time.

Wye Valley

Well the big day - Ruger's first KC show. Started with Grade 3 agility, missed out the last weave of 12 so E'd, but in all it was a good run, he stayed and got his contacts (except the see saw, where I don't ask for a wait and it was one of the light aluminium ones which took him by surprise) he did some nice distance work, so I was happy with the little Mali. Grade 3 jumping was next, it looked complicated when walking, but ran better than it looked. Ruger went for the wrong end of the tunnel so got his now seems like favourite E!! he then went clear including weaves for the rest of the course, again with some fantastic distance work. Combined 1-7 agility was our worst run of the day, from both of us, funny enough we didn't get e'd but managed 15 faults and 10 time faults, but no E :) Sunday was the wettest day of the weekend and I judged all day. Really enjoyed this, starting with the Juniors under 12 and over 12 jumping, there are some fantastic young handlers out there. I then judged Large Grade 1 jumping and Large Grade 3 jumping, it was lovely to see the standard of the new dogs and both dogs and humans enjoying the experience. I have noticed alot more motivational handlers lately, who are appreciating thier dogs efforts, praising the good bits and not dwelling on the mistakes. Monday we had 2 classes, Speed and Power was an E in the speed section as Ruger is not easy to turn at full speed lol but he got some of the more difficult bits. Last class was Large ABC Sprint, we were clear from 1 to 15 but Ruger took a little detour past no 16 to ask a scary scout to leave the ring, typical Mali, so easily spooked, so we got 5R then cleared the rest of the course. Overall I was happy with Ruger out of 5 runs we had 3 x E, a 5R and a 25F, when he grows up he'll be alright. Zara did not compete this weekend due to being on anti-inflammatories for lameness. Vet could not find anything so she is being rested and maybe x-rays next week to try to diagnose what's happening. Finger's crossed its nothing serious.

Can You Dig It? Day 2

Another successful day for Zara 2nd Internediate Agility, 3rd Intermediate Jumping and 4th in the pairs with Sharon and Ryan. Ruger stayed consistent with E's in Intermediate Agility and Jumping. He had a good run in Helter Skelter, his weave entry was fab but pole no 10 bounced in his face, which for a delicate little Mali is a huge deal, he thought it wanted to kill him, I asked him to enter the weaves again which he did and completed all 12, I was really pleased with him. Shockingly he knocked a pole so had 10 faults, what a result no E!!!!!!! Lovely show can't wait for July

Dig It Show

We went to the Dig It UKA show, our first time at UKA and had a great time. Ruger was consistent with 5 x E :( I was really pleased with alot of his performance as he got all his contacts the only problems were the weaves and turning him into the correct jumps, difficult at his speed. Zara was good, although surprisingly had placings with faults, not something you get at Large Grade 3, the classes were alot smaller than we would have had at KC, so I was taken by surprise when they called our names out at the presentations. She got the following places in the UKA classes: 2nd Novice agility 3rd (Q) not sure which class 4th Novice steeplechase For the Dig It pay on the day classes (she ran lovely for these with clear rounds) 1st agility 1st jumping 3rd in the pairs with Maureen and Archie (double clear) Ruger ran the pay on the day classes too, and kept up with the E's, however the weaves entries were really difficult and he didn;t get get any faults on them yay!!!!

What else can go wrong?

I've been looking forward to the WBSDS show for ages, really like this show. On Tuesday night at training Zara went lame, she wasn't bad, but I knew she wasn't right, so we left early to travel straight to Wales. The M6 was shut so a nice detour round Stafford got us back on further down. Our junction to get off the M5 was closed sending us on another detour round Gloucester!!! We got to Wales at 215am aaargh!!!!! Next day it rained and rained and rained. Zara was still slightly lame. Thursday was training at Mike's, Zara was still lame, no apparent reason, so rest for her and Ruger did a 2 hour training session. He was very good just losing interest for the last 15 minutes so we stopped. He is amazing his drive is so high, he doesn't give up. We worked on checking his pace going into the weaves, as he rarely misses an entry, even at his speed but is too fast for pole 2 to 3. He also did some nice independent contacts, without me speaking yay. Friday Zara was still lame, still happy and leaping around, but not agility fit:( It was still raining too. We decided not to risk Zara at Newbury so would not go. Sadly Sunday the show was cancelled. Its really sad for the committee to have to make that decision, but they are so right to put the dogs and handlers welfare first, but so disappointing for the people who have worked so hard to put the show together and for the competitors. Saturday we headed over to Caerphilly and had an hours training session with Ruger practicing the exercises we had learnt on Thursday. Good thing is he has now used rubber contacts, I thought he would freak out, but the a-frame didn't bother him, although he got partway up the dogwalk and jumped off, as his little delicate feet didn't feel right :) After 2 weeks of rest Zara is now fit and ready to go for training tonight. We have 3 shows to look forward to this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for both dogs. Last weekend the GB team won GOLD at the Belgian Shepherd Dog World Championships in the agility, an amazing acheivement, well done!!!!!!!

Delinquent Dogz

Really pleased with Ruger's first run of the day in capability agility. He had a fantastic stay, hit his contacts with lovely 2on 2off and got all the jumps in the right order, and as a bonus got 3rd place.

Zara had some silly rounds and some unlucky with 5 faults for a pole, although she enjoyed all her runs.

K9 Skool members had a great day too.
Sharon and Ryan had a fantastic agility run ending in 2nd place, at their first ever show and a clear in jumping.
Ali and Chewie had a stunning jumping run with an unlucky 5 faults for knocking a jump over.
Michelle and Rufus had 2 clear round rosettes at their first ever show.
Dani and Jet entered the jumping class and ran 2 lovely rounds, they will be a team to watch in the future.
Mandy and Poppy had some good runs.
Maureen and Archie had clears in agility and jumping.
Heidi and Zeta had a clear in jumping.

Well Done everyone

Looking Forward to the New Season

We have joined a lovely club to train at, its good to have some direction to my training as its difficult to see where you are going wrong when you train alone. Ruger is really coming on and the next step is to start competing. He is amazing over the jumps and has lovely contacts but needs work in the weaves, his entries are fantastic but he doesn't stay in!
Zara has competed a few times since my last blog, least said about Ribble the better, don't know who she is listening to, but she seems to think that faults are points :(
We had a clear round in agility at Tailwaggers but not fast enough for a place, but it was a nice smooth clear, so I was really pleased with her.
Friday night we had the club monthly comp and Zara won both agility and jumping, with some really good runs and one really bad one.
Yesterday was Springers, this is a lovely, friendly show, and we had some unlucky runs. I missed walking the snooker and only knew about it as they called my name as they were waiting for me, I grabbed Zara out of the car ran in and someone told me the rules, Zara was brilliant, good weaves, contacts and cleared all jumps, however I forgot the last set of weaves, losing 7 points, aarrrgh, I couldn't believe it when we got 4th.
K9 Skool had a good day at Springers, Heidi and Zeta won their snooker class and Anne and Charlie had 2 thirds, Well Done
Its the start of the season and I have shows nearly every weekend, I am looking forward to getting Ruger up and running, and also I have some judging appointments over the summer.
Above are some photos of Ruger from Springers that a nice lady took for me.

1st Show of the Year

Well as I predicted Zara went in with a yay its agility attitude and was a bit mad. First class was Graded 1-3 Agility, it was a nice course for the grade mix, I didn't give het too much help at the weaves so she went past, but in training she would have done them, need to work now on weave entries, in fairness we haven't trained them much lately, she then had 2 poles and a contact, sounds diasterous but she was listening to me and we both enjoyed the run.
Second class was again Graded 1-3 Agility. I don't know what happened to Zara as I left her in the stay, walked away past the first jump when she overtook me, spun round and took no 9, I brought her back to jump 2 and made her wait, which she did, she cleared the next 2 jumps, leapt off the top of the A frame and powered away to the tunnel in the far corner, this is not Zara (I did check to see I had the right dog, this is more Mawgan style LOL), at this point I thanked the judge and left the ring, putting Zara in the down when she left the tunnel. That's the first time I have ever had to do this with Zara she was crazy, she came out of the ring with her tail wagging like mad saying that was fun!!!!
Her last run was jumping and she was lovely, missed the weave entry and 2 unlucky poles, but again we worked together.
I do wonder about whether to do the big indoor shows, they are so noisy. Wilmslow do a good job with giving as much space as possible at Myerscough, but its still noisy, which makes it quite stressful for a lot of dogs like Zara, who would like nothing more than to stand there and bark, but isn't allowed to.

Must say a big Well Done to Jules and Jette who won Grade 2 agility so they join us in Grade 3, not bad for a Lab who is going to take it easy this year!!!

Hello

Can't believe its so long since I last updated. Let's hope the New Year brings more success than last.
My main aim for this year is to get Zara out of Grade 3 (preferably by winning out but I will be happy for enough points!!!) she has lost weight and is moving faster, so lets see if that helps, we haven't competed since October when she was running lovely but just the odd pole or contact. Will see how she does at Wilmslow tommorrow, at training last week she was great.
I would also like to start to compete with Ruger but we will see, he's doing great in training but is so fast, I need to adjust to his speed, see picture below, that was him last week.



For Mawgan I will be happy to see her being happy, she doesn't miss agility and is happy just having company, her hips are no worse than last March which has got to be a good thing.