Easter and Airbeds......

There is nothing straight forward in my life it seems.
Or maybe it is that I am not very organised. We had the Easter show booked and without checking any of the camping equipment we packed and hit the road....

We left rather late and when we arrived at Easter Egg'gility we just managed to put up the tent in day light.

But when it was time to go to sleep we realised our airbeds had already lost some air..... Unfortunately it didn't get better (does it ever when things are broken?) and after about half an hour of sleep, been woken up by barking dogs (not mine though) I realised the airbed was "down".
It wasn't very comfortable to sleep the rest of the night on the very cold and hard floor.
Still, we managed. Next morning the kids reported their airbed was down too.
Before we could solve these "less important" problems, we had to walk courses and I actually had the difficult task to wake up. Not easy!

The show was a 4 ring show and from our camping plot we could see the rings, which helped, as we couldn't hear the tannoy.

I can't remember the order of the class. I think first was Agility, Pauline Barr, another Wiccaweys supportr, judging. The course was lovely. Not naggy, just really nice to run, still containing handling bits. Max was brilliant and we managed a clear round, which turned out to be a 4th place in the end. That was a good start, despite broken airbeds... I still was dreadfully tired.

The jumping course was nice too, but I missed a massive trap when the dog came out of the tunnel they saw the weaves, but had to jump the jump next to it. I didn't call Max and of course he went into the weaves, silly me.
Then we had a Helter Skelter, which was nice too. Fast and flowing. It was combined 1-5 and we managed a clear round, but no placing.

My son was brave enough to run Jake. Unfortunately Jake took advantage of being handled by a child and just did what he like. He was rather naughty when he wee'd at a tunnel (Jake that is) He really should know by now!

We had Nina, Luke and Robbie in the "Any Size" class. All dogs were a bit taken by surprise and didn't really know what was expected. Oh well, was their first time in the ring.

After the classes were finished we had to make the decision to go home or find replacement airbeds. People organising the show were so friendly and helpful. So off we went venturing into Stratford, where we found a big Tesco. We were lucky and they had 2 double airbeds for sale....

So decision was made, we stayed. We filled up on food and Brownies (as we are running this unofficial research about, where to buy the best Brownies. So far Co op is first)

We had a lovely night on our new airbeds.....

Next day, after a good nights sleep, I felt much better.

First class was the Pairs. Max and I went first and came home with a clear, then my daughter ran with her dog and they went clear until they reached the last jump and there he knocked a pole, What a shame, but great run!

I then ran my Agility and Jumping, again lovely courses. We managed to go clear in both and ended up with a 6th and an 8th place.
Later back to Any Size classes, where my daughter ran Nina and to our surprise managed a clear round! Well done!
Next was Luke and I. he was much more focused this time. He flew over the first 3 obstacles, then there was a turn and I didn't call him early enough, being used to Max following my every shoulder movement, didn't work with Luke though ;-)
He took the turn too wide and missed the jump.
Back on track then heading for the tunnel. He worked ahead of me into the tunnel, missed another turn coming out of it. Then back into another tunnel and heading for the finish where he arrived far before me.
He only missed 2 jumps and I was well happy about his performance.
I was worried that he might leave the ring or had to say hello to other dogs watching, but he was a very good boy!

Then the disaster hit, my NEW airbed was broken and deflated.... After trying to sleep on the floor again I decided to sleep in the car.
The next day I felt horrible as I had hardly any sleep.

Not a good start for the day. We managed to get a clear in the Agility, but Max was incredible slow, so we were out of places. In the Jumping he knocked a pole at a tight turn and in the Helter Skelter I pulled him off the jump....

It seems that at a 3 day show max is totally deflated (like my airbed ;-) ) on the third day. I have to look into it and find out what could be the reason. Maybe a lack of stamina, or am I just expecting too much?

He did the same last weekend at the UKA show. On the third day he seemed terribly tired and was very slow...

My daughter came home with quite a few clear rounds too.

So all in all a nice weekend, despite broken airbeds. ;-)

UKA Scrambles and spelling mistakes....

Ok, embarrassing things first.....

I was told I have lots of spelling mistakes in my blog. I want to apologise for those. I don't always re-read what I wrote, as I am sometimes in a hurry (most of the time in fact) beside, my keyboard is rather knackered and some letters don't work well (good excuse, don't you think???)

Maybe I should put a disclaimer, like: "all spelling mistakes made on purpose to see if you pay attention..." ;-)

Anyway, back to Agility....

We went to the UKA Scrambles show over the weekend. We were soooo lucky with the weather, though the Friday started a bit grim and grey....
We actually didn't want to go, but then through change in plans, dog related, as usual, we decided to go after all.

There were nice courses. But I felt completely unprepared. Being watched by my trainer didn't help either. Think that what "stage fright" must be like ;-)

We got eliminated in the Steeplechase, as I got so worked up about the "Snake" (FlickFlack for any northerners who might read this) in the course that I started getting hysterical when approaching it... Not like me really. Anyway, things fell apart then...

The Agility class was in the afternoon and though we got a clear, Max was very, very slow... I was wondering if he was tired or if he needed more motivation.... Or if he shouldn't have had the run around over lunch... To our surprise we found out that the round though slow, was not only clear, but a 6th place in the end.

Saturday was amazing. I had 3 runs and 3 clears.... of which were 2 places... In the Jumping I came 3rd (my first ever 3rd place with Max) and a 7th in the RC Qualifier Agility. The Agility course was rather tricky, as it was the same course for Beginners up to Champs.... There were 8 clear rounds in the Beginners classes....

Funny enough, I had a conversation with my daughter ring side, that I won't bring a cake to training (to celebrate) unless I have 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.... There you go, get the baking tray out again ;-)

Sunday it seems Max and I were tired... I didn't get it together. I couldn't even memorise the courses. I walked the Power and Speed and immediately had forgotten the course. When we ran it, I just ran according to what I thought was right... nd we went clear. Got another one in the Agility....

The highlight of the day though was my daughter having her first ever clear round and it even turned out to be a 3rd place... You should have seen her face. She was glowing... Sometimes I wish you could somehow capture those feelings and get them out when you feel low.... She was so happy. She managed 2 places over the weekend.... She was very proud and so was I. :-)

Alan was so nice to take a picture of Max in action and he sent it to me by email! Thanks Alan. The first ever Agility picture I have of Max....