Who would have thought......

...... that after all my moaning and terrible self pity things just stayed dull, but today it seems that Max and I had the right spirit and though we had an early running order in the Agility (No 7) it seems we had our act together and managed to come second. As I had an early run I didn't expect to stay there, but when I checked 2.5 hours later I was still second. I couldn't believe it and nearly started crying in the scorer's tent.... I know, I am a softy....

It was a nice show, yesterday I had 3 runs and 3 clear rounds (a 14th and a 17th place) and I just started being ok with that fact that due to my lack of speed I will not make any of the places with trophies any time soon.... I was proven wrong it seems. We were 1 second slower than the winner.... Not bad and I was close to tears the rest of the day.

We had lots of fun in the Pairs class and I messed up the Jumping, but nothing could spoil the day. The courses were all very nice and we had lots of fun.

We are slowly coming to the end of the season. This 2nd place really gave me some confidence that we can do it....

Beside, at the moment, outside of Agility, life seems to be mainly cr*p, so that made up for it a bit and gives me the highlights which keep me going! So thanks to Amanda Pigg (judge in the Agility class) for a lovely course ;-)

Here is the handsome Max with his rosette and our first ever trophy!

Jinxed it!

It seem, that with my last post I jinxed it. Newlands today and not a single clear round. Ok, it was mainly my fault...

Having been ill for a week didn't help. When I tried to run in the Agility class (first class of the day RO 1, thought that would be a good sign ;-) ) I realised that having been in bed for 4 days and being unable to eat anything for about 6 days didn't help running or concentrating.
Anyway, Max did a nice round in Agility and really went for it, until the last jump, when he spotted his lead and went for it without doing the last jump. Unfortunately I can only beat myself up, as I placed it in a rather visible place for him from the second to last jump.... Oh well...

In the jumping he did a nice round but knocked a pole. He worked ahead nicely and again I had real problem moving!

Next was the Helter Skelter. I had entered Luke in this class, hoping there were no weaves, and we were lucky, there were no weaves. A lovely flowing course with a few handling bits.

Luke jumped the first jump, then headed straight for a tunnel, funny enough, the tunnel entrance didn't even face him. so he had to run around the tunnel to get in.

When he came out I took him bet to jump No 2 and we started again. This time he was much more focused and finished the course nicely... He missed another couple of jumps, but stayed in the ring, jumped beautifully and tried to follow my "instructions".

Max had quite a high RO, so we had to wait a while.

Max ran very nicely again, worked ahead but took one jump too tight and knocked a pole...
It is so lovely to work him.... I really enjoy it and I enjoyed to run Luke too. I am looking forward to compete with the 2 of them.... Some time next year.....

Next week I have no show, so will have to find something to keep me busy ;-)

Life in general and Agility in particular

This year seems to be a bit of an odd one for me. Since February I had lots of problems with my car. I spend loads of money to get it repaired, but in the end I had to admit defeat when I was on my 3 rd alternator and still nobody knew what the actual problem was.

I was lucky though and was given a car by a friend of mine, which was a real life saver and I cannot thanks Paula enough for that very kind offer.

Not having a car was a nightmare. I missed training and shows and had problems taking the dogs for a really lovely long walk...

Now being mobile again I got slightly paranoid and always waiting for something to go wrong now. So far we managed to break the car key in the door and last weekend a passing car through up some stones and broke the rear windscreen! It seems never ending. So I wallow a bit in self pity in times, please forgive ;-)

Agility wise we are not doing badly. Max is quite reliable and so far we managed to come home with at lest one clear round from each show. Sometimes we even manage places. I was considering moving up on points, s we always seem 5-10 seconds behind the winner of the class...
But I realised I am not sure my confidence can keep up with this. Yes, it sounds sad, I know (remember, self pity time)
Max is great and very responsive, just recently I get so nervous in a ring, forgetting the courses or doing really stupid things. The effect is that I seem more hesistant and so is Max consequently. He is not the sort of dog who just blasts through a course, though he works ahead, he always keeps an eye on me and if I slow down, so does he. He is very sensitive so loses confidence immediately when he thinks he did wrong, so I always have to keep it light and happy and not beat myself up about mistakes. I cannot repeat stuff to often he doesn't understand (probably because I don't "teach" them right) as he then loses self confidence and goes into snail mode....

He had lovely contacts, but holding those made him pretty slow on the equipment, beside that he was worried (again) of not getting it right. Now I try to run his contacts. I am not sure that is a good idea, but worth a try ;-)

At the weekend I went to see a friend who gave me a whole day of her experience and helped me with Luke and max. She was amazing in helping to build up my confidence and suggested that we move up on points as Max and I seem to do better on handling courses. I will seriously contemplate this now, not sure I want to leave my comfort zone though :-O
It was amazing how much time she spend on rather building me up than my dog, as Max is already very good....
So why is it so difficult to believe that I can do it and we are actually doing quite well??
I am very pleased with Max. He is lovely to run. We (probably rather "I") are still to slow for that "win".

At the moment lots of stuff is going on in my life which need sorting out and maybe this is all undermining my confidence in general??? Oh, where is the psychologist when you need one??? ;-)

Friend took some lovely photos when we went for our days training , when I receive them, I will post some. She worked Luke for me and boy, did he work for her. He had lovely turns (something I am really struggling with him) and did very well. Next weekend he is entered in the Helter Skelter class at Newlands and I am very curious to how he will do.
I think I should have more faith in him, but I am still worried that he might leave the ring, run off etc... So ll fingers crossed it will go well.

Can't believe the season is already coming slowly to it's end. Where is time gone?

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....

More training days and the start of the season.

For a while I felt a bit like deflated tyre.... It seems that the fun was out of Agility somehow and motivation was difficult.

Now I had 3 training days and it seems things don't look so doom and gloom anymore.

The last training day was with David Munnings. I had Luke in the morning class and Max in the afternoon class.
I enjoyed both classes, though strange enough it seems that Luke went totally flat after about half the time. It seems when he has a walk in the morning he is less ready to work or too tired to work, which is surprising, as he seems to be able to run for hours...

But with Luke and Agility it is still early days. I wanted to enter him in some Any Size classes this season, but might change my mind now, as he didn't work very well on the Saturday. But as I said, early days.

Compared to that, it really is a joy to work with Max, very responsive, very eager, very bright. Not saying Luke is not, but he always seem to have his own agenda and sometimes doing fun stuff for himself (like sniffing the ground) takes over. If I didn't know better I'd think he is a Spaniel or Sprollie.

But back to Max. We worked on turns, distance control and contacts. And I was very happy to see that Max can easily keep up with the higher Grade dogs, the problem really is myself as I m lacking the experience of a higher grade handler.

But it gave me a good confidence boost to see him working so well.
I got a few ideas how to improve his contacts and of course to think more about my handling. Not sure I will succeed with that though :-/

On Sunday I had my first ever judging appointment at the Waverunners UKA show. I was soooooo nervous. Saw myself eliminating people who went clear, because I forgot the course. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep at night.

When we arrived, the course was already set up (lucky me) and it just needed a bit straightening up.
I had a rather nice ring manager who was very helpful.

My children were stars as well, my daughter scrimed and the boys were doing other jobs at the ring. Helping tirelessly.

Judging was great fun as it gave me a good opportunity to watch other people run their dogs and watch their handling.

I think it all went very well (though weird when you have to judge your trainer :-O ) I didn't get any complains and looking at the dogs, they seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

At the end of the day my feet, back and legs were aching and I was very tired and happy to go home. I got a lovely judges gift from Renee, thanks :)

My dogs though were glad when the day were over an they could have a run around and enjoy themselves too. Poor dogs being stuck in the car all day.

I booked quite a few shows and hope the weather will be kind this year and Max and I will manage to work together and improve our relationship.
Now I am looking forward to the season and to all the shows I booked....

Training Day

I have been to a training day yesterday. We were so lucky as the weather was glorious. It actually got quite warm around midday.

The training day was with Natasha Wise and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We trained some tight turns, which in theory I seem to understand now, not sure the practice will get any better. Then we did contacts and weaves. It was quite interesting to get her idea how to make Max's contacts more reliable and faster, as he sometimes creeps down the dog walk or even waits just before the contact zone. So I think some contact work needs to be done. It was amazing to see how he speeds up in the weaves, when somebody was holding a tuggy toy for him. Couldn't believe his speed. So now need to find somebody at training to motivate him with a toy, while I run next to him.

All good fun anyway.
Next weekend we had planned to go to the Agility Addicts show, which I had entered weeks and weeks ago. Unfortunately, though entered really early, we didn't get in. Next time I better enter before the schedule comes out ;-)
So next weekend needs reconsidering...

At the moment I have little Hugo here.... (I know, excuse the name) he is 5 month old, black and white collie and looking for a new home.


He was a bit big for his boots when he arrived, but now learnt that he is not the king of the castle... Let's hope I can find him a lovely new home with lots of exciting stuff going one. He is still very puppyish for being 5 month old. He enjoys to go out with my lot. A typical curious and cheeky puppy :)