Waverunners Day 2

I wasn't really looking forward to today after our rubbish day yesterday but my boys surprised me and pulled some good runs out of the bag.

Chico was first up in Nursery Agility on a very tricky course which was far too technical really. He surprised me though and did a lovely clear round (one of only two)and got the best time so would have won the class but as they only give out clear round rosettes we had to make do with that. I was so pleased with him i then decided to enter him in both the Steeplechase classes. Steeplechase II was first and he took the first pole down as he wasn't looking where he was going. After that he did a lovely round with no other mistakes in a faster time than Campbell! Steeplechase I was after that and he did well but got confused at a tunnel that we had to go through twice one after the other as i didnt handle it very well. Overall im very pleased with him though as this is his first proper show and he hasn't jumped outside on grass before.

Campbell had Steeplechase II first and was doing great then ran past a jump coming out of a tunnel as i had crossed behind him so we ended up with 5 faults. Beginners jumping was next. It was a very easy up and down course that he flew round clear, he did clip the last pole but thank god it stayed up! He then had Beginners Agility which i really wanted to go well as were only 4 point off moving up to Novice. When i walked the course and saw it was almost the same as Chico's agility i was worried as it was quite a tricky course. He didnt let me down though and did a lovely clear although he didnt stop on his A frame so ill be training his round next week to make sure i dont loose his contacts. I did hold him on he see-saw and dog walk today but we still finished 2nd with less than a second between us and 1st so had i pushed him we could have won. Never mind im pleased with his 8 points as that now moves us up to Novice from next week.

UKA Waverunners

Hmm... 3 runs with Campbell today and 3 E's! 2 were my fault and one was him just not paying attention. Ive really got a problem remembering courses at the moment and keep running the wrong course getting E'd in the process. The more i worry about it the worse I seem to get!! The annoying thing is i only needed 4 more points in Agility to move up to Novice which should have been easy but it was not to be today.

Chico had Nursery Agility first and did a lovely run and just ran past the last jump AGAIN. It wasn't just straight up and down so i was pleased but really feel i need to do more work getting him to run on ahead in a straight line as he tends to drift towards me. As he is so much faster than Campbell he usually gets ahead of me so i cant push him over. I then decided to enter Steeplechase as he had done so well in the Agility and was managing to stay pretty relaxed. He did a lovely run over full height and only had one confused moment due to my bad handeling as i ran him as if he was Campbell where he needs a bit more guidance. We did end up E'd but thats because i ran the wrong course... can you see a theme here? Maybe tomorrow will be better?

Cai Flyball Training and Cross Country Jumping!

We have our first Multibreed coming up as a team and i cant wait! I'm hoping Cai copes with the pressure as he is one fast dog running around 4.2 - 4.5 seconds on average.... although i know he can go faster! Ive been doing loads of fitness work taking him out running next to the bike and fitting in as much flyball practice as i can. I'm hoping we can do a few swimming sessions soon too to help top up his fitness.

As a bit of fun we did some cross country jumping over a local horse cross country course. Some of the jumps were about 4 foot high but Cai hardly put any effort in jumping them. I don't think there is anything this dog cant do.

Horsham Breed Show

Today was fantastic. Alfie was entered for his first breed show this year since i have started training him and what a little star he was. He now stands rock solid and is happy for the judge to go over him and check his teeth. He is in fnatastic condition as his owner takes him out running next to her bike for about an hour a day, he also does flyball training and agility training so is solid muscle! He was entered in post graduate and open. There were a few dogs abcent but he showed him self off really well to win both his classes then best of breed. I didn't really think we would get anywhere in the group as Staffies are often overlooked for the more flashy breeds but i should have had more faith as we took group 4! What a fantastic start to his show career. I have 3 champ shows planned this year and im hoping he does really well, his owner wants to qualify him for Crufts so we only need a 3rd.... fingers crossed!

Toni Dawkings Training

Had another training session with Toni today. I decided to run Campbell as Chico is still not quite ready for 3 hours of training and his weaves are still a bit hit and miss. Since i last trained wth Toni i have sorted out Campbell's contacts which were apalling! He now has a fantastic stop at the end of the contact which i was hoping he did today like he does in training. He is a good boy and didnt put a paw wrong and i think Toni is very pleased with his contacts now. We also worked on speeding the dog up over the contact equipment. Toni held Campbell while i ran away calling him and then she released him and he shot over the dog walk and into position much faster than he normally does it. He really does thrive on being wound up!

We also worked on turns which Campbell does quite nicely and is usually quite tight. Its me that needs training as im not always in the best position to help him out! We ran the course she had set up then tried different ways of handeling the turn which really got me thinking about where i need to be more. Ive also realised that Campbell really will have to learn to work on ahead this year as i wont always be able to be there with him. Thats my goal for the next few months... get him to GO when i say GO!! All in all a good three hours training and i cant wait for next week.

Club Test Night

Campbell and I had test night at club tonight. We always get 2 sections a jumping course with no weaves and an agility section which is just made up of the contact equipment and 2 or 3 jumps. We did the jumping section first which was a very simple up and down course which we shouldn't have had any problems with. Campbell did a lovely round and did a recall over the first 3 jumps without ducking so i was very pleased. I didn't warm him up enough though and i could hear him clip every pole and he took one down. Note to self... warm dog up properly if your expecting him to jump well! Next was the agility and i was hoping he did well as we have really been working on our contacts these last 2 months. He did fantastic and came 2nd with all his contacts perfect so I'm very pleased.

C-Side Agility Show

Well a mixed day today. First up was Campbell in the grade 1 - 3 jumping. Warmed him up then took him in and he went loopy! went over the first two then legged it across the arena heading for the tunnel. Just lost it completely after that and probably got E'd at least 3 times! Need to do more warm up next time, but not too much as that slows him down. Grade 1 -3 agility next was an easy straight forward course. Sailed round clear but was out of the placings by 2 seconds as he just wasn't fast enough.

Chico did the run for fun again at medium height. He did a fantastic run and went much faster than i expected which took me by surprise he didn't put a paw wrong but we got E'd as i ran the wrong course! Doh. Never mind he did as i asked and that's what counts.


Next up was Campbell in the 1 - 7 Jumping. There were quite a few little traps but he did a great round clear and again was 2 seconds outside the placings! Last was 1 - 7 Agility. Quite a tricky course with a very hard weave entry on the right which he got brilliantly but then got tempted by the tunnel and popped out the last weave! Trained his contacts after that and he was fast and stopped 2 on 2 off and waited to be released which i was really pleased with as i can often release to early in a panic to save time! So 2 Clears and 2 E's for Campbell today which is not too bad.