MAADH Agility Show

Well today was a first for Cai he actually got to have a go at an agility show! Ive not trusted him up till now as i dont think he will stay in the ring if there is something more exciting going on in a ring next door but today was only a small local show with one ring and netting all round.

First up Campbell had 1-3 agility he did a nice round but has got really naughty with his contacts in the ring and missed the A frame and didnt get the dog walk and see-saw as well as i know he can. I have forgiven him though as the a frame had been set at the old height so was very steep making it hard for him to go to the bottom. Next was Chico again he did a nice round just missing the dog walk contact which was naughty as he hasn't missed one before now! Finally Cai got a go. I waited till very late on in the class so that there were not too many dogs around but shouldn't have worried as he worked lovely and didnt look at anyone in or outside the ring (apart from at the start when he ran over to say hi to Angela who was judging!) Ok he was very slow and hesitant and had a few poles BUT he stayed with me and didnt bark non stop which is his usual style. Also i need to remember he has never had a proper agility lesson other than one with Leah last Thursday and i only do bits with him maybe once a month. He could be really good with more work and experience. Im hoping to enter him at some of the winter shows indoors as most of them have netting between the rings and then hopefully start him outdoors without netting next season.



Second up Campbell had 1 - 3 jumping it was a lovely flowing course but not just straight up and down. Val Clarke was judging and i always like her courses as they are usually very sensible for the grade but not just up and down. Campbell worked well but didnt feel that fast but i was surprised to find we had come 2nd! Chico was being a monkey and somehow managed to find a tunnel to go in that wasn't even facing towards him so got us E'd. Cai was really good again, he missed the weave entry but got it second time and ran past one jump but the rest felt really good so a promising start.

Aces High Flyball Tournament

Well today was fantastic, some how we ended up being put into division 1 (seeded 7th) on a declared time of 19 seconds! We had one dog in the team who has never run in open, Barney who has done one open tournament then Cai, Flash and Breeze. I though everything would go smoothly but how wrong could i be! Barney got interfered with in the very first leg of the very first race and refused to run after that. Bizzy was in a world of him own and pretended he had had no flyball training so he was out too that left us with 3 dogs.

Luckily we had put one of Michelle's veteran dogs as reserve 'just in case' well they ended up running every leg but at around 6.5 seconds. Cai ran start dog for the first time and was amazing. It took me about half the day to get the lights sorted but by the end of the day i was only 0.1 sec late. They were showing the dogs individual times and Cai ran quite a few 3.8 - 3.9's so im very very pleased. His turn was fantastic all day too and he didn't let the other dogs bother him. We ended up 7th but i was not surprised as we really shouldn't have been racing in Div 1 with a 19 second time. Cant wait for Dundee and the British Champs now!

Cai gets his 'Flyball Dog' award!!!

Well the BFA website has been updated and Cai now has his flyball dog award :-) Anyone who has known me for a while will know how many problems i have had to overcome with Cai. He was asked to leave agility after his second class and obedience didnt go much better as nothing they tried managed to focus him so they eventually told me i had to be more tough on him and dragged him into the middle of the room and shook him by the collar till he stopped barking. We didn't go back.... I didnt want to give up on him though so thought i'd give flyball ago.

I rung a lovely lady Called Janice Aird who is the area rep for the BFA and asked if there was a local club. Well it turned out the nearest club was hers 'The Shooting Stars' but they were over 60 miles away. I talked with her for quite a while and they were happy for me to bring Cai along. Well that was the best thing i have every done for him. He loved it from the start and was obviously going to be something special if i managed to finally sort out his issues.

3 1/2 years later with a lot of hard work we have finally done it, Cai has been awarded his 'Flyball Dog' Award.

Thank you to Janice and Roger Aird from the Shooting Stars for not giving up on us. Sam Bawden from the Mad Mutts for kicking my Butt and making me trust him. Michelle and Roland from the Dream Team whos frendship and advice has been appreciated. And all my team mates from The Power Paws flyball team. Its been a long hard slog but it was worth it!

Billingshurst Agility Show

3 runs for Campbell today and 2 for Chico as i have decided to pick and choose which classes i enter Chico in from now on as he does better with only 1 or 2 runs and he still makes baby mistakes and I'm finding it hard to keep him interested as he just doesn't have the drive Campbell has.

First up Campbell had grade 1 - 2 agility he missed his weave entry then i put him back on his contacts as he wouldn't stop so we ended up E'd. Next up he had grade 1 agility. He was really bitching in the queue and wouldn't listen to me and was constantly looking for a dog to hump so our run didn't go to well. Not sure what we ended up with fault wise as i didn't bother to check! Last up he had grade 1 - 2 jumping. I made a big effort to wind him up and focus him on me and it worked. He did a nice round to finish 12th.

Chico had grade 1 - 2 jumping first. He worked nicely through the box at the start but just missed the weave entry as he was looking at the number. Thats the second time he has done this recently too! he also ran wide past a jump but didn't sniff and kept working nicely so i was pleased. Then he had grade 1 agility. He did a lovely round getting all his contacts and not turning too wide but didn't feel that fast. I was really surprised to find out we had come 4th!

He must have heard me last week as i had said i was going to stop agility with him for a year to see if he would come back to it with more drive and excitement and i want to get him castrated!

Surrey DTS Agility Show

Not the best of days today. I woke up and nearly didnt go as i felt really tired and wasn't very keen. Managed to get it together though and arrived with lots of time to walk my first course. There were three runs for each of them today. 2 agility which was nice and one jumping.

First up Campbell had Grade 1 Jumping. It was a fairly straight forward course and he did a lovely round to finish 7th. Chico did a good round too but was quite a bit slower as he wasn't really paying attention today so just got a clear round.

Next up Campbell had grade 1 agility. Again another easy course but he had the 2nd pole down then didn't stop on his A frame contact so i put him back on and the judge asked us to leave the ring! ha ha naughty me. Chico did a nice but slow round i thought he had gone clear but it turns out the judge gave us 5 for a refusal at the tunnel which he did first time with no spins so god knows what she saw?!? Even the scribe said 'that was a bit harsh' when i went to check what the refusal had been for, annoying but it happens i guess!

Last up they had grade 1 - 2 agility Chico did an ok round but just ran wide past a jump so finished with 5 faults. Campbell had another pole down early on so i really pushed him to see what i could get away with and we ended up with an E!

Campbell at UK Agility

These are two of my favorite runs with Campbell this year. Both times he is really keen and listening to me so pulled off some lovely tight turns when needed. I really should believe in him more as he tries so hard for me and what he lacks in speed he makes up for in accuracy and effort.

Dave Munnings Training Day

Had our 3rd and last training day with Dave today. It was boiling hot again so not ideal as all the dogs really felt the heat and were not keen to work. I decided to take Chico again and leave Campbell at home as i am really pleased with how Campbell is going at the moment but feel i need help with Chico as he is hard to motivate and turns VERY VERY wide and sometimes just switches off.

Its started very well we worked on tight turns and crossing in front and behind and Chico put in some of the best turns he has ever done. Suddenly after about an hour though he just stopped jumping and refused to work anymore. He wasn't even that hot but he was having one of his switch off moments. Both Dave and i tried to get him going again but he was having none of it so i ended up putting him in the car for a break.

I decided to get Cai out for the rest of the session just to see how he behaved as he has been so good recently and loves his agility. I didn't plan to run him but he seemed very calm i asked Dave if it would be ok. He was fine with it so i did a few sequences with Cai and he was AMAZING! i love Cai so much he really is my one dog in a million. He did all the turns quite wide but went like a rocket and didn't bugger off after any of the other dogs. Im getting to the stage now where i think he will be able to compete regularly this time next year. I plan to do all the unaffiliated outdoor shows with netting this summer and then the indoor shows over the winter and fingers crossed he will make his outdoor KC debut about this time next year.