Lewis Agility Show

3 Runs for each of them today. Campbell had Graded 1 & 2 jumping first. A lovely easy course with one tricky bit. He did a good run and I couldn’t believe it when I went to check our time and we were lying in 1st we didn’t stay there though but ended up 4th which I am still very very pleased with as that’s his best place to date. It was a very fast course so I am surprised we managed a top 10 placing. Next he had Graded 1 & 2 Agility. It looked fairly easy and there were no weaves so I was looking forward to it…. But we got E’d that was after he went to say hi to Angela the judge who he knows! Last was Grade 1 – 7 Power and Speed. I didn’t expect a place in this as it was a very easy course which the higher grades would fly round. I wasn’t wrong we managed a clear but were 4 seconds behind 1st place.

This was Chico’s first Kennel Club show so I didn’t expect much as he still gets very wound up in crowded spaces. He had Graded 1 & 2 jumping first. He did a lovely clear round and got the weaves without a problem and finished only 0.2 seconds behind Campbell. He is still quite slow through tunnels and the weaves so will be much faster than Campbell when he is a bit more relaxed. His second run was Grade 1 – 7 Helterskelter. It was a very tough course with lots of jumps close together and we didn’t manage to get round but im not surprised! Last he had Graded 1 & 2 Agility he did a lovely start and then decided just like Campbell to go say hi to the judge getting us E’d. Never mind it was a great day and I cant wait for our next one.

Patenden (UKA)

Campbell had 4 runs today, Novice agility was a nice course which I thought we would get round but the bloody weaves caught us out again so we ended up with 5 faults. Novice jumping was again a nice course but Campbell really decided to be naughty and missed the weave entry then when I put him back in he came out early so I put him in again and he got it right! Other than that no problems so we finished on 15 Faults. Novice Snooker was a fairly simple course with the 2 tunnels as the 7 point obstacle again so everyone just did them 3 times. Campbell did a lovely round gaining 38 points to finish 1st. We only need a few more points now to move up to Senior. I don’t really want to yet so may not enter the Agility classes anymore until I think we are ready. Beginners Steeplechase was last and he did a lovely clear but didn’t get placed.

Chico had 2 runs today. Casual Agility was first we ended up with an E but he got his weaves perfectly so im happy. Casual Jumping was next and he did a lovely round but the weaves we on the right and I didn’t feel confident and he missed them and got confused when I tried to put him in again. He got them on the fourth go but by then we were E’d. He did try hard and has got quite speedy and really seems to be enjoying himself now!

Prested Hall (UKA)

Not the best weekend, Chico had 3 classes, Beginners Jumping, Agility and Steeplechase. He has sped up the last week or so and I wasn’t prepared so lost control a few times! Agility was nice we just missed our weave entry.

Campbell Had Novice Agility, Jumping and Time, Fault & Out. We missed the weave entry in agility and jumping but managed to get it in the time fault and out first time round but ran out of time so didn’t have to do it twice (thank god!) we ended up 4th so could have done better!

Match Night

Had ring craft club match night tonight with Alfie. I only ever go to give him more experience of being in the show ring with other breeds as Staffies don't do well against other more flashy breeds and i didn't expect to get anywhere. When i arrived i was warned by another handler that the judge doesn't like bull breeds and wont even look at there teeth! Well he was right she wouldn't go near his mouth and she asked me to show her his teeth. Hes not really used to me doing this but was very well behaved, he really has come on lots this year. She surprised me though by picking us out first in yearling, we then went on to win reserve best in match. I'm very pleased and surprised! Cant wait for the championship shows now the first one should be Southern Counties in June.

Maple leafs Multibreed Flyball

We were all mad to enter a Multibreed tournament so soon. Two of the dogs had there first ever tournament in the starters on Friday and both have only been training for a few months. Cai is very experienced but i wasn't sure if he had the will power to stay in his own lane and Frazzle is reliable but you never know what they will do the first time competing without netting! Also we were having problems with Zeus returning over the jumps at full height so had to borrow a Staffie as height dog from the Mad Mutts which turned out to be a fantastic move as he was great and got the lights spot on.

We didn't need to worry either as all the dogs put in a great performance and Cai was just amazing. He ran nearly every leg, we only pulled him so Zeus could run last as he doesn't like doesn't like dogs crossing too tight on his return. We put in some great times and didn't break out which a lot of the other teams did, we also stayed consistent and actually got slightly faster as the day went on. We finished 4th overall (out of 7) which we are all very pleased with as we didn't go to win today just see if our dogs were ready for open. It was a fantastic start to open tournaments for us and we cant wait to do more now we know we can trust our dogs!

Cai also raced in the singles competition. I did his 3 runs right at the end of the day after a full days racing in the divisions and i didn't expect great times but wow he really found some power from somewhere and put in 3 fantastic times his best being 4.09 seconds. This was good enough to win it so im very pleased. If only id run him early in the day... i think he would have managed sub 4 seconds then. He really is a dog in a million and i wont ever have another like him.

Easter Celebration Agility Show

Well a mixed weekend for Campbell. Only two runs on Saturday. Grade 1 - 3 Agility was first and he managed a nice clear but felt very slow and didn't make the placings. Then grade 1 - 3 Jumping which had and odd angle into the weaves which i was worried about and Campbell missed it but flew round the rest to end up with 5 faults.

Today didn't go much better. We had grade 1 - 2 jumping first which again had a slightly odd angle weave which i was worrying about and Campbell missed the weaves totally even with the circle he finished on a decent time so i was a bit gutted to have 5 faults. Next was the grade 1 - 2 helter skelter which was a super fast circular course that i didn't think would be a problem but guessed we would be quite slow. Well Campbell took off faster than i expected and even go us out if trouble when i went to pull him off the right jump! we finished clear to end up 19th (out of 221 dogs) so I'm very pleased as he is not a fast dog to even get a place on a course like this is a miracle. Last we had grade 1 jumping which was tire weave to start. Having missed quite a few weaves now i really was getting stressed and i wasn't surprised when we didn't get the weaves... i was surprised though when Campbell just went flying past heading for the long jump. I get the feeling he knew they were there but has decided weaves are not much fun anymore! The rest was nice so we just finished on 5 faults.

Maple leafs Flyball

It seems ages since our last flyball tournament which was back in freezing cold January. We had two teams entered today, the Power Paws Flyers were seeded 5th and had some very tough races against teams who were doing much faster times than they declared so didn't really stand a chance. We also had to borrow 2 dogs from another team and although they did fantastic its hard to get it all together when you have never raced together before. They ended up 6th out of 7 but put in some good runs.


The Power Paws were also short of dogs but thankfully all managed to keep it together. Zeus and Lolly were racing for the first time and did really well and didn't really slow as the day went on. Cai was a star and is really starting to focus on his job... now i just need to trust him a bit more! We were seeded 2nd so were hoping to do ok but were very surprised when we won every leg to finish 1st with a best time of 21.8 seconds. We had declared a time of 22 seconds and never went more than 1 second either way so managed to keep consistent too. We won a lovely framed photo which was a nice surprise. Now we just have our first multibreed on Monday to enjoy/panic about! Im not expecting much but it would be nice to get a few points.

Scrambles Sunday

First up Chico had Nursery Agility it was a very tricky course which would not have been out of place in a grade 3 course so i was not expecting to get round but my little boy surprised me and went clear. He was the only Maxi dog to get round so not bad for a baby. He went clear in all his Nursery classes this weekend so i am very pleased. He then had Beginners Steeplechase which again was not the easiest of courses but he did a lovely run clear with one huge wide turn which wasted 3 or 4 seconds to finish 2 seconds behind Campbells time.



Campbell had Novice Jumping first he missed the weave entry which was annoying as it was not a hard one then took a pole down but was very responsive so i was please with how he went. Next he had Beginners Steeplechase which he went clear in 2 seconds faster than Chico but didn't make the placings. Power & Speed was next, he usually does well in this as he is very accurate. He did a lovely power section but my handling was very messy on the speed section so although he went clear it was not as tidy as it could have been! Last he had Novice Agility which was not really the kind of course i like as i always worry doing snakes and i worry even more if there is a right hand weave... we didnt get round but i think Campbell had had enough by then anyway as he wasn't really listening anymore.

Scrambles UKA Friday & Saturday.

Well Friday turned out well. Campbell has moved up to novice and proved he can do it with a 3rd in Novice Agility. It was a good run but we seem to have lost the stop on his contacts so i will have to train them for at least one run this weekend as we have worked so hard to get them i don't want to loose them now! He went clear in Beginners Steeplechase and was the fastest clear outside the placings.

Chico just had Nursery Agility and he did a lovely round clear and in the fastest time although they dont award placings for this class.

Saturday was a busy day for us. I ring managed all day and had loads of runs with the Pairs and Laps Knockout so things were a bit hectic. First up was the Novice Royal Canine Agility. It was a tricky course but i wasn't too worried. Campbell had a great start but missed a weave out as they were on very uneven ground and all out of line. He wasn't the only one to do this. I used the rest of the round to train our contacts. He stopped lovely on the dog walk and see-saw but not his A frame so i put him back on. Then we had the pairs with Chudley. I was to run the Agility part of the course and they were going to run the jumping part. Campbell started off well but then got confused and decided to do his own thing. Chudley got an E too so i didn't feel so bad!

Next was Novice Jumping. Quite a tricky course and Campbell had a few poles down. Beginners Steeplechase was next and we managed to get a pole down again but he did a lovely run apart from that. The Laps Circular Knockout was last and Campbell was great, really flowing and felt lovely to run. We got through the first round but not the second. The dog that beat us went on to win.

Chico had Beginners Steeplechase first and he felt great and was really moving but took about 4 poles down so i think i was rushing him too much. Nursery was last and he was a little star again going clear, stopping on all his contacts perfectly. I cant wait for him to turn 18 months he is going to be so much fun to run and doesn't stick to me like glue like Campbell does.