BATS Agility Show - May 2015

It's been a while since I have written about our dog shows. Mainly because we haven't been to many since we had a new (human) addition to our family. This is the first Kennel Club show we have been to since summer 2014. We have been to a couple of unaffiliated shows, but I haven't had time to write about those.

Anyway, it showed that I haven't had much practice for a while as I was making rookie mistakes with both Zazu at grade 3 and Shadow at grade 7. This was also Shadow's first KC show at G7, we didn't exactly show off our skills!

Me and Rupert having a relaxing lunch

Zazu was up first with grade 3 jumping. This was a nice flowing course and Zazu really got into his stride. I got in his way which slowed him right down but he picked up again going through the weaves. Our first run of the day our our first victory, 1st place! That really was the high point of the day and it went downhill from there, this was my only clear round of the day! We both got a bit messy in the 3-7 agility, even if we did walk it without numbers. The course numbers went walk about over night so we had to wait a long time before the class could get underway. I did find it strange that everyone was walking the course with no numbers. I wasn't sure whether to follow someone or just wait! Zazu's last run of the day was grade 3 agility. Zazu ran really well getting all of his contacts and running out nicely. I lent over too much and we took the wrong jump, but you can't tell that from the video!

Shadow was really grumpy by the time it was her turn so I knew she was going to be a handful. She flew out of the starting blocks. I kept getting in the wrong place but she was making up for it. We missed a jump out of the tunnel and Shadow didn't want to slow down to turn. Our grade 6-7 jumping was a bad round on my part. It was a tricky start but again I got in the wrong place a couple of times and ended up nearly knocking over some jumps, whoops! Our final run was grade 6-7 agility. This was a really good run apart from the extra tunnel Shadow added onto the course. I didn't pay her enough attention so she deviated slightly.

Both dogs ran really considering the lack of training they have had. Zazu now needs only one more win to get into grade 4. Our next show isn't for a couple of weeks. You never know, I might put some training in between now and then!

BATS Agility Show

We had an interesting start to the show weekend, it was the Bedford All Breeds Training Society in Luton.  We were notified on Saturday that the 'Travellers' had moved onto the show ground.  Note that that is not the term I would use for them, but If I start ranting about that then I won't end up talking about agility!  Anyway, +Susi Cooper had a sore foot so couldn't run which meant I was running Doople at grade 4, Shadow at grade 6 and Winnie at grade 3.

The venue we moved to was very nice in the end.  It was only a single day show but was very enjoyable.  We spent a lot of the day helping out on a ring run by our training club, Watford ATC.  It was good to spend a day with friends, it definitely helps when the weather's nice.

Doople after finishing 2nd in 4-5 agility

First up was me and Shadow running in the combined grade 6-7 jumping.  We had a good start to the round but I only managed 5 jumps before I fell over!  The grass was long(ish) and I was wearing walking boots (perhaps not clever).  But I think I was the only person to fall over in the day so perhaps it was just me.  We did still manage a clear round though with right-hand weaves, much better than last week.  Next up was combined grade 1-7 agility which was an Olympia qualifier.  I was running both Shadow and Doople in this class.  Shadow ran well and was very close on some of the contacts but clear none-the-less.  She ended up with 17th place, which is better than it sounds as there were ~180 dogs in the class!  We were only a few seconds off the pace which I am actually quite pleased with, considering how fast the top dogs are.  We finish with combined grade 6-7 agility.  This again was a really good round by Shadow.  Unfortunately I got a little confused on a turn and subsequently moved when I shouldn't have, Shadow was none-the-wiser so we carried on anyway.  At the end of the round, I did fall over again though!  Falling over in 2 out of 3 rounds is a little silly!

I was running Doople today which meant more work for me, but I do enjoy it.  Doople is running well at the moment so it isn't very different from running Shadow.  Doople's first round was the combined grade 1-7 agility, the Olympia qualifier.  Doople was really up for it, she did a nice back of jump from a little distance which I'm pleased with.  She's picking that up nicely which is good considering we haven't trained it very much.  Next up was the combined grade 4-5 agility.  I over looked the entry into the weaves so Doople ran towards the number.  The entry was on a gentle arch past a jump and a tunnel, looking back I'm not sure she could actually see the weaves before she got to them.  Later in the course was a trick part, out of the tunnel and then between two jumps into another tunnel.  Doople listen brilliantly, went through the gap and into the next tunnel.  Not many people managed it.  Last up was combined grade 4-5 agility.  This had a bit of a tricky start that perhaps could have been quicker if I'd layered the jump between 3 and 4.  We had some tight turns and a pull through slalom to finish 2nd.  I almost pulled Doople  off a couple of jumps whilst trying to get tight turns, but she understood and kept going over the jumps.

Lastly we have Winnie.  She still doesn't have much confidence in the ring so all we try to do with her is run around and have fun, the confidence will come with time.  Both agility and jumping rounds were steady but I made the same mistake in both: I left her a bit too far behind when she got to a jump so she missed it.  My mistake as she doesn't have the confidence to take the jumps from a distance in the ring.  Training is a different matter, but such is life.

It was an enjoyable day that culminated in more clear rounds than eliminations, which is always a bonus.  Shadow getting placed out of 180 dogs and Doople getting a 2nd place in agility are clear highlights.  On to Nottingham for next week, just hope there are no pesky travellers!