What a brilliant, fantastic and successful weekend!

We had a brilliant, fantastic and successful weekend at Landsdown!

… about Landsdown …
This was my first time at Landsdown. We got down there nice and early on Friday eventhough we got stuck on M25 and M4 for ages. It was a very nice racecourse and a lot of nice people around. Our neighbour even have a couple of Parrots!! The racecourse has some lovely views, it is located on a hill and you can see the towns of Bristol at one end and Bath at the other end. The racecourse is a gigantic place, we walked the dogs for miles on Friday & Saturday evenings and luckily there is a pub at the end so we can pop in for a drink and a meal.

The weather was not good on Friday and Sunday but Saturday was alright, light shower here and there and Sunday was terrible, the rain started at 4am and you can imagine the ground is wet, the sun didn’t come out until 4pm!

… about Titan …
The boys did very well this weekend. Titan was the first one in on Saturday. Eventhough I have trained him in agility but he is a mischievous little thing, he hardly listen to me so I did not run him at all. I thought we only have a couple of runs with Sing and Saturn each day so I can give him a chance on the Any Size Jumping. I must have well underestimated this little wild evil sheltie, he won the class! I can’t believe it! He was 6 seconds ahead of the 2nd place. There was a little disaster when I ran him though. I want to be the first one in as the other ring for Sing & Saturn was ready for walking in 5 minutes and I don’t want to spend time queuing and miss the course so off we go and run like hell. Guess what? The clock didn’t start!!! Arrrrhhhh ….What a disaster!! The judge said I can have a rest and come back to run for the time as we went clear. I was not happy about it as I have to run uphill in that ring around the outside loop and I get a bit older each and I can feel my knee crackly but the second run was definitely worth it as we came home with a nice big trophy! This is Titan’s first show and he got a 1st place! We nearly missed the presentation, we were in the caravan, miles away from the secretary tent but we can hear the speaker very clearly. When my name was called Lian Knight and Domino Dream Believer, Colin asked me: Who is Domino Dream Believer? Can you believe it? He is a dopey daddy!

Note: You can watch the video in Titan’s Birthday montage, that was the 2nd run.

… about Super Saturn …
Beside Titan, Saturn is a star (or rather a PLANET) this weekend. After two weeks’ rest, he is full of life (but he looked so tired on Friday, he does not want to go for his walk!!). He was very consistent and didn’t slow down at all this weekend; all the four runs were at the same nice speed. He got a 2nd place in Jumping on Saturday and won the Jumping class on Sunday! There were 3 Collies (especially a Crazy Measy Collie) on Sunday and I never thought we could beat them but I am glad my Super Saturn (his new name!) did me very proud! Well, there was another disaster before we won the trophy! I need to rerun the course with Saturn because Sing slipped his collar (Colin was holding him while filming us) and rush into the ring to show his jealousy! As we went clear before Sing came to disturb so we got to run again and the 2nd run Saturn was even faster and smoother and I think our hard work finally paid off!

I think he did pretty well in Agility. On Saturday, he still “freeze” on top of the A Frame but I managed to get him down to the target and he went on to do well but I push him too far and he missed a jump and he went round it and we got 5 for that. On Sunday, he was brilliant on A Frame and Dog Walk, nice speed, no slowing down, got his target but he leap off the See-Saw! What a shamed! I need to improve that, it looks like a serious problem at the moment!

… about the jealous one, Sing …
Sing didn’t do too badly either. He got a 3rd in Jumping on Saturday and 2nd in Jumping on Sunday, just a place behind Saturn. Well, you cannot compare a 14” and a 17”! I think they both did very well!

Re Agility, no luck at all! Sing, my most steady and reliable boy missed the A Frame on Saturday, then he went on to miss the last 2 weaves pole and then he went into the wrong end of the tunnel! Ha, I can’t believe I am such a bad handler! On Sunday, it was very wet and there was a tube tunnel (very short U Shape) and Sing went too fast (Dog Walk, Jump, Tunnel) and got himself tumble between the bend and he has to crawl out, poor little soul! He then missed the jump in front and we got another E’d!

Note: sorry, no video clip of Sing because I cannot risk him for running after his daddy!

… weave entry …
One thing I am very proud of Saturn is his weave entry, on both days at the Jumping & Agility courses, especially Saturday’s Jumping course, we have a terrible long and far weave entry (for me, about 13-15 paces) and I never think any of my boys could get it but I remembered what Bernadette always reminded me “Trust them, let them find it”. Saturn was the first one in, so I slow myself down the jump before the weave and tell him to weave and he was a bit off angle but he found the first pole no problem and weave in his own way. I was really proud of that. With Sing, I ran all the way with him and straighten him (lost some times there) before the weave and he got it too! There were too many dogs caught on that weave entry!

… celebrations …
When my name was called with Titan on Saturday and with Saturn on Sunday, I have tears in my eyes, I cannot believe we did it! It was a happy tear! We have two nice big trophies which Colin and I are going to drink champagne in to celebrate the Planets’ achievements!