I was supposed to take the caravan and the boys to RVA on Thursday on my own and Colin will join me on Friday evening but I was still feeling iffy on Wednesday and the weather forecast for the weekend was showers, so I wasn't sure if I am going. I was still hesitated on Thursday morning with the rain and sunshine. I have never go to a dog show on my own before, not with the caravan, Colin is always there but we just got back from Malaysia, he can't take anymore more day off work, so it is either I have to be brave or not going. By noon, I decided I will go, so Jim & Joan were kindly having Seagull, Titan and Skye for me, so that make it so much easy with just Sing and Saturn. I know I can trust these two dogs.
I was totally depending on my Sat Nav to take me there as I have no sense of directions! I knew my Tom Tom could take me down some country lanes sometimes but I just hope for an easy journey. Guess what? That bloody Tom Tom took me to somewhere called St Noet eventhough I key in the right postcode for the showground!!! That gave me a good scared! I tried to key in the postcode one more time and it shows I was 20+ miles away from the showground!! Luckily when I get closer, I saw some signs for the showground, that made me feel so much better!! As I left home late and took a detour, I got to the showground just before 4pm and the camping was nearly full, I was looking for a easy parking spot so we camp by the entrance.
Together with the agility show, there was an agricultural show on at the same showground, it was very noisy and crowded during the day but after 5ish, it was quiet and peaceful. It didn't bother me as we camp on the other field near the entrance, the entrace is mainly for agility people only, so it was pretty quiet spot and the gate was mended during the days and they shut the gate at 6pm eventhough they are supposed to shut at 10pm!! So, I have trouble getting out on Friday evening to go to Peterborough to fetch Colin. It took me 15 minutes to find Gate 3!
Saturn is definitely looking good after a rest, besides the awful contacts, his jumping rounds were clean and smooth, the judge for Friday Jumping likes him and came to priase him, that made me feel very good. For me, a priase from the judge is better than getting a place! It was a shamed that I haven't got that on video, he got a 4th in the Comb 3&4 Jumping. He then went on to win the Comb 1-3 Jumping on Saturday out of 54 dogs. On Sunday, he did look a bit tired and it was hot plus he has done two more rounds before the jumping, he was a bit slow and finished in 7th. I was pleased with him as I don't know what will I get out of him as I have not run him for a while, so I stay a distance from him everytime he weaves and that definitely increased his speed. I am glad I finally learned to trust him, at the end of the day, I've got nothing to lose!
Sing only managed a clear round this weekend, ended up 2nd. Sorry, no video for this run because when we were running, his daddy was chatting up to a lady and didn't even see us running in the ring!! Maybe Colin should be abandoned in the showground in future!!! This is the course, tricky beginning (dog walk to weave), I was very upset Colin didn't take the video because I would like to see the way I handled Sing in this bit. I run him all the way down, pass the dog walk (in that way I can be sure he has his "hit it" point) then switch in front (so Sing is on my right) and swing him in the weave, then switch again (Sing is on my left) to take the jump #8. He was a split second behind Jo-Ann Essex's Staffie! I don't know where we lost the time, I guess it could be from the dog walk to the weave as nobody does the way I did! I can't trust Sing to find the entry and with the running contact, if I were to pull away while he is on the dog walk, I am sure he will miss the point, so I decided to do a few front crosses. Also, we have never seen a wishing well in our training before, so I got a bit worried and wait for him to commit the jump.
The thing I achieved with him this weekend was the 100% running dog walk! We had 4 agility runs and they were spot on! His only problem this weekend was the weave, he kept pulling out at the 10th pole. I haven't got a video for the Friday run, so I cannot judge if it was me to pull away from him but I have a feeling that I must have looking into the tunnel after the weave that made the mistake.
On Saturday, he continued to pulled out the 10th pole three times in the Jumping round!!! I did make sure I stay with him all the way round but I could not understand why he kept coming out from the 10th pole??? In the afternoon, we have Eileen Wischnia's Comb 4-7 agility, I love the course, it needed a lot of handling and that suit me and Sing just nice and I was hoping to get a good place in that. They were 44 dogs and we went in in between, nearly all the dogs before us got either e'd on the jump #18 or fault on the weave entry and I was nervous. I managed the hard beginning (I did a push through but all the other do a pull through) and got all the way to jump #18, pulling the dog into me is the least thing I want to do, my option was to send Sing to turn left and pick him up and run for the two jumps, I knew there were so many fast dogs behind me, so I want to run for time, unfortunately, he was much faster this weekend (it is true!) and I didn't get there in time to pick him up so he back jump #18 to get ourselves e'd! When I think back carefully, I should have done a pivot turn and he is still on my left but gosh! No one does that!! They were only 4 clear rounds, two out of time and the two just squeeze in!
We finished very early on Saturday so we took the dogs and have a good walk around the showground, I was amazed to see the JCB Dancing Diggers. I have to say it was very interesting but many agility people hate them because they have some gunshots while they do the dancing and that put a lot of dogs off. Luckily my shelties aren't bothered by them but silly Saturn was afraid of the noise from the falcon!! They also have some old trucks display, I wish I have camera with me. The most interesting was a race where they have two horses pulling a cart with two riders, I don't know what they called but my heart was pounding watching them going round and round.
In the evening, we have free entertainment in the hall with Boney M. Wow, didn't I have a good time celebrating Saturn's win? I really enjoyed the Boney M concert with some lovely pimms and home made perry!! That didn't help me run on Sunday, so I am off alcohol when I am running!! I can't wait to go back next year!! A wonderful relaxing weekend!!
