Tuesday, June 28, 2011

catching up ... Part Three ... more agility

I missed Landsdown Agility Show this year. This is one of my favourite; the venue is on top of the hill at Landsdown Racecourse, it has stunning view with good dog walks! We always take the dogs for a good long walk after the show on Saturday evening. You can walk alongside the race track, about a mile or more, there is a pub where we always stop for a drink.

I decided to tryout for the World Champ with Sizzle this year which was on yesterday. I have to withdraw my Landsdown entry, I don't think I could possibly go camping and do a 2 days show then go for tryout day. Instead I enter a fairly local show which I thought it was on Saturday but then to realise it was on Sunday.

It was boiling hot on Sunday, the sudden temperature change hit me hard and it also affected the dogs too. I wasn't IN IT at Watford show, every single run I ran, I've got eliminated. I've entered Saturn and Bless his little heart, he is such a honest dog, always save me from going to the wrong obstacles but I still managed to go wrong course!

Sipzie was a nightmare. She broke her startline wait everytime. I knew I cannot let her get away with it, with the heat and the queue, you always tried hard not to hold up time, I do anyway. Sipzie was very naughty, she broke her stay, I insisted at the first run, if she don't wait, we don't go, so she was good but again, she cannot weave. She did 10th pole and pop out, her usual pattern. I studied the videos, it seems each time I praise her "good girl", she pop out! If I shut up, she will weave slowly then look up, she pop out! She had three classes, the first two she had trouble with the weave; the last class, she didn't even get pass 4th obstacle because she was too busy barking at me!!! I have to pick her up and walk out. I am beginning to wonder if this has slowly form a pattern.

Our problems are ... if I whine her up, she gets really hype in the ring, she would not do her "set up" routine and definitely no startline wait. If I don't whine her up, she still won't do the "set up" routine and will try to break the startline wait and she will take off slowly or sometime as flat as pancake! I am confused myself now, I do not know whether to carry on or stop running her for a while. Any suggestions welcome!

Sizzle was badly affected by the heat too. Well, I guess being a black dog, he suffered more than the others. Also, I stripe his undercoat (not a wise thing to do), mmm ... poor little man! He tried to run well but I let him down in two classes. In a challenging jumping course, we managed to do all the tricky bit and got eliminated on the easy part, my fault being careless. Then, in the last class, he ran clear in the Agility, I think we got placed 3rd.
Sizzle @ Watford, G6-7 Agility:
 
 
 

1 comment:

Vonnie said...

Lovely run, he saved himself at the jump LOL! Khandi is looking for a new handler too, her sat nav is rubbish LOL!