Mai handsome boy Sonic and his sister Brooke turned 15 months yesterday! Where did all the times go? We had a lesson with Bernadette yesterday and he worked so well. He definitely has grown up and is going through adolescent at the moment. He is still very good at his recall but is getting more distracted or should I say ... have his own mind? The only time that he will not come to me when call is time to go home after walk!
this picture taken yesterday after we came back from a long day out, he looked very tired but still very handsome :) I thought I must take a picture of my 15 months old boy.
this is one of my favourite Sonic puppy picture, taken in Burgehead, Scotland last August when he was 20 weeks old.
To get him to post a standing still photo is never easy and to be honest, all my shelties are so active, a stand still photo is abnormal for us :)
so, here go some action shots:
We better get full used of the good weather, here are more from the boys ...
I just loved this lightweight frisbee, present from Silky. Not only that it is gentle to the shelties teeth but it also fly low easily. I've learned from my experienced and I am aware the way I play with my shelties now. Although, occasionally I still like to throw a ball/frisbee high up in the air for them to catch but I control myself for making such a bad habit for the safety of the dog's health. This frisbee flies low and it stays in one direction and the boys still enjoy catching it in the low air! Thank you Silky!!
We went to Axstane on Saturday, it's our second Kennel Club Open show this year. The first one we went to was Wye Valley Champ in March. Although, we have been to a few UKA shows in between but after my performance at Axstane, I came back and had a good thought about it. I wasn't happy with myself on Saturday. I ran Sizzle in the small/mixi pairs with Toni Dawkins, I've let her down by getting Sizzle eliminated. I feel like I haven't try hard enough. I knew there is "one" tricky bit and I was seriously worried about it. I wanted Sizzle to turn left at jump #12 but he turned right, to stop him back jump to get eliminated, I tried to block the jump and made myself totally in the wrong position and when I turned around and lost jump #13! I can kick myself for that stupid mistake, to top it worst, I lost my sporting manner :( I feel very angry about myself!
Watching the video a few times, I sat down and think WHY I am such a bad handler. I know our current changes made me very stressed but I shouldn't bring that to agility; maybe running in the UKA made me very casual? I'm quite relax when competing at UKA shows. I always go thinking training the dogs in the ring, is that it? I really should collect myself and "seriously" compete at some KC shows.
Sizzle & Minx @ Axstane, small/mixi pairs:
It was gales force wind on Saturday, although the judges were very considerate to take the Dog Walk down but I decided not to run Sizzle in the Agility and Jumping, I think one class is good enough for him. We had a long wait before Sipzie's run. I've entered her in the Jumping only. I want to fix the weave problem with her in the ring before the DW problem. I think one at a time suit us. She is getting more confidence and happy in the ring again after a few UKA shows. One issue sorted :)
I wanted to get in front of the 2nd pull through but I was far behind, so I was in a bad position again, that Sipzie back jump; but never mind, we carried on as nothing is wrong and she was weaving well but I must have pull her off the poles. I was really happy with her.
Sipzie @ Axstane, G4-7 Jumping:
I really should be consistent with the weave at competition like we did at training. She is brilliant at home and at Club but at competition, 50/50. This video was taken this morning, she was great, although I have to pay the price :) I've got "bitten" twice, just because she was too excited and hyper!
Having viewers are painful, especially those that come with kids. Well, we have a big garden, family with young children are our potential buyer. The first family that came on Thursday evening, I was out training taking all the dogs with me. When I got home, look into the garden, it looked like someone had a party with my V Weave and jumping poles! I asked Colin about it and he said he isn't aware of anything. All the nuts and bolts of my V weave had come loose, it took me some efforts to put it all right again. Then, the family return with a 2nd view, the minute the child came through the door, he ran into the garden and straight up the Dog Walk, the see-saw, then the A Frame, it just like what Sonic will do! Hell!!! At one point, he ran up the DW and stood at the top plank and ready to jump down. I got the parent's attention, the father said: let him be, he will be alright and he will be happy! I told him but that is not human safe, his replied was: he will be ok! Grrrr ...
Anyway, we have weaves and jumps put away but it is a lot of hassle to put the contacts away! Yesterday, we had a dry day so we managed to mow the lawn and for the first time in many years, I've decided to put the A Frame full height to train Sonic. I've never bother to raise the A Frame up for Sizzle and Sipzie and never thought that will be a problem but I thought if I raise the AF to full height, at least that will stop the kids climbing up.
Having spending my effort in fixing the V Weave, I now put that away and bring out the upright weave. And Sonic amazed me! He can't weave upright at training but he is brilliant at home. There is not issue, he is like he has done this before and in speed :)
Sonic, this afternoon, doing upright weave and full height AF:
Happy Daddy's Day to my golden boy Sing. He really is the one and only special dog to me! A BIG thank you to his beautiful and clever daughter Silky and Coco for this extra soft and lightweight Frisbee, all the way from Japan. I have been admired this extra soft Frisbee when we visited Silky and Coco, it is gentle for the shelties teeth. Silky and Coco's mummy very kindly bought us a couple of the Frisbee for the shelties to play with.
The weather hasn't been great lately and we didn't get a chance to go and play until today. Again, the weather was funny, one minute sunny, one minute cloudy, so the pictures didn't turn out great :( but the shelties have a lovely walk and play. Sizzle and Sonic got to swim as well, that made them very happy. That make Sing very unhappy! There is no special reason that I would not allow him to swim but sometimes I think he should let the youngsters learn to swim independently and be confident. Sonic needs that. Eventhough Sonic is pushy but when comes to play fetching tennis ball and swimming, Sing wants it all :)
Happy daddy Sing :)
and here are some photos taken today:
and here are some of the Nature from Mitcham Common:
BTW, this is chewing gum! I don't know who started it first but the square is getting bigger ...
Shelties are very confused for sure! Since we have been tidying up the house for sale, and over the years, I have my nephews from Malaysia staying with us; and friends as well ... we stick to the master bedroom since we moved in 9 years ago. Just a couple of years ago, we have the privacy back to ourselves! ALL our shelties sleep in the master bedroom with us, some on the floor but mostly, they are on the bed with us! They, just like us, pretty much stick to the routine. Whenever it's bedtime, they know where to go.
Sizzle gets himself very comfy on the bed
Just a couple of days ago, after we have all the rooms clean up, Colin suggested we should try to sleep in every room before we move. The mission is on. We both thought, if we sneakily sleep in another room, we will see if the shelties are aware? Tuesday night, all the shelties settled in the room, I picked up my pillow (I like my very own pillow!) from our master bedroom, turn the light off and walked into another room. That used to be the boys (my nephews') room while they were here, so we only have a single bed. Poor Colin has to sleep on the floor :) as I don't sleep on a hard flooring. The bed was comfy as I have many layer of duvets on the mattress but I can't fall asleep :( I missed the shelties on the bed with us, I lay awake thinking WHO will come to join me first. I heard Colin snoring loudly into the night ... 40 minutes later, I heard some gentle paws walking into the room, that was my soul mate Saturn; then an hour later, came Sing, closely followed by Sonic. Where is Sizzle? Since the boys had joined me, I thought I better call him. I called and called ... no sign of him? We guess he is running around the house looking for us! It took him about 15 minutes to find me and when he did find me, he was very angry. Yes, I can't believe how angry he was! He was growling at me (not aggressive of course but you can see the frustration in him), hahaha ... That reminded me on my birthday, we went to visit the farm house, we were walking in the field. Some part was over grown. Colin went to investigate and I stayed back. I didn't fancy walking in a long grass with no footpath. Sizzle was staying with me for a little while, I guess he also struggled in the long grass as he was very clever to follow behind me, he walked on top when I've walked so the grass was tampered. As Saturn, Sonic and Sing went with Colin, he felt left out, so I sent him to find "daddy". Off he shot off, but after a few hundred yards, he changed direction, instead of turning right where Colin and the others went, he turned left! He ran so fast that he almost disappear, all I can see was the grass moving. I was very nervous and kept calling him, the more I called, the more he ran further! In a panic, my tone changed and I can't see anymore grass moving. I nearly got heart attacked! Probably the others also sense my tone change, they ran towards me and then I saw Sizzle running back this way. He met the others half way. Phew! What a scared! Since then, Colin called him "small brain! LOL!
P/S: Seagull and Sipzie sleep in the crate at night.
The purchasing of our new farm house is progressing smoothly, finger crossed in the next 4 to 6 weeks we will be IN our dream home. On the other hand, selling the current house is a lot of stress. I just don't know how to tidy the house. There is always dog stuff in every part of the house, from a teeny weeny thing like a clicker to a big thing like dog crate ... there are just everywhere, in the bedrooms, in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Don't be surprised. I collected at least a couple of clickers and old dog treat (well past dated!) in the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom! Crazy!
As the professional photographer was coming to take some photos of the house, we were "force" to disappear all the stuff, to make all the rooms look neat & tidy and bigger? Believe me, we have a massive loft space and half of the space was filled with DOG STUFF! Colin is not impressed! I've packed at least 8 big boxes of dog toys, I know I can get rid some of them but it seems each toy means something to me or to the dogs, so I decided to keep them ... not all but MOST :) and I've just found 2 more boxes in the house! Doh! Also, I cannot imagine I have SO MANY dog beds! The boys are spoilt, they don't sleep on the dog beds but on our bed or the settee, how on earth I've got that many dog beds? Ridiculous! Again, I keep them ALL because every bed has a story.
The other human stuff that take up all the house is BOOKs! Colin and I love reading and the worst habit is we find it hard to part with the books that we have read! Grrr ... although we have taken tons to the charity but we will have tons left in the house!
After a massive tidy up, Colin and I felt HOMELESS, this is not like a home to us. It is too empty. The shelties got very confused, especially Seagull and Sizpie. These two love their crate. We always have two crates in the kitchen area, they go in and out as they wish. Seagull in particular, he finds the crate is his comfort zone.
A very quick Agility update ... we went to UKA Quadpaws on Saturdays, 2nd & 9th June. I was planning a long weekend camping but the weather put me off :( Where is the Summer?
I went with an intention to get a Game point for Sizzle and also to try running Sipzie. I am doing the very minimum with Sizzle at the moment. He is doing great with Loxicom alongside the weekly acupuncture. I am really happy how well he response to the acupuncture and hopefully by next year, he will be back in full swing.
The first Saturday, Game didn't goes well as planned. It was a rather tricky Gambling. See diagram below. I can't remember the whole course but I never forget the Gamble! Sizzle ran great. His opening sequence was good, we collected lots of points, he managed to do 2 x DW, 2 x AF, 2 x 12 weave and some jumps in between. In the Gamble part, I plan to send Sizzle to tunnel A and then do a scoop to tunnel B, so that I can block him seeing tunnel A again; but I moved a fraction too much and he ran into tunnel A again! We didn't Gamble :(
I then concentrated with Sipzie. I've entered her in the Beginners Agility, Beginners Jumping and one Novice Steeplechase classes. Her first class was the Agility. What can I said? She was far too excited although she had a good run in the exercise area before running. She was a wild child! She only did one stride on the down plank on the DW, so you can guess the rest :) She also skip a few poles in between the weave but I carried on as I can see she beginning to stress again. After a short rest, we went in to do the Jumping. She was totally a different dog, she was amazing all the way ...
I decided not to run her in the Steeplechase, I sometimes thought it must be me that she felt uncomfortable with running in the Agility that made her missed her contacts. Matthew was there, so I asked him if he likes to run her and there we go, they both hit it off, surely Sizpie will love anyone with food :)
In between the runs, I also did the Senior Jumping and Senior Steeplechase with Saturn. Bless him! He has not done any agility for a long long time but being a mummy's boy, he just wanted to please me. He tried so hard and he got placed in both classes. I am very happy with him. I know how much he enjoyed to do agility so he can get treat as well :)
This is Saturn's Senior Jumping from the 1st Saturday. I walked the course wrong but I managed to pull through :), Saturn came 2nd behind the very clever Brodie
Just before going home, I decided to do one more run with Sizzle. That's the CSJ Grand Prix qualifier. I didn't think of qualifying but I just wanted to go out and do an agility course with him. Sizzle was flying. Goodness me, he was like the old speedy sizzling self! I only remembered that I had to run all the way. Phew! And of course, the little weasel qualified for the Final in December; and so do his brother Brodie in the Midi.
You have to turn down the volume on this one as Sonic was barking crazily in the background!
After a Game failure on the 2nd of June, I wanted to return to get the Game point during the week (BTW, it is a week long show), I was too lazy to wake up early in the morning, as the Game class is the first thing in the morning! Then, on Saturday, 9th of June. I thought I better get up early and go get it.
I was very happy with the Gamble course. I thought the Gambling part is easily do-able. The Gambling is the handler has to stay behind the B and D jumps. I've done that too many times and I know I can do it BUT sadly, I didn't hear the whistle blew! WHAT? I must turned deaf! I kept running round and round the course and I was getting fed-up that the whistle didn't blow and I asked the judge, she told me the whistle blew long time ago! Doh! No Game point again! I am such an idiot! Poor Sizzle has to put up with me :(
After a disaster start, my day didn't go well with Sipzie either. I decided not to do Agility with her, so we have Jumping and Steeplechase. After last week, Sipzie forgot how to weave :) I didn't want to put her back after my experienced from last week, so we carried on like she has done nothing wrong. I think we need to weave more :)
Our Steeplechase was a laugh! I was walking the course and thought I walked a wrong course. I know Steeplechase is generally flowy but I was expecting more from a Novice class. Anyway, I realised, we can't do a simple Steeplechase course either, how sad is that? There is nothing wrong with Sipzie, just me being a lazy handler. I was expecting her to take the jump after the tunnel and forgot that she is a very clingy dog :)
On the other hand, Saturn showed that he is lacking of practice. I was expecting him to go to the tunnel and he surely didn't think so :)
But, he decided he will be good in his next run, and he won his Senior Jumping :)
Sorry, this could turn out to be a "sour" post. Sonic is coming up to 15 months now. Garden practice has been taken 2 steps back since I came back from WAO. I am getting lazier! I always find myself some good excuses, selling house, buying house, selling cars, buying van, meeting up with solicitors, do this, do that ... there is always something to do and stressful. But, I think this taking one step forward and two steps back certainly help. Little did I know, Sonic already can weave upright since I came back from WAO. Before we went to Belgium, he still need the poles to open up slightly. When we got home, I closed the poles up to practice with Sizzle for the FCI tryout and forgot to open them, he just weave through without thinking much about it. Jackpot! Although not perfect but it is a good start! We are still working on the entries eventhough he is pretty good at it but sometimes, you just need more proving! I've varied the pattern I've handled him, front cross, rear across, racing ahead, sending, recall and the biggest failure is DISTRACTION. I am always confident that he will focus once we are on course, yes he will with other obstacles but not the weave! Mmmm ... more proving needed!
I haven't make any weaving video lately but this is the one I have Colin to video us soon after we came back from WAO:
Only a couple of days ago, I started to put the odd jumps up to Medium height. Poor Sonic was struggling to start with, he knocked almost every Medium poles down. I had set up jump-DW-jump in a straight line and he failed to keep the poles up :( It really made me feel very sad about it. Although, after a few times over the medium height, he did jump clear but it is very sad for me to watch him jump over that height. He is a proper Sheltie boy size, 14.5" (37cm) and he has to jump 3 inches over his own height (Medium height is 45cm), that is a lot to ask. I enjoy Agility and having fun with my shelties but I am not lying, I am also competitive. I feel very demotivated to compete against those Medium size Border Collies. I know, there is no way that I can beat the speed of a Border Collie and it is extremely sad that I have to think to wait for the Border Collie to go wrong and I must ensure that my sheltie is running clear!
At this year's FCI tryout, all the medium dogs are PURELY Border Collies only, there is no other breed in there, how sad? Last year, I remembered seeing Shelties, Poodles, Cocker Spaniels ... where are they this year?
As a breeder and an agility competitor, I am feeling rather sad. As a breeder point of view, I am breeding the STANDARD of a Shetland Sheepdog, this means a standard boy size is 14.5" and girl is 13.5". Don't get me wrong, I am very proud with all my puppies, whether they are small or medium. Most of our Licosateria puppies are good sizes.
As an agility competitor, I prefer running a small height sheltie. I think the kennel Club small height, 35cm (about 13.7") is a good height for sheltie to jump. I am happy to run a Medium height sheltie if he/she is over 15". Saturn (43cm) and Sipzie (39cm), these two are happily jumping over the medium height. My poor old boy Sing is even smaller, he was measured 36cm, just over 14". He did struggled, Bless him! Thank God he is long retired now :)
It look like UKA will be my favourite for Sizzle and Sonic in the future. I think the jump height suits them better. The Toy height is 300mm (11.8") and Sizzle was measured at 29cm, the jump height is just perfect for him. As for Midi, the jump height is 400mm (15.75"), that will be a comfortable height for Sonic.
Saturn and I celebrated our Birthdays in Style! The whole nation is celebrating, how grand is that? LOL
our *new* potential farm house in the background set in 57 acres of land
I was lucky (!!!) to born on the 4th/5th June. When I was back home in Malaysia. Our King celebrates his birthday on the 1st weekend of June and it is always near or around my birthday. When I moved to the UK, apparently the Queen celebrates her birthday on the 1st weekend of June as well. Hehehe ... I am a Nation baby!
I was actually born on the 4th but back in the good old days, my grandfather only registered my birth the next day and the Registrar Office took the Day as my official birthday, so 5th June is my official birthday! I am happy to celebrate both days :)
I've got a special treat today to visit our *new* home again. The purchase is in the middle of the process, hopefully everything goes smoothly.
my very handsome soul boy Saturn, 7 today. Also Happy Birthday to his sister Crystal & Hester, and the sadly missed beautiful Cassie.
Well, it seems we are rather busy since we got back from WAO. I've entered Sizzle at the FCI World Championship Tryout. I was having two minds of whether to go or not the day before? It was very HOT and also my worried about Sizzle doing too much since WAO. He is still 100%, although he didn't show any sign of discomfort or lameness, you know your dog!
We woke up at 4am yesterday morning. It wasn't easy. I enjoyed the lie-in since Colin is out of work and Sonic grown up. I don't have to wake up early morning to get him out to toilet. He either hold or he is happy to use the Dog Flap to go into the garden on his own now. The puppy stage is over :)
The new Tryout venue is about 120 miles. I have to say I like the new venue. I've only been tryout twice (last year and this year). Last year's venue was too crowded and roasting hot. It was very small and hardly any air inside the indoor venue. I think everyone was struggling in the heat, poor dogs still worked very well. The new venue at The Alan Higgs Centre was big, I am no good in size but I guess it's probably about 5-6 times bigger than last year. The astro turf is different as well. They used it for indoor football. As the venue is much bigger and the roof is higher, we have enough air to breath through; although it was still hot at some point but at least everyone has room to move around easily.
this is the ring inside the venue
This year, we have some rubber contacts as well. DoggyJumps sponsor the equipment. I was glad that there was a electronic table for us to practice. There was supposed to be a table in one of the courses (Round 2 Agility course) but they replaced it with a jump instead. We were welcome to try out the electronic table that they put aside. I found it very good that we got to try something that we don't have/own obstacle and the dogs still do well with it. I had a go with Sonic as well and he loved it. He thinks that it's a new obstacle and is very keen to show himself off :)
Sizzle again was a good little boy. He ran clear in all 3 rounds (one Jumping and two Agility). I don't know what to expect, I know I'd like to get some International experienced and I am glad that we ran clear in these challenging courses the first time round. There is no second chance when you actually compete. I've learned from Leah that even at training, you still want to do the BEST the first time round like you actually competing and you want to win it; then use the second round as practice round. Leah is a great trainer and she is always so encouraging and motivating. She did push you to the limit though! I really like her! I am that kind of person that needs someone to kick my arse. Since I started training with her, one thing I sure learned ... RUN all the way to the very last obstacle! I used to be lazy with my handling. I know I taught my dogs to "go on" and I very much rely on my dogs to run home and I think most of my shelties are pretty good at that, I became even more lazy and hope that they will run to the last jump while I am still huffing and puffing catching them up.
Round 1, Jumping course. The obstacles in the actual course is slight different angled to the paper. I wasn't planing a front cross before the weave, I wanted to do "send and flip". I was having trouble practice the flat entry at home, he got the entry 100% but he can't collect himself to make the 2nd pole, so after watching a few people before me doing a front cross, I thought maybe on the safe side, I will make the front cross but after I came out and watched the video a few times, I regretted. I think when he is ahead of me, a front cross is a very bad idea! That slow him down and when he catch up on speed again, I did another front cross before the tunnel ... its like a stop start stop start scenario!
I don't think this is a particularly difficult course but there was only 3 dogs ran clear, that including Sizzle. The judge set a very tight 30 seconds course time for all heights. Only clever sheltie Fudge in the small made it in time. I remembered a few medium Collies finished in 28 seconds and only a couple of the Large Collies made it in time!
In Round 2, we had an Agility course. Again, the actual course is slightly different angled to the paper. I wasn't brave enough to leave Sizzle to do the weave on his own, so I set myself in a very bad position for the tunnel first time round. You really need a front cross or a very hard pull through to send the dog into the wrong end of the tunnel. I was a bit lost on that. I was so wound up because of the late front cross after the wall, I thought Sizzle went in the tunnel and came out the same end. Luckily, my mind told me to carry on. I still carry my WAO attitude, "run till the end like you never eliminated, no matter what"! Of course, Sizzle was right but then it look a bit hairy after that.
Round 3, is another Agility course, again the actual course is slightly different angled to the paper. This is probably my least confident course of all. My worried was the two pipe tunnels, then #12. As they rotate the height groups (In Round 1 - Small, Medium, Large; In Round 2 - Medium, Large, Small; In Round 3 - Large, Small, Medium); I got to watch the large dogs ran the course. I've seen so many dogs back jump #5 or back jump #12 to get eliminated. There is no easy way to handle this situation, I guess. You just have to trust your dog to understand the command "out around" to do #12. And Sizzle was such a good little boy, he did as told. As you can see from the video that he nearly came in to me but he took the jump as I told him to. I can't ask for a better dog! Then, my #12, #13, #14 got hairy! I meant to do a front cross after #12 but I didn't managed that because Sizzle nearly came into me, so I have to handle it a different way and his directional command was pretty bad LOL. I want him to turn left on the #14, instead he turned right but luckily he didn't take the jump and went straight up the A Frame, Phew!
After three rounds, we collected some points to put us through to the Final round. I know our time didn't look good compared to other dogs but I was rather happy that we ran clear in all courses. Not very often we ran a consistent clear. I knew I have in the past to have the consistent Eliminations but never a consistent Clear :) I am happy to know that we are up for courses like these!
Our Final round was a disaster :( In the last three rounds, we managed all the pull through, push through, out around and this Final one seems rather easy. This round is Small, Medium, Large. I was the first one on this course and I set a terrible example! With the tunnel sticking out quite a lot, I decided I will run down on the other side. From #1 to #2 involved handling. Of course, that will give me a bad position to do a front cross before the tunnel. The tunnel tuck right close to the A Frame and I do not want to risk taking the A Frame which I think Sizzle will rather prefers the contacts, so a front cross is needed for me. Again, I wasn't meant to put in another front cross after the Long Jump but an idiot like me often do something stupid. How on earth Sizzle decided to jump over the fence and the chair after #12, I have no idea! I can only put it down to my BAD handling and at the same time happy that he is rather agile, I don't think he will refuse an ODD obstacle on course :) Anyway, I managed to get him back to do the #13 the correct way but I was then told I got eliminated already! Thinking of how he did at the Gamblers at WAO, I should have layer the Dog Walk but why I decided not to at the very last minute, as you can see me hesitated, I don't know. I lost it! I don't know why I always LOST it at my final run! And I find it a bit painful and shameful to watch my last run :(
All in All, I think Sizzle did really well. He always give me his best shot. I love this little dog. I think I finally up-to-date with Sizzle, he will now on REST. Hopefully he will be ready in October to tryout for the WAO again.
... so after the Opening Ceremony on Thursday evening; the Team had a lovely Chinese Wok buffet at the nearby restaurant to the Hotel. It made a nice different to us, as all week, Colin and I have been living on frites. Although the frites are very nice but 3 days in a row is not nice anymore!
We have a nice early start on Friday. I like the system that we have been grouped into 3 different groups. I think they randomly picked some countries and group them up together. Team England is in Group B, together with Wales, Jersey, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark and a Wild Card Nigel Staines. There were 3 rings altogether; a main indoor ring and 2 outdoor rings, they rotate each group at each ring. This is the best system I have seen so far, no one is missing out of any of their runs and still be able to support their team-mates. I was a little bit lost on Friday morning, not knowing the system too well, I missed watching Team England at the outdoor rings in the morning. All my runs for the three days were all indoor and like what I normally do in England, I stayed at the rings that I will be running. Of course, I've learned and catch up with my team-mates at the outdoor rings. I really enjoyed watching everyone.
Funny enough, I was rather chilled and relaxed since I arrived on Monday. That is not like me at all. Normally, I will be restless, nervous, unsettled ... for a change, I was not bothered at all. We were given the course map first thing in the morning and then afternoon. I ran through the course in my head before walking it, so I roughly have the idea what the course is like before we can walk it for real. We only have 12 minutes for the whole Group and all heights to walk together. It's rather crowded and you really have to be pushy and not be shy. I am not a pushy person and I did struggle a bit to start with but I soon learned!
Sizzle got picked to do the Biathlon and Games. My first run on Friday morning was the Snooker, judge by Scott Chamberlain. I am not a Games expert, looking at the course map below for the first time, I haven't got a clue what to do or how to run it. Luckily, there are quite a few Games expert in our Team and they kindly guide me through the course map before walking. As to my understanding, you need to collect as many points as possible in the opening sequence. By looking at the course map, the 4 red jumps were well spread around the course and they are not close to the highest 7 points. You know your dog well and you need to plan to collect the highest points possible within time. I chose to collect 2 x 6 points and 1 x 7 points; reason being that doing the tunnel (6 points) is quicker that doing the 7 points jumps combinations. There is rule set on the 7 points jumps, you must take the middle jump #7a first then follow by the outside jumps (#7b then #7c) or (#7c then #7b) in the opening. I would not want to take the risk of collecting 3 x 7 points if we cannot finish them in the set time. I think that is a lot to ask for a little dog to do the jumps combinations. Sizzle ran rather well in the Opening and sadly got caught in the Closing weave pole. He took the entry beautifully but doubled up the poles; so we lost out on collecting more points in the Closing. He only collected 31 points in total and was lying 17th. I found that running Snooker is rather tricky as you need to run past
obstacles but I am so glad that Sizzle was very responsive and is always
with me when I need him to to be. He was a great little boy!
There weren't really a lunch break, they ran through it the whole day. My afternoon run was the Biathlon Jumping in the main ring. It is the same judge as our Snooker run in the morning. The course looked rather challenging on the paper but it was actually a nice flowie course with a couple of tricky bits. The most challenging part is #9, #10, #11, and #12. I know I won't be able to do a front cross before #9, so I will be behind Sizzle. I was hoping to trust him and send him to take #9 and do a rear across, that will give me a better position to RUSH to #11 to do a front cross. I needed that front cross to do a "out around" on #12. It looked a bit hairy but we ran clear! We were lying 9th after that round.
I was ended up "high" after our Biathlon Jumping. My aim is to get a clear round and we DID it. I was very very very happy. It was a long day, by the time we got back to the Hotel and got something to eat, its ready for bed. We have to be up at 4:30am as we need to be at the Venue around 5:45am! It was an extremely early start on Saturday! Sizzle and I only have the Gamblers run in the afternoon but it is good to be there to cheer for the Team. I like the Team Spirit.
The Gambler was judge by our English judge Lee Gibson. Lee has been all around the world giving seminar/training and he is an experienced judge. His course is always VERY challenging. You can look up his course here or on the WAO website for his WAO 2012 courses.
I am more confident in playing Gamblers but again this is an International Gambling course. I am greedy, I want to collect more points to push us up the scoring board. I want to work out a way that Sizzle and I can collect more points including the bonus points by not touching the see-saw. I know we have a slow see-saw and we will not risk taking too much time on that obstacle. It all worked out well for us the way we ran, sadly, he got penalised on his running Dog Walk, we lost out on the highest 5 points but he did the Gamble #2 of 20 points. I was so very proud of my little Sizzle. His sending on was amazing, he didn't even look out for me. We got 3rd in the class and missed out on the podium. We came overall 4th and was only 2 points out from Bronze. I am SO happy!! That's a big achievement for us first time at an International event!
It was a great surprised for coming 3rd. I was too busy taking photos while they were calling out for prize giving. All I heard was people calling ... Lian! Lian! Lian! ... I didn't even know what was going on as I was on the other side on the crowd! A big thank you to Bernadette to run up to the car to fetch Sizzle for me for the prize giving. I was over the moon!
Again, another long day but very happy. Sunday is the last day of competition, all runs were in the Main ring. I have the Biathlon Agility with Sizzle. The course was set by a Danish judge Thomas Ammitzbøll. My worried was the tunnel underneath the Dog Walk. We had to do the same tunnel three times, each time from different approach and different angles. Luckily, I have our Team Coach Anthony Clarke there to help me to pick the best route.
Deep inside me, I know how much I want to nail this run. I want to give it my best shot. I have a good position in the Jumping round and I am desperate to run clear. Unfortunately, the weave pole let us down again. Sizzle pop out of 10th pole. I knew then my podium dream place has vanished! After the weave mistake, we ran clear in the rest of the course with a slow hand clap from the judge and the crowd. I've learned that the slow hand clapping is actually an encouragement before the competition starts. I did ran my heart out like I wasn't eliminated at the rest of the course. The good point is Sizzle has a good see-saw. That's pleasing.
Team England has done well. We've made up 3 World Champions and numerous medallists! Congratulations to all! What a Team!
I've learned so much during the trip and enjoyed every minute throughout the entire Championship. Everyone is lovely, helping and supporting each other. I want to say a HUGE thank you to Tace-Allan Hunt, for warming Sizzle up before every of our runs. She is a great therapist and is always calm. Sizzle was definitely benefited a lot from Tace's warming up as he ran so well in all his runs.
Also, I would like to Thanks Bernadette for guiding me through the hard times and worries; and to reassure me and Sizzle that we are a great team. Without you, we won't be strong enough to stand in front of the big crowd!
My THANKS also go to ...
Leah who trains me and MAKE me RUN till the last obstacle! It's in my mind now, everytime I run, I always remember to keep running till the very last jump!
Nicolina who kindly looked after Sonic for me, shower him with love.
Ann who kindly looked after Sipzie, make sure she is well behaved :)
Mum & dad to look after Sing and Saturn;
Vanessa to look after Seagull
Colin, my dear husband who is always there to support my hobby.
And finally, my little Sizzling Star, lives up to his name to share our journey together!
