wonderful Landsdown

  Beautiful view, Bath in the horizon.

Well, Landsdown is over for another year! I always enjoy going to Landsdown, not only the venue is lovely; the dog exercise area is enormous, you can walk the dogs for miles and miles; the people are friendly and the whole show is so relaxing. Each dog has 2 individual classes maximum, this is what I need for a very hot day!

This is my 4th year going to Landsdown, big thank you to Sueeeeeee for saving me a spot so I could wait for Colin to finish work and travel together. We left home around 6pm and stuck in M25 then M4 and managed to get there just slightly passed 9pm. Luckily it was still daylight for me to set up the garden. We didn't get to bed until nearly midnight and I awake at 5:30am on Saturday!

we saw at least 5 hot air balloons on Saturday morning, quite entertaining

 and this very cute little flying thing

Saturday - the pull through day!

I had 2 classes first thing in the morning, Medium Jumping and Small Crufts Team. The Jumping (G4-7) involved some of my "favourite" (NOT!) - PULL THROUGH! I walked it both ways, the pull through way and the push through way. The gaps between the tunnel #7 and the jumps #8, #9 #10 were very tight, even with Saturn, I don't feel comfortable of doing the pull through with him, he has such a long stride. I decided I will do push through with him and Sizzle. My plan was to start my push through from #7 (tunnel) to #8, then #9, then #10 and a front cross to #11. It proof a disaster! My handling that is! Saturn and I managed to get to #8, then I didn't give him enough room (I forgot he is much bigger dog to do a small gap), so he went behind me and back jump #9! I thought I will take him to redo from the tunnel but I frustrate him and he went wild, so I have to pick him up and leave! 

When I did the same course with Sizzle, I was cautious. Well, the correct word is NERVOUS. I know I am being stupid, I have nothing to loose but still I hate to do things wrong! We did all the push through ok and ran clear! Getting a 3rd place is a bonus!

this is our G4-7 Jumping, my own draft, scale may not be correct:

The Crufts Team course is a tricky one, there were traps everywhere, there is no single all clear Team in Small and Medium! I was told the Small Team that qualified had 215 faults! Our Team has 400 faults! That is every dog got eliminated! Hahaha ... Hey, but all our dogs and handlers ran very well. Thanks Team, without you guys, we cannot run! I love being in the Team with these superb Team-mates, each and everyone of them are very supportive of each other! Thanks Arley & Todd, Dawn & DeeDee and Matt & Brax, Sizzle and I are proud to be one of yours!

Sing got to run in the Medium Team to replace Tyler because Lisa was taken ill. We hope Lisa is feeling better. We were missing you and Tyler! Our Medium Team was the first Team to run, unfortunately Sing picked up 5 faults on the weave and another 5 faults for missing his DW.I forgot he can actually run fast so pushing in the weave was my mistake! I blamed the DW for lack of practice! All the other dogs ran so well and we got beaten by the last Team to go and no qualification for us again. Our Team came 2nd. We are getting closer each time. Thanks to all my Team-mates (Eleanor & Smo; Paul & Fudge and M & Paige) for being patient with me and Sing. 

this is the Crufts Team, my own draft, scale may not be correct:

Small Team run:

 Medium Team run:

Sizzle's G4-7 Agility came after lunch. It was roasting hot with no breeze. I was in two minds again, to run him or not to run him in this heat? I wanted to run him so much because this is his last Grade 6 show. Luckily the sun went behind the cloud when we were on the startline. I walked the course before lunch, I was quite comfortable the way I plan to run which is to have him on my left on the DW, then pull and flip him over jump#4 but of course after a relaxing one hour rest in the caravan, by the time I stood on the startline, I did something else! I put in a front cross after the DW! I ran too far ahead (near the weave) then front cross, poor Sizzle nearly miss the jump #4 because I was in his way, blocking the jump! Bad handling! He was such a good boy, he took the jump with a tight turn into the weave. I also managed to do another front cross after weave, so I could have him on my left to do the jump #6 and #7. There is no way I could do a push through in this case, so I have to be brave to make the pull through happened! I wrap him around the right wing of #7, then it gives me a better position to do my pull through. Yes! You've got it, I did the pull through perfectly! WooHoo! Bonus? We won that class!

this is G4-7 Agility, my own draft, scale may not be correct:

It was so hot on Saturday, even by 8:30pm, it was still hot. Seagull refuse to go for a walk, he only walk 50 yards away from our caravan and stop. We were so lucky to have Sue saves up the spot near the exercise area. Sizzle was getting slower, so we decided not to take them for the 2 miles round trip this year. It was a shamed as we love the walk to the pub, have a drink and walk back. For the first time in my camping time, I slept very well on Saturday, hardly awake or being disturb/worried, maybe I was brave enough to drink a full can of Stella Artois!! Well, not really! I drank two pints of Stella Shandy! I guess I was too drunk to wake up! Hahaha ...

Sunday

The weather forecast said the temperature will reach as high as the sky! 30c plus! When I heard that, I nearly fainted! When Sunday came, it wasn't too bad at all, it was very sunny but we have a lot of breeze, it makes the morning ok for running. I was so lucky that all my dogs are in Grade 6 this year at Landsdown, the  Small & Medium 6,7 classes ran early. I was done by 10:45am!

My first class was with Sizzle in the Crufts Singles (C6-7). It was a fast course, like Helter Skelter with contacts in between but also with a couple of traps. Sizzle ran well but we lost time in couple of places, one being on the see-saw, eventhough he ran all the way to the end but the see-saw was too heavy and it took him ages to tip it; then I got slight lost in one of the trap, I nearly send him over the wrong jump but managed to pull him off it and go in the right course. I have heard he ended up in 6th place but I didn't get to check and left early.

Then, in the G6,7 Jumping. Sizzle was flat, he even yawn on the startline, I thought, not a good sign. I was trying to motivate him and push him and he back jump to get eliminated. Later, Saturn ran over the same course, to my surprised, he won the class! WOW!

No individual video this weekend, I was given a new video camera as a birthday present from my nephew (Lucky me!). My good old Sony is well pass it best date. Colin was filming me in the rain a couple of years ago at the KC Festival and the rain got into the screen, so the screen sometimes work and sometimes don't but just lately, it hasn't been improve at all, so Colin has to guess which way I was going and try to move the camera around without actually seeing the screen. So, my nephew bought me a new waterproof camera. Colin doesn't like new stuff, he hates to learn to use a new camera but he tried hard for me. He used the old Sony to film the Teams but the new Sanyo to film my individual runs. You guess it, nothing come out as a whole!  I think he is not used to all the buttons and this particular camera is tiny compare to our good old Sony.  Also, this camera seems to go into sleep mode if it is not use for a few minutes. Nevermind, hopefully he will get used to it in no time but he managed to film Saturn's winning class!

Saturn's G6 Jumping:

Boys and their winning this weekend

The weather is getting hotter each day, I have to sleep in the lounge last night with the french window open wide! The shelties got a bit confused, they think I am mad. When I told them bed-time, they ran up-stairs to the bedroom waiting for me to come up but they soon realised I am missing and they found me sleeping somewhere "strange"! Hahaha ...

 it is too hot to even go out in the garden, so we are learning some new trick. BALANCED!

they like to stay in the cool tile during the day