Dordale & Vyne

We had a great weekend starting with Dordale. What a lovely show, well organised and really enjoyable. Definitely one for our calendar next year.

Kizzy was brilliant at her first show. On Saturday she came 3rd in her G1-4 jumping class and then on Sunday 2nd in her G1-4 agility. She also got an unplaced clear in G1-7 jumping. She did some other really good runs but popped out of her weaves (bad sheltie) and also got caught up in the cloth tunnel when it was soaking wet. She wasn't very happy about that and Andy had to ask the judge to hold it up so she could do the obstacle happily.

Niamh is getting much stronger in competition which is great. The downside is that I'm still really struggling with her in the queue and on the startline but I guess that's a small price to pay! We had some near misses on Saturday and then on Sunday we got our best result since we got to G6. I wasn't that keen on the course (G5-7 agility) because it was very big with huge gaps. Niamh was brilliant and we came 2nd. We were beaten by 1/100th second by a G7 dog. We were the only two in the class on 29 seconds. I was very proud of Naughty Niamh and quite pleased with myself. I ran the course exactly as I walked it with just one tweak suggested by Leah which was to stay far side of the wall so that Niamh wouldn't cut in at the weaves or look at the A-Frame. This proved very sound advice as lots of dogs missed the weave entry and some ran at the A-Frame. Leah has helped me to look at courses in a different way and I'm really grateful for all her help. It's given me a new angle to work with and I'm finding it really challenging and enjoyable.

We had a nice evening at Dordale on the Saturday just sitting outside the caravan. Kizzy had a wonderful time running round and playing with various dogs that we had out with her. She was very tired by the end of the evening.

We left Dordale on Sunday and travelled to Vyne show in Newbury. It was one extreme to another. From a small show with just six rings to a massive show with about 13 rings or so. I know which I preferred.

Leah and Jay and Jan arrived quite a while after us as they had to get towed off the rugby pitches at Dordale as we'd had quite a bit of rain on the Sunday. They were very tired when they arrived but we had a pleasant evening sitting outside 'til quite late. Leah has four orphan kittens to look after. They were only a couple of days old and very vulnerable. She was having problems with the food they were eating but I'm pleased to report that things have improved and the four kittens (three girls and a boy) are all doing well.

Andy wasn't a happy bunny as he'd rather have run Kizzle but he was booked to judge the small/medium championship class. He did try Kizzy out on his courses and she worked them brilliantly. Her little weave and collapsible tunnel glitches seemed to be OK as she did both obstacles very happily.

The champ class ran ok despite starting really late. Luckily our friends helped out and we managed to get things moving eventually. It ended too late though, I felt really sorry for the people who won the events as the show was packing up around them as the rosettes were handed out from a trestle table in the middle of a roadway! Two superb winners: Nic and Indie and Toni and Minx both of whom gave faultless performances and were lovely rounds to watch (I was being a good scribe but I did have half an eye on the dogs but don't tell Andy that!) It must be nice to judge the champ class when somebody gets their dog made up to Agility Champion as was the case for Toni & Minx on Sunday. I felt even more sorry for us as we had the caravan to pack up and tow home - we eventually arrived back at 9.00 pm.

Consequently we've been really tired and trying to catch up with stuff this week (poor excuse for not updating the blog I know!) Andy is off to Ardingly tomorrow with the caravan. He has to mark out the rings for Tunbridge Wells show. I'll follow down later with the dogs once I've done some office work and a couple of agility lessons.

Andy is really looking forward to some more competition with Kizzy. On Saturday they're off to Beacon and I'll stay at Tunbridge Wells with the caravan. Then they're back for a couple of runs at Ardingly on Sunday.

I took quite a bit of video at the weekend but just haven't had time to process it yet so this will follow. Meantime some photos of the Hudsondoglets lounging in the caravan at Dordale and one of our clever little Kizzle!

The Hudsondoglets snoozing on MY BED!

Abbey on her beanbag in the caravan.

Andy & Kizzy with their 3rd place rosette

I'm very tired .....

Gone!