Almost up to date!

Well, I'm almost up to date with the blog. This next installment is really just about the KC Festival. Not much to report really as we had rather a lean time with our girls agility-wise. Andy and Kizzy were not really in tune and made silly errors but did manage a couple of clears with one 10th place. Niamh was great but my head wasn't in the right place and we just didn't quite get it together. We had a few placings but nothing spectacular.

We weren't in any of the finals in the main ring this year which was disappointing but it did mean we got to watch our friends taking part and the best bit was that both Todd and Zen qualified for Olympia. It was an exciting semi-final and a clever course which caught out a lot of handlers.

We loved the new venue at Kelmarsh Hall but there was still a lot of walking to do. Our camping spot was nice but it couldn't have been further from the ring where I judged on Saturday. By the end of the event my legs and feet were worn out!

Typical, my ring was last to finish on the Saturday. I judged one part of G6 agility (large) and G7 agility all three heights. A lot of dogs to get through. Our ring change was fast because I only tweaked the course and had already marked out the second course with paint the night before. We took just under an hour for lunch but were still last to finish. It's too much in one day, certainly for me.

I was disappointed that I had to take out the dog walk for the small and medium dogs but there was no choice because the wind was very gusty and about five large dogs were blown off the dog walk. I replaced it with a jump and the collapsible tunnel and so it didn't change the way the pattern ran too much.

I was happy with the way the courses ran. I think some people thought the G7 was a bit of a blast but it was actually quite difficult and lots of people came unstuck. The people who got it right made my day as their rounds were stunning. Here are my courses including the altered version for G7 medium and small dogs.

Grade 6 agility

Grade 7 agility (large)

Grade 7 agility (small and medium)

We stayed on at the KC Festival on the Sunday night and went home on Monday. We decided not to do Dogs in Need this year as we have done so many other things and something had to give. I was very disappointed on the Monday that we weren't going but by Tuesday I was glad we had chosen to have the time at home catching up with the garden and work. It was only the third time we've missed DIN since it started but sometimes I think you need a break and I am looking forward to going back next year.