Andy elected to stay home and do some work in the garden with Al (more of that in another post.) So, off I went at 5.00 am on Saturday morning with Niamh and Zeki. We decided it would be better for Tidey to stay home with Andy as she would have a better time; with a champ class each day and the fact that she's still not old enough to be around the rings we thought she wouldn't have a lot of attention.
Saturday was Zeki's champ and I was pleased to get into our third final and be in pole position as we came 3rd in both the jumping and agility rounds. The courses were quite tricky and I enjoyed running them. In the final I was following a brilliant run by Karen and Todd (ending up with reserve) and Sian and Jazzie with an awesome run which won the class, making Jazzy an Agility Champion. I still wanted to give it my best shot although I doubted I could better Todd's run and knew I couldn't catch Sian and Jazz. I pushed too much and pulled her off a jump which was a shame as I would have liked to finish the class with three clears. That said I really enjoyed the courses and Zeki was a joy. She had a fantastic weekend ending up with quite a little haul of 8th, 3 x 3rd, 1 x 2nd and 1 x 1st placings! Clever little Beek!
Clever little Zeki with her haul from Tuffley show
Zeki in the champ final, photos by Joe Upsall
On Saturday night we stayed at a Days Inn hotel which was really very acceptable. You're allowed to take your dogs in for a one-off £5 fee. Bernadette, Lisa and Sue were also staying there and we had pizza together which was fun. Lisa makes me laugh so much with her funny stories. Got any leads for sale Mrs? Good company and a good evening, thanks girls!
Zeki and Niamh in the hotel relaxing after a long day
Sunday was Niamh's champ and I decided to really concentrate on her runs and just do Zeki's classes if they happened to come up when I wasn't busy with Niamh. I was lucky and managed to do all of Zeki's runs in the end! The large champ courses weren't really my cup of tea as they had places where the ability to run fast definitely was an advantage. I didn't dislike them but knew I would struggle and I did! I managed a scrappy clear in the jumping, Niamh was such a good girl to keep going at the finish when I found myself miles behind her. Unfortunately in the agility we got eliminated. She was running really well but my undoing was a huge gap where I lost touch with her, she turned the wrong way and I was unable to retrieve the situation. I was quite disappointed as so many people struggled on both courses that we would definitely have been in the final had I managed to run clear in the agility. Bad handler must run faster. The annoying thing is that I do run faster with Zeki. Zeki brings out the assertive side of me because she is so bold and driven; Niamh is more reserved and that makes me the same with her. I need to try to put my 'Zeki' head on when running Niamh to see if it makes me move better between obstacles.
I had a brilliant weekend of agility, friends and nice walks in the exercise area beside the beautiful castle. We are definitely camping next year!
Here are some videos from the weekend:
wow, your so cute and such a brave dog! I like the videos and photos, I have a great time..
ReplyDeleteDog Fence