Gillingham

Ok, so Gillingham, prob not my best show this year so far. I was basically CRAP! I knew the dogs were working too well at Northern Week and something would have to bring me back down to earth, Gillingham it was.

So Phoebe, can safely say as usual we didnt have a clear round lol, the closest we got was in one of the 6/7 agilitys, she did a nice run however stopped 4 off on her A-frame, so I corrected then continued with the run. In the Crufts Singles, there was none of the usual quick collies, im mainly speaking about Dizzy and Minx, so I thought ooooo I could actually win this (I also really liked the course for Phoebe) so I went into win, however ran out of breath and she did a wrong jump, ok slightly annoying, however shes really starting to run well, finally at almost 6 years old!

Rodney... Saturday, in the agility, it was 3-5, I thought wayhay ill win this easily... that was not the case and I should never think like that again!!! It was just a crap run, he was wide and slow, then cos I basically just wanted to get out of the ring cos I wasnt happy with the run, I sent Rod up the A-frame, not sure if I said anything and he actually missed... what is wrong with me? Why must I keep making these silly mistakes? I know with my contacts even if ive gone wrong, I must continue to work them, but I didnt. Of course after this run I was veryyy angry with myself for letting Rods down again. I didnt see the A-frame however I am presuming he jumped, which is not good enough. However like I keep getting told, since hes been out thats only his second A-frame he had done incorrectly, so I really shouldnt complain. In the jumping, he didnt listen to a steady before the weaves, then after the weaves there was another, and he really didnt listen, so I corrected and continued. A few people asked why I did this because I was still clear, however I really dont want to allow too many bad turns in the ring, you dont allow missed weaves or missed/ incorrect contacts, so why allow bad turns?

On the Sunday I came back to Gillingham with a lot better positive attitude. In the jumping with Rods I ran off too earlier on a turn and should of got 5R, then had another stupidly wide turn because I couldnt get there in time due to the last jump I had ran off on, basically it was a crap run, however I wanted to work the end, so Rod would come out of the ring happy and I could praise loads. Somehow he managed a 3rd lol, he hadnt got marked where we thought he should of had a 5R. In the agility, it was an ok run, apart from me being a bit crap, he did however fly his see-saw, I didnt correct cos I wasnt sure at the time. Again not much I can say, apart from I know this is my main weakness and trust me I will be working on it. The only problem at the moment is due to the fact we've really only just got back from Northern Week, im trying to give the dogs a bit of time off, where I really need to train, but well of course im not. After 5 fivers and Norfolk, dogs can have a bit of time off then I can get back training properly ready to come out fighting next year.

So I was pretty crap and didnt get any new videos of Rodney :( however Lucy Clifton and I are going to 5 fivers the following weekend, then Norfolk, so we are sure to get some there :).

Also Rod did actually run at quite a good speed on Sunday, so do I think hes going to be good and fast enough to do well in gr7... yes, yes I do. I think peoples opinions of him by this time next year will change, hes a good little dog we'll show you :)

xoxo