Goals, preparations & puppy plans!

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend! On Saturday I attended the Kennel Club's first Sports Coaching for Agility Handlers seminar. All the speakers were very good, but Natasha Wise in particular was fantastic! She gave a great presentation on the 'Practical Application of Sports Science' a subject which she studied at university and has obviously successfully used the lessons - twice Medium World Champion with her lovely merle collie Dizzy. I learnt a great deal from her talk and I'm very excited about incorporating some of her suggestions into the training plans for my own dogs and that of the dogs that I teach. 

Last season I really felt like I let Ella down a lot by not being mentally prepared for our runs, to the point where I would sometimes have to just stop and wait a moment before remembering where I was supposed to be going! My training plan for the winter incorporates both mental training, but also some fitness for me - the New Year will see me in the hands of a local personal trainer, working off those pounds - eek!

Despite the extra hour today, I've still rushed around like a headless chicken a bit. Lovely walk this morning with friends along the River Yeo in Congresbury close to where we live and then off to Diva's training session in Bristol for 11.30am. I love that little dog her attitude and spirit are great to work with and she's really enjoying her training sessions - whether for the social side or the agility I couldn't tell you ;-)

Finally, this afternoon I sat down and worked out a specific plan for the next few months - for those of you that aren't a member of our Facebook group you may not be aware that my lovely Ella is pregnant and due in just 3 short weeks time! Her waistline is starting to disappear and she seems a little hungrier than normal, but apart from that it's hard to tell - she's still racing around with Diva out on a walk at the moment :)

I have been dreaming about a litter from Ella for so long now, I can hardly believe that we will soon have puppies in the house! She was mated to a fantastic boy, Harrjak Tigger (or Tigs to his friends ;-)) with an equally wonderful temperament and disposition. I'm sure they're going to make some fabulous puppies who will go onto make their new owners very happy.

In addition to that I'm also knee deep in plans for some new training classes - my friend Suzy Field is rounding up her Mutt Manners Kennel Club Good Citizen classes at Christmas and I will be taking them on in the New Year under the Daybreak banner. They take place in St John's Hall on Hillside Road in Clevedon on Tuesday evenings between 6pm - 9pm. Whilst we'll be following the KCGC curriculum, as usual we'll have our own exciting flavour to add to the classes - more details to follow shortly! :-)

Today I am grateful for the many wonderful opportunities and avenues that sparkle brightly in front of me - I am truly blessed :-)

UKA Staverton, Saturday 28th August 2010

UKA Valentine show

UKA Staverton & Dog Vegas

What a long weekend! Thank goodness it's a Bank Holiday otherwise I don't know how we'd have done it, we didn't get home until midnight last night after being stuck in traffic on the motorway back from Scunthorpe. However I'm still glad we went all that way, there's something special about the first final with your dog, even when things don't go to plan!

Anyway, Staverton first on the Saturday - not a great day as I was very wound up about what was to come on the Sunday, and could have done much better than I did. A last minute 'E' in the Gamblers was disappointing, but it was miles better than the last one I tried to do so I'm definitely going to enter more of those - it was quite good fun. Jumping was next and just turned off a fraction too early and brought Ella inside a jump wing, so another 'E', but heartened by a lovely 12 weaves later in the course - can't now imagine what her coming out of the last 2 poles looks like which is fabulous! Picked myself up after that and gave myself bit of a shake - thanks to Sue James for listening to my woes and reminding me how much I love my sport and really how good Ella & I are at it. So went into our Steeplechase course properly and did a cracking clear - 1st place and 6 points off Senior, happy days! Agility was right at the end of the day, but worth waiting for as it was a nice course to run. Sadly missing lunch earlier in the day had left me a little light-headed and I gave Ella's weave command far, far too late - 5 for skipping the 2nd pole but beautiful for the rest of the 12 poles after that.

Dog Vegas started well - I had strict instructions from Martin Tait about holding contacts as now Ella's won out of Grade 3 there's no need to push them. Lovely clear with 6 weaves out of a tunnel and no worries on her entry, plus me crossing behind which was great. The lovely blue & silver 8th place rosette was nice too :-)) In the next agility round Ella was high as a kite (I later found she needed to go to the toilet - good reminder before Final!) and I thought I would test her dog walk contact by quick releasing on the A-frame that came before. As expected she released herself so I was able to correct her, and she then was more careful to remember her criteria on the see-saw, and finished the round with a fast entry into 6 weaves. G3-5 Jumping was next and what I would describe as our first 'grown up' course, although nothing that Martin wouldn't set me as a quick warm up! Clear till the weaves where I think I ended up in her way and 5 for skipping the 2nd pole. She went back in beautifully to complete the 12 poles, so I was very pleased.

The Final course was a nice course which I felt would really suit Ella, and I'm really pleased with how I stayed calm & focused leading up to the start of it. I walked it straight after the judge had finished setting it and decided what I would need to do. I planned to be brave and let her pick up the see-saw out of the tunnel by herself and layer the jump off of it for a front cross. When I walked it the tunnel should have shot them out straight so that picking it up would have been no problem - sadly after I'd walked it the angle was changed slightly, so I ended up with a very eager Ella running directly to me instead!



Looking back (and esp. from this camera angle) I'm not sure if:

a) My original handling decision would have been correct
b) Did I tell her her command for see-saw early enough (or at all!)?
c) As I wasn't moving as she entered the tunnel would she have still come out looking for me anyway?
d) Would it have worked but I wasn't on the correct line I needed to be on?

Whilst I'm disappointed, I'm not going to jump off a bridge anytime soon - mistakes are opportunities to learn, and this isn't Ella's last final. Does my dog know or care frankly (!) that we didn't win? She had her enthusiastic game of tuggy at the end of her job as she always does, and she did everything I asked of her so she had no complaints from me about anything she did. I learnt that I can cope with the pressure of a final and still run my dog as I should, and that I'm brave about the handling choices I make - albeit it for the worse in this instance! Next time I think I'll probably opt for the safe option rather than the spectacular, unless I have a 2nd opinion on it from Martin Tait first! :-))

Today I'm grateful for having a wonderful dog to compete with, a great big snuggly one to welcome me when I return to the van, my dog agility van itself, Jan Sage & Lexi winning G1 Agility whilst we were up at Dog Vegas and going G2!, my parents for looking after my darling children whilst we were away, and last but by no means least, my loving, supportive husband for going all that way with me - and for always being right by my side whenever I need him.