I realised the night before we were due to depart to Rugby when there was much head shaking and Tambi had his head on one side most of the time that there was a problem and suspected a grass seed in his ear, this was confirmed in the morning when I managed to get him an early appointment at the vet. The seed was deep inside his ear which meant he had to be sedated so that my proposed departure time around noon had to be extended. I was really fortunate that his little operation was carried out quickly and I received a phone call just before one o'clock to say he could be collected.
Arriving at the venue considerably later than I had intended I was delighted to find a pitch on the edge of the exercise area overlooking miles of fields, in fact it was the very same pitch I have had these past 3 years. Things did not exactly go to plan, for a start the fridge igniter refused to work so I had no fridge, the next problem was that the water pump would not work either, deep joy! Once I had set up it was time to venture into the countryside for a good long walk. As dusk descended I realised that I had no lights in the caravan, all very strange. Upon investigation I found that a portable cooker had fallen on the caravan battery switch hence my problems, once I had switched it on I was able to light the fridge and connect the water pump so all was well.
Saturday and a somewhat damp overcast morning but we still enjoyed our walk through the fields. Happily having had a word with the judge Roli was allowed to run at micro height NFC neither Roli nor I could care a damn about competing more importantly he had his little run and was a very happy boy. This was an enjoyable day with varied and interesting courses but was not a very successful day as far as results were concerned with Keeto managing the only clear round of the day but there were pluses, for a start Chart got ALL his contacts but on this occasion had weaving problems, either he missed the entry or came out before the end, this in itself was unusual and I needed to analyse my movements to see what messages I was giving him, Keets worked really well and has gone up a notch in speed, uncharacteristically he missed his dog walk in both classes and Kai was eliminated no less that 3 times thanks to his handler! As I was walking Brigg around the rings I met Brigg's breeder, Lisa! It was good to see her again and for Lisa to see what a handsome big boy he had grown into since he left her at 7 weeks old. Brigg enjoyed being fussed over and introduced to her friends, one of who had his brother Specs and another who had the record for having the biggest Borderstorm dog which she has now lost as Brigg is already taller than her boy!! After a day of mixed sunshine and rain we were fortunate to enjoy a long walk in the early evening sunshine before it clouded over and we had serious rain with almost gale force winds at times which rocked the caravan.
Sunday and a mild sunny morning to wander around the broad margins which had been created around the fields of corn, oats and barley before walking a couple of courses. This was a very relaxed morning and after 4 runs where a forced error and a missed weave entry caused Keets and Chart to end their jumping runs with 5 faults apiece. Tambi went clear in his Anysize and again Roli capered around the course at micro height after which I had almost five hours of waiting until my next runs during which time I took the dogs for yet another long country walk and started to pack up the caravan in-between walking back and forth to the rings to see what was happening as it was impossible to hear the tannoy which made things difficult. As always on the last afternoon there were long queues waiting to run as the callers were accepting anyone which was frustrating to say the least especially when I needed to be in several places at the same time as my last 5 runs were in different rings, deep joy! It was almost 4pm by the time Kai had the first of his 2 runs and he was like a coiled spring. This was a better day with 5 faults in each of his runs, a shame about a missed very difficult weave entry (which was the downfall of many) in an otherwise excellent agility round. Keets went clear in both his classes but it was a 5 fault day for Chart who missed his A frame but he did get all his weaves, he did such a lovely jumping round and anticipating a clear round I raised my arm as he jumped the last fence causing him to drop his leg and knock the pole, I was so cross with myself!
Arriving at the venue considerably later than I had intended I was delighted to find a pitch on the edge of the exercise area overlooking miles of fields, in fact it was the very same pitch I have had these past 3 years. Things did not exactly go to plan, for a start the fridge igniter refused to work so I had no fridge, the next problem was that the water pump would not work either, deep joy! Once I had set up it was time to venture into the countryside for a good long walk. As dusk descended I realised that I had no lights in the caravan, all very strange. Upon investigation I found that a portable cooker had fallen on the caravan battery switch hence my problems, once I had switched it on I was able to light the fridge and connect the water pump so all was well.
Saturday and a somewhat damp overcast morning but we still enjoyed our walk through the fields. Happily having had a word with the judge Roli was allowed to run at micro height NFC neither Roli nor I could care a damn about competing more importantly he had his little run and was a very happy boy. This was an enjoyable day with varied and interesting courses but was not a very successful day as far as results were concerned with Keeto managing the only clear round of the day but there were pluses, for a start Chart got ALL his contacts but on this occasion had weaving problems, either he missed the entry or came out before the end, this in itself was unusual and I needed to analyse my movements to see what messages I was giving him, Keets worked really well and has gone up a notch in speed, uncharacteristically he missed his dog walk in both classes and Kai was eliminated no less that 3 times thanks to his handler! As I was walking Brigg around the rings I met Brigg's breeder, Lisa! It was good to see her again and for Lisa to see what a handsome big boy he had grown into since he left her at 7 weeks old. Brigg enjoyed being fussed over and introduced to her friends, one of who had his brother Specs and another who had the record for having the biggest Borderstorm dog which she has now lost as Brigg is already taller than her boy!! After a day of mixed sunshine and rain we were fortunate to enjoy a long walk in the early evening sunshine before it clouded over and we had serious rain with almost gale force winds at times which rocked the caravan.
Sunday and a mild sunny morning to wander around the broad margins which had been created around the fields of corn, oats and barley before walking a couple of courses. This was a very relaxed morning and after 4 runs where a forced error and a missed weave entry caused Keets and Chart to end their jumping runs with 5 faults apiece. Tambi went clear in his Anysize and again Roli capered around the course at micro height after which I had almost five hours of waiting until my next runs during which time I took the dogs for yet another long country walk and started to pack up the caravan in-between walking back and forth to the rings to see what was happening as it was impossible to hear the tannoy which made things difficult. As always on the last afternoon there were long queues waiting to run as the callers were accepting anyone which was frustrating to say the least especially when I needed to be in several places at the same time as my last 5 runs were in different rings, deep joy! It was almost 4pm by the time Kai had the first of his 2 runs and he was like a coiled spring. This was a better day with 5 faults in each of his runs, a shame about a missed very difficult weave entry (which was the downfall of many) in an otherwise excellent agility round. Keets went clear in both his classes but it was a 5 fault day for Chart who missed his A frame but he did get all his weaves, he did such a lovely jumping round and anticipating a clear round I raised my arm as he jumped the last fence causing him to drop his leg and knock the pole, I was so cross with myself!
No comments:
Post a Comment