WBSDS Success!

What a lovely show we have been to, why do weekends go so quickly!!! This post is going to be all about Kiah again, as she really was my little superstar, coming home with three clear rounds and two trophies, she is working awesome and showing off what she is really capable of which is just great. I love this picture of Kiah playing raggy after her one of her runs at Shuttleworth. Both days have been very good this weekend, some easier runs but some challenges too, and I have been able to take lots of positives out of every one of the courses. My handling caused ALL the errors we made in the classes where we did go wrong, but it was easy to see where and what I need to practice or brush up on, always useful for me to learn how to improve for next time. I love running Kiah, and I know I always come home with the best dog whatever happens, but the highlight of the weekend really was today, coming home with a 1st and a 2nd in her two jumping classes, fab rosettes and trophies as well as the Best BSD in those classes too!!

Wallingford Wow!!!!!!!

This weekend has just been phenomenal, and I cannot explain how happy or how proud I am of my little star Kiah, she has run fabulously, had great results and I'm still on Cloud 9!! Kiah did what I could never imagine, and came FIRST in the qualifying ABC agility, beating 304 other dogs, and so firmly secured her place in the semi-finals!!! I hoped that one day we would get the chance to go to the semi's but not to come in first place to get there!! What makes it even more rewarding is that the class was a 1-7 so she beat all dogs from all other grades, and that she won by over a second too. This picture is a close up of Kiah in her ABC run, three jumps from home!!

Today we also had a great day, still buzzing from Saturday but Kiah was nicely refreshed, and in a very affectionate mood this morning, so I got lots of cuddles! Our first run of the day (again!) was her Grade 3 agility, not a nasty course but I certainly didn't think it was Kiah's 'style'. Because of this, and also as we were a very early running order (8!) the grass and the contacts were still damp/dewy so I ran it a bit more carefully, and held her contacts a little longer. So to end up in 3rd place - her first place since she has moved up into 3, I was more than pleased! Kiah has been spoiled rotten since her wins, well she is always anyway but even more so than normal!

Cornwall Bank Holiday Weekend

We have just had the BEST weekend down in Cornwall! All four of us; me, Alex, Kiah and Yahoo took a 3 day trip down to the North coast of Cornwall and had a great time, also the bank holiday coincided with an agility show so the best of both worlds. The weather too was fabulous, the forecast wasn't that great for the rest of the south of the country, but someone upstairs obviously arranged nice weather as there wasn't a spot of rain at all, lovely warm sunshine! This was Kiah's second show in Grade 3 and again the courses were good but a bit challenging, I enjoyed all of them and always enjoy running Kiah anyway, though unfortunately no clear rounds for us, most of the mistakes were simple, mainly poles or silly handling from the silly handler ;).

We also got to spend loads of time having fun on the beach and visiting the local areas, Alex hadn't seen this part of Cornwall and once we were there and he saw how lovely the beaches and surrounding areas are, I think he realised too why I love it so much. I took my camera down there and took 500 odd photos - mainly of the dogs on the beach and a lot at the agility show of course too. Alex was also very impressed that he met another similar coloured (from working lines too) retriever who was the spitting image of Yahoo. I'm hoping to add some more larger photos down the bottom of my blog when I can work out how, and which ones to add, I could put so many there. What would we do without the invention of digital, I love my camera!! I couldn't decide which photo to post on here at the moment, but I thought this one captured everything well; two happy soggy doggies after playing in the sea, us two smiling and for once no silly expressions, and the lovely sandy beach with out a cloud in sight!

Spring at Shuttleworth

What a great weekend, very positive on all counts! After the minor frustration at the beginning of the weekend (Friday evening) of how to actually GET to the show as the M25 had serious accidents on it in both directions, once Kiah and I safely made it there eventually at about 10.30pm, I was ready for the weekend, and after a bit of a chill out, cup of tea, unload the car and quick hello's to my friends, I bedded down in my new selk bag (practical, yet oh so much fun!) and duvet, toasty warm and definitely slept well!! The rest of the weekend was just as good as the first night's sleep, catching up with loads of friends and dogs that I hadn't seen in ages, seeing and meeting all the Malinois puppies (not at all jealous ;)!), and the awesome weather too, as it is always nicer and puts everyone in a better mood!

It was Kiah's first G3 show so I was a little nervous of what to expect of the courses, but she ran well and I was pleased with most of her runs. As a friend of mine summed it up, there is definitely a 'little more' to the courses in G3, very true but a nice challenge too, certainly not complaining. There was just one agility course where Kiah didn't seem to really be listening properly to me, and also ran around the tyre rather than going through it, but that was no doubt partly my fault for not giving her the proper signals. The best run of the weekend was definitely our very last run - ABC agility, Kiah was running lovely, very fast and accurate...shame about her handler! Two jumps from home, I failed to call Kiah early enough to navigate her straight onto the dog walk so I pulled her back to run up it safely - I think she would have had a top place in that one but never mind! This picture is of Kiah in that ABC run, Jan had come down to the show, so was there with her camera and managed to get some great shots, I love seeing Kiah in action so thank you. I will have to remember to take my camera next weekend, as we are off to Cornwall for a long Easter weekend - for the fab beaches of course, as well as the agility!