Agility Club Weekend

Last weekend was the Agility Club show, which I really enjoyed despite having had the car accident a couple of days before... I think it helped that I was relieved that I found out that my car is going to be fixed rather than written off, grateful that I have a reasonable courtesy car not a teeny tiny one, smiling because of all the people who have asked if we are ok, appreciative of the hospitality shown to me and my dog over the weekend, happy about the weather staying pleasant with no rain, and so SO happy to be running Kiah, watching her run well with no ill effects from the accident, and seeing her cheeky face as she point blank refuses to let me win when we are playing raggy!!

So our first grade four show... well we didn't get any clear rounds this weekend, so near yet so far in a couple of the rounds with just one pole in one, and a back jump in another! I must learn to move my feet quicker ;)!!! But really pleased with the weekend overall, I wasn't overly fazed by any of the courses in Grade 4 as I thought I might be (theres still time lol!) and pleased in one agility course specifically, which had some really REALLY tight bits, Kiah worked well lots of positives from that. Even remembered to take my camera with me this weekend, so got lots of photos of various doggies which I must send on to the relevant people! This picture is of Kiah just about to woof at me, play bow, dash off to the left, in the middle of 'mad five minutes' just before we packed up to go home on Sunday afternoon!!!

Car Accident...

Yesterday on the way back from agility training, Kiah and I were in a head on car accident. The road was single lane, and there was a right hand bend so I was driving quite slowly only about 20mph as it was still fairly light but dusky. Unfortunately I think the car coming the other way wasn't driving so sensibly and by then it was too late... I had pretty much stopped in time but the other guy didn't, so I kind of had nowhere to go so the front of my car got mashed. The other person admitted to me that his brakes had locked but I guess he won't say that to the insurers, I dont know. Anyway I have reported everything correctly my end, though the insurers have advised that due to the road being single lane it will be difficult to prove liability either way, so will probably have to go as a 50:50 claim. I am now likely to have two claims 'against' me, one drunk uninsured driver (2008) and another now, neither of which are my fault!!!

Anyway cars can be repaired, the most important thing is that Kiah is ok, she didn't seem phased by the actual accident fortunately, I got her out of the car straight away just in case anything nasty happened to it. I think in some ways it was a small mercy in the scheme of things that the accident happened there as we had only left agility 5 minutes before, so Kiah's muscles etc were still warmed up from that, so I think that probably helped her from being injured. Here she is relaxing on the sofa today, no worse for wear... touch wood.

I want to say a big, BIG thank you to Leah and Jason Gardner who must have just got home from training when they got a phone call from me, and they very kindly stayed with Kiah and I all evening. It was certainly a long evening with the claim taking a 40 minute phone call, they certainly didn't need to ask all the questions they did, then a wild goose chase for them to find where we were, THEN find a vehicle recovery company and wait for them to turn up! Leah and Jason also came right out of their way to drop us home to make sure Kiah and I got home safely afterwards, probably not getting home themselves til long after midnight.

So today has been a day of rest and sleeping, but also lots of phone calls in and out to various people, insurance companies, repair centres, hire centres etc. As at my last phone call, my car hasn't yet been assessed as to whether it is repairable or a write off, so hopefully I will find that out tomorrow. I have a courtesy car which is nice enough, its a new Golf Estate, and I have that until mine is sorted, which hopefully won't be too long. Off to get some more sleep now.

Agility-Full Weekend

We were at a local show this weekend, it is a shame that this show was only a one day event, as I really like the venue and also despite the forecast, the weather stayed great all day! It was a bit of a shame that our last weekend in Grade 3 didn't go quite as well as we had hoped! Our first run was agility, and with me not handling it right - couldn't possibly do a pull through, and Kiah being totally bonkers - not picking her feet up - it was a bit of a disaster! Our second run which was helter skelter went in the same kind of fashion! The third run was slightly better, though I don't think we were quite on form this week though as I got a bit lost, and I called Kiah to turn right a bit early on a jump making her take a pole. Of course there are positives to every run, and I therefore the things I could take out of Saturday was that I was very pleased with Kiah's start line waits, her contacts and more importantly her weaves. She seems to pick up her entries very well now whereas she used to struggle a bit cause of her speed, and she is a very good independent weaver too. And I am always impressed with her enthusiasm, no one can ever fault her on that, bless her she tries her best!

Today we didn't have much planned, but after reading a friend's facebook status it reminded me that there was an open day on at a local rspca centre so after a nice walk and play this morning, Kiah and I took a trip down there. There was lots to see and do, and we got lots of really nice compliments about how pretty Kiah was so that was lovely too. BUT... more importantly there was a fun agility course, MORE agility, well of course for Kiah's benefit we had to have a go or 4!! Kiah loved it as the jumps were set on a low height so she could go even faster and the course even had 8 weaves in which she got spot on every time! Then we shared an ice cream before we took a trip back home. Kiah is now flat out on my bed, I think I can safely say we both had a great weekend!

Last Week's Holiday

...now seems but a distant memory! I had booked a week off work, there was nothing specific planned, but it seemed to be quite productive. I managed to catch up with some friends, see my mum, go to the cinema and celebrate a birthday, a little bit of shopping, do lots of tidying up and catching up with paperwork around the house, and of course spend lots of time with Kiah.

The weather wasn't as spectacular as the heatwave we had the week before, but though I love the heat (while not at work!) in some ways it was better for Kiah being that bit cooler. It was lovely being able to take her on long walks during the day up in the forest park and golf course that entwines around it, meeting all sorts of people including another Malinois, Kiah wanted to go and say hello (she always recognises her own breed!?) but he was on a lead, I think he was probably a police dog. Kiah even played about in the lake fetching a small stick - as long as the water wasn't too deep - she likes to paddle but can't possibly go all the way in and swim ;)!! The picture was taken after Kiah had just had a game of "mad five minutes in the golf course sand bunkers" she always loves doing that and what sort of owner would I be, to deny such simple pleasures!!

I had no agility over the weekend just gone, but it wasn't so bad to have a weekend off, as I developed a sore throat, and hoping it wouldn't turn into anything worse I stayed in drinking lots of water, and taking some cold and flu remedies to try and ward it off. Touch wood I am feeling ok now, though still taking vitamins and eating lots of fruit and vegetables too! This Saturday coming Kiah and I are at a fairly local agility show, and it is our last weekend in Grade 3 so going to have fun and hoping to maybe get a couple of good rounds as a bonus. Fingers crossed for nice weather too!

Sardine Celebrations!!

My awesome little Kiah has done it again, she has won another Grade 3 agility today, to put her well and truly into Grade 4 now, she's such a clever girl, I can't begin to express how pleased I am and how proud of her I am!!! I seem to have found that the key with me, is to stay calm with Kiah as then she stays calm and we work well together. The course ran nicely, as the start was jump - dog walk I thought I would practice Kiah's wait and recall to the end of the dog walk. Well its a bit scary having a Mally running full pelt at you and trying to stay calm! Anyway the rest of the course ran nicely and we went straight into the lead and stayed there, and I love watching Kiah do her weaves I think they are one of her favourites. I think her other favourite is the sardines in oil that she had in with her food tonight (mmm fish breath) as a special well done dinner!

The rest of the weekend was good too, pleased with a good run the day before and we ended up 5th in the 3-4 combined agility, a nice run by Kiah, good solid contacts, though scrappy time wasting handling by me! I just really made minor errors in other runs though nothing to be overly concerned about just things to practice on at training, and a single pole down today in a good jumping run due to me not giving her enough room when doing the pull through (silly arse), but all good from Kiah bless her. Love this pic of Kiah on the turn in her jumping round, the angle of the turn is mad and how she doesn't skid or slip over I don't know!

I am really pleased that we are getting that bit more consistent (or should I say my handling is more consistent), and though I am ever so pleased with the first place and the lovely rosette and trophy, the best thing at the end of every run we do, clear or not, is seeing little Kiah's happy face at the end of a course looking for her toy to play, yeah go Ky-Pie!