My Mum

The week just gone, was nothing less than completely and totally awful, and I can't quite believe it still... After getting home from an agility show - where the weather had been cold, windy and rainy most of the weekend, poor Kiah getting marked the down on her dog walk when she clearly got it in what would have been a great run from her, and the journey home being particularly grim, we had a knock at the door from a police officer.

I guess I knew straight away when they said it was about mum... she had passed away that afternoon, while doing some gardening - one of her favourite things to do! I know that she didn't suffer, its just that her heart had been through enough. Mum had always had heart problems from a young age, but that still doesn't make it fair or right. Its not fair at all when they take the good, kind, well meaning ones, when there are so many cretins on this earth it could have been instead. It was only two years ago that we lost my granny too, so at least mum is back with her mum and they will be back with each other now, sun bathing and doing the crosswords, and hopefully looking down and looking after us all too.

So, this last few days have gone in a bit of a blur not really knowing what to do, but Alex has been my rock, and my friends and family have just been brilliant. I think the doggies know too as they have been helping cheer us up, its funny how they always know how to make you smile. I know that mum definitely wouldn't want any of us to be upset, and to carry on with life as normal, which we are trying to do, and to organise a celebration of mum's life next week.

I wanted to post just so everyone knows how fab my mum was and always will be. And as lots of people have said to me, mum will always be in my heart, and I shall always remember everything she did for me, the good times, and great memories, even if I don't have nearly enough of them. RIP Mum, love you will never forget you. XXX

Burnham - Poor Kiah

I’d never been to this show before as I usually forget to enter shows in September for some reason – I think its because the closing dates are so far ahead, I can’t think that far in advance for a time that feels like its nearing the end of the show season already!! It was a nice quiet show (but one of the worst for very early barking dogs, grrr) held in pretty countryside but only an hour and a half from us so not a long haul trek to get there either.

The first day started well, albeit with a few mis-timed cues resulting in a good jumping run being E’d as it was the sort of course where you couldn’t let them go at all, and the minute I looked up to see where the jump was, it was too late! Then the first agility was a bit of a disaster, lazy handling and bad listening from Kiah making a bit of a mess of the course, but at least she got her weaves well from a difficult entry; and good contacts too.

Then on our last run of the day, must have mis-timed her launch onto the a-frame, hitting it flat on her knees and sliding back down, resulting in a deep graze in her leg right on the knee joint, poor Kiah, she tries so hard but she really splatted on to it. After checking her over and letting her take it steady around the rest of the course, we cleaned her up and she rested for the remainder of the day in her back on track coat. On Sunday she was bright as a button in the morning, and certainly wasn’t lame as I wouldn’t have run her at all, but I didn’t want her to think that she had been naughty in her last class of the day before as she had all that fuss after it! We took it steady in her jumping class – all the hard bits we did well then a push round turned into a pull in, oops! The agility I took even easier, I just didn’t want Kiah to have any negative feelings of any equipment after the previous day, so we went around and it was a nice flowing course, just two poles down, no nagging (well only Kiah yelling at me while getting impatient on her dog walk contact, see pic!) and Kiah and I both came out happy; that was enough for me so we finished on that high note for the weekend. Kiah seemed well and not stiff at all afterwards, she had a good night’s sleep, and some arnica and aloe vera, along with her vitamins and omega oils, but to be certain she was on full rest for the week just to make sure she’s completely ok.

Letchworth - Another Catch Up Post!

The weekend before the one just gone was in Peterborough, the weather forecast didn’t look too promising, but fortunately they must have been wrong as it was nice all weekend. It is a shame the weather has really started to turn autumny now, the evenings are certainly getting more chilly and the evenings have dark skies far earlier than before.

Back to the show, the first day Kiah was completely nuts; I think she thought she was still at the demo from the week before and that it was a race to get to the finish line! There were some good bits but our main problem was timing and Kiah being a bit naughty with her feet and knocking a few poles. The second day was much better, one ‘normal’ class 6-7 agility which was set a bit like a really cool FCI course - Kiah was running awesome and I messed up her weave entry which was a shame as I think she would have had a good place in that one. We had two ‘special’ classes, 6-7 power and speed, and 6-7 connections. It was the power and speed course first, a brilliant course to practice contacts and we were clear over that part, then the speed section Kiah went clear in too! She seemed a bit tired and didn’t bounce some jumps where she maybe could have, but still ended up 11th bless her! Then we had the connections where you have to make up your own course to get the most amount of points - Kiah was doing a FAB run and would have got a brilliant place, though unfortunately she had the last pole down which means she missed out on the last bonus points. It was a shame as she was already heading full speed for the a-frame so I couldn't really change her path, and we still ended up in 20th place with at least 6 missed points, hopefully one day we might qualify for the finals!!

Overall another enjoyable weekend, the dogs came back with a few gifts too – Kiah got a fluffy new bed (not spoiled at all!), Yahoo got a big blue doggy jumper to sleep in which he LOVES - and it keeps him warm over night too, and Davy has got some treats; I'm teaching him some different tricks, and he learns quickly and loves to do them so it’s a start with Mister Lazy. We also didn’t get back too late on Sunday, so a nice relaxing bit of time for the dogs and us to chill out.

Oh and lots of well dones to say this week too, to everyone I know that qualified for Olympia in either the Novice, Senior or ABC, there are far too many fab people to list so congratulations to you all!! The semi finals were this weekend and the standard of competitors just sounded brilliant it must have been exciting to watch. I cant wait for the finals in December, I hope they are all televised again as I won't be leaving the sofa til theyre finished!

Catch Up Post - Bank Holiday Fun!

The bank holiday - and a lovely three day weekend just gone was full of fun with our usual annual trip to the agricultural show on both days, to take part in the agility demonstrations and raise money for charity, thankfully the weather stayed mostly dry - always a benefit as far more people attend so we raise more money. As always it was great fun, and the doggies had a great time, the Mali's really did take over the results though... On the first day of the mini competition within the demo, Rusty won it, Kiah was 3rd and little Tia excelled and came 4th!! Then on the second day which is a fast and furious relay - Rusty won the morning competition and Kiah won in the afternoon!! Bless them, they all had a great time - it was just a bit of light hearted fun and no pressure to finish off a good but tiring weekend.

Plus I've made a personal decision - the bank holiday was when I decided, I want to lose quite a lot of weight and get fitter - for general health reasons and to make sure I can give Kiah a run for her money... ok I'll never be that good - but to at least try to give it my best shot in the same way Kiah does for me, around the grade 6 & 7 courses that we're seeing now. So far I've lost 1kg which I'm pleased with... so onwards I go :)))