It was good to be back in agility again and brilliant to catch up with so many people (and new puppies, lovely!) - I know that I always say that but it always seems like such a long time over winter and its never the same catching up with people over email, phone, facebook, training and walkies, its good but its not QUITE the same atmosphere as actually seeing everyone at a show, especially the first one of the year, and as usual it was chilly, but fortunately dry. This was the van's first real 'proper' dog outing with our fitted cages, I love them!!
Kiah had two out of three of her runs first in the ring - and though neither of the courses were particularly well suited, she ran very well in all three! The first course had the second obstacle as an evil weave entry after a long spread which a lot of people struggled with, though Kiah got it perfectly, then it was such a shame when I yelled left FAR too late and got us royally eliminated as she bounced over the wall on the right, and the second run didn't go any better!! Our third run was a bit of an odd jumping course, it didnt have any weaves, didn't really flow very well and a lot of people including me kind of got a bit lost! I managed to put Kiah over the wrong jump on a bodged pull in, but we ended our day on a good note because the course had a 5 jump straight line 'go-on' finish which Kiah loved!!
Davy had a good day too, even though I think he was a bit bewildered, as the Ardingly venue was where we first met him about a year ago - I'm not sure whether he thought that he was going back again as he didn't seem quite his usual self bless him. We bought him a new 'agility' collar and lead (in red of course, his own colour) bless him as he has started his basic training last week in his and Alex's quest to become starter agility handlers. Also we were looking to get him a new bed too, as he has always had Kiah's hand-me-down (even though thats pretty new too!), but there weren't any nice enough ones to be crowned as the little prince's new bed, the search continues!
So, late on Sunday afternoon it was time for Kiah and I to take part in a 2 hour FCI training session with Nancy Hudson, it was absolutely fantastic, thank you Nancy! I always learn so much and this lesson was all about early cues for obstacles, mini cross behinds on tunnels, go rounds, nose-grab turns (no idea if they have a proper name!) and running away so that the course flowed better. Such simple things make such a profound difference if used in the right place, all about timing, brilliant!! Though at times Kiah can be very frustrating as she likes to 'voice' her opinion when we get it wrong, on the few times when it goes just right I really do get an amazing feeling from her speed, contacts, versatility and attitude - and our last run of the day was just that... We had the full course to run, and she was just perfect, every contact, jump and turn I was so pleased with her, fab buzz, fab way to end a weekend, fab little dog!!
As we didn't have any plans today we decided to take the dogs on a trip to Camber Sands for a doggy day out on the beach, as neither of us have been there before and over 7 miles of sandy beaches sounded like an invitation that we couldn't pass up. Also in theory as the weather has been so lovely all this week, I thought that today would be no different! We set off at about 8.30 this morning with the dogs, our digital camera, and the van all packed, on what started as a reasonably pleasant day. WELL... when we got probably three quarters of the way there, the heavens opened, and it rained for a good twenty minutes, not a good start - thankfully it didn't take long to quite quickly become warm and the sun came out - and stayed out all day!!! 
