Dogs In Need

Kiah and I had a wonderful week at Dogs In Need (DIN), camping in with Lisa, had such a good time seeing all our human and canine friends, we had never stayed the whole week before and I must admit we both had a great time and looking forward to next year already!!

It is a shame to have to mention it (but it is England after all) but in the week we did have a rather 'mixed bag' of weather to say the least! Torrential rain and wind was the order of one of the days, however there was more than a reasonable amount of nice warm sun though, and so I can't complain. Only once did Kiah get drenched (bless her) she was not amused!!

We only got two runs a day at DIN so the atmosphere was nice and relaxed, so had a lot of time to spend lots of quality time with Kiah, and also managed to find time for my other hobby - taking photos, of Kiah as well as lots of my friends' dogs. The pic here is of Kiah in her little agility harness which she seems to love wearing, as well as not hurting her neck if she wears a collar and throws herself about getting all excited watching agility!! The only reason it was taken in slight shade is because the sun was out that day, and if I take pictures in direct sunlight, her eyes either look very light (and she has beautiful dark eyes) or the shadows cover her face and you can't see her eyes properly and her lovely expression.

Over the four days of competing we only got one clear round, which was in Kiah's Grade 2 Jumping, so we now have two wins towards going up to Grade 3. So in theory, whatever her next win is (agility we would move up anyway, or a third jumping win) would take her into Grade 3. I think we are ready to move into the next grade, just to have some more challenging courses and more complex handling for me, though we will get our win whenever it is time, I'm not going to push her as Kiah is doing fabulously well anyway. So that was our holiday away from work for a week, lovely break and doing something I really enjoy with the best dog in the world.

This weekend we have a breed show coming up fairly locally (about an hour's drive away) which will be good, we will get to meet up with a load of the Bonvivant Belgians and Kiah's breeder Jan who it is always nice to catch up with. Hopefully Kiah will show at her best, and the judge will like her, as she is looking amazing at the moment.

In the middle of September we have an agility show relatively nearby - again about an hour's drive away and we get to catch up with some other friends that I haven't seen in ages. Here we get three or four agility runs a day including a pairs run with our friends Jo and Ronny who is even more amazing than Kiah, but when they run well together it is great to watch!!

I will update my blog a little sooner than last time (well, its only a month, it has been longer!) and let you know how we do at both the breed show and the agility show too.

The Final!

Weekend before last was mixed fortunes I guess, the weather was wonderfully sunny and hot all of Saturday and Sunday, but out of 6 runs we didn't manage get one clear round! I don't know if it was my nerves, or rubbish handling (quite possible!) but Kiah was listening perfectly and the only reason we had poles down was due to me. Oh well, never mind, it was the one at the end of Saturday that counted - the Agility Club Starters Challenge!

Well I said I would report back on the results, and wasn't Kiah a little star - she ran perfectly, and I think I handled it quite well too, to end up in 3rd place and get a beautiful crystal bowl trophy!! The judge Andy Hudson set a good course, on first glance it looked very 'different' to anything I had seen before, but it ran a lot better than it looked and I really enjoyed it and I know that Kiah did too!

Just a quick note of thanks to my friends too, for keeping me sane and calm before the final and for videoing (which I can't seem to upload so look at:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJ-asUKGck and taking pictures of my round, and to loads of lovely agility people who came up to me and Kiah afterwards and said how brilliant she is. This pic is of Kiah at home on my bed having a well earned rest after the weekend.

The only thing I could have improved personally was my speed, if you look at the video of the round then Kiah's contacts were perfectly held (well done Ki!) however if I was a bit faster we could have shaved a bit of time off. But I really don't mind that, I couldn't have asked any more from her, she worked her little paws off and to come 3rd in her first ever final, just my fabulous amazing superstar Malinois.

Kiah and I are at Dogs in Need for the week coming up, hoping the weather cheers up a little (please?!) and we get two runs a day so nice laid back atmosphere, hoping to get some nice clear round runs in but if not then we'll just have fun anyway!!

Great Results at Grade 2

This weekend it was our first official Grade 2 show, we had two jumping rounds and one agililty, and my Mally did me proud, and got me out of trouble a couple of times too! Kiah ended up coming 3rd in her first run of the day (only slowed down by me not telling her a command fast enough coming out of the flat tunnel) which was a G1-2, and winning her jumping class which was G2, she really is a stunning little dog I am so proud of her. We won't go into the details of the agility round, but lets just say that was my fault, case of good dog shame about the handler!

The fab agility photo of Kiah I have attached here was again taken by Alan Score, he really is very kind to take all these photos of all our dogs, and the quality of them is just excellent as you can see he has a real talent.

We have just got back from a fairly successful evening at agility training, with one more training session tomorrow before the weekend, so I am feeling relatively positive about the show, though I must remember to keep calm. Whatever happens I am and will be so proud of Kiah for getting us there in the first place. Wish us luck and I'll report back here on the results.

Very Bad Blogger - Finally an Update!!

Thanks to my friends reminding me, I am finally updating this, I am sorry if you are all waiting to hear the next Kiah update!!! About 6 weeks or so (whoops!) have passed since my last post, and we are enjoying our summer of agility, playing and generally having fun.

Well what has little Kiah been up to. We have had a bit of a break from agility, only partly intentionally I might add, mainly cause I forgot to enter a load of shows!! I'm sure Kiah will forgive me one day for that little blip. So we have been spending time with our friends both dog and human, and to make sure my little athlete is still on top form, Kiah has been for a visit to the chiropractor just for a routine check up which she needed. In two of the magazines/newsletters I receive; Kiah has been mentioned, one article by the WBSDS for her winning out of G1 and another - the Agility Voice magazine with her name in as qualifying for her Agility Club final, always nice to see my little superstar in print - of sorts!

A couple of times we have met up with friends and been for nice woodland, park, field and forest walks too, sometimes with just Kiah, and other times with other dog friends (at one point we had 12 dogs!) which she adores running with and being chased around, and I love taking photos of too, it is great to see them all just having fun and being able to be a dog. This photo of my beautiful girl I took today, she really is in top physical condition and looking fab.

We have been to four agility shows all around the country - though not consecutively! At most shows we go to, we generally just have issues with handler errors!! However, the agility show we have had most recently, the weather was very drizzley and the grass was very short which made it very slippery under-foot and paw, had to be careful here as I didn't want to let Kiah get injured. At the end of the day, when I was almost ready to go home and get dry, I had one final class, which was G1 Jumping. With an early running order we ran about 6th in the class, Kiah was fab, and we went on to win the class!

Though Kiah has won out of Grade 1 we have not yet had a G2 class due to the timing and closing dates of the shows we have been at. Our first G2 is at the Newlands show next week-end so that should be good fun! In a couple of weeks we also have our Agility Club final, getting a little nervous about that, but I know I shouldn't as Kiah will pick up on it, so just going to try and look forward to a positive performance from her, and even more so from me!

Chill Out Day

As Supa Dogs was cancelled due to flooding from Monday onwards, Kiah and I didn't have the show on Tuesday, but we didn't mind as I had the day off work anyway, and we had a lovely day with Lisa and her dogs which are all Kiah's pals.

The sky was overcast but not threatening, and it was a nice cool day so we took all 7 (yes 7 - 6 BSD's and a GSD!) dogs up to local woods and fields where they all great fun running around, drinking from fresh rainwater puddles, and playing chase!

Kiah looks a bit scrawny at the moment as she has no under coat (it's her go-faster coat for agility she tells me) and she got a bit wet jumping like a gazelle through the long grass - but I really like this picture of her, taken while we were out on the walk.

Bank Holiday Brilliance!

My long weekend (Sat-Mon including the bank holiday) has been absolutely amazing, so I thought I would tell you about it all! Turned up at the show on Saturday morning, ready for the week long Supa Dogs show - even though I was only competing on the Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, back to work on Wednesday. Long story about missing Monday, but there was an ABC Qualifier at a different show that day, so Lisa and I travelled to that show instead.

Saturday's weather was lovely, nicely sunny and warm but not too hot. Well it seems that Kiah was not content with just winning one agility class last week, and our very first run of the day she ran cleanly, and in a very fast time, and won the G1 agility!! I unfortunately messed up both the jumping rounds, they were just too simple and fast, and my handling left a little to be desired - but still very pleased with Kiah as she kept all the poles up!

Sunday's weather started grim, raining all through the night, but by about 11am ish it was again sunny and got very hot, I even got a bit sun burned which I didn't expect, as it didn't seem hot enough! It was a bit of a 're-run' from the day before which was great! Our first run of the day was agility, a bit of a twisty turny course so I was a little unsure how Kiah would run, and she was brill, again a nice clean tidy (by Kiah) un-frantic (by me) performance, we went on to win this one too! Kiah's treat as promised by me on both days was an ice cream, I have attached the picture of her taken at the show, enjoying her celebratory prize!

In the evening we went back to Lisa's house ready to leave early on Monday morning for the other show. Monday's weather was also evil, rainy and windy and especially so on the motorway on the way up to Packington. It seemed to dry out the roads though, and the showground wasn't too bad either it seemed to have held up. Our first round was jumping, and thanks to me getting lost on the course three jumps from home, we got E'd, not a good start to the day! Second run was G1-2 agility, I thought in this round I would train my contacts, in preparation for the ABC run that was coming up in the afternoon, and we still ended up 2nd! Didn't do a very good job of the ABC in the end, the course wasn't too bad, and Kiah did go clear, but was a bit messy.

So I came home with two beautiful trophies (Packington mislaid mine but they are sending it) the two from Sat/Sun are resin sculptures, one of a tyre, and the other of a see-saw, I believe the Packington one is a silver cup, all will take pride of place in Kiah's little trophy cabinet!! I am always proud of Kiah, however she does at agility as she always gives it 110% even if I don't sometimes when I should, but even more so over the last few days. I am just so pleased with her consistency and speed, and the fact we are really working as a team. I am really looking forward to Grade 2, onwards and upwards!!

Goodbye Grade One!!

I've just realised how long it's been since I updated my blog... whoops! Anyway, as the title suggests, yesterday's agility show was an amazing success. We were at the BATS show in Luton and fortunately despite an awful forecast, our runs were finished by lunch time and it was only then that it started to rain. Obviously someone shining down on us yesterday!

Anyway, in mine and Kiah's second run of the day; which was agility, Kiah ran really well, brilliant contacts, and went clear too! Fortunately as I was a late running order (208 of 223) I didnt have long to wait until I found out that I had won the class!! My nerves wouldn't have taken it. The class was combined Grade 1s and 2s - it was our first win, and only third ever clear round, taking us out of Grade One forever and into Grade 2!!!

There were a few of my friends watching the round which was great anyway, and two with cameras - thank you Lisa, and Alan, which was great too as its so rare that you get pictures of the round that you do well in! The picture I have attached is one of the ones taken by Alan, only because they are slightly more close up and they don't have me in them! Just also wanted to say thank you also to all of my friends and instructors who have taught me and Kiah, believed in us, and congratulated me on my win, it means a lot to me :)

Also to add to our success, the class we won was an 'Agility Club Starters Challenge' course too, so she qualified for this year's finals in July to be held at Newbury- our first final!! Kiah had an extra special celebratory dinner last night; a whole can of sardines added to her food!! She really did deserve it, my little clever beautiful Mally (as ever) did me extremely proud this weekend!