More agility....what else?

Last weekend we had a day off on Saturday with no agility show! Dennis and I slept in and then bummed around the house. We got a chance to do some work in the garden (yes another tree has been taken out to make more room for agility!). Now we just have to do some more work on filling in the giant hole and putting some grass seed down. Both of us were moaning and aching by the time we were done. We are so old!

Lisa and I set up a new agility course to practice on Saturday afternoon. I was glad she was motivated to do it as I hate setting courses on my own. If, hopefully, we make it to the World Champs we will have to get serious about setting two or three new courses to work on each week. If you search the internet you can find courses that the judges (the two who will be judging the world champs)have set previously. We then can set these courses and try and get the idea of what kind of sequences they like to set. It helps to focus me on training specifics rather than practicing randomly.

The world champs this year is starting to be a family affair! We just got news yesterday that our friend Adele from The Netherlands qualified to be on the Dutch team with her sheltie Chilka. Although Chilka is not one of mine, Adele and Han also own Zen's daugher Wizz (see picture in post below). So I consider Adele one of the OBay family and I am sure that one day Adele will be competing in the Worlds with Wizz!

On Sunday we went to St. Edwards agility show. It was my first time going to that show and it was very enjoyable. Only six rings and the ability to park around the rings makes me a very happy bunny. Gosh it just reminds me how much I hate the shows at Newbury and walking miles back to the car and the dogs. The sun was shining and the weather was a near perfect sunny and cool 70 degrees. Eat your heart out all you stuck in 90 degree hot and humid New York/New Jersey! I love English weather!

Unfortunately there were no classes for small dogs at this show; so much to her dismay The Wicked One stayed home. Luckily Zen had FOUR classes to run so that made me happy. I brought Hob-b along for the ride and she enjoyed her day out.

Liz and Viv were there with their goldens along with Sally and her border collies. That group is so funny because they are so organized! Liz brings this huge spread of food including fresh salad from her garden, fresh bread, cheese and fruit! All very healthy and very tasty! They get to the show and set up their three cars side by side, put up three tents and surround the entire things with windbreaks. They got a space right by the rings and I made sure to join the comfy camp! Hob-b came along and I tied her up to the tent. She stayed there there whole day, just hanging out. I had to remember she was there as she is so mellow and quiet you can easily forget she is there! Liz felt bad for Hob-b laying on the ground (how can the princess lie on the ground?!) and gave Hob-b her chair to lie on. Hob-b lay on that chair all day!

They backed their cars up to the rings and opened up the back of the cars so the dogs were facing towards the rings. The funny part about this was a comment someone made while walking by in the morning. "OH" she said "that is a really bad idea; those dogs are going to start BARKING....". I almost pissed my pants! This is funny because Liz does NOT let her goldens bark and I am always trying to get her to make them bark! hahahahaha I was able to say with COMPLETE confidence that the lady was not to worry, these goldens NEVER bark. (and they never did!)

Result wise, I was very pleased with Zen. She was smooth and fast in all her runs. She is just totally on form and always a pleasure to run.

I had a chance to watch some of the people that come to me for lessons. I really enjoy being able to watch them as is so helpful for me to see how they run in competition. It helps me to see what they need to work on in training and how to plan their lessons. Liz did really well with both her Goldens but my favorite result was her 5th in Grade 1 agility for her young girl Lex. After a fall on a dog walk in another class last winter Lex had been slowing down on her contact obstacles. So Liz has been working hard on improving Lex's confidence and speed. This weekend Lex really showed loads of improvement on her contact speed. 5th out of nearly 200 dogs! I know she has it on video and I must see if I can get a copy to post. Lian also did fantastic with her young sheltie Saturn. Saturn ran clear and placed in all 4 runs. He got a 2nd place in an agility class beaten only by a super turbo charged border collie that just measured down into the medium class. This border collie, when it runs clear, will be nearly impossible to beat! It is a fantastic little border collie. So Saturn did really well to get 2nd to this dog!

I also had a chance to see puppies Todd and Kizzy; so all in all a good day out! Even better, home by 4pm and able to take a nap before Dennis got home from Golfing. What a great way to spend a day!