Medium Silver Medal Video!

There is a website were you can see (for a price of about 10 pounds) all the World Championship videos. It is Agility Vision. The quality of the videos are great.

Luckily Dennis videoed Zen for me and made this production of:
"IT'S HAMAR TIME"!

Forgot a few things!

Dennis reminded me of an important fact that I left out of my Friday account! On Friday morning 3 am......the fire alarm went off in the hotel! That was why we were all so tired on Friday morning and didn't run well.... Well that is MY excuse and I am sticking to it! HA!

I think everyone did the same thing and jumped out of bed looking to turn their alarm clock off. But it wasn't the alarm clock it was an old fashioned alarm bell in the rooms that sounded really strange. The alarm went off for about 45 seconds so most of us looked out our windows and down the halls ; saw nothing and went back to bed.. Dennis took a walk around the hotel and came back saying their was nothing so go back to bed.

3 minutes later our bus driver comes banging on all our doors saying "out" Out" "OUT" in a funny welsh accent. So it seems that it the bus drivers feel that it is their responsibility to get us out in emergency. This is the same bus driver that tried to play a practical joke on us and tell us that our ferry was cancelled and we would be stuck for an additional 12 hours at the ferry port! We were very impressed with him. NOT!

Anyway after a half hour later standing outside in the cold in Norway, the hotel guy comes out and says someone pulled the alarm and there is no fire. Back to bed....for about an hour. Yeah nice way to start the competition!

Super Silver Saturday in Norway!

Saturday was team day. For the medium and smalls both runs (jumping and agility) would be on the one day. By the end of the day Saturday we would have all our team results!

The Large team did well in their first team event (Agility) on Friday and just got an unlucky 5 faults at the pause table. Their times were really good and they were in with a chance on Saturday also.

The smalls went first and unfortunately Indy had a weave pole fault. He made a super fast entry and just couldn't hold onto it. The rest of his run was flawless as was Dawn and Chelsea's run. Rachel and little Nutmeg did a lovely clear but did occur some time faults. The course times were super tight. Johanna spoke to the judges and they told her they did this on purpose to prevent slow clear team runs! Woohoo, this was just what our medium team needed as speed is not a problem for us!

Then it was our turn! Our order of running was Amanda and Minx first, Alan and Jude second and then Zen and I last. Running last can be a blessing or a curse! In one respect when I saw both of our teammates run clear I was thrilled ( Before I ran I didn't realize that Jude had a 5 fault call on the see saw) Then it dawned on me that this meant that pressure was on! SHIT!

I did not think that Zen was running particularly fast. I felt she was still tired from her ordeal and didn't have her super Zenny turbo boosters on. How excited was I to find out that her first team run (agility) she ended up 3rd fastest out of all the medium dogs competing! You can check out stats on http://www.lhbsystems.nl/wc2007/

Even way cooler was the applause Zen got on her dog walk contact! How cool was that!! I cannot remember our run at all; we were both on autopilot. Lisa tells me that in sports psychology that is a sign of a great run. All I know is that it was really cool!

Poor Alan was gutted about Jude's 5 faults but in team agility anything can happen so again we had to just focus on the next task...trying to get on the podium.

The small team ran their jumping course next and this time the usually error-free Dawn and Chelsea had a weave fault. Unfortunately these two 5 faults put the small team out of the running. The small teams this year were awesome and GB just couldn't catch up after 10 faults. I felt that the small courses were quite a bit more difficult this year than the mediums and was kind of glad that Hex was home! ha! The small team ended up 5th overall; so close yet so far!

So here we were running our last medium team run, jumping, lying in 5th place. Again Amanda goes first and puts in a nice clear round under time. Go Minx! Alan and Jude go second and again without me even knowing it, get 5 faults. Looking back at the video now I am glad I didn't see it! How Alan stopped Jude from getting eliminated after the refusal I will never know! Bless him for saving the run and not giving up! Zen ran 3rd and again I felt on autopilot. She got another round of applause on her weave pole entrance! Wow to get applause at this level really made me feel fantastic. On this course Zen was 2nd out of all the dogs on this course; only beaten by the fabulous Sylvia Trickman and La!

The ending of the course was not one of my favorites....yes dear friends it was basically a straight line consisting of jump, jump, collapsed tunnel, double jump, jump.....ARGHHHH! We all know how much I love straight lines that require me to run.....

After Zen's run we went into 1st place but there were still 4 good teams to run and they had many less faults than us. Basically these teams would have to have 10 faults in order for us to stay in with a medal. To our amazement team after team starting falling apart on this really easy course. We stood there watching the teams and watching the scoreboard with our mouths dropping open. Can you see the tension on everyone's faces as they look up at the board and hope?

Then the last two teams were set to go. ...The Italian team was lying in second going into jumping with only time faults from their agility. Basically they would need 10 faults in order for us to move up. Well they did it big time getting 15 faults! Ohmygod we had Bronze! Then we watched the USA team go. I thought "No way they are not going to make 10 faults; they are too consistent". Well, not only 10 faults but 20 faults put them down into fourth and we moved up to SILVER! This was GB's best team placement in medium or small. What an amazing feeling; quite surreal really.

Alan was the cutest. Here he is crying into his flag while Lisa tries to help him! He felt so bad about having the only faults in our team; but what he had to realize is that is what teams are about. A little luck and a little bad luck can change every outcome. We were a team and those 10 faults were all of ours; not just his. He was a very strong member of our team and he held his cool when other would have given up.

Amanda just enjoyed every moment I think and I am so happy she was part of our team.

SILVER MEDAL

MEDIUM TEAM GREAT BRITAIN!!!

Now the celebration can begin. This is the best part! Running around the ring with the team and the supporters and the flags. Alan was carried on Greg and Lee's shoulders!

I am so happy that Dennis, Terry and Lisa were there to share this moment. They are all such great support to me. At least I feel that we made Terry's airline trip worthwhile!

Friday in Norway

After the long journey it was almost easy to forget why we were here in Norway! It was time to get focused but I think my focusing was slightly off on Friday....


I am normally a late sleeper and require loads of sleep! Not this weekend; up and out of the hotel at 6:30 to get to the venue by 7:30. You have to prepare for a long day as even if you have no runs or one run, as a team member you must stay for the whole day. The days are long and things do not usually wind down until around 6 pm. They are also long days for the dogs also who are now crated each day in the "wardrobe".


Friday morning we are up early ready to do the opening ceremonies and then to focus on the task in hand...agility! The supporters are great and it is so cool to hear them cheer when you get on the line and when you finish. I have been a supporter at 3 other world champs (Germany, France and Italy) and loved that too.




The first thing in the morning was the Opening Ceremonies. Basically each country parades in with their flags and their dogs and there is lots of cheering. As with the previous time that I was in the world Champs (Spain) it is this opening ceremony that makes me cry. I don't know why other than it is the sign that all that we have been aiming for is finally beginning. Or maybe it is just the sense of ceremony and the announcing of each country and the cheering of the supporters. Anyway it is the one time I get really emotional!





After all the countries parade in and line up there is the usual speeches and flag changing. When you are down on the floor it is hard to hear what they are saying anyway and this part is pretty boring. This time after all the speeches they had a demonstration of children's gymnastics. Don't ask me why! It was cute but strange and a bit scary when one child fell on her head and practically snapped her neck! I much preferred when Mary Ray come to Spain and did her Heelwork to Music demo!




Competition on Friday started with Large Individual jumping. Sadly Dave A. , Greg D. and Sue R. had faults which basically put you out of competition. It was hard to watch them fall on the first day and it was very discouraging for all of us. Toni, Lee and Lauren all put in clear runs but Toni was the only one in a good position to go for a medal. Sunday would see the second run for the individuals.


Walking the courses at the World Champs is an experience and art in itself. You get exactly eight minutes to walk the course. At some point before they start building the course the team manager has to run down to the office and queue for a course map. He then has to sprint back (or if you are Gwen; you just saunter back) to the "wardrobe" to let the competitors get to know the course on paper. This becomes very important so that your 8 minutes on the course can be used efficiently. It also helps to be able to watch them build and wheel the course(they wheel it to get the Standard Course time) as during this time you can start to formulate your plan so that you are not wandering around the course aimlessly!


As you get ready to walk your course along with all the others, prepare to be knocked down, bumped or jostled! No one watches where they are going and lots of very fast Europeans are usually sprinting around yelling commands to their imaginary dogs. Added to this are the coaches and team managers giving advice; all in all a bit chaotic.


Here is Lee lined up waiting to be let into the course. Notice the green shirted people. They block you from going in too early and then they line up and herd you out at the end. At the end, they make a blocking line and push you right out of the arena! They are very efficient and don't stand for any hassles!




Gwen and Steve are usually out on the course to advise you if needed or just to hear your concerns. This year I asked if Nicky could come out with me and she was very helpful. Also on one course, Alan asked Greg to come out and Greg was a great help to me also. Greg and Nicky have been to the Worlds many times before so they know the need for concise and quick recommendations!


Here is me walking my course with lots of others! That was a tough weave pole entrance after the wall that Zen handled fantastically!

I love this photo of one of the Japanese competitors wearing his head band while walking the course. I am not sure if he ran with it on also!

Once I walk the course I find it helpful to watch some dogs if I am not in too early. A few dogs before you go in either Steven or Gwen will come to the room to walk with you to the collecting ring. In the collecting ring you can have neither food nor toys and that was very strict this year; they even questioned our team members fleecy leads. AND one competitor (Sylvia Trickman and her awesome medium Pyr Shep) were unfairly(in my opinion) disqualified after a clear fast run for giving the dog a treat AFTER their run in the exit arena. Scary stuff!

Here is Nicky and Indy before their run with Steve in the background for any assistance. Nicky is Miss Cool and Collected as usual. Indy was a star and handled himself so well.

Once in the collecting ring it is just you and your dog and show time begins!

Zen and I were picked this year for individual. I felt that we were ready and focused when we walked in the ring but I was worried about one particular part of the course and lost touch with Zen on the easy bit before it! I have watched the video a few times and still can't believe we made that mistake. Some people come out of the ring in tears but surprisingly I was not sad. I was more annoyed and I think my first words to Steve at the exit ring was "SHIT!"

That was our only mistake during the entire competition and I was proud of what we did. Woulda, coulda, shoulda is not worth thinking about! I know very well that along with good training and a good dog there is just a little (or alot) of luck involved in this game. Unfortunately on this day luck was not on our side.

Nicky and Indy and Dawn and Chelsea were also picked as small individuals. I felt sympathy for our other small and medium teammates who were not picked for individual. As I know fully well from my last time in Spain; you are gutted when you hear that you are not running. Anyone of our smalls or mediums could have done well in this individual competition this year. We really had some great smalls and mediums this year!

Friday was just not an Obay Sheltie day. Indy, Zen and Unique all had eliminations on their first runs. Sad but true..... ha! But all you could do is try and pick yourself up and focus on the next days team runs and put the bad runs behind you. Dawn and the poodle Chelsea had a nice clear rounds that put them near the top 10. Our hopes were on them for a small medal on Sunday!

Here is photos we took of the three OBay Shelties and handlers competing this year at the World Championships. Each and everyone put in a fabulous show and made me proud!

Team Practice Thursday

We got to the venue on Thursday afternoon and it gave us a chance to settle into our team changing room. Steve was worried about what the room would be like as it was labelled as a "wardrobe" on the form. Ha! The KC had to pay extra for this room but it was well worth it. It gave the team a chance to have the dogs away from the general commotion and a place for us to put our stuff away safely. A place to review the course maps, nap and eat away from the general noise off the hall. Dennis took a photo of me napping between runs on Saturday; but that photo will NOT make the blog!

The room was small but it had it's own toilet! Result! No queueing for the toilets! It also had showers which should have only gone on if people put their hands over the sensors.....so ideally you could crate your dogs in the shower area also (that is what the Danish team did and it gave them more room for people). But, noooo, not the British....some of our teammates (names not to be mentioned) had to go into the shower area and try out the sensors! Hmmmm, a few people got wet and no one wanted to crate their dogs in there after that!

Our team was extremely lucky to have our own Team vet with us. Peter Van Dongen was worth his weight in gold on this trip. Without going into details he saved us on many occasions! Here is Pete working his magic hands on Zen. Between Pete and Lisa massaging Zen for me; she was well relaxed.

After we got to the venue we had to have our official vet check by Norwegian vets. This was followed by some measuring. This is the first time they have measured dogs at the World Championships and I think it will not be the last......Zen measured well in and the measurer joked about how small she was. There were rumours flying around about many dogs from different countries measured out but still allowed to run. I think this will be discussed in the FCI meetings in the future. Having had many borderline dogs in the past I am well aware of how stressful measuring is for handlers of borderline dogs. Dogs are NOT statues and, as with humans, can vary in measure from hour to hour and day to day. Anyway, all our mediums were measured and allowed to run. They did not measure our smalls (although Nicky was worried as Indy is ONLY about one and one/half inches under the measure. HAHA Enough to fit another dog in practically!)

As we checked out our "wardrobe" Steve brought us in our number "bibs" which needed to be worn anytime we were in the ring. It makes it easy for the spectators to see who is running. Well.....these bibs were just a little bit small and made for some funny moments. Luckily the bigger men had good wives with them who were able to cut the bibs and re-sew with some string. This is what they would have looked like otherwise! Alan was planning on running without his shirt and he would have looked good doing so! Dave...well....I think the judge would have been laughing too hard to judge him!

After these checks we got ready for our team practice session. Each country has an allotted time to practice and they are very strict. Steve organized the sessions to maximize each dogs time in the ring. They split the ring into three sections so that each height team was practicing at the same time and then we rotated into each section. Our training session started at 4:44 pm and was exactly 18 minutes long! As Steve prepped us, he told us that our training objectives were:

• professional controlled session


• familiarization with the contact equipment and running surface (especially the new pause table and beeping timer)


• confidence building


• familiarization with stadium and performing in front of an enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience.

I really enjoyed the training session. I did not feel rushed and Steve and Gwen's preparation was spot on. Zen initially slipped on the running surface but after the second sequence she sussed out what she needed to do. I did not rush around training but focused on her stays and rewarding her with her toy. (They did not allow food into the ring). It was a positive and fun experience which is just what we needed before our competition over the next three days.

Dennis finally had his chance to work on practicing taking photos in the venue and trying to figure out the lighting. The lighting was tough and he had to be very creative. He spent hours and hours taking photos, downloading photos, reviewing photos to decide what to change ect ect. I think he should have been paid! What a star he was!

After the practice we tried to get some team photos. OMG how difficult it is to organize this motley crew. The first group of photos did not come out great; but here are some of them. Notice we are missing one team member (LAUREN......) and it is near impossible to get these people to look at one camera all at one time!

Thursday morning in Lillehamar

After surviving the coach trip we had exactly one morning free on Thursday morning to recover. Our team vet check and measuring and team practice was scheduled for late afternoon; so we had until around noon to check out around the hotel.

As usual, Zen just wanted to sleep in! She is NOT a morning type of girl.

We made her go with us for a long hike around the hotel and took a chance to get some photos by the lake.

I guess this area is very popular in the winter for cross country skiing; but in September it is DEAD and quite strange. Dennis found this tire swing thing and had to try it out! He is such a boy!

The morning went really quickly and that was our only chance for any recreation. Before we knew it we were off to the venue for our vet checks and training. Back into the bus for the 1 hour ride to the venue.....more about that later!

The trip to Norway

"The Long Trip to Norway"

or more aptly titled

"Didn't Orville and Wright invent that great silver flying machine?"

After a great last training session at coach Steve's place on Sunday we stayed "overnight" at the B&B. Well...not quite overnight as we had to be up at 2:30 am to be back at Steves to get on our coach bus for our three day excursion to Norway.

Even packing was difficult as we needed multiple bags. One bag could not be accessed until we arrived at our hotel in norway. So in that went all the clothes we would wear at the Champs (team shirts and jackets, and 4 pair of blue trousers!). We needed another overnight bag for our three night on the road and a bag for the dog. Plus of course bags of food for us, pillow and blanket for the coach and dog beds and crates for when we arrive.....needless to say it was ALOT of stuff!

The bus left Steve's in Hinkley at 3:30 am on Monday and we arrived in Lillehamar tired and pretty stiff by Wednesday afternoon. Almost three whole days in a coach does not make for handlers and dogs in good mental or physical shape. One would think that we are all whingers and moaners (and you well may think that after reading my account!) but really I think the trip was so stressful on top of our natural stress about competing that we just couldn't help ourselves! I know that in time I will forget the bad parts of the trip and just remember the good!

The bus was set up with the crates along one side in the back of the bus. They were metal folding crates placed with the large crates on the bottom and the medium (and one small) crates on the top. These were all fixed into place with plastic ties and separated from each other with plastic sheeting. It is hard to explain but here are some photos.

Somehow even though I was first on the bus, I didn't think about sitting in the best seats. I just picked the seat opposite Zen. Silly me! Meanwhile Nicky picks the emergency exit seat which has all the leg room (and she has short legs!) and Mr Derrett picks the back row which has 5 seats in which to spread out in! Note to self, must be more selfish next time! hehe

The hardest part about the trip was worrying about the dogs being cooped up in the cages for such a long period of time. Little 2 year old Indy had the worst of it because for some reason he ended up in the smallest cage. He started out as a great little traveller but by the ride home he had just about had it and you could see he was physically uncomfortable in the crate..

The first day of travel involved driving down to Harwich to get the ferry to the Hook of Holland. Leaving at 3:30am to start, drive to ferry, ferry was around 7 hours (dogs had to stay on the coach and we could not return to them) and then drive to hotel arriving around 8pm. So I put that at around a conservative estimate of 15 hours in the crates for the dogs on the first day.

There were not alot of stops along the way. But luckily when we did stop we seemed to always find a good place to walk the dogs. This was my main worry about Zen as being a typical sheltie girl she is very particular about where she will toilet (off lead and needs nice grass!) The stops were short with some being only 20 minutes and others being 45 minutes or 1 hour. The short ones were difficult on us because our first concern was to walk the dogs and often that gave us no time to eat or toilet ourselves! Note to self: my next dog will toilet on command ,on concrete and on lead!

Here is Zen with some of her mates (hey I just realized it is the Bronze medal winning large dogs in this photo). Zen is not fond of border collies in general but she did OK as most just ignored her!

The first night we spent in a hotel in The Netherlands. It was a nice hotel and little did we know it would be our longest night of sleep for a long time! We got there late and just about had time for dinner and a drink with team members before heading off to bed around 11pm.

The second day was another long day in the coach driving thru the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Leaving the hotel around 8 am (after walking the dogs around a lovely canal near the hotel) and then arriving at the next ferry around 8pm only to find out it was delayed! So another conservative estimate of 12 hours in the crates for the dogs.

Once we boarded the ferry in Denmark around 1 am we all went off to our cabins to sleep until 6am. Hurrah, 5 full hours of sleep.....and the dogs stayed on the coach for the night. Another 5 hours in the crates for them.....

The third day we arrived in Norway and yes, back on the coach for another few hours. I think we arrived at our final destination after lunch around 2pm. So another 6 hours in the crates for the dogs.

It was nice to finally arrive at the Hotel and be greeted by my hubby Dennis, my sister Terry and my groom Lisa. My main concern was getting Zen out and letting her walk and stretch. We took a walk down to the lake near the hotel and gave the dogs a nice run. After a short visit with Terry and Lisa I went to take a shower and Dennis drove them back to their luxurious hotel which was ONE HOUR away.

Our hotel was quite basic. Kind of scary at first and Nicky was worrying about sleeping alone in her room! Have you ever seen the movie "The Shining"? Well that was our nickname for this hotel at first! Eventually I grew to like the hotel and was glad that it had some good places to walk the dogs as we really needed that. The food was decent and we were able to make sandwiches (legally) at breakfast to take for lunch. ( Although by the end of the week I was sick to death of cheese sandwiches! )

But the worst part of this hotel was how far it was to the venue........1 hour each day back and forth. And the supporters and other teams were all near the venue. Needless to say there was not much chance to socialize with anyone. My worst regret was being unable to spend any time with my sister who had just flown over from New York to support me and Zen. And we were all so tired by the end of the say that socialization between the team members was pretty slim also...

So I conservatively estimate that our dogs (our physically fit competition dogs) had been crated on the bus for around 38 hours on the trip TO Norway....It is a wonder they all competed as well as they did and that is such a credit to each and every dog and handler on the team.

After a nice meal in "The Shining" hotel on Wednesday night we all packed it in and got ready for 4 days at the venue. Now the excitement is beginning! We would be starting off on Thursay with the team practice.... I will post more about that later!

The coach trip over was pretty horrible. But some good times happened when we had a chance to get out! This is a photo of some of us at a restaurant in Denmark while waiting 5 hours for the ferry to show up! I tried to speak my Danish to the waitress but she just laughed and spoke english back to me. The only words of Danish I know involve something about "drink it all up or pour it over your head".....

We're back!

Medium Team Silver!!

GB's best medium placement ever! Thanks to all my teammates and all the of Team GB; management and supporters.

More details to come of our CRAZY journey to Norway. You just couldn't make this stuff up...... but more than worth it! Zen was a star and she make it easy for me. Do I have the best dog or what?

Off to bed and I will try and post more about our epic 11 day trip!

Leaving in one week!

I cannot believe that I am leaving in one week! I go up on Saturday afternoon to check into a B&B up in Hinkley and then Sunday is the training day for the team. We have to leave on Monday morning at 4 am.......ughh! I guess that means that I won't get my full-english breakfast on Monday morning at the B&B. The long drive in the bus begins and we arrive in Norway on Wednesday afternoon. Do they have Starbucks in Norway? I think I will be needing lots of caffeine!

Yesterday I set up a course based on a USDAA steeplechase course I saw on some videos. Today we set another (The Grand Prix) as it is fun to set a course after watching a few dogs run it on video. We have to eye-ball the placement of the obstacles but after watching different dogs run you get a good idea of where the obstacles are.

Lisa and I ran both courses and we were pleased with how both Zen and Chi ran. We don't do too many "tunnel under contact" discriminations so these were good courses for us to work on. I don't have those courses to put up but if you were curious you could check out this website. They take a long time to download but you can see a few dogs running the same course and it is really cool how he can overlay different runs to compare just what works best.

http://www.powerpups.net/Competitionvideos.htm


After that we set up another WC judge course . I haven't run it yet but am saving that for tomorrow. That long run at the end worries me a bit and I need to feel energetic to run this course.

I have been trying to put some clothes aside to bring with me. I have such a hard time packing light! I am trying to coordinate my wardrobe along the same colour theme (red white and blue of course) but I do love my pink! Lisa says it takes someone brave to wear pink and red together.....he he. Anyway I need to bring my crocs and think I will be wearing them on the bus for three days. They are decorated fully now with croc "bling" so I thought I would post a photo to show them off! Please note that Hex's shoe has a skull/crossbones for her evil side but a heart and lambie for her sweet side. I do love my Hex. And if you are wondering what the flags are on Zen's side...the Union jack for Britain and the Norwegian Flag for the World Champs!

I got a lovely "care" package this week from my mate Diane in Rhode Island. Diane makes polymer clay sculptures and jewelery and is basically a super talented artsy person (so unlike me!). Anyhoo.. two years ago when Zen was in the World Champs for the first time..Diane sent me a "Don't Worry Stone" made out of clay with Zen's name on it. It is meant to be carried in your pocket and you can rub it when you are worried and presto..You are not worried anymore! Well, dontcha know it, I went to take it out this week and HOLY SHIT I couldn't find it! Major panic and a quick email to Diane begging for another one! Bless her, Diane made another one overnight and shipped it to me Priority and it arrived yesterday. I have been keeping it in my pocket whenever I take Zen out for her short training sessions and I feel very calm and focused!

This new updated version is even Gold plated! Lisa took it home tonight and promised to Reiki it up for me so it will be well charged with good vibes for Norway. Hoo-Ha!

Dennis has been practicing taking action photos and he got these two of Zen during our last practice run this afternoon. Zen has lost all her coat and is sleek and aero-dynamic! At least that is my positive spin on bringing a bald sheltie to the World championships! Here she is making me happy and doing perfecto contacts! That's my Zenny!

This will probably be my last post until after Norway. Thanks to everyone for their support and good wishes. I am very proud to be representing Great Britain and plan on doing our very best!

Let's go, I'm ready! It's Hamar time!

It's HAMAR time!

Dennis has been very creative lately. He decided that he would do shirts again for this World Championships. (He did shirts the year Johanna went and the first year Zen and I went). This is his latest design with the photos of Zen, Indy and Unique! The Championships are in Hamar, Norway...

Isn't he clever?

Latest WC judge course

We set this up on Friday. I wanted to put up a course with tunnels under contacts as we see that so infrequently here in the UK. I also stuck a tunnel under the end of the dog walk and that added some new sequences to work with. Zen is running so well but I have to keep working on these courses so that I can keep my head in focus.

Saturday we went shopping! HA! Got my 4th pair of navy blue trousers so I am set for all 4 days at the world champs. I am starting to think about what to pack. OMG can I just wear my jammies for the six days on the coach bus?

After shopping Dennis and I took Hex and Pax to the beach. (West Wittering) It was a shame he forgot the camera as the dogs had a great time and were so cute running thru the water. It was probably the wrong day to go to the beach though as it was very crowded. Luckily the beach is so big that just by walking a little further away the dogs could have a good run and romp without bothering anyone. We will definitely go back there and can't believe we had never heard about it before!

Today we spent a few hours bathing and grooming some of the dogs to get them ready for their holidays away while we are in Norway. I like to send the dog away smelling and looking perfect. We couldn't get the pet-sitter for this time; she was booked up because I was too superstitious to book her before the try-outs! So all the dogs are being farmed out to different places. I not only have to worry about packing for me and Zen but also packing for the other 5 dogs!

I miss Hex!

We had another World Champ practice on Wednesday up at the team managers place. It was a long drive (3 hours one way) up to Hinkley for only 2 hours of training; but I will take all the help I can get! It felt really good to run the courses that Steve set up and be able to do them on the first try! Yeah Zen! It can be a bit intimidating with the likes of Greg D and Nicky who make everything look so easy. They are so confident in their handling and I would like to have some of that complete confidence. But I really enjoy watching the other handlers work the course with different handling as I find that I sometimes only think of one way of doing something.

But the strangest thing was that I had a really hard time leaving Hex behind. I had decided to give her a break from training for now until Norway is over and just concentrate on Zen; so I left Hex at home. Yet I felt as if I was leaving my best friend behind! Why is it that certain dogs affect us more than others? I adore all my dogs but right from the beginning Hex has been my heart and soul dog. I always said that Joy was my "heart" dog and Pax was my "soul" dog. Now Hex has surpassed both of them and become both!

Anyway I couldn't help myself and did some training with her today. Hehehe

We are going to try and set a new course tomorrow and I will try and post it when we do. This week we set a jumping course from the European open that we saw on You tube. Those two tunnels together looked really interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyK-Z1h9azU

I have gone slightly insane looking for blue running trousers that are needed for our "team" outfit. I think I have gone to every JJB sportstore in South East England! I found a pair that I really like and have decided that I need FOUR pairs for the four days at the WCs. Guess how many I have...three! Why do I think that when I go back to the store that they will be sold out of my size?

Dennis comes home from Japan tomorrow. He will be zoned out with jet lag for a few days but I may have to take him shopping on Saturday!

Wow this positive writing stuff must work!

Wow! Check out my blog post from back in April...I didn't even remember writing it!

http://obayshelties.blogspot.com/2007/04/cannot-wait-for-small-olympia-agility.html

Let's see now.....I cannot wait for the World Champs in three weeks. Three OBay shelties have the potential to get a medal! Wouldn't that be a breeders dream!

We had a really good training lesson with Lesley this afternoon followed by a swim at the Dog Pool for Zen. We are getting ready for Norway! I am so psyched I can't wait!

More cute puppy photos

This is the bi-black boy from Monty's latest litter in Denmark. So cute!

Hex is going to Olympia!

I was abandoned by my husband who went galavanting off to Japan for who knows what... sushi, golf, hot springs and Karaoke! Isn't he supposed to be working??? So no photos, no videos... Just me and Hex all alone at the Olympia semi-finals! (yes I am looking for sympathy and hopefully some good pressies back from Japan)

A long drive up to Stoneleigh but well worth it! The short version....out of the 22 small dogs who qualified during the year for the semi-final 10 go thru to The Olympia Finals. This year 3 of the 22 small dogs qualifed were OBay Shelties AND 3 of the 10 finalist going to Olympia are Obay shelties! Hex, Indy and Timmy all qualified for the final!

Hex ran second from the end. The course was slightly tricky with a difficult weave pole entrance and a tight pull thru after the A-frame. I was so pleased with Hex's run; it was one of those special runs that just felt RIGHT. It was a total bonus that she actually won the semi as I knew that we had just done the best we could and anything else was icing.

So this year there will be five OBay Shelties at Olympia 2007. Zen and Chi in the medium and Hex, Indy and Timmy in the smalls. What a great Christmas present that will be!

Since I had no photos of Hex and her lovely crystal trophy I thought I would post this funny photo of Hex at 7 months old enjoying a glass of champagne at Olympia 2005 after Zen won! Hopefully ...as we like to say....'tis a sign!

Monty pups

I couldn't resist posting this photo that Johanna sent to me. These are two pups from Monty's latest litter(I think 5 were in the litter) in Denmark. Isn't that little bi-black girl just yummy? And the tri boy is a spitting image of Monty at that age.

I always guessed that Monty was bi-factored but the bitch's owner didn't even know her bitch was bi-factored and the bi-black pups were a suprise!

Bank Holiday weekend

The perfect bank holiday weekend! Sunny yet cool! I heard it was pretty hot and humid back in New York; sorry I am not there! hahaha

Two days of agility (Friday and Sunday) and two days of long pub walks with the dogs. Perfect!

Friday was Shuttleworth which involved a long drive up for one day. But I think it was worse for my pairs partner who had to get up at 3 am to get to the show! So I won't whinge too much at having to get up at 5:30am. Basically I went just to see if we could get another placing in Mini/Mixi pairs. And we did! I am not sure what we placed as I left to get home before the prize givings but hopefully it was good enough to give us enough points to go thru to Crufts in the pairs. I like partnering with Dave as he is so mellow; Like when I partner with Lisa I feel no pressure other than my own! Hex had a good Eukaneuba Challenge run and, again, hopefully we are thru to Crufts for that also. I did not push any of her runs this weekend and was glad about that. This weekend was my time to work with Hex on her contacts again making sure that she doesn't think running contacts are all the rage. She was a good girl on both days; running down fast, stopping really solid and holding her position. Yeah!

On Saturday Dennis and I picked a walk from a book and took Hex and Hob-b (the evil and the good) on the walk. It is so interesting to take different combinations of dogs out as they act differently than when they are all together. Hex and Hob-b together are pretty mellow and there is no barking (really NO barking!). We walked fairly local starting off at a Pub called The Fountain hoping to get back in time for lunch. The walk was only 3 miles but went along a river, thru some cow herds and past a gorgeous house (that dennis would buy for me if he could afford it!). We did get lost twice but not for too long. The pub has a nice outdoor garden so the dogs could chill out with us and eat chips. Spoiled bastards!

Sunday was the local Bridgehouse show. Again, training was the main focus of the day for both Hex and Zen! It was nice to go to a show that is only 20 minutes away! Dennis came and enjoyed taking photos for a few hours.

Monday we went on a nice walk with Tim and Marion. This time we brought Hex and Pax (or Pex as Dennis likes to call this combo). Since Tim and Marion will be watching Pax for us when we are in Norway we thought we should bring her to their house and let her spend sometime with them. I think Pax will be spoiled for that week and she likes both Tim and Marion.

Tim picks some really good walks and this was no exception. No book for Tim; he just gets his trusty map and decides the route himself. This time the pub was called the Cricketteer and about 1/2 way along on the walk of about 4 miles. The walk included a stop at a little pond area and Hex make good use of it! Throw some sticks and she is happy to dive in and swim all day.

Pax just watches..well not really watch she runs around the edge of the water barking at Hex. This combo of Hex and Pax is much noisier than Hex and Hob-b. And Pax likes to shows how you must circle the humans to keep them in a bunch when they start to wander and spread out.

There were some nice views along with walk; but most of the walk was thru nice cool wooded areas. A good walk for a hotter day and only one short uphill bit to get the heart pumping.

Here is Hex showing that she dried off quite nicely by the end of the walk!