We are back from 10 days away at Kennel Club International Agility Festival (KC Int) and Dogs In Need Agility Show (DINAS) - lots of runs all at Grade 3 as our promotion to Grade 4 doesn't click into place until next weekend!
Lots of challenging courses with between 75 and 110 competitors which is far more than I usually get at most shows in the medium classes. But Grade 3 is the starter class for many new dogs with experienced handlers. I was generally pleased with Dylan's runs, although his contacts (dog walk particularly) were consistently off ... something to work on over the winter period to change that I think.
At KC Int we were in the novice cup qualifying rounds (ie dogs graded 3, 4 or 5) which included 1 agility run and one jumping round. Our agility round was okay but Dylan missed both A-frame contact and Dog Walk contact. However I was really pleased with his weave entry and the rest of the course. We came away with 10 faults and a good time. The jumping run was amazing. I walked it thinking "This is challenging, but I'll give it a go" - I worked Dylan really hard and the concentration from both of us was amazing and in sink for a change!! I knew we wouldn't win but I knew our time was good ... we came 4th.
This meant we got 47 points for the forth place & it turned out we got points for out agility run too and came 8th overall for the novice cup. 15 dogs run in the final so we ran 7th. The final was in the main ring with an announcer & everything!! I was soooooo nervous, although managed to hold it together for the first three obstacles! The course was hard with a seesaw & dog walk quite close together - something we haven't practised in training & is very challenging for a young dog!! My plan was to maintain the wait I have cultivated with Dylan and then do my best! I thought I had memorised the course, but as you can see I didn't - in fact everything went out of my head after the turn to the dog walk! - but that would have just been 5 faults ... Dylan's error despite me calling him was to attempt the dog walk again!!
Lots of challenging courses with between 75 and 110 competitors which is far more than I usually get at most shows in the medium classes. But Grade 3 is the starter class for many new dogs with experienced handlers. I was generally pleased with Dylan's runs, although his contacts (dog walk particularly) were consistently off ... something to work on over the winter period to change that I think.
At KC Int we were in the novice cup qualifying rounds (ie dogs graded 3, 4 or 5) which included 1 agility run and one jumping round. Our agility round was okay but Dylan missed both A-frame contact and Dog Walk contact. However I was really pleased with his weave entry and the rest of the course. We came away with 10 faults and a good time. The jumping run was amazing. I walked it thinking "This is challenging, but I'll give it a go" - I worked Dylan really hard and the concentration from both of us was amazing and in sink for a change!! I knew we wouldn't win but I knew our time was good ... we came 4th.
This meant we got 47 points for the forth place & it turned out we got points for out agility run too and came 8th overall for the novice cup. 15 dogs run in the final so we ran 7th. The final was in the main ring with an announcer & everything!! I was soooooo nervous, although managed to hold it together for the first three obstacles! The course was hard with a seesaw & dog walk quite close together - something we haven't practised in training & is very challenging for a young dog!! My plan was to maintain the wait I have cultivated with Dylan and then do my best! I thought I had memorised the course, but as you can see I didn't - in fact everything went out of my head after the turn to the dog walk! - but that would have just been 5 faults ... Dylan's error despite me calling him was to attempt the dog walk again!!
Did you notice that Dylan actually managed his contacts here .. typical that I should mess it up elsewhere!!!
For the rest of the 3 days at the Festival we managed a 3rd in Grade 3 jumping & 4th in combined grade 1-3 jumping.
For the rest of the 3 days at the Festival we managed a 3rd in Grade 3 jumping & 4th in combined grade 1-3 jumping.
On the Monday we travelled to Ipswich for DINAS which is a holiday with dogs. We get 2 runs a day and a day off on the Thursday (when the finals are going on). There are lots of dogs so lots of competition & all our runs were just Grade 3 medium dogs ... and 70-80 in each class, which is great. Lots of international competition too as for KC Int. Dylan's contacts were still off, and some of the courses were challenging. However we did manage a 4th on a jumping and also a surprised 9th on an agility where we got 5 faults - for the up on the A-frame I think, as I got in Dylan's way and he went in from the side. It was a hard course but the twists and turns seem to suit Dylan when I am concentrating!!
The last day was way too hot and for Dylan 32 degrees is too much. I can only described Dylan as "flattening" as he ran as he knocked poles down all over the place and struggled to listen!
So during the 2 shows we gained some points towards our agility warrant (through Kennel Club) ... you get points for a clear round and a place ... and you have to get a quarter of the points from agility rounds rather than jumping (you also get twice as many points for agility as you do jumping). We now have over 400 points which means we can apply for Agility Warrent Silver and then use these letters after our name - AW(S)
The last day was way too hot and for Dylan 32 degrees is too much. I can only described Dylan as "flattening" as he ran as he knocked poles down all over the place and struggled to listen!
So during the 2 shows we gained some points towards our agility warrant (through Kennel Club) ... you get points for a clear round and a place ... and you have to get a quarter of the points from agility rounds rather than jumping (you also get twice as many points for agility as you do jumping). We now have over 400 points which means we can apply for Agility Warrent Silver and then use these letters after our name - AW(S)
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