I drove two hours to get to Lincolnshire Showground today and after my first three runs I was beginning to wonder why I had bothered. We had had two relatively easy courses which I should have nailed easily, but failed because I didn't work every fence (laziness on my part). Then a hard Olympia Qualifier which I just did not get right.
The final graded 6, 7 agility round was by the same judge as the Olympia Q and just as hard - but I had more time to walk it this time (over lunch). I walked it loads, making sure I had thought of everything including where I wanted to be next. I also knew that I wanted a solid DW contact given that I didn't really get one the previous run and there being a tunnel underneath.
It ran beautifully - everything to plan. I suppose I could have been quicker on the DW, but other than that I felt everything had worked very well and I had got to places I wasn't sure I would, like through the gap between 13 & 14, so I could run down the right hand side of the next three fences to get in a better turn for the last part.
At the end the judge Laura Richardson complemented my run & I grinned a lot!
I took Joe and Dylan for a walk afterwards and rewarded Dylan with some ball play (can't really call it fetch as I have to walk up to him to retrieve the ball!!). Once done I wandered back to the ring to get my time and found that I had won grade 6, but with time faults ... only 0.468s. I was elated and gutted at the same time, but then realised that I had won against all the other grade 6 dogs so I am delighted. We can do it and will do it again when the course time is not so tight. Speaking to Laura I said thank you and she again complemented my run saying it was a shame not to have happened in the course time. Her course time had been set because she had run her grade 7 ten year old dog round in 40 seconds so 45 seconds seemed reasonable.
I went to collect the rosette and plate early as I had a two hour drive home, but not before shaking the hand of the judge at ringside. The plate now has been engraved with Dylan's KC name and I am very proud and feel more confident that if I work every inch I can indeed beat other grade 6 dogs.
The final graded 6, 7 agility round was by the same judge as the Olympia Q and just as hard - but I had more time to walk it this time (over lunch). I walked it loads, making sure I had thought of everything including where I wanted to be next. I also knew that I wanted a solid DW contact given that I didn't really get one the previous run and there being a tunnel underneath.
It ran beautifully - everything to plan. I suppose I could have been quicker on the DW, but other than that I felt everything had worked very well and I had got to places I wasn't sure I would, like through the gap between 13 & 14, so I could run down the right hand side of the next three fences to get in a better turn for the last part.
At the end the judge Laura Richardson complemented my run & I grinned a lot!
I took Joe and Dylan for a walk afterwards and rewarded Dylan with some ball play (can't really call it fetch as I have to walk up to him to retrieve the ball!!). Once done I wandered back to the ring to get my time and found that I had won grade 6, but with time faults ... only 0.468s. I was elated and gutted at the same time, but then realised that I had won against all the other grade 6 dogs so I am delighted. We can do it and will do it again when the course time is not so tight. Speaking to Laura I said thank you and she again complemented my run saying it was a shame not to have happened in the course time. Her course time had been set because she had run her grade 7 ten year old dog round in 40 seconds so 45 seconds seemed reasonable.
I went to collect the rosette and plate early as I had a two hour drive home, but not before shaking the hand of the judge at ringside. The plate now has been engraved with Dylan's KC name and I am very proud and feel more confident that if I work every inch I can indeed beat other grade 6 dogs.
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