Harry and Mindy's UKA NFC Day!

I had two shows to go to this weekend, indoors at "the Grange" and indoor at Barguse.
What a beautiful day, travelled up on the Saturday in my Berlingo with Aly and her two dogs, we did most of last year together on the further afield shows, so nothing new!

First time I've ever been there and no rain! no mud either, well a little in the gateway to the field exercise area....Aly made us our ritual bacon baps for breakfast...YUMMY.

Anyway we had two agility runs and two jumping, really I was only going for the agility....
we started the day with a helter skelter, OH dear, as there were only 13 in the class and we where parked a little way from the rings I chose to take both of them in, giving someone else to hold the one I wasn't running, done it before....But unfortunately both dogs weren't happy at all, I had slow, un-confident, unmotivated dogs, came out feeling rather deflated, although I have to add I don't usual do helter skelter or steeple chase, I don't like standing still, not with my "Smalls" anyway, it was nice to have a breather running Red, but that's another story!
this behaviour continued in the next two runs with Harry leaping off his contacts on the dogwalk, so I stood still and Harry popped his back feet back on and the very kind Judge let me re-do the whole thing, only for Harry to leap off again, I stood still, he backed his feet back on and we left the course! this happened again on his next agility run to be repeated the same way for the fourth attempt to be a beautiful but slow 2o2o....
I didn't bother to take them for their next run and just took them for a nice walk around the fields with a friend and her wee dog!

Anyway Sunday arrived and I had all night ummming and arrring to think why/what was the problem and came up with, I would run all 4 of my runs at the UKA Not for Competition and boy was it fun, take a look at the video, 3 of the runs are on there, Mindy's first one, you can see she is still not happy looking around, not focused on the first jump or where I was, but by her second run she was wagging her tail and raring to go, that's the speed I get at training but not the speed I get at home, so we still have a long way to go to get that....Harry seemed to recover quickly and I'm sure he would have run it for real just fine, but I didn't want just FINE I want FAST! and boy where they both fired up at the end of each of their runs.....

I did find it hard, watching loads of people not running with toys, watching dogs that where unmotivated, slow and nervous being forced around a course which they really didn't want to do, why cant these "expereinced" handlers see that! yes they may have got round and got a ribbon or points or whatever it was that has motivated their owners to drag them around...I dont know.
I hope to god if anyone saw me with a dog like that they would have the guts to come and talk to me...Did I tell them, NO.......enough said.

Anyway I came away from that UKA show BUZZING with excitement about My PUFFS, they gave me everything they could on that day....LOVE THEM

UKA Virgin!

Yep it's agility post again.........

Well as "We"!! had missed the closing dates for DIN, having only just got our new (second hand) caravan, thought we would give the UKA ago and lucky for me we had a 4 day show not 10 mins from our door, so couldn't really miss that one......I entered on line and paid by cheque by snail post!, seems rather silly to me when you can fill it all in on line, you'd think you could pay for it on line too......

I entered three days out the four, Friday/Saturday and Monday, entered Mindy in three classes (no games, far to complicated for me!) and two with Harry....the intention being, get Mindy doing the seesaw in the ring and proofing Harry's contacts and going for it in the jumping.........because I had joined UKA before Mindy had started competing in any KC shows, she was entered in beginners and Harry was Champ.

Well I don't know whether all UKA shows are like this as this is the first one I've managed to get too, but Tamije was extremely well organised, with great exercise area (although a little scary reading "Watch out for the 9,000 volt fencing around the field to keep the cows OUT!" or was it, to keep us in!) yummy food wagon, who did more than just burger and chips, not that I had to have any being only 8 mins down the road!

Anyway Mindy was fab and did all the seesaws shown her and in the practise ring too, she grew in confidence over these three competing days and it showed with her results 7 x 1st! and a 4th and 1 x E, yes I know it was beginners and she is now a KC G5, but they weren't all straight up and down courses, I was able to practise lots of crossing behinds whilst still driving her forward and actually learning how she works in the ring, she has gone up a gear in the ring, still not quite what I have at home here.....she growls loudly at me whilst doing turns around me, which now I'm not so fazed about........such a confidence boost for her
Harry won two classes, 2nd in one class , e'd in one and I trained the other two with his toy.......

Give it a go folks.

Choice wise....KC for me, as I'd love to take the "Puffs" to Crufts and Olympia and having had a "Sniff" at a championship ticket, I want that too!

But for young dogs and training in the ring work, it's the UKA every time..............

and on that note, as we got finished so early each day, Roy came over and got the cupboard in the dog room almost finished, what more could I ask...Thank you so much Roy