Wednesday 22 June 2011

Swimming Part ll

Considering it was supposed to rain today we have actually had a lovely day of sun, which meant there was plenty of time to splash about in the pool after work. Ronny and Zippy are mad for it so always want a quick fun two minutes at the end, I did try and film it but its pretty much impossible to get the camera properly aimed at them whilst throwing their toys and being the lifeguard.



This weekend we are in Bath for the Lansdown Show, I have never done this show before but I have heard good things about it, im always a bit wary of a new show as you never know what to expect, im just hoping for a relaxing weekend.

Sunday 19 June 2011

Golden Valley

Well I did what I planned this weekend and have started on my quest to get Zippy’s start line wait back (and Ronny’s at times) it’s been very frustrating as he has ran some cracking rounds after being E’d on the start line, still it will only make us a better team in the long term and im determined to stick to my goal.

The boys have been ace this weekend, Ronny has ran some brilliant rounds, a couple of knocked poles but I can live with that, as long as he listens im happy !!!

Saturday was Ronny’s and Zippy’s first ever pairs together, Emma ran Ronny whilst I worked Zippy, we managed to get them both E’d but it was soooooo much fun, not the easiest pairs course either but we gave it our best shot and I think Emma and me came away with the biggest grins on our faces.

Today was Team Dash and in action were Zippy, Summer, Speedy and Ronny, I love doing team and there is nothing better than seeing the whole team smiling at the end, we didn’t go clear infact I think Amy and Summer had the only clear but all the dogs tried really hard and zoomed round the fast flowing course. Unfortunately Megan and Heidi who were the other planned team dogs came into season this week so were unable to attend.

Thank you to Emma for running Ronny in both the pairs and team and to Amy for stepping in at the last minute to make up our 4th team member.

Just want to say a massive well done to Emma and Maisy getting 5th in a really tricky C3-4 Jumping class, sorry I missed your run.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

It's the start of our swimming season

I thought it was about time to get the swimming pool out of the garage and back in action for the doggies, all my mob love the water and what better way to exercise the dogs, what makes it more rewarding is it has a low risk of injury to the dogs and it doesn't cost me anything, yippee !!!

Ronny was the first in tonight, I was playing toy with him and then the next thing Zippy had managed to do an almighty leap to join him in the pool (im still in shock by the leap). They have started with a couple of minutes each tonight and we will progress steadily over the next few weeks until they are at peak swimming fitness. I didn't manage to film Zippy tonight but hopefully I will get him next time.



This weekend we are at Golden Valley, on Saturday Ronny and Zippy are doing their first ever pairs together, Emma is running Ronny whilst I work Zippy, im very excited, it's either going to go horribly wrong or incredibly well, hopefully we will catch it on video. On Sunday the Kronik Kids are back in action, sadly Nat and Reno cant make it this weekend but we have another Mali on hand to temporary fill his place.

Sunday 12 June 2011

North Derbyshire

It's nice to be back in action with all the dogs, I love being able to have three attempts at the same course, its a shame I couldn't of done that at the World Champs. Anyway had some really good runs this weekend and all the doggies had there own brilliant moments and some not so good I must add !!!

Keisha and Zippy finished 2nd and 4th respectively in quite a tricky jumping round yesterday, they all ran well in their agility class but all of them got marked for up contacts (not to groan too much as I know judges do a good job etc etc but 2 of them blatantly got the ups, very frustrating as they would have been clear !!!)

Today we started on a rubbish note, no clears in their agility round, Ronny ran the best but he just wouldn't pull off the tunnel after the DW so another fat E for us. The heavens then opened and the dogs seemed to come alive, Keisha won jumping and Zippy finished 3rd, I was chuffed with Zip in this round, the ground was so slippy and he found it hard to dig in which caused him to run wide on several occasions but he still ran his socks off.

The last jumping of the day all the doggies went clear, Zip had a moment of confusion coming out the tunnel and did a turn but apart from that they were all brilliant. Ronny finished 2nd, Zippy 4th and Keisha 8th.

It's nice to be back home out of the rain, it hasn't stopped all day and it's still going strong now !!!

Monday 6 June 2011

Back home from the BSD WC

Just back from the BSD WC, arrived home early hours this morning and I am truly exhausted, I have only had a couple of hours sleep as I wanted to get up early and collect Ronny and Zippy from my mum and dad's, I have missed them very much this week and it was lovely to be mobbed by them on my arrival, as expected Ronny and Zippy both look like Hippo's and appeared to have had the best time, it's nice to be back together as our Mali mob !!!

Anyway ........ The WC, another experience I have learnt from, Keisha and me didn't manage a single clear in our qualifying rounds which is very unlike us as a team, we had a missed weave entry in one class, a pole in another and then two big fat E's. The standard is so high on the continent and we only had one option to just attack the courses to try and qualify for the final, the luck was just not on our side, our jumping round was the best but right near the end of the course Keisha brushed a pole with her back foot which was a real shame. In our team jumping round Keisha had 5F, she didn't even see the double pole jump and piled straight into it taking the wing and both poles out, again completely out of character for her, however, we did manage a clear in the team agility (after I bribed her with an ice cream) which I was really chuffed with, this was the one thing that has haunted me ever since last year when we missed our A-Frame contact in the team agility. We finished 4th in the Team event so hopefully next year we can improve and finally get on that podium.

The courses were fantastic, we watched the judges lay out there courses and used a minimum of 6-7 paces between each obstacle which is completely different to our UK courses which usually consist of 4-5 paces max between each obstacle, there were parts on each course that you really had to trust your dog and send them on, im going to set them up at home and start practicing ready for next year. The most noticeable thing for me this year was how the majority of countries ran each round as if it was a final, none of these steady runs that we tend to do to get a clear round, definitely something im guilty of, !!! but from start to finish attacking every part of the course, the French (who won the individual) and Finland (who won the team event) were phenomenal, infact the top four going into the final had two from each of these countries, they ran with such conviction and it was amazing to watch.

As soon as I get the course plans I will post them on here