Bloemfontein After . .

 Still recovering from my trip to the Bloemfontein
shows :) Really was Very memorable, one of my best :)

On the right is my interprovincial team ; we ended our two rounds on 30 faults. . . not bad at all :))
Nadine Shortland and Q
Samantha Stedman and Spy
Samantha Wainwright and Brandi

 This is my Mika with her rosettes. She really had a great weekend, we had a few solid, good rounds (even one qualification) still much room for improvement in my handling but I am SOOO pleased my girl had a happier time than last year :)

As for Cal . . he had a great time. meeting people and dogs, seeing the excitement of a big show. Learning to train with major distractions as well as deal with intense cold and even snow!!!! :)


To those fellow competitors I stayed with and sat with .. . thank you, it was awesome :)
To Nadine . . thanks for the stunning photos

Bloemfontein Before . . .

This weekend we go to Bloemfontein for one of our biggest shows of the year. I have been watching the weather and it is going to be FREEZING!!!! so before my brain freezes .. my goals :)

Very simple this year 1. to stay calm and relaxed as my dogs jump best this way
                                2. to run my rounds with the same attitude I do in training, this too keeps my dogs calm
                                3. If I keep the above attitude I should end up with the smooth rounds I am looking for,
                                     this in turn should result in at least 1 or 2 qualifications :)
                                4. have fun

Good luck to all my fellow competitors, pack warm and drive safe

Open Shows

This past weekend, we had two open shows here in Port Elizabeth. I Judged on the Saturday but made it a condition that I be allowed to run my dogs as "white" dogs. I know however that this is not Mika's best work situation. Her contact round was lovely . . smooth, great contacts, working well. Her non contact round was abysmal . . . she was fed up at being shut in for so long and let me know :) she had calmed down again by the dog jumping round.

Was very pleased with her rounds on Sunday. Had a few bars down in the non contact and in the dog jumping . . but smooth and happy like I was aiming for :) Her contact round was going well until I said "bendies" and Mika said ok that means Aframe!! the rest of the round my eldest girl worked like a star . . was just the build up I wanted going into the  Bloemfontein shows.

My Jack Russell has been out for a week with a toe injury and this weekend marked her return. I could not have asked for more from her. Her rounds were also exactly the build up I wanted.

Cal did contact training as well as more 2x2 weave work . . he is working very well at different venues with many distractions. He is ALWAYs ready to learn and to work . . my Boy

Thanks Nadine at Maddog for the photos :)

National Agility League and shows

I have been working quite hard at keeping Mika happy in her rounds. Aiming for smooth rounds, not worrying too much about the bars, concentrating on good, smooth handling with Mika motivated to work well with me.

In both the National agility league and show: Mika had solid contact rounds and WILD non contact rounds . . . however I havent been too worried by that. If I can get that kind of drive and leave the bars up I will be over the moon :)

between rounds I have started 2x2 weaves with Cal, he is really so amped to work  . . its so great to train a dog that is SO keen :) The weaves have been as big a learning curve for me as for him, its my first time using this method of training.

Agility Workshop . .

On the 14th & 15th of July we had an agility workshop . . . . On Friday it started to rain and it simply NEVER stopped!! Luckily, one of our happy band of handlers managed to organise a horse barn for us to work in :)) we were most grateful and as a bonus, our dogs learnt to work in sawdust.

Weather aside: I so, so enjoyed the workshop. It highlighted where Mika and I have work to do . . but while doing the quite challenging sequences, I realised there is a lot we can do. It was very motivational as it showed us what we ARE capable of,  if we just believe :) I came away exhausted, muddied but INSPIRED :)

thank you Noelene