Doncaster

Doncaster is always such a good comp, lovely venue and it always runs to time.

Dylan was running in Marsh Owlers in Div 2, and it didn’t go exactly to plan. He was running anchor dog but he was just cruising along without putting any effort in. He clocked 5.2-5.3 singles times all morning which was pretty pathetic, but then again so did everyone else, and he was actually one of the faster dogs on the team. Slight improvement in the afternoon but still not much effort.

I think the problem is that Dylan is just plain lazy. He has bags of speed when he wants to use it, but I still need to figure out a foolproof way of getting him to use it when I want him to. He has very little natural drive; his mum wasn’t very drive-y and although his dad was, Dylan has come out at a low wash. So as I can’t rely on an inherent internal motivation (working for the joy of working), I have to find something else to motivate him. Clearly I haven’t found the perfect motivator yet.

Marsh Owlers finished last in our division, we didn’t win anything all day. But then again, we really didn’t deserve to, we didn’t look much like a Div 2 team, with some dogs running out and some dogs just way off the pace (like Dylan!).

Mollie and Kim were both in Night Owlers, in Div 3.

We took Mollie to be measured in the morning which turned out to be … hmm, a bit of a surprise for us. Mollie went under the measure and we were promptly told she was far too big and that was that, no point in measuring even for 2009. Well, Mollie has had 2 measurements at for the 14″ jump height before, because she ran as height dog when the maximum jump height was at 16″. I highly doubt that she’s grown in the last 3 years, but unfortunately we can’t find her old height sheet. She never got a height card from it because the ruling went back to maximum 14″ height before she got her final measure, and it seemed a bit pointless after that.

I have to say I really don’t like the new sliding measure. I think the principal is a great idea, a sliding measure should be easier and more accurate. But the actual structure of the measure means you have to walk the dog underneath a very solid-looking metal frame with two big weight blocks on either side (just smaller than a brick, probably) and get them to stand in the right place before dropping the measuring slide. A lot of our dogs, including Mollie (who is normally totally fearless!) were wary of walking underneath it, and if they’re not stood in exactly the right spot, you need to drag the measure to the new position, whilst asking the dog to maintain a comfortable stand. Doesn’t work! The other problem is that inevitably, someone has to lean over or crouch next to the dog to read the sliding measure. In this situation, most dogs want to sit down and give the person a cuddle. Mollie did, Kim did, and my friend’s two very experienced show dogs also did. So is the dog stood in a natural, comfortable position for an accurate measure? No chance.

Previously, the dogs were asked to stand and a series of lightweight measuring hoops were fitted over the dog, like the Kennel Club use for their measuring system. Nobody leaning over or crouching, you just see if the legs are resting on the floor. Much less stressful for the dogs.

Anyway, Kim and Mollie were both fab, they ran really well and we won our Division. This was a bit of a shock as we had a very strange mix-up team, and we ran slower times all day than the Eagles in Div 4 (who came 2nd in their division, and for whom I was boxloading). No idea how we managed that, but well done to both teams!

Dylan collected his Flyball Dog award (200pts) and Kim got her Silver (10,000pts) which I am so pleased about. Owlers give gifts with the big awards (Silver, Gold, Ice Blue Moon etc), and Kim got a little silver bag with a little silver dog toy, a silver trophy and some treats, as well as a card and a Silver Award badge. Thank you Owlers!

We were home for 8:45 too, which was nice. It was so cold all day though, by the time it came to leaving my brain had frozen (along with my fingers and toes). So many people said Merry Christmas and I don’t think I said it back to any of them, and I can’t even remember who “everybody” was! So if you did say Merry Christmas and you do happen to be reading this, I hope you all have a fantastic holiday and a great New Year. I’ll see some of you at EMDAC (Julie, Leah and Candy) and then the rest of the flyballers at Doncaster at the end of January.