EMDAC June

One of those weekends that suddenly turn out to be surprisingly good!

Kim

Kim is not allowed to be overshadowed this weekend, because she was phenomenal. A lot of people asked me whether she was running or not when we arrived, and I said yes, but it was purely to get her back into the routine. And then she arrived at the ring and just refused to conform to expectations.

She started steady, with a smooth clear in the Helter Skelter, faster than she’s run recently but just cruising. Something must have felt good though, because she kicked up a couple of gears after that!

We came 3rd in the Novice Agility, and then 6th in the Novice Steeplechase on Sunday. Sixth doesn’t sound overwhelming, but it was my absolute favourite run of the weekend, because mid-way around Kim suddenly kicked up again into something like her old Kim-gear … something I haven’t seen her do for a very long time.

I made a hash of handling the other Novice Agility, I think I’ve been running slow-Kim a bit too long and she took full advantage. We made a mess of both Jumping classes too, a fat E in one and a 5f refusal in the other (she was hot, tired and bored by then).

Dylan

We started in the same drill as normal, ie. steady, reliable clears. Not what I want! I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or pleased that Dylan got argumentative as the day went on; he ignored a few cues in the Jumping and Helter Skelter classes, and even paused to look at me at one point before continuing in the opposite direction. I want him to be confident in the ring, but I would also like him to listen! We came 6th in the Snakes and Ladders anyway, which was a bit of compensation (especially as I took him the long way around).

The Introductory Agility was a straightforward course, and I pushed Dylan and although I didn’t get much offered in return, we did a reasonably good clear and I was hopeful about placings. We came 4th in the end, which I was pleased with, but it wasn’t the result I was chasing (I’m allowed to admit that now!) so I wasn’t overjoyed. I said I wanted to improve on that result for Sunday; I wanted to be in the top-3, although I thought we’d have our strongest chance in Agility. As it turned out …

I have always said that Power and Speed is Dylan’s forte, and he did a really solid contact work-out in the class on Sunday morning, with a nice Aframe and Dogwalk in particular. The speed section was very straightforward and he clipped around in 9.74s, not too shabby!

It does almost look like he’s stuttering around this (doesn’t help that I got the video format wrong!), but the spacings were too big to bounce, and not big enough for him to stretch into. I thought when I walked it that it was ideally spaced for a Medium dog, and a Medium did win it in the end. Dylan did manage a 2nd though, so I can’t complain too much. (He was a very good boy!)

Introductory Agility was a really basic course; the dogwalk had been removed from the ring as it was judged unsafe after the first class (very sensible as it was bouncing around an awful lot!) but the seesaw wasn’t used either, and there were no weaves. The Aframe was included twice but I wasn’t thrilled about our chances. I had also seen 2 or 3 really storming clears by the time it came to Dyl’s run, so I chose to hold his contacts. We came 14th anyway, a few more points in the League.

Steeplechase was an effective write-off in my mind after a dog lunged through the fence at us and Dylan slammed on the breaks. A real shame as he’d been beginning to pick up speed, but we finished joint 7th so maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

Dylan was wound right up to the top in the last Introductory Jumping class of the day. I had seen a couple of fast clears and didn’t think we had much chance, but he was actually running at something close to what we have at training, and turned sharply around the loop of two jumps, which I didn’t think he would do. My ever-reliable source (my lovely mother!) told me that Dylan had had quite a few comments from around the ring, so I was almost confident we were in the placings … the 1st was very welcome though! I am so pleased; to be completely honest, I was beginning to think that Dylan just wasn’t fast enough to get those top placings.

Of course, the camera packed up on Sunday morning so I don’t have any of the later afternoon runs, including the Jumping win. Grr.

Congratulations, of course, to various other people, most notably Malcolm and Sally, who came 3rd in the Novice Jumping, and to Sylvia and Molly who came 4th in the Novice Steeplechase. Go the Mediums! Also to Steve and Gromit for tallying up more points for the Novice Medium Dog of the Year, and to Jean and Emma for doing the same in the Micro category. Who knew you could get ever-reliable spaniels?! Vicki and Pippa also had a good weekend, as did Laura and Gorgeous Merlin, at their first show back after Laura’s maternity leave.