Hmm, where do I start?!

Thursday. Thursday … happened. EMDAC always run the Thursday classes in the evening, usually starting around 5pm and finishing around 8:30-9. It’s usually fantastic, running on cool summer evenings and under the floodlights. It started so well …

I elected to run Kim NFC in Introductory for Thursday. I can take a toy in Intro classes, and they are smooth, fast, flowing courses, which I thought would be a good way to see if I could get Kim running again. She was a little surprised in Agility when I got the toy out, and so we made a bit of a mess but had a lot of fun, which was the intention! Intro Jumping was a super-fast up-and-down thing, and Kim just went out and crushed the course. She ran like a 5yr old, proved to me she is physically fine, and loved it.

Dylan threw in some good runs, ran well in the Novice Plus Agility and finished 2nd, just behind Lottie.

And then it started to rain. Dylan finished his last run at 11:15pm, and I know some people didn’t run until 11:45. And the craziest thing? Nobody really complained. We have clearly lost the plot, us agility people.

Friday was a better day, only occasional rain and done by 5pm. Mollie had her first run and got E’d, which was hilarious and I apologise unreservedly to the judges for making such a hash of their lovely courses all weekend.

Kim was back in Novice and although occasionally loping around at cruising speed, she ran with more enthusiasm and speed than she has for a long time. She pulled off a 2nd in Novice Medium Helter Skelter anyway, and generally just made me smile.

Friday was split classes by height, so Kim and Dylan were running over the same courses without being in direct competition. Dyl did a smooth but not astonishing run in the Novice Maxi Agility, and came 1st – the course was difficult but nowhere near impossible, so I was surprised no-one else got around! Still, first win towards Graduate Agility, go Dylan! Kim got 5f in the same class for a refusal, my fault as usual and it was a shame as she’d have been well up there.

Kim was 2nd in the Jumping and then 2nd in the Up-and-Under too, what a good girly! Dylan was 2nd to Tri-Dylan in the Jumping, just like Kim (!) and just wasn’t fast enough in the Up-and-Under (think we were 4th overall?).

Novice Triple-A was a bit uninspired and I wasn’t much feeling it, so went in and held all Dylan’s contacts, and then got him E’d. Oops. Kim ran it fantastically though, until I pulled her off the last straight and got 5f. Oops againn!

Saturday was slightly crazy, both dogs were running the same courses again but with split results, but Kim just upped her game. Her run in Novice Medium Agility was blitzing, I was so shocked I burst out laughing and then got her 5f for a refusal. Oops! Dylan got E’d, but he had a really nice run, I just made a mess of it.

The Novice Jumping course was horrendous, all call-offs and tight spacings, and I knew I had no chance of getting Dylan around. I figured we’d try the first bit and then see what we could do, which resulted in an E, of course! Scratched Kim straight off, she would have hated it.

Novice Triple-A was a lovely course, really suited both my dogs. Kim was running clear until she got to the final jump-weave-jump combi, where she steadied for the weave entry and then spotted her lead and ran straight past the poles and over the final jump. Pure naughtiness, but I should have been watching for it!

Dylan also ran it beautifully, and then did the same as Kim and popped his last 2 poles in the weaves to get his lead. Arg! The lovely Rae Blythe, who was judging, came over and spoke to me afterwards though to say what a shame it was, because he really did run it fantastically.

Steeplechase to finish, super-fast course that both dogs enjoyed, although I think they were both a bit confused! Dylan was 2nd and Kim was 3rd.

We were back to combined height classes on Sunday, which turned out to be a low to high day; I walked Dylan out of the Novice Agility, because he was being such an idiot. It was a shame as he did a lovely dogwalk, but he was floating about like a complete idiot and ignoring me, so out he went. Fetched Kim for the same course, and she whipped through and won it by nearly a second. Kim = awesome.

Novice Jumping was an interesting course, really spread out and using every corner of the ring, but still really nice. Kim was slow to start and then picked up, Dylan ran it ok but not fantastic. Dylan was 2nd, Kim 4th – I really though Kim was faster!

Kim was 4th again in the Helter Skelter, but she was easing up a bit by then. Dylan did a beautiful run, and then skipped the last jump to get his lead. Arg!

The British Open Championship was in the afternoon. The Agility was a bit of a killer course, but I felt moderately confident that Dylan could handle all the tricky sections, and he did. In fact, he did an amazing run, blew me and everyone else away, and finished 3rd. I nearly died! He beat some really good dogs that we can’t touch usually, so I was so pleased.

The Jumping round was a straight speed course, a few traps but nothing truly horrifying. Dylan’s run was amazing, he was sharp and tight and then he ran past the last two jumps to get his lead. I nearly cried. Brought him back around to collect the 5f rather than the E, but that was our hopes dashed. I felt like such an idiot too, I should have asked the lead person to leave his lead outside the ring. We finished 10th overall, and I think we’d have been pushing for top-5 if we’d gone clear in the Jumping. I’m still a little disappointed but Dylan stepped up three gears for me and so I’m still proud of him.

Finished off by running both dogs in the Time Gamblers, placed 6th (Kim) and 7th because they were both too fast. Heh, can’t complain about that! Had it been a normal class they’d have placed 1st (Dyl) and 2nd, which is kind of awesome.