Dogs Unleashed 2010

Originally uploaded by kayanem

It was baking last year at Newark, and Bakewell didn’t want to let us down so the weather was beautiful but boiling. We were flyballing on Saturday and entered agility on Sunday, which worked really well last year, not so well this year. Sheffield were hosting the flyball side of the things and provided plenty of baths, thankfully, but it was still hard work for the dogs.

Having said that, I was very pleased with Kim and Dylan’s efforts. Dylan’s boxwork session last Thursday really paid off, he was turning much higher off the box and it paid off with faster times. Having said that, he was running in Division 1 with the Barneys and he isn’t fast enough for that team. We fought our way into a 4-way tie for 4th place, but it went to fastest times and we came 7th.

Mollie got very very hot after her 600th false start, so she was pulled a few more times than planned – which meant Kim ran all day. I didn’t think she’d be able to cope with the heat and I didn’t think she was fit enough, but she actually ran much better than she has done in the past couple of competitions. I’m not sure if she’s just getting back to something like fit, or whether she was just trying harder against faster dogs. Food for thought, anyway.

Sunday was … hectic! Last year the agility rings and the flyball rings were close together. This year, they were at opposite ends of the showground. Cue running backwards and forwards in baking heat and in between 500 people and dogs, exactly what I wanted to avoid!

I moved Dylan up to Novice for this competition (he was a baby in Introductory this time last year!). First class was Novice Plus Wicked Weaves, a very tricky course but I felt confident we could both handle it. Remind me not to do that again! Dylan missed the first – easy – weave entry, and it went downhill from there. I left the ring when we got to jump 7 or 8, I think. Dylan was appalling … drifting, totally unfocussed, not listening at all. Resisted temptation to hand him over to the amused public, and went to the practise ring. Dyl redeeemd himself with some lovely dogwalks, and a very nice person (I think perhaps Nell Pegg?) gave me some much needed reassurance.

Novice Plus Agility was a lovely course, pitched on the easy side but considering the weather it was ideal. Dylan did a cracking Aframe and stuck the contact, was a little slow through the push-out but did an amazing sliding seesaw (I don’t know which of us was more surprised) and a cracking dogwalk. Clear, and 2nd in his first Novice Plus, beating some really good dogs to do it.

Kim was in the same class and I wasn’t expecting great things, but she was really cheerful all day. She set off a little slow, stopped at the top of the Aframe which she hasn’t done for years, but then did a lovely run and blew her dogwalk contact (of course!).

Novice Plus Circular Jumping was another lovely course, with a tunnel trap that took out a lot of dogs. Thankfully neither Kim or Dylan are tunnel mad hounds, so we avoided that one! Dylan did a nice run but I didn’t think it was particularly fast, and Kim also went clear but she wasn’t happy about the circular bits where I was stood still and she had to run. Amazingly, Dylan came 1st, which is still boggling my mind. He beat some very very good dogs and I’m not quite sure how, we saw Lottie run (Masters/Grade 6) and she ran a tight clear but she finished 3rd.

Novice Plus Jumping was a decent course, but with a weave call-off that I knew neither of my dogs would like. Dylan went straight into the weaves, so a big E there, and Kim avoided them but was not happy about it, and so we lost way too much time to be in the placings.

I wasn’t expecting to get any placings with either dog, and I didn’t think that Dylan had any realistic chances of going clear, to be honest! Makes me a cautiously optimistic about him getting to the Finals though, he’s already 22nd in the Novice Agility league and 24th in the Novice Jumping league. He needs to be in the top-8 to qualify automatically, which will be tough but not impossible. There’s always a chance of placing in the Qualifier class too … but I’m getting ahead of myself!

I have three resolutions for this New Year. Only one has anything to do with dogs!

1. 100 Films Challenge: I used to watch hundreds of films when I was at school and then college. I love cinematography. I get excited about set design and costumes and things like that, it’s all a bit sad, but it’s something I kind of miss doing. So 2010 will be my year of watching as many films as I possibly can. They have to be watched all the way from beginning to end, either on TV, DVD or at the cinema. Bad films, good films, old films or new films. 100 Films by the end of the year.
2. 50 Book Challenge: I did the 50 Book Challenge in 2007 and failed, unfortunately! I will remedy this by trying again. Same rules as last time for me, with one addendum: ebooks do count. Hopefully the Ruffdogs Book Club will help with this one!
3. 52 Weeks for Dogs: I started this in 2009, but then gave up because my camera broke. Not ideal for a project based on taking photographs. However, I have no excuse in 2010. In fact, I now have a perfect excuse to actually learn how to use my new camera, and hopefully by the end of the year I’ll know a bit more about what I’m doing. I am also going to stick to the proper rules, and so I have to choose one of the three dogs to document. I think it will be Dylan, but I am dithering!

There will be a notification in the sidebar on undermybed.co.uk indicating which film I’ve just watched, which book I’m currently reading, and what the previous week’s 52WeekforDogs photo was, just in case anyone is interested in following the progress.

It’s New Years Eve, I’m not going out for another hour and the dogs are just back from their walk. Not sure how to describe this year just past. Lots of changes, some terrible and some very good.

2009 ends and 2010 starts on a blue moon. It seems as good a thing as any to wish on.

Happy New Year everyone!

Photo was taken almost exactly one year ago.

I know I can get great shots with my little Kodak.

However, I’ve been hankering after DSLR camera for a while. I can get action shots with the Kodak, but it’s not fast enough to catch the exact moment I’m aiming for. I’m sure that’s partly down to me, but my timing isn’t that bad. I can changeovers in flyball.

There are various other reasons, like picture quality and having a really great lens, but it’s mainly for the dogs. As you would expect.

I have some very kind friends who let me play with their DSLRs, on occasion, and although I love Emma’s Canon EOS 400D (aka the Canon Digital Rebel XTi), I really love Cat’s Nikon D50. Which hasn’t been produced in forever.

So, the hunt goes on. From the reviews I’ve read, the D50′s replacement, the Nikon D40 seems to be held up at the best entry-level DSLR ever, worshipped by camera lovers everywhere, partially because it comes with an awesome kit lens. Unfortunately it’s also no longer in production, and the new equivilent D3000 is apparently a) terrible, and b) more expensive.

So, does anyone have any other suggestions? I will consider other options to the Nikon, I just really like their kit lens’.