Oops I did it again

Well we usually do Ribble show to try and get the Olympia Qualifier done. So far we have never qualified there but there will be a first time.

Mark is running Torro Laker for me this year. Well I say for me but to be honest it is also for himself. Torro is 8 this year and is looking good. Having two dogs to run in the same course can be an advantage plus Torro is always fun. He tries his heart out every run, growls with excitement and never takes himself seriously. Sometimes he doesn't take his handler seriously either.

Mark set him up on the start line and you could tell from Torro's face that fun was the only item on the agenda.

Devo is another matter - all he wants to do is work. He is so intent on the start line, watching Mark and ready to follow his every move. With a dog like that you can't afford to be rusty (well maybe just for Olympia LOL) and unfortunately a bar came down followed by Marks concentration. Never mind, it is early in the season and with only one semi to go for now I'm sure it might be a bit boring to qualify too early :)

So that leaves me and Rhyme in the graded classes. Well at this time of the year Mark and I are busy doing his Psychology Seminars with all the talk of goal setting etc. Over the years I have found myself to be a process driven person and so getting a clear round is my main objective, especially with a young dog. Getting sucked into writing outcome related goals was my downfall. It seems with a well trained and motivated dog winning up to Grade 4 at this time of the year is not as difficult as I thought it would be. Oops there goes the first short term goal and now I need to think of another one. It is scary how my mind is like a sponge. The down side is that it also absorbs some negatives and eats into my confidence as the season goes on. So more work will be done on my mental skills this year to ensure I keep my dog where he belongs - at the prize givings :)

In case you missed it on Facebook here's the run :-

Rhyme Ribble 15/2/14 Grade 3/4 Agility 1st place

Walking Advertisment

It's obvious that I'm going to be proud of my husband but talk about a walking advert for his own products and a little bit of mine too.

We didn't write much about the not so good a time we had with our change to a new home preferring to write positively.

One thing that changed was our ability to use the field behind our house. That plus a couple of weekends spent doing things for other people meant Mark & Devo had very little opportunities to practice in the month or so before Olympia.

I did a programme using Wag & Tone exercises for them to work on core strength which they did a few times. Mark thinks Wag & Tone is great if a little girlie and thinks the name could be changed to encourage men to try it. He suggested in a not very pc moment that something along the lines of farts & boobs.

Other than that the main exercise Devo got was road walking followed by free running on Pewsey hill. He also had a few days with Ruth MacGill who even got him doing some canicross.

Devo likes to run, run everywhere. He is either running or stopped.

In order to help him develop better quads we made him walk on a harness. This did seem to work as unlike many he did not drop a jump.

For the last week before Olympia we did not even have a jump to practice on. Thanks to the people who did offer use of their equipment locally but time restraints made it not possible to do with moving our main priority.

We moved into our new house on Wednesday 18 December. Our equipment was being brought up from storage with Linda & Tony the weekend after Christmas. So a lovely flat field to use but still no agility

All the dogs had been great at my sisters and when we were in the States and they are generally ok left in the van overnight or daytime at shows. We thought freedom to settle into their new home was more important than me accompanying Mark. With the limited preparation leading up to the event it would not be surprising to see him back by lunch time.

Well although Mark & Devo had not any recent practice we are strong believers in lying a solid foundation before starting on equipment. Once agility training starts we focus on consistency & relationship. Marks training on concentrating on just the events/wins he wants means he never compromised on training for quick gains as their partnership developed.

Setting goals is important and doing it in a structured way will show the best results. Mark is a strong believer in you get out what you put in. His goals for the year helped him achieve qualifying for the event and the foundation and his ability after years of practice to be able to focus on his performance when it mattered ensured that clear. So the scene was set.

A brilliant dog and a bit of luck got him to the final. (Those at recent seminars will laugh at that one).

Once in the final anyone of those dogs could win.

Running first puts added pressure as you're off the course after walking it and then straight into your run.

Great dog not to lose it and good mind strength to keep it together.

I didn't even see it and didn't know the result for ages. Selfish to say 2nd was best result for me. How bad would I have looked to have missed being there for one of his greatest achievements?

Guaranteed I am going next year LOL