Patenden – what a fabulous day.
The weather was perfect,sunny and warm without being so hot that we had to worry about the dogs in the car.
One of the many joys of a UKA show is that you get at least 4 runs,so with three dogs between us at three different heights,(Maxi – Meg,Standard – Blue,and Toy – Ellie) we didn’t get much reading done!
The courses were really good,and we all had a fair stab at the agility. Bonnie was really pleased with how Ellie was running and her confidence was justified when she got fabulous 2nd place in the jumping class – there were a lot of front crosses and she ran it just as she had planned when she walked it. How often does that happen???! I messed up both my jumping runs which was a shame as it was a course which should have really suited my dogs – never mind,live and learn.
In UKA,there are always 3 basic classes Agility,Jumping and Steeplechase plus one games class – this time it was power and speed. This has two sections – all the contact equipment and weaves in the first section with a time limit to complete it,then jumps against the clock – but you MUST go clear on the first bit to move onto the second stage. You all know my dogs – what do you think were our chances of getting 3 contacts? But I did it with Meg,by lying her down at the start of each piece and stopping at the end. Then we went clear over the jumps and ended up with a 3rd place. Blue was having none of it – as I tried to lie her down before the dog walk she just ran round and shot over,missing the contact by a whisker. I asked the judge if she had got it and while we chatted in the middle of the course Blue ran round all the contacts twice more. The judge said she had been looking for a dog like that for years!!
More good news in the steeplechase,which was a tricky course. When I ran it,I simply couldn’t get where I wanted to be fast enough for Blue,and when I tried with Meg,I fell backwards over a wing! But Bonnie redeemed the Islands reputation with another sizzling clear round. UKA only place to 4th,and she was actually in 5th place so she got a clear round rosette.
We then ran the split pairs with Meg and Blue – its called split pairs because that’s what happens to all the people watching – they split their side laughing at us!
By this time we had,as predicted earlier,missed the ferry,so we had a lovely relaxing walk with all the dogs in the New Forest before heading home through Beaulieu.
Next week –NEWBURY