labgirl
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On Saturday UKA's winter series began. I was really nervous about this one because I had decided to unleash the spaniel in the Steeplechase classes!
Merlin
Beginners Agility - Last year Merlin couldn't cope with ring 1 at this venue for some reason, so my main goal was to get him running well. Erm, well he did run, lol! So fast, in fact, he raced ahead into the weaves and I was not in the right position so he popped out the end. Never mind, we headed on to the a-frame where I wanted to rear cross. Silly me I didn't wait for Merlin to commit and almost stood on him. Thankfully he didn't freak out and carried on, but then he clearly decided he had had enough of me and instead of turning left to do the seesaw, he legged it to the finish.
I thought he just didn't see me turn and took the next obstacle he saw, when I looked back at the video I saw he checked in with me and then still decided to finish early! Clearly he had had enough of my shoddy handling
Beginners Jumping - Got our act together, we ran first out of everyone, so not a lot of pressure, ahem! Merlin did this course beautifully, I was really pleased. I came off to a lot of cheers from my friends. Even better, we won the class!!!
Beginners Gamblers - I changed my mind on the course I was going to run and I think Merlin sensed my uncertainty as he had a minor freak out moment (first one since March). I was also annoyed because we completed the harder gamble and should have had a qualifying score, but the person in charge of the timer did not blow the whistle in the correct time (should have been blown at 30 seconds, in fact it was blown at 40 secs). Because of this problem by the time I was doing the gamble I was already over time, so I ended up NQ. Though we were still 2nd. I didn't need the Gamblers points fortunately.
Beginners Steeplechase I - so here came the interesting bit, because I was now going to run two dogs, lol! This was a nice, flowing course, good for beginner dogs with one particular trap. Merlin flew round clear, but lots of fast dogs in this class so he only came 6th.
Beginners Steeplechase II - This was a really spread out course, much more like the Olympia course I ran in practice. I was knackered, especially as I had to come off and grab Sparrow and run again almost instantly. Again this was lovely and flowing, Merlin had a good run with one slight hesitation. He completed it in 28 secs and, to my amazement, won this class too!
That made two wins for the blue man, that is truly a first in our agility journey!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpl0jYeVdnM
Sparrow
Beginners Steeplechase I - Sparrow was a little anxious as we sat in the queue waiting. There were lots of dogs barking and she looked a bit worried. Fortunately she had lots of fans to cheer her on
I opted not to leave her too far in her wait because she was worried, this meant I didn't quite get in the right position in the box and sent her over the wrong jump. Then I nearly fell over her! I finally got myself together and we flew around the last sequence, unfortunately she was too far ahead for me to pull her off the tunnel, but we were already eliminated by then. I was just thrilled with how she worked and how happy she was running in that environment.
Beginners Steeplechase II - Having just caught my breath from running Merlin, I took off with Sparrow. This time I risked a longer wait. It was not the smoothest of runs, but Sparrow was really concentrating. I was so pleased with her, and we came off clear. Then it was just waiting for the results, well.... we won that class!!! Seriously the Sparrow had a win on her first outing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwRhCdvD3A
To put into context her speed. Merlin won his class in 28 secs, running smoothly. Sparrow, despite all the hesitations and uncertainties, ran her course in 29 secs.
Interesting times for next weekend when I will be running both dogs in the same classes and at the same height at T & A. They will be competing against each other, oh my word!
Merlin
Beginners Agility - Last year Merlin couldn't cope with ring 1 at this venue for some reason, so my main goal was to get him running well. Erm, well he did run, lol! So fast, in fact, he raced ahead into the weaves and I was not in the right position so he popped out the end. Never mind, we headed on to the a-frame where I wanted to rear cross. Silly me I didn't wait for Merlin to commit and almost stood on him. Thankfully he didn't freak out and carried on, but then he clearly decided he had had enough of me and instead of turning left to do the seesaw, he legged it to the finish.
I thought he just didn't see me turn and took the next obstacle he saw, when I looked back at the video I saw he checked in with me and then still decided to finish early! Clearly he had had enough of my shoddy handling
Beginners Jumping - Got our act together, we ran first out of everyone, so not a lot of pressure, ahem! Merlin did this course beautifully, I was really pleased. I came off to a lot of cheers from my friends. Even better, we won the class!!!
Beginners Gamblers - I changed my mind on the course I was going to run and I think Merlin sensed my uncertainty as he had a minor freak out moment (first one since March). I was also annoyed because we completed the harder gamble and should have had a qualifying score, but the person in charge of the timer did not blow the whistle in the correct time (should have been blown at 30 seconds, in fact it was blown at 40 secs). Because of this problem by the time I was doing the gamble I was already over time, so I ended up NQ. Though we were still 2nd. I didn't need the Gamblers points fortunately.
Beginners Steeplechase I - so here came the interesting bit, because I was now going to run two dogs, lol! This was a nice, flowing course, good for beginner dogs with one particular trap. Merlin flew round clear, but lots of fast dogs in this class so he only came 6th.
Beginners Steeplechase II - This was a really spread out course, much more like the Olympia course I ran in practice. I was knackered, especially as I had to come off and grab Sparrow and run again almost instantly. Again this was lovely and flowing, Merlin had a good run with one slight hesitation. He completed it in 28 secs and, to my amazement, won this class too!
That made two wins for the blue man, that is truly a first in our agility journey!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpl0jYeVdnM
Sparrow
Beginners Steeplechase I - Sparrow was a little anxious as we sat in the queue waiting. There were lots of dogs barking and she looked a bit worried. Fortunately she had lots of fans to cheer her on
I opted not to leave her too far in her wait because she was worried, this meant I didn't quite get in the right position in the box and sent her over the wrong jump. Then I nearly fell over her! I finally got myself together and we flew around the last sequence, unfortunately she was too far ahead for me to pull her off the tunnel, but we were already eliminated by then. I was just thrilled with how she worked and how happy she was running in that environment.Beginners Steeplechase II - Having just caught my breath from running Merlin, I took off with Sparrow. This time I risked a longer wait. It was not the smoothest of runs, but Sparrow was really concentrating. I was so pleased with her, and we came off clear. Then it was just waiting for the results, well.... we won that class!!! Seriously the Sparrow had a win on her first outing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwRhCdvD3A
To put into context her speed. Merlin won his class in 28 secs, running smoothly. Sparrow, despite all the hesitations and uncertainties, ran her course in 29 secs.
Interesting times for next weekend when I will be running both dogs in the same classes and at the same height at T & A. They will be competing against each other, oh my word!
