Crufts

Hi all,

I've got quite a bit to write about!

First off - Crufts.
Well Thames had qualified a team for Thursday that consisted of - Andrew & Tag, Roger & Ray, Alan & Chase and then P & I. Laura stayed over on Wednesday and groomed for me. I think we left at about 5.30 or something ridiculous like that!! Once we had parked etc, we got to the benches at just after 8.30. Tash's course was lovely apart from the change over. I instantly went into panic mode as the start and finish jump were the same! Not good for Pie! Him and Chase don't get on at all, as Pie can be an idiot with dogs sometimes, so them running into each other wasn't even an option. So I decided to run last. I don't handle pressure well so made sure that no one would come over and wind me up - which they did anyway! By saying things like 'Ooooh 3 clears and then you'. Brilliant way to encourage your own team member eh?! Nice ones guys!! Anyway, I held my ground and I WAS going to run last. I went over and over how i was going to handle it and where I would put turns in etc. Thames were first to run, which in some ways was good. I decided not to watch any of the team run, but just focus on Pie, and jog him around on the carpet for him to adjust (Thanks Lee!). Pie did a lovely clear round wooo, but Andrew, Roger and Alan all had faults.

Here is a video of the last part of Alan's run and then Pie running last.



Laura and I also went back up on Sunday to watch the champ and do the odd bit of shopping. Brilliant courses by Andy Hudson - although I doubt very much that i'd be able to get round them.

The following weekend, Laura and I went down to train with Lee. Despite the horrible weather, it was really good, and I think the cross behind issue is slowly fading in training. I just need to crack it in the ring now!

Saturday just gone - I went to a local UKA show at Newbury. I decided to use it as a training show as I will be running his contacts at Easter. I had 2 steeplechases, 1 agility and 1 gamblers. I messed up both steeplechases but he was working really nice. Then his gamblers - I took his toy in. His first dogwalk was slow, but 2nd wasn't too bad. Then the stupid judge was stood right at the end of the see-saw with her back to it, so as Pie came along he looked back at me - grr. But it was fine in the other agility class.

This week is only a 4 day week at work as it's Easter bank holiday - woo! Easter Celebration will be the first camping show of the year so hopefully it won't rain! Will keep you updated via Twitter though!

L x

Training & Mid Downs

Well it seems a while since i've posted. As you may have noticed, i've linked my twitter account up to my blog and also my phone. So I can send text message to my Twitter and they will post straight away - Which means as soon as I get E'd on a course I'll send an update which enable people to see straight away. Fabulous.

Anyway, some of you may know already that confidence is something I struggle with. I'm not going to go into detail, 1) because it will bore you and 2) because I get quite choked up about it. Recently things haven't been great and at one stage I was very close to taking a long break out of agility. However you'll all be pleased to know that some really great people have spoken to me about it and I'm going to go straight into the season and we're going to give it our best shot (aren't we Pie! ;). We may not set the world on fire but we're going to have a bloody good go at it.

I've had some great training from Tasha and Lee who have helped lots with the whole confidence issue. It's not gone and I don't think it will ever just go away but I'm working on how to handle it etc.

I just want to go abit soppy here and just write a little bit about the 3 main people who are helping me at the moment. I just want to point out that there is no hierachy, but each person contributes different things that make a big difference to me.

1. Tasha Wise - She helped me train Pie also train myself. She's always positive despite not being overly confident herself. She won the world champs last year with her medium collie, Dizzy, but she's still got her feet on the ground and it hasn't made any difference to the person she is with others. She isn't cocky or arrogant about anything and it's something that I admire. Tash always tells me to stop being silly about things and gives me little things to work on in order to achieve greater things. No only does is she a fab trainer but also a really lovely person and a great friend. I just want to thank her for always being the one to lift my spirits whenever they are down.

2. Sir Lee Windeatt - OK i've spoilt him by calling him Sir I think!! Lee is another person who helps me alot without even realising it sometimes. Lee is always good fun to hang around with and also turns out to be pretty good at agility too! hehe! No, on a serious note, Lee is brilliant. He is someone else who has helped/helping me with my silly confidence issue. It must be hard for him to find good bits out of my runs or sequences in training but he always manages to do it. I always go straight for the stuff that went wrong or was wide etc. Since last season, Lee has helped me lots with my handling. Even if no one else agrees, I think i've improved a little. Again not amazing but I like to make small steps with things! I shall finish off by saying; Thanks for you all your help Lee and good luck at Crufts on Sunday :)

3. Laura Chudleigh - Yes she is the girl who has an opinion on everything and one day will probably take over the kennel club. Literally!! Laura and I get on really well and always have a laugh about one thing or another. It is because of her that i've got a show practically every weekend up until August. Take that one as you wish. Good because i'm actually competing or bad because i'm just making things worse by not having a break. Well after long chats with her about be being a weirdo, I have decided to spend my summer weekends being a passenger whilst she drives like a nutter to the shows ;) Her approach to agility is the complete opposite to mine, which at times can be challenging as she thrives off pressure, whereas I crumble. However after Mid Downs which was my first show since having a little panic attack over everything - I think we're on our way. P.s. Just want to say well done for winning into grade 7 with Ploddy x

Now, i'm not saying that these 3 people are the only people who have helped me along the way, but i'm just saying that these are the 3 most significant people. They each contribute to my agility. People are going to disagree with things I say or do but i've just got to try and ignore that and realise that those sort of people aren't doing me any good and I don't need them to be pressuring me or constantly be putting me down. When I look back on what I achieved since the beginning of last season - it's more than I could ever of imagined! I know that some of you reading this with think I'm pathetic but i'm finally starting to realise that you people don't matter.

Sorry to bore you all with that. Onto training and shows etc. Well last month Laura and I went to the X Factor Tour at Wembley. After our stressful drive there is was brilliant and really worth it. We had brilliant seats too, which helped!

Last weekend I think it was, Laura and I went and did some training with Lee, which is always good and we always come away with things to work on. Me more than Laura!

Mid Downs was last Saturday. It made a change from getting up a stupid o'clock and it's always a nice show. I didn't do good and had an unlucky day, but had some really nice bits which I was actually pleased with for once. In the 6/7 Jumping there was a really tightly spaced pair of jumps which I thought Pie would run round because he's such a large striding dog and he did run past it, which was a bit of a shame.

In the 5-7 Agility, part 2 was nicer and i'd say easier than part 1, and thankfully I was in part 2 woop! It was the first time in a long time that I went into the ring really determind about the places I needed to get to etc. After the Dogwalk there was a jump to the right which I did a reverse after (note: So I could see Pie coming down the contact). However the silly judge decided to mark his contact. Which is a little annoying but there were other dogs that I saw completley fly the contact and she didn't mark them, so I guess her judging was just inconsistant during the whole class. But again, I didn't let it get to me that much at all because there is nothing I can do about it. Just a little annoying as Pie was only 0.3 behind Ian Jackson's Bobbi who won the class. Which is pretty good for little Piddles.

Here is a video of our agility round -



Think i'm going to leave it there. Sorry for the long boring post! My next show isn't until Easter now so hoping to get some training in before then. I'm also up at Crufts this Thursday as my team have qualified - so I will Twitter update how we get on.

L x