Annette4
Well-Known Member
As promised a belated champs round up (mostly because I'm avoiding revision but it has been none stop since we got back)
Indoor Champs, despite the heat, was definitely more successful for my dogs and for our open team the outdoors. Fizz sat out this weekend as she'd tweaked her shoulder a few weeks before and we wanted her 100% for Outdoor Champs. She thoroughly enjoyed being an only child in the heat at my parents!
Dobby ran in foundation singles. This is his last year for us to get him right and we've tried a completely new way of handling him.....most importantly that I don't release him, I only reward him, which really seems to be doing the trick. This was his first indoors since an incident at his first open which really knocked my confidence in him. Not only did he stay in his lane (he has a habit of forgetting to apply the breaks and going over the back netting, followed by zoomies), but he ignored being chased (a massive reaction trigger) and he got 100% clean runs so not only did he win his division but he won overall
So incredibly chuffed with my reactive idiot boy.
With his handler for the day
Ginny was in the foundation team and besides her being so hyped she was hitting the box so hard she wasn't facing the right way for the first few legs which resulted in her missing the first jump, she was amazing for me all day. She's a sensitive soul who is very wary of strangers so being at a 2 ring, indoor show for the first time, with double the amount of people and dogs of a normal show was a massive deal. She was a little clingy and wanted to be held a lot but she really tried for me, held her ball all day (she spits and runs to me if she's uncomfortable) and was generally a total star. By the end of the day she was doing tight changes into the collie in front of her which is a massive improvement. Her team won their division and came second overall.
The only professional photo from the weekend of her which was us lining up for her warm up
The other team were having issues with a dog so we had some snuggle time, she flopped on her back for a belly rub immediately after this photo.
Our open team (where I was running my friends Toller) also did amazingly and not only won our half of the division but we won overall. There were 3 dogs in the team where it was their first champs, some totally new handler and some issues we've had to deal with in the run up to champs as well a losing a team members dad over the weekend so it was such a special win. With us being in the slowest division we also won the Betty Potts trophy and won a jackpot race so all in all very successful!
Dobby say out Outdoor Champs as I didn't think he'd cope with the atmosphere and we needed to bring up a teammates dog who Dobby believes is her mortal enemy.
Fizz wasn't in her usual team so she would be in a slower division just to make sure her shoulder held up. We didn't need to worry, she was awesome for me all weekend. We're still rebuilding her confidence with accepting a dog changing into her after an incident before Covid and we tried some different dogs in speed trials but she wasn't 100% comfortable so he ran as last dog all day on Sunday and really tried for me but a combination of just plain being out matched and some of our young dogs losing their heads meant it wasn't to be but we learnt a lot and we know what to work on for next year but most importantly they all enjoyed it.
Our other open team (Fizz's usual team) did amazingly well, they had a reshuffled line up and a dog joining her one last run before he retires and they not only hugely exceeded their seed time but they won their half of the division and came second overall. They were just pipped on speed in the final but all did exceptionally well.
We had a different line up for Ginny's foundation team which included some more less experienced dogs so struggled with the atmosphere but they all did do so well and improved over the day. Ginny held her ball, was much calmer on the box so we had no missing jumps and even coped with the handler running after her being really quite close to the gate (she normally gets worried and spits if someone is within 25ft of the gate but they were at 15ft and she didn't bat an eye!). Again, she wasn't 100% confident with the amount of people with there being 4 rings going but she just needed some reassurance and she was soon walking round happily. The biggest achievement of the weekend wasn't even racing related....my scared of people little girl jumped on 2 different people's knees for a cuddle while we were chatting between racing! I'm a little gutted there were no photos of her racing but here's her and OH taking in the atmosphere
Indoor Champs, despite the heat, was definitely more successful for my dogs and for our open team the outdoors. Fizz sat out this weekend as she'd tweaked her shoulder a few weeks before and we wanted her 100% for Outdoor Champs. She thoroughly enjoyed being an only child in the heat at my parents!
Dobby ran in foundation singles. This is his last year for us to get him right and we've tried a completely new way of handling him.....most importantly that I don't release him, I only reward him, which really seems to be doing the trick. This was his first indoors since an incident at his first open which really knocked my confidence in him. Not only did he stay in his lane (he has a habit of forgetting to apply the breaks and going over the back netting, followed by zoomies), but he ignored being chased (a massive reaction trigger) and he got 100% clean runs so not only did he win his division but he won overall
So incredibly chuffed with my reactive idiot boy. With his handler for the day
Ginny was in the foundation team and besides her being so hyped she was hitting the box so hard she wasn't facing the right way for the first few legs which resulted in her missing the first jump, she was amazing for me all day. She's a sensitive soul who is very wary of strangers so being at a 2 ring, indoor show for the first time, with double the amount of people and dogs of a normal show was a massive deal. She was a little clingy and wanted to be held a lot but she really tried for me, held her ball all day (she spits and runs to me if she's uncomfortable) and was generally a total star. By the end of the day she was doing tight changes into the collie in front of her which is a massive improvement. Her team won their division and came second overall.
The only professional photo from the weekend of her which was us lining up for her warm up
The other team were having issues with a dog so we had some snuggle time, she flopped on her back for a belly rub immediately after this photo.
Our open team (where I was running my friends Toller) also did amazingly and not only won our half of the division but we won overall. There were 3 dogs in the team where it was their first champs, some totally new handler and some issues we've had to deal with in the run up to champs as well a losing a team members dad over the weekend so it was such a special win. With us being in the slowest division we also won the Betty Potts trophy and won a jackpot race so all in all very successful!
Dobby say out Outdoor Champs as I didn't think he'd cope with the atmosphere and we needed to bring up a teammates dog who Dobby believes is her mortal enemy.
Fizz wasn't in her usual team so she would be in a slower division just to make sure her shoulder held up. We didn't need to worry, she was awesome for me all weekend. We're still rebuilding her confidence with accepting a dog changing into her after an incident before Covid and we tried some different dogs in speed trials but she wasn't 100% comfortable so he ran as last dog all day on Sunday and really tried for me but a combination of just plain being out matched and some of our young dogs losing their heads meant it wasn't to be but we learnt a lot and we know what to work on for next year but most importantly they all enjoyed it.
Our other open team (Fizz's usual team) did amazingly well, they had a reshuffled line up and a dog joining her one last run before he retires and they not only hugely exceeded their seed time but they won their half of the division and came second overall. They were just pipped on speed in the final but all did exceptionally well.
We had a different line up for Ginny's foundation team which included some more less experienced dogs so struggled with the atmosphere but they all did do so well and improved over the day. Ginny held her ball, was much calmer on the box so we had no missing jumps and even coped with the handler running after her being really quite close to the gate (she normally gets worried and spits if someone is within 25ft of the gate but they were at 15ft and she didn't bat an eye!). Again, she wasn't 100% confident with the amount of people with there being 4 rings going but she just needed some reassurance and she was soon walking round happily. The biggest achievement of the weekend wasn't even racing related....my scared of people little girl jumped on 2 different people's knees for a cuddle while we were chatting between racing! I'm a little gutted there were no photos of her racing but here's her and OH taking in the atmosphere
