Mrs Spaniel - Flyball Review of the Year!

Karran

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 April 2011
Messages
1,558
Location
London
Visit site
Yesterday saw a 5.50 alarm and a trip to Ardingly for Mrs Spaniel's final flyball competition of the year.
I feel a bit lied too as it was supposed to be indoor - well I guess technically that was true but one side open to the elements left me regretting my decision to limit myself to one pair of socks!

Mrs Spaniel has improved so much recently, and our team even "broke out" of our division - going too fast for the section and us getting accused of not trying properly!

Mrs Spaniel and two collies in our team are quite nervous dogs and we cannot do tight changes as they would all freak out and miss out jumps so God knows what we'd be like should we manage the tight changes that some teams do do!

But we finished in 1st place, and I am hoping my Maths is correct and that we managed to get enough points to hit our Intermediate Award (gained for 1000 points). So our last two competitions have ended with two first places and we're going to spend our down time working on improving our box turns and hopefully getting a bit more speed up on her return leg. She clocks 5.6/5.8's but I firmly believe that if we could conquer our issues we could get down to low 5's.

Its been quite a year - we had our first competition in an indoor arena in March which completely knocked her for six as we have only trained outdoor, we toddled down to the New Forest only to get it called off due to weather of epic proportions, we did our First good run at Cowgate in May, then completely lost the plot at Hedsor, end of May when Mother came to watch, we went back down to a starters comp in June and then went to Peterborough in July where she was just a horrid, horrid little cowbag and I began to despair that we would ever get it right, but something clicked that day and she has been a superstar ever since bar a few handler errors.

I love my little dog and so thankful to my teammates who held a paw and gave a boot up the backside where appropriate!


6r0yle.jpg

Maidstone in October.

sb4g9g.jpg

Ardingley yesterday - She remains convinced that Rosettes are out to get her!

jsbo7c.jpg

Our Award for reaching the 200 points milestone.

https://www.facebook.com/karran.danks/videos/vb.610900050/10157592686380051/?type=3&theater Mrs Spaniel doing her thing at Maidstone (1st Brown Cocker!)
 
Well done :) sounds like a good year, onwards and upwards and I love her hairdo!

At my first ever competition with my last dog I made my mum go and hide in the PortaKabin, even though she was the interpreter for the judge.
The last competition she came and watched me at a year ago, I could hear her in the crowd during the judge's critique telling my dog what a good boy he was, dog is going nuts trying to find out where her voice is coming from and I'm hissing at her to stop it, lol.
 
Well done. Our flyballing spaniel was in Birmingham this weekend demonstrating Flyball at the International Tattoo. OH has recently discovered that the way to get him to run back faster (out was always good) is Debbie & Andrews sausages. Other treats have just been ignored.
 
Top