The agility thread

Fun league show today, all
Classes for us were combined 1-3 (we are G1). Jumping first, 5 for weaves and just 4 faults for timing which is an improvement, agility was messy and missed a jump
So faked our way around and left the ring at the end the Rew thinking he was the Best Dog Ever, then a clear round in the steeplechase. This is only our second clear round ever!

Couple of video screenshots to show just how much time he wastes in the air!
 

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First time running on Galician today at KST in Devon. We have been consistently getting our dw and A frame contacts - not today! Is that just coincidence, or are dogs firing off it more? And we had weaves with full height poles and in Rew’s mind it was a completely new obstacle that he’d never seen before - I’m not kidding when I say he came out about five times in 12 weaves. Finished our agility run on 88 points, the winner was on 44!

Biggest bonus - KST offer a chocolate bar to all E’s, so I had two Wispas! 🤣
 
I know a few people with small dogs that really struggle with Galican seesaw (including mine) . First time my lad met one he launched off the end , it just didn’t tip at all . Happened to a lot of dogs that day , not just smalls . He’s never noticed a difference in weaves as they’ve always been way above his head 😝
 
My small dog loves a Galican seesaw now he’s experienced on them because they are quiet, if he comes off one these days it’s usually a tinny, rattly First Contact that bangs on contact.

Large dog struggled initially with Galican weaves as they are so tall and thin that a dog her size generates a lot of movement and flex, by the time she reaches the end the momentum means the poles are literally crossing over in front of her. I notice they tape them down at DSD now which helps to some degree.

I did think, watching Olympia not Olympia today with their giant 6ft poles that many of those dogs won’t have encountered before, that variation of equipment standards still has some way to go.
 
Most shows round here use the Galican equipment now. I find it quite hard to see properly especially in bright sunshine and those poles are so thin they seem to knock down very easily. I don't like the cups as they seem to lose position when the pole falls so can take longer to put poles up. Also don't like the tiny numbers, unless the grass is very short it can be hard to find them. My other bugbear is the plastic wall and long jump. Any amount of wind and they blow over. I was competing at Iconix and the wall blew down before we got to it. Generally not a fan.
 
Another year of agilitising with Rew, a vast improvement on 2023 thanks to some truly lovely people, trainers and groups.

15 KC shows and 40 classes
One first in jumping
One second in jumping
Three clear rounds
And only 23 eliminations, which is a massive improvement on 2023, where I ran 45 classes with 38 eliminations!IMG_0960.pngIMG_1230.jpeg

We have made so many lovely friends and acquaintances, and I am constantly in awe at my little lurcher who humours me and generally loves his training and competitions so long as all the weather stars are aligned, when he is bred for short chases and long sleeps. ❤️
 
You've got me doing stats again Spotherisk!

Small dog - 58 runs, 16 clear rounds, two firsts, two seconds, a few other places. Gold warrant completed and three shots at champ. I did say I'd be doing a fraction of 2023's efforts with him as we're not chasing grades and I had large dog to bring on, I was right, it's not far off half the previous year's entries.

Large dog (since old enough in June) - 18 runs, one third. There's a lot to work on before I bring her out again. 🫠

Currently laid up in bed on day 9 of flu (Christmas is cancelled!) and they are both being so good despite having been cooped up a lot.
 
Stats are fun - it was my trainer who reminded me, she’s gone from g2 to g5 this year and just needs her agility wins for g6.

I’m on day 23 of flu, there’s still a lot of snot and phlegm to go! My last two shows have left me gasping and bent double after the run.

Look after yourself, you know the drill, sadly this is a long and boring virus.
 
I’m very no idea of stats , have to have a look see what I can find . But chuffed that the little guy and I were lying 5th in senior league platinum , when I last looked (agility net shut down till next year , I’ll probably be at the bottom when it reopens ) 😝
 
May be bonkers, but I've booked Ginny her first steeplechase show in February to give us something to aim for 🙈 I was planning on entering Fen as well but I don't trust that his wait will be established enough....hopefully he proves me wrong and we can enter nearer the time.

Now just got to hope the weather holds enough for us to train regularly 🙄
 
Today I (we) collected my new (old) agility equipment!

A frame, dog walk and seesaw all still on the trailer tbh, all old, all wooden, and some rubber crumb needs re-doing (a big box of that was included), absolutely perfect for us practising at home - I am so looking forward to nailing our contacts, speeding up our seesaw, putting the tunnel under the dw etc etc. obviously I just have to wait three months for the weather to buck up.
 
Finally yesterday we got our final G4 win. I now have a Grade 5 dog, almost exactly 2 years after our first kc show, both were agility vision.
We also got a 2nd in agility with the fastest time but a very unfortunate 5f on the ss. I have the video and it was incredibly close.
We only did 2 runs and I went home as the temperature was still -4 and I was frozen.
We now have a month until our next show so will be working on our running dw which I hope will be ring ready for Easter. Shows in between will just be jumping runs.
 
sarah.oxford said:
Finally yesterday we got our final G4 win. I now have a Grade 5 dog, almost exactly 2 years after our first kc show, both were agility vision.
We also got a 2nd in agility with the fastest time but a very unfortunate 5f on the ss. I have the video and it was incredibly close.
We only did 2 runs and I went home as the temperature was still -4 and I was frozen.
We now have a month until our next show so will be working on our running dw which I hope will be ring ready for Easter. Shows in between will just be jumping runs.
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Well done! Congratulations that’s amazing.
 
Clodagh said:
Well done! Congratulations that’s amazing.
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I'm so proud of him. I know staffords are not the breed of choice on here, and we are certainly in the minority at agility shows, but this boy has never let me down, always 100% focused on his agility, even when we have been at shows with bitches in season (he's entire as he has a RCC and stud book number so not ruling out a trip to Crufts if there is a judge who appreciates the more athletic physique).
We have the amazing working cockers to beat at every show, but it's not impossible. I've seen a lot of improvement in Arthur's turns recently which is where we were losing time.... he will never turn as tight as the cockers because of his build, but he's going in the right direction.
 
sarah.oxford said:
I'm so proud of him. I know staffords are not the breed of choice on here, and we are certainly in the minority at agility shows, but this boy has never let me down, always 100% focused on his agility, even when we have been at shows with bitches in season (he's entire as he has a RCC and stud book number so not ruling out a trip to Crufts if there is a judge who appreciates the more athletic physique).
We have the amazing working cockers to beat at every show, but it's not impossible. I've seen a lot of improvement in Arthur's turns recently which is where we were losing time.... he will never turn as tight as the cockers because of his build, but he's going in the right direction.
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It’s the fact you are doing it with a non standard breed is just the more wow.
 
We left here at 6.45 am in the moonlight and - 5 🥶 No places but both went so so well!.Unfortunately Pebs came out the tunnel on 3 legs 😢 a look in her paw off she flew and did one of her best rounds ever...sods law! She is such a snowflake ❄️ 😂 Pupster Daz was fab in agility pinged the AFrame and popped out weaves both my fault. Was on for a clear in the 1-4 jumping until the last but one jump as I never told her to turn right 🙈 But she ended the day with a fab clear.

One of those days where they both went really well even though no placings. A long and very cold day though.
 
Had a great training day with Selena yesterday. Lots of short skills sequences as we’d all been off over Christmas, still a bit of a shock to the system doing back to back sessions in the cold.

Turns out large dog can do a beautiful rear crossed backside slice (who knew, I hadn’t taught it thus far) and small dog nailed some hard weave entries and tunnel discriminations, the latter of which were my nemesis all last season.

Just back to the grind on her A-frame now. 😮‍💨
 
It’s been a tough couple of weeks but today we got out competing again… and he was so excited his brain came loose!

I was delighted with his drive jump jump hoop tunnel jump on a curve, and that he got all his contacts, less delighted that he’s forgotten how to weave. The last show we did we ran Galican weaves for the first time and he came out I think seven times 🙄 it seems to have really upset him. Never mind we can regroup!
 
Just back from another good day. My girls definitely prefer the cold 🥶 Young Daz was again fabulous. Came out of the agility ring thinking we had a win but apparently was E'd. The one time I had no one there to video me 🙄 I just want to see what I did. But she got all her contacts and her weaves were good. She then went on to win the jumping in only her second comp at G3. Was well chuffed. Pebs was on fire 🔥 and so fast. Did brilliant in jumping on a very tricky course but it all unravelled at the end for an E. Then in her agility did all the hard stuff but decided to stop and stare at the judge whilst on DW so we had time pens but other than that was clear. My friend won so not too bad. Home in good time too.
 
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