Billingshurst

So last weekend we were at Billingshurst 50th anniversary show at Cranleigh showground. It was a ridiculously hot day but I was one of the lucky ones that wasn't in the ring first so I got there at a leisurely time of 9:15. Even luckier got to park under a massive tree in the shade which actually stayed shady for the majority of the day. So first class up was C1-4 Agility which was a really nice course, really nice and flowing. If I had to pick anything that wasn't so great it was the weaves were REALLY close to the edge of the ring and a photographer. We didn't have for a while so I hard a nice load of time to get Rommy ready. He has really surprised me these last couple of weeks how well hes coped with the heat, as long as he has his swamp coat on and stays in the cool car between runs hes been his normally nutty self in the ring. One thing I was kind of hoping I might see a bit of a difference with was his focus this weekend because hes been on Calm and Focus powder for about a month now and 4 days before the show  I also changed him onto Burns Alert for working dogs so I was hoping having both together would make a difference and to my surprise I actually think it did! So we finally had our run in the agility, it was a nice straight line (I got a wait :D) into the tunnel and then onto the dogwalk so the plan was I could get ahead to help Rommy remember to stop and it worked! He wasnt expecting it so pretty much fell off the end because he was going too fast BUT he immediately tried to put himself back on! SO HAPPY! Considering this is all I've been wanting him to do for months it definitely made my day... after that he had a few issues with weaves missing them and then really wasn't very sure of himself in them. But after that he went on to do some amazing contacts, flew his aframe and did it perfectly and then straight onto the seesaw and did his 2o2o again.... yes it was a bit to the side but I'm really not going to be too picky at the mo then he had a bit of a slip on the last 3 jumps but he was fine and I was just SO pleased with his contacts.

Videos thanks to Rhoda and Matthew :) 

Next was the c1-4 Jumping which was a bit of an weird course...  nice but I thought it was a bit tough on baby dogs!.... dunno if you can tell in the video but the first line(ish) of jumps are all at really odd angles and for fast dogs it was really hard! SO anyways... Rommys run it was great apart from the weaves, he just didn't slow himself down enough for them but on the upside he was a lot better in them than he was in the agility. But again he worked so hard in it and really focused and I got a wait which I REALLY needed!

Last run was a really nice 3-5 Agility. Unlucky for us it was really soon after the jumping so he didn't get time to cool off properly. Don't have a video of him in this but his seesaw wasn't as great as the first one BUT then I managed to get ahead of him on the dogwalk again and he really slowed down and thought about what he was meant to be doing and got his position perfectly! After that he seemed to have got his confidence with weaves a bit and got them and popped out at the 10th pole because he saw the tunnel trap sitting there for him but put him back in and he did them fine and even let me front cross out (hes only just started letting me do it in training) but then after this we came completely unstuck. Rommy was just too hot and even ran past the a frame to finish :( managed to get him back for the a frame which he got another great contact and last 3 jumps which he did really well and finished. Definitely lesson learnt with letting him cool down enough between runs! Bad Jenni! But he was such a star, I was so pleased with him. No clears or places but I really don't care if he works so well. It turned out to be a really nice show :).

Nothing to go to this weekend. Really glad I've for the weekend off after all this bloody hot weather. We really are winter beings Rommy and I. Next show is Agility Club for Starters Challenge Final! EEK! getting kinda nervous now but hopefully it wont be too bad! Wish us luck!