It wasn't that long ago that Mum took me for A Big Day Out in London. I think it is because I was so good there she decided on Another Big Day Out, this time at a little show near Birmingham.
Poppy and Paddy went off to the dog hotel and I thought I was in for some chill time. Wrong! Mum played that really one-sided game called 'Give Twiggy a Bath'. It's so wrong on so many levels and I sulked for several hours. Her excuse? I'd be more streamlined and therefore faster, to say nothing about smelling sweeter. Excuse me!! I did think that maybe if Mum stopped eating chocolate she'd be more streamlined and therefore faster but I don't think she'd have taken any notice.
The Big Day dawned and I was dragged out of my bed ridiculously early. Fortunately I could curl up and snooze in the van for another couple of hours. Conserving my energy of course....
The good news was that this little show was indoors. I really like running indoors. No chance of mud, rain, snow, wind or it being too hot. Perfect! The floor was a bit funny though, sort of fuzzy grass. Mum was concerned I might slip a bit. Fortunately there was a practice jump so we had a little play before we went in. I didn't slip but it didn't half sound funny under my feet!
Our first run was a jumping class. We were clear! Mum was very pleased with me. We came 5th. I was a bit confused though, they kept calling Mum Louise instead of Lou. They must have thought she was really naughty giving me a bath and so she got her full title as a telling off?
Not long later and we did the agility. Aunty Deb was groom for the day (I prefer to think of it as my entourage) and she averted a near disaster. My dozy mother hadn't spotted a 'round the back' and was going to take me round the wrong course. Normally she's pretty good at looking at courses but she'd have looked pretty stupid if she had got it wrong here!
The white bits on the contacts weren't electric so I could touch them safely and we did another clear, finishing 4th! Mum was delighted and the sardine and tomato cakey treat things that came my way were very welcome. Maybe I could forgive her for the bath game after all?
Apparently I had been a bit of a superstar and we were now in a final. We returned to the van for some more chill time and I recharged my batteries a bit (being a superstar is actually quite tiring). Mum pretended she was healthy and ate a banana. Who is she kidding?!
When we went back for the final, there was a definite increase in the level of excitement. The arena was buzzing. Mum told me that this was a really important run, but not to worry - we were just going to go and try our best and have fun as normal. If I say so myself I was rather proud of that run. We were the first clear, I ran fast and my turns were tight. I think the banana Mum ate must have worked?! Mum knew that dogs running after us were bigger and quicker and we wouldn't normally beat them. We'd done our best - 3 clears in the Champ at Crufts was a phenomenal result. Imagine the shock and excitement when Mum found out we'd got the Reserve ticket!!! Mum was shaking and I got a bit giddy as all of a sudden everyone was saying 'Well done' and commenting on how clever I was. Lots of treats came my way too!
We had to go back into the arena for our rosette and a very heavy glass prize which Mum was terrified about dropping. Lots of people clapped us and we had to do a lap of honour too. We then had lots of pictures taken, which made me actually quite glad that Mum had given me a bath. Shame she'd not made more of an effort with her hair though!
I really quite like this Big Day Out malarkey. I really hope we get to do some more, especially as there's normally a nice combination of adoring fans and yummy treats. No more baths though please.
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