Awesome August: Can You Dig It Show

This year is flying! August already! The first Sunday of the month brought another of our Can You Dig It Shows.

The weather forecast had been dubious but thankfully the rain held off all day. Lydia set out the Jumping courses and Nigel very kindly offered to judge for the whole day, rather than just for the afternoon as had been previously arranged. Lou Cadman made a rare appearance to a summer show and judged the Agility for the whole day. The course standards were very high, challenging the more experienced handlers to find the fastest lines while keeping it very much do-able for the less experienced handlers and dogs.

Beginners Agility - Lou Cadman

There were many talks and whispers of "this is my first show" heard throughout the day and we are always very proud and pleased to do our best to support and encourage agility newbies. As well as the first timers we also had a good range of experienced handlers showing us what they can do in the Advanced classes. Vic Royle got a little more than she bargained for when she asked for some cake and nearly ended up wearing it. Smiles and laughter all round! There was a real family spirit about this show, as there is at all Dig It events!

3 years on from this photograph and still the same club atmosphere, only now we have a sit on mower!!

A big, massive thank you to Sharleen Toller who kindly baked some delicious cakes to give to helpers for free! There was even a glutton free cake! Poor Sharleen couldn't run her dogs, but despite this she was still seen scriming for well over an hour. 

Ash was a busy bee scoring in the caravan and the results were quickly rolling out. Deb's face was a picture of shock and amazement when we announced that Beanie had won a class! Sue Bebbington rocked up late with Mia and only went and won her Jumping and Steeplechase classes with storming fast times! Mia the tiny pocket rocket! 

Cake, chuckles, lovely judges, lots of beginners, whippet zoomies and an early finish all made for a very very enjoyable day!  Thank you to everyone who contributed to make it so. 

Mild March: Winter Series Show

March is upon us and spring is definitely in the air! I thought I was late when it was light and I was still at home but no, thankfully the sun is starting to peek its head out for longer each day!

Lou had staggered out of hospital and right into the show on Sunday, looking a little green around the gills, but stubbornly Judged for half of the morning. We were all pleased to see her up and about although also pleased to see her go home to rest at lunch time.

Three rings were running once more with FAB and On Track Agility Clubs taking charge of a ring each. The Show ran quickly and smoothly, although the exercise arena was a little stretched at times with some of the little dogs being run over by 100mph collies.

Avril championed the day by doing the triple with her youngster Dodger! Agility, Jumping and Steeplechase Win! Adele and her newbie Luna also performed really well and Rachel and Daisy got 3rd place with Daisy's first show on Standard height in Beginners Jumping. Wowie. It's so heart-warming to see dogs that have come through Puppy and Bronze Obedience at Dig It now starting to find their confidence and produce results at Agility Shows.

One of the comedy moments was Christina running Echo for Rachel! Poor Echo did a lovely stop contact on the dog walk, and Christina, not expecting it, was looking all around thinking she'd lost him! Her fellow Advanced competitors were very... supportive?! (We're laughing with you honest!).

Quickly we were finishing up and the scorers were struggling to keep up! With the night still light we had packed up and gone home for a reasonable finish time!

Only one more show left to do and at the end of March our Club Competitions start outside. Winter shows are brilliant for training and keeping our dogs fit, but we're all itching to start getting out onto the grass!

Christmas Show and Party

Our Christmas Show signals the end of the year and a time to be merry and high!

It was a quiet start with the jumping ring inside whizzing through Intermediate and Advanced classes. Onto the Beginners and we were pleased to see a lot of first timers. Lesley with Buster from Bex's agility class was one of these newbies and they only went and got placed in every class! Bex was really excited.

The Obedience Hall was transformed into a Fun Games Arena - Temptation Alley, Fastest Retrieve, Fastest Recall and sausages galore were enjoyed by over 50 dogs and owners alike.

Sue's spaniel Rosie had us all amazed as she ate (more like inhaled) a bonio in 4 seconds to be crowned the winner of Fastest Bonio. Even the labradors' couldn't keep up with that!

Diane's collie, Jess, won Fastest Recall in an amazing 1.99 seconds and Amy's Jess won Fastest Retrieve at 5.26 seconds. Arthur, Tess and Bella all tied at the Tennis Ball Catching with a huge 17 each.

There was punch, food and stalls for dogs and humans alike and we hear Judge Sally was on the mulled wine in the afternoon! Good job that wall was there to keep her propped up!  ;)

The traditional Fancy Dress competition was well-attended with angels, elves and a burnt Christmas Pudding! Diane and Jess returned to fight to retain their Championship and won it for a second year running!

Although consolation places were given to Woody and the Elf-Dogs for also having fantastic costumes.

The agility stayed very relaxed throughout the day with everyone in good spirit. Jenny's Poppet decided to aim for the "wrong" end of the tunnel each time during her run and I found myself running over a jump by accident, leaving Guinness wondering if we had switched job roles!

The day finished nice and early and we presented Lydia with her Christmas present, a canvas picture of her dogs (taken by Cat's Dog Photography) which she was very impressed with. 

Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for 2014!