25^th March 2007   

Well, here we are, another winter series of fun days at Barnwell has come to an end.

I think most people were a little worried about today . . with all the icy windy weather we had in the last week or so, and then to cap it all the clocks went forward!

We needn’t have worried, it was a bit fresh in the morning and there was a definite chill in the air, but when the sun broke through the clouds it was lovely.

Suki Middlemiss was our agility judge and set a somewhat challenging course.  I did not run the helter skelter course she set for the afternoon but that also looked a little more difficult than we are used to.

Viv White was our jumping judge and both her jumping and helter skelter courses flowed well, just what was needed.

For both of them, this was their first time of judging.

Our group was running the jumping ring all day and a huge thank you must go to Gemma who was there virtually all the time.  Everyone from OAK who was there helped in some way so thanks to Gail, Hayley, Sally-Anne, Wendy,  Sarah, John and Dawn.

Gail ran Skye for the first time and, I think, did better than she thought, only 5 faults.  It was quite interesting to watch John and (his) Ice . . she had a wonderful time and I’m sure will do well in the future.

As a group we did fairly well as far as places and rosettes are concerned – except for Gemma, who, for the first time, didn’t even manage a clear round.  I don’t think the early start agreed with Fliss and Trio!!

So to the results, and well done to the following;

It was good to see virtually everyone at the presentations at the end of the day – thanks for staying.

Presentations also took place for the best overall dog and handler combination for the winter series in each category and I am very pleased to say the John and Kelly were the best overall starters.  CONGRATULATIONS.

A little bit of bad news . . although the venue had already been provisionally booked for next winter, when Carl went to pay the deposit, he was given a letter saying that no dog shows at all were being allowed at the village hall in the future.

So, if anyone knows of a suitable venue – not too costly – for next winter, please let us know.

In the meantime, good luck to everyone for the summer shows.

Frances

25.03.07

FEBRUARY ‘07 newsletter

Apologies for the lack of a report from the January fun day at Barnwell, I was not there because of a bad back, and for one reason or another I didn’t manage to catch up with all the results.  A belated well done to anyone who managed a clear round and / or a place.

Sunday 18^th February, the day OAK, together with Spalding and a few members of Racingredd were in charge of all the indoor bits and pieces.  Spalding members worked very hard in the kitchen all day and are to be congratulated for their efforts there.  It is very difficult to gauge how much food to ‘do’ for these fun days and so it proved on Sunday as there was no cake left when the time came for presentations!!

We cannot be certain why there were so many more people at this event than the previous 3, but it could have been something to do with dog measuring being available!  It did mean that we were very busy when it came to booking in and taking care of all the results.  Many thanks to Gemma, Marion, Ken and Les, for all their hard work there.

The raffle was HUGE!!  We somehow manage to have the biggest raffle of all the Fun Days, so many thanks for all the donations and for help in folding the tickets.  Special mention here to Gemma, Ken and also to June and Terry who only came to visit!

Our judges for the day were Emma Quinn in the jumping ring and Mike Fairlamb in the agility ring.  Both judges set fair courses and I was pleased to see that all our competing members came away with at least a clear round rosette.  Unfortunately I was not able to see many of the rounds as I was busy all day.

Our members results were as follows:-

Small jumping

          Gemma & Trio      clear round

Wendy & Ludo     clear round

Starters jumping

          John & Kelly                   4^th

          Ken & Barney                 10^th

Novice+ jumping

          Dawn & Flyte                 clear round

          Frances & Ice                 clear round

Small agility

          Wendy & Ludo     3^rd

Starters agility

          John & Kelly                   2^nd

          Ken & Barney                 5^th

Novice+ agility

          Frances & Ice                 clear round

Small helter-skelter

          Gemma & Trio      clear round

Dawn & Tutti                  clear round

Frances & Zarka    not for competition clear round

Medium helter-skelter

          Gemma & Fliss     clear round

Starters helter-skelter

          John & Kelly                   4^th

          Sarah & Daisy                 clear round – and judges special

          Ken & Barney                 clear round

Very well done to everyone, there were not many of us competing from OAK and it was good to see all of you at the presentations. 

Our newest member – Sarah & Daisy (a Dalmatian) were awarded a judges special by Mike as he was impressed by the way Daisy worked, not only because she was a Dalmatian (not the easiest of breeds for agility) but also because it was the first time she had worked outside and she was just out of the placings.

The next fun day is on Sunday 25^th March and will be the last of the winter series.  Together with Spalding we are responsible for running the rings at this event so lots of help will be needed.

We have had quite a few new people join us at Keysoe on a Thursday evening this year, welcome to Andrea with Bryn & Kai - collies; Nadia with Waffle - spaniel; Glynnis with Koji – retriever; Kirsty with Mia – collie; Sally with Pixie – sheltie; and Sarah with Daisy – Dalmatian.

Our early classes in particular are now rather larger than we would like, and we would like to thank everyone for their patience as we try and organise things so that everyone has as much training as possible in the available time.  I am very grateful to Gemma, Tig and Brad for their help on training nights.

Carry on with the good work everyone and have fun!

Frances

20.02.07

NOVEMBER (and virtually December) newsletter

It is that time of year when we think there is plenty of time before Christmas to buy all the presents, write the cards, organise pre-Christmas visits etc. etc. – and then suddenly, it’s less than 4 weeks away and what have we done . . . well if you are anything like me, nothing – panic!

I suddenly realised that, besides anything else, I had not sent the write-up of the last Barnwell day to Gail for inclusion on the web site – oops!  The report is included in this newsletter.

A little reminder here, just in case you miss the notices on the board at club – and my nagging – that there will be no training on December 21^st and 28^th .

Anyway, on to Barnwell on 12^th November ……….

When we arrived at Barnwell there were about ten caravans on the field!!  I don’t think the inhabitants were woken too early as we spent quite a bit of time trying to clear the remains of sparklers from the field following the fireworks the previous Sunday.  Despite our best efforts, it was surprising how many more we found as the day went on!  The remains of the bonfire was still smouldering and the surrounding area was fenced off (thank goodness for orange netting) because there was also quite a bit of glass around.

We had a lovely dry day and even some sunshine, it got quite warm during the early afternoon.

Everyone from OAK who competed came away with a rosette – well done. Special congratulations to both Hayley and Tipsy and Dawn and Tutti with their first ever places - keep them coming Guys!

Our judges for the day were Janet and Alan Humphreys and the OAK results were as follows;