FUN AGILITY DAY     17th FEBRUARY 2008

Sunday 17th February – what a bitterly cold start to the day for the last agility fun day of the winter.  I did manage to keep warm most of the time, but then I was judging!!

We missed Gemma, but were very pleased to see Dawn and John back again following Dawn’s nasty car accident.

Because I was judging I didn’t see very much of anyone – sorry, and because it was so cold Les didn’t feel able to come and offer any help either.  I did – of course ‘cos I was standing in the ring! – see most of your jumping rounds.  There were some excellent efforts and there has been a distinct improvement since the first of these fun days.  Well done!

I tried to make a note of all the places and clear rounds gained and apologise if I have missed anyone.

All of the agility and pairs classes were judged by Richard or Janet Jordan (they shared the classes)

The jumping classes were judged by me (Frances) and Christine Stratford and I also judged the teams.

I have also noted that Nadia and Koji were clear in their part of the pairs and team.

A brilliant result all round.  I hope you have enjoyed the 3 fun days and realise just how hard you and your dogs have worked and how far you have come since you first started training.

Perhaps we can think about one or 2 local open shows now ……

Frances

19.02.08

FUN AGILITY DAY     20th JANUARY

After all the rain during the week, Sunday was actually dry!  There were some rather muddy dogs around after walking through the car park or across the grass we had to use as an exercise area.  Believe me, you would not want to let your dogs loose in the mud bath that was the exercise area for the previous event!

Hopefully by now all the smaller dogs have been dutifully bathed and groomed and are looking as beautiful as ever.

It was really good to see so many OAK members there again and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves.  If I missed helping you to book in, walk a course with you and either watch or help with your time in the ring I apologise, I really did try to see that everyone was OK.  Yes, I even managed to run the 2 dogs I had with me as well!

All of the dog and handler partnerships I saw who are new to agility shows have improved greatly since the first event and I’m sure that we had more clear rounds and places than before.  Of course there are things to work on (there always will be), but this sort of event is a great way to see just how things are going.

Here we go with the results (I think I have got everyone this time!)

Trying to sort out teams and pairs is always fun, and to a large degree, pot luck!  No matter the result, I hope you enjoyed your runs and learned something about baton changing!!!!

Although the results only reflect the complete pair or team, there were some very good individual runs.

I’m not sure if Wendy knew whether she was coming or going with all the dogs she ran in pairs and teams … very well done, and not too out of breath either!!

Team Jumping (relay)            Judge ALAN HUMPHREYS

Medium dogs

Mixed team including
Gemma       &       Fliss            1st

Small dogs

Mixed team including

Wendy        &       Elsa            }
Gemma       &       Trio            } 3rd

I think that the team Wendy and Ludo were in came 1st  but my notes at that time of the day are not as clear as they could be!

So, all in all I think you will agree a very good event for us.

VERY WELL DONE EVERYONE

The last of these events for this year will be on Sunday 17th February.

Unfortunately I will not be able to offer quite as much help to you once the classes start as I will be judging some of the jumping classes! 

We will also be missing Gemma at the next event as she will be well on her way to starting a new job in Oakhampton the following day.  Gemma will be greatly missed, we wish her well in her new job and hope she has fun at whichever agility group(s) she joins. 

That’s it for now, apologies if I have missed anyone out and thank you all for taking part.

Frances

22.01.08

FUN AGILITY DAY     4th NOVEMBER ‘07

What a wonderful venue Manor Farm was, and the surface was good to run on too (OK so in my case it was walk, but you get my drift!)

We were lucky with the weather – well at least the dogs didn’t get wet in the exercise area or walking to and from the car / van.

I was very pleased to see the following competing for the first time and tried hard to see everybody’s morning run. – Sue & Fred; Anne & Ziggy; Jill & Ash; Karen & Violet -  I was not able to see much in the afternoon as I was ‘working’ on the team ring but I know that you were all well looked after by other club members.

In addition to all the competitors, the following also came along to see what it was all about Charlie & Whizz (Whizz was very keen to have a go!), Lucy & Ella (Ella was more interested in people, but give her time!!!) and Sara and Livvy (Livvy just loved watching the dogs competing).  Thank you for taking the time to come and watch.
I hope you enjoyed the experience and will consider taking part at one of the other events.

From what I can decipher from my notes(!!!) the following are my comments about the valiant efforts by the ‘new’ competing dogs :

Ash - Enjoyed himself – visited the pole picker sat in the corner – need to practice the long jump – Jill commented that she needs to teach a ‘wait’.  Very good to watch – very happy and will get quicker -    very well done.

Ziggy – Only problem is the weave entry – dog enjoys himself and is handled well – really good jumping round – great.

Violet – A very happy dog – had a good sniff at the sand bags under the see-saw – still happy in the jumping – inexperience of both dog and handler showed – very good potential.

Fred – He competed at medium height on the agility only and had a wonderful time – Fred has been worried and insecure for a long time but Sue handled him very well in the ring and he coped without any problem – lovely to watch.

Altogether there were some lovely clear rounds with all the dogs remaining happy throughout.  John’s lurcher Ice was particularly bouncy (for her) and she was very unlucky in the jumping round to just run by the last obstacle (I think perhaps we will blame John for that though!!).

I apologise if I have missed anyone, but the following are OAK’s results as I have recorded them :

The afternoon events were a pairs agility / jumping relay and a team (of 4) jumping relay.

For these events people (and dogs) could just make up pairs and teams on the day – a great way to meet other agility folk!

I noted that Heather with Sheba got 2 clear rounds and Laura with Otter was clear in the agility, but unfortunately do not recall their names being called out when the rosettes were awarded.  This may be because I missed them or the dogs were outside the time limits set by the judges (nasty judges if so!).

Otter coped really well with the jumping round but unfortunately missed out a jump and then went back through the tunnel when Laura tried to correct him.  He loved every second in the ring!

Just to make sure I mention every dog and handler combination;
Ken and Zorro managed to go clear in the team jumping, and Jess (for John) still has seesaw problems and missed the last weave pole in her jumping round.

Special rosettes were given to me for Sue & Megan and Shelagh & Chip
for their pairs agility / jumping run.  They were clear but due to a misunderstanding had gone before the judge was ready.  Well done!

VERY, VERY WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU, YOU WERE GREAT

I hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did.  I am assured that the other planned days will go ahead, so mark your diaries for January 20th and February 17th 2008.

I apologise for the length of this report, but it just goes to show how well you have all done.  Keep up the good work!

          Frances

06.11.07