1. ABC Team
A group of us made a team
for a show held in Aldershot. It was a Weimaraner, Doberman, rough collie and my GSD.
We
were due to be one of the last teams and we
were all in Starters at the time.
About an hour before we were
due to run, I had gone back to the vehicle where my gannet of a GSD was and
let him off for a wee. He
disappeared and I heard my mate shouting. Charlie had gone and ransacked his weekend
rations!
There was debate about
running him
- I
decided to give it a go. The best score was
from a quad of intermediate superior competitors with collies. We lined up, dog no.1
- clear. Dog no. 2 clear. Dog no. 3
usually has a dodgy scale
- clear. My
dog no 4 with someone else tea in him
- clear! We won
the team event and I still have that cup!
2. The
impossible poodle
I was entered in a pairs
class with my friend Jackie.
It was a wet day and the ground was mucky. My friend with her trusty dog Meggie went
round this jumping course and swapped with me. I set off with the Poodle (who
is a Midi competing at
Standard height). Things are going kay until the last fence. He stops. Dead.
Doesn't move. I wave him on. No effort. I shout go on. Nothing.
Refusal No 1. Jackie
starts calling him. No doesn't work. I try recalling him. Don't like the
jump, goes to walk round.
I stop him.
Judge is laughing now. Refusal
2.
After
equalling the
course time for two dogs, he finally makes the last jump.
I have never found out why he stopped.
He never told me.
3. The
sausage game
The Game for a laugh class
at
Burgess goes back to the good old days when
we had to run our dogs in flippers or use hula hoops.
One year, my dear old GSD
(the gannet) and I were in the queue. All my mates, knowing his habit were literally
taking bets on the side that he would eat all the sausages lined up in front of him.
Wrong! He left those alone (what a well trained dog!)
As we crossed the finish
line, instead of slowing up, he gained speed and headed straight for the score table where the
spare supplies had just arrived. There was complete bedlam and flying sausages, tickets and
tables in danger of collapse as he shovelled
as many off the trays as he could before being caught.
Those were the days of agility!
My final note is on two
occasions while my Midi worked the standard height we did two memorable
clear
agility rounds, only to find
were 5 seconds out of time. Those
were the worst rounds of my life, because he
couldn't have tried harder and I couldn't have made
him
go faster all because the
course times set. After the second one,
I never put my poodle into another standard
class again.
Hope these
snippets are of interest. I
certainly found the other ones fun to read.
