Crufts

Deece qualified for the Novice Cup final at the KC Festival last year. This meant that he was invited to the final at Crufts, where there was one agility and one jumping run, with the results to be combined. Because Deece has such long legs, I did want to go to Stoneleigh to do some training on carpet beforehand, however the long journey, cost of fuel and other commitments made it unfeasible in the end. We would just have to wing it. On the Big Day there was a strip of carpet in the collecting ring to warm up on, and I was really grateful that Deece at least got to have a little try on that. The first round in the morning was the agility, and Deece did struggle, he was so out of kilter that nothing about the run felt particularly good. However, bless his cotton socks, he managed to go clear and ended up in third place. I was so pleased that he seemed happy and confident despite the intense atmosphere; he took it all in his stride. In the afternoon we had part two, the jumping round, we ran in reverse order so he ran third from the end. I really liked the course. I tried to run it sympathetically to the conditions, just trying to give him the best lines and minimise slipping. He seemed to have found his feet, and was an absolute star. (Thank goodness for all that co-ordination and balance foundation work!)



These fantastic photos were taken by Ian Watts.
The official coverage is here: and thanks to Lorna Peachy for videoing from the stand, but for some reason it won't load (will try again later). Thanks also to Duessa for being a fab groom and Matt and Natasha for their support :-))
I felt for Matthew Goodliffe, who had two stonking runs but Quincy just clipped a couple of poles. However, he did win the novice finals at Olympia! Not too shabby for the start of Quincy's agility career! They are looking fab and I'm sure there are great things ahead for them.
Back to the Crufts ring, and we were called back for the presentation, although not told where we had ended up..... I couldn’t believe it when I realised that Deece had won both the jumping round and the overall competition, I am so proud of my special little guy. Clever Deece.

March update

Well I have a bit of catching up to do!
No sooner had I written , ‘I hope the weather stays good enough so that I can do some training’, then of course, it snowed. LOL.




The beginning of the year has been very, very busy. Lots and lots of work trying to earn enough to make ends meet, so I am looking forward to a couple of holidays, I feel I have really earned them this year! One will be in the north east of England, with my very good and fabulous friend Karen Cole. I stayed there last year and LOVED it. It is a good place to stay with dogs, there is an onsite dog walking field, and the most beautiful walking areas all around. They carried out loads of refurbishment last year so everything is new and clean. Quite a handy location for some shows too! The couple who took over Hillcrest Park last year http://www.hillcrestpark.co.uk/ are really lovely, so helpful and really nice. Can’t wait!
I have been very lucky to have had a couple of training sessions with Natasha Wise, Matt Goodliffe and Toni Dawkins, and one with Dawn Weaver. There are a couple of things I need to work on (OK OK, a lot of things, and some major work!), but I am really enjoying spending time with my dogs, I think they are amazing, and just such good fun to be with. Since losing Becky I realised that the time we have with them is so very short, and I just want to treasure and make the most of every moment.
I have had problems with my shoulder for a long time now, I even had to go to the doctor about it as it got so bad the pain was keeping me awake at night (I was put on a course of anti-inflammatory painkillers, which of course helped while I was on them, but didn’t fix the problem). It was only when I took Zazzy and Deece to Stuart McGregor http://www.mcgregor-ba.com/McGregor_Body_Adjustment for one of their regular check-ups, and had him look at my shoulder while I was there, that it was finally set on the road to recovery. I really am so very impressed with the work that he does, a while back he sorted out my Achilles tendons too. Funny how I can find the time and money to have my dogs checked out, but not myself, and it was me that needed it most! I have been told not to lift anything while it is healing, not easy when there is equipment etc. to me moved around!