2010 Royal Show

This weekend saw us compete in the Royal Show for the 1st time - hard to think that this time last year we hadn't started trialling yet!
Saturday was an early start off to the teams event. Looking specky in our new shirts team Xtreme was ready to take on the rest.
Selby joined Maverick, Phoenix and Chuckles to compete in both Jumping and Agility. Phoenix got us off to a great start with a clear round in jumping (no pressure on the rest of us)All the dogs had pretty good runs but sadly not good enough tho place.
In the Agility comp none of the dogs ran clear, but with only 6 faults between them all we were amazed to find we had placed 3rd!! - Not bad for a bunch of newbies taking on far more experienced teams :)
I accidentally entered Open Jumping so we gave that a go in the afternoon. Sadly I did a front cross that just kept crossing (yep - a very dodgy move) This resulted in Selby taking the spread from the side and running through it like a channel. The crowd thought it was really funny, I was just plain embarrassed! Despite my dodgy handling I was really happy with the way Selby ran - she did go where I sent her after all!
Saturday was the Obedience trial so Selby had a day off while I went along to watch and see what obedience was all about - maybe one day we will give it a go (maybe).
Back again yesterday for Agility and Jumping. Novice agility started really well but Selby sadly took a wrong entry into the tunnel and then blew her contacts - something we really need to fix soon. Excellent jumping was also a really good run with just 1 bar and deciding not to take one jump. In both runs Selby had great drive and her run home in the jumping was great so I am really happy with how she is going especially as we nearly had to pull out of the trial as she was lame a couple of weeks ago.Back next Saturday for the games and hopefully a clear round!

Selby AD

Selby turned 3 on Saturday and celebrated by finally achieving the 3rd leg of her Novice Agility Title at yesterday's Midland trial. It was a nice flowing course for her so I was just worried about her contacts- she got them both! Yay! There's a few things that need working on but not going to worry about them today - just going to celebrate my clever puppy no longer being a novice dog :)

Selby's 1st run in Excellent Jumping

Mikeshe

A Day of Highs and Lows

Last Sunday was a day of emotional highs and lows with my beloved pets.
We set of early for the days trial in Rockingham and as it was raining hard I wasn't too concerned when Mikeshe (my cat) wasn't waiting on the front porch for breakfast - if she's not there it normally means she is in the roof taking cover, she's certainly never far away. Anyway - car packed ready for trial and a road trip with friends to Margaret River, dogs loaded, no Amos this weekend as he wasn't coming away with me but I did have Maverick in tow as he had been staying with us and was off to Jules' place for a few days.

It was a wet and wild morning but managed to stay fairly nice during the trial. Selby's day got off to a brilliant start when in her 1st run of the day she got her Novice Jumping Title!!!! WOOOHOOO!!! I thought she had been called for a refusal early on and lost a bit of touch with her coming through the tunnel so was surprised to hear 'clear' called at the end, but hey, we got there and I was stoked! (and she came 1st Yippee)

Contacts remain a problem in the ring so we blew both agility rounds but gave Excellent Jumping a go in the afternoon. This was probably one of the best courses I have run with Selby and she just got one refusal and dropped the last bar so I was really happy. In the Open it was just 1 refusal! Overall a really good day....

And then it got bad ....

Just after my last run I picked up a missed call from my flatmate. Sadly it was to tell me that Mikeshe had been run over and killed. I just couldn't believe it. She is the world's most timid cat and never ventures more than a few feet from the front door - I have certainly never seen her near a road!! I was absolutely gutted. I have had Miki for 10 years and whilst she was shy around other people she has been just the loveliest cat with me (and she could fetch better than any dog I have ever owned)It was really hard to continue on my trip south for the week and having to rely on my flatmate to bury her was really difficult.

I have just arrived home from my trip and it's going to take a long time to get used to not being greeted at the door by my beautiful kitty :( I have Maverick back for a few days and between him and Selby am sure to get plenty of cuddles but I'm just really going to miss my favourite putty cat

Selby Learns the Seesaw

With 2 passes in Novice Agility it is time to learn the seesaw. I was a bit worried about teaching this to Selby as I didn't know if she would like it. No need to have worried - she LOVES it! This video is of only the 3rd time I have had her on it and so far I am really happy with how it is going. If the seesaw is set up and I am not paying attention Selby runs out and just does it on her own!! As much as I don't want her taking off and doing her own thing, I am stoked that she likes it so much :)
So far we just have it on 1/2 height and it will stay there until I am really happy with her speed and end, then we'll start raising the level. Will be quite happy if she stays in Novice just a while longer so we can perfect it, I don't want to rush what is looking like being a great piece of equipment for us.

Crash Tackle.avi

Don't pay too much attention to Selby's run - it wasn't very good. Watch the bottom right of the screen for the great crash tackle of the 4 yr old pitch invader! This was taken when we traveled up to Geraldton recently