An Unexpected Success

After another night of hearing weird alien-like noises, we get up and head off to our Crufts qualifier in Newark. I track the noises towards the Uni. Students?

At the dog show we mess up the seesaw on run one but that was better than runs two and three which were pretty much a total disaster. The problem is run three was the all important team run in the Crufts qualifier. Not only did MD have faults, he self-started before the baton change had been done and got the team 20 changeover faults too. With only one of our three dogs clear and 55 faults, which is practically a cricket score, that’s surely that for the day.

I think it may have been too hot for him or it was because now after a few showers it’s blowing a gale.

Having said we’re having a bad day, everyone else is having a worse one. Our team, despite it’s cricket score, is currently in second place albeit with a long way to go though. Even the leaders picked up 20 changeover faults. It was a pretty tough course.

Bizarrely, after all 43 teams have run, only two managed to not get at least one dog eliminated (which scores 100 faults) and we were one of them, so we came second. What is even funnier is that it turns out that the first placed team had already qualified for Crufts at a previous heat. Which means the qualifying place goes to the second placed team... which was us. So… OMG. We have qualified for Crufts. 

Time to celebrate...

After having offered to show my tennis opponent how the pubs of Canning Circus have changed since the 1990s we are not surprised when it doesn’t happen. We go anyway and spend the evening in first the Hand and Heart, then the Blue Monkey.

 

(Saturday 27^th May)

Stress Levels

I drop L at the bus stop at 6:45am with her stress levels reading ‘red’, which is more to do with having to rely on two buses turning up on time and to dovetail together rather than the race itself. The first bus doesn’t even appear on the electronic signs. Some buses do, some don’t. It’s nothing to do with it not being a council bus and the signs being provided by the council of course. Thankfully it is on time, as is her coach to Sheffield. So stress levels falls a little to a kind of deep amber.

While L heads north, I head south to Peterborough, where the weather seems to be fining up after the early rain. In fact it turns out to be another sunny day, at least at the Peterborough Showground.

Up in Sheffield, L claims to be on the front row, of the second batch of starters but even so, that’s nosebleed territory. I’m so proud.

Meanwhile MD continues to frustrate. Beautifully clear for half his first run then a pole goes down, he misses his weave entry, then comes out the damn things completely, twice, then for good measure two more poles down. Faults wise it’s a cricket score and the judge will probably sue us for injury caused by overuse of his arm signalling it all to the scorer.

Second run. MD picks a course with the weaves not only as obstacle number two but also set on the diagonal (which incidentally should not be allowed on this level of course) to release himself before I'm ready. I recover the situation, just, and we storm round clear, yet having wasted several seconds unnecessarily faffing around at the start. We come 19th and oddly get a rosette for that.

So not a great day so far and it's only 11am. Then we sit twiddling our collective thumbs and paws until MD’s final run comes around at about 4pm. I spend some time chatting to the wild life, at what is actually a county show type event.

Then to cap it off a lovely clear from MD on our final run is not ruled lovely by the judge who gave us 5 faults for a see-saw contact that we definitely got. Clearly the judge didn’t agree and he’s entitled to his opinion but then I was a lot closer than him and had the better view of me making sure MD got it. Unfortunately it’s his opinion that counts. We would have been 5th, which wouldn’t have been bad but at least he hasn’t done us out of a win.

Meanwhile Doggo, whose been banned from competing today by the vet, has been ambling around all day, soaking up the concerned attention of everyone and generally having a sniffing good time.

Up in Sheffield L does another 57 minute 10k, so she’s getting very consistent. Now we need to work on getting her to break into the 56s. Her rival for the day is a mere four seconds behind. Blimey. Close then. No wonder she’s straight on the Abbot afterwards as she meets Daughter for lunch.

In the evening it’s my turn on the Abbot as she consoles me in the local.

(Sunday 9th October)

Cricket Score

A drive down to Biggleswade this morning for a dog show, which is a fair old trip. Having looked at our schedule for the day I leave late. MD has no courses until mid morning at the earliest. Doggo has one, but I can wing and a prayer it with him without having to get there at 8.30 to walk around it before the class starts.

It is, as predicted, an uneventful morning. Doggo and I do our winging and a praying on his first course. We go clear and in a reasonable time but not quite fast enough to get a placing. Whereas despite the fact I get to walk three courses for MD, he doesn’t gets to run anything before lunch.

Back home though, L has. She’s been in motion. Finishing her Ian McEwan book and then going out for a run. You’d have thought somebody had disturbed her at some ridiculous hour this morning.

It’s hot down here. I’m getting a tan, well sunburn. I should have brought my shorts with me. MD does all four of his runs in the afternoon and makes one mistake in each of the first three. For some reason the weaves cause us a problem today but on the positive side, his tunnels fine. He doesn’t feel the need to bark at any of them today. He also only has one pole down.

His fourth course is a bit of a cricket score, faults wise, but it was hot and he was tired. Overall I’m very pleased with him. So no clears for the young pretender but the old maestro goes clear again in the second of his two runs, although again he’s outside the placings.

(Sunday 10th April)