Agility Dreams.....Agility Champion OBay Tiz Wild

Its peculiar you know, in my last post on the 4th August, I talked of agility dreams and goals, of making them real and pushing for more. At KCI, the premier show of the agility summer season, we had two off courses, a beautiful run in the Olympia semis, that unfortunately was not quick enough against other competitors and in the British Open, we again had a beautiful run but Zev, uncharacteristically had a pole down. In competition this is incredibly rare. 

I was wondering when all the improvements I had made to our fitness, technical skills and team work was gonna start to pay off. I focused on my processes despite the season being really in many respects our worse season ever on paper, In my heart and even my rational mind, I know we have improved and I needed to stick to the journey I had set us on. It would have been all to easy to quit and go back to tried and tested methods and not stick to the new processes I was working on.

I needed a boost very much. The process of working towards Zev's agility title had become harder than I though it would be. I was beginning to doubt myself, even with the prestige of being on Agility Team GB. Too many times there was 'if only' scenarios this year, the competition has gotten tougher and I wondered would all our improvements would ever be enough?

The day of the Welsh Kennel Club Championship Agility Test arrived. I focused on my mental game, kept reminding myself of my processes that I was working on and how to handle the courses for both me and Zev. We were clear in the agility and jumping qualifying rounds. Our placements meant that we would run the final run - last but one. I gave up running my dearest Bear to concentrate on Zev, as their runs were too close together. I need to be fully focused on Zev. On to the start line I knew I needed the run of our life and told myself to concentrate on the processes. Another clear it was an excellent run but would it be good enough???? There is so many factors to this and to my total jubilation we won. This  was this was our 3rd Ticket win aka Challenge Certificate, an agility dream come true. Zev would now have the title of Agility Champion.

Marc has put together the following 2 mini movies made with imovie. The first is a celebration trailer and the second movie shows our runs.

The first time I watched tears welled up and I thought of so many things such as that my beloved Nuts was not around to see this happen, that me and Zev had done it, how lucky was I that Bernadette and Dennis Bay had entrusted me with one of their precious sheltie puppies.  How lucky am I that my resilience 'kicked in' and I kept on going and working at the processes and Team GB pointed me in that direction...

Sometimes Agility Dreams Do Come True..........

Diminutive Dixie wins her 1st CC - Aug 2013

The diminutive Dixie, who would have thought that Marc’s tiny powerhouse of a border collie who we reckon is one of the smallest ‘large’ dogs on the agility circuit in the UK would win a challenge certificate in championship during her first season at Grade 7.

But this is what happened at Wilton Champ show at Bank Holiday August 2013, it was one of those days where the flashes of so much promise all season, was delivered :)...

So looking forward to seeing Marc and Dixie run at Crufts 2014 :)

 

Some Oh So High Moments with Zev

Some oh so high moments with Zev this agility season - A series of first achievements for me and Zev. We came

• 2^nd in the Medium KC qualifier for the semi’s at Thames, so now have a chance to qualify to run at Olympia
• 1^st in the Crufts Singles at Landsdown (Marc won the smalls with Big, so nice to do the double)
• 1^st in the championship jumping qualifying round at Tuffsbury

This is so exciting. Then another bonus was Marc and I with Zev and Big achieved another double at Tuffsbury by qualifying for the Pro-Plan final in September.

However, our record for getting through to champ finals is abysmal this year. Last year I think we only failed to qualify for 2 finals. This year up to the end of June we have qualified for just one!!! Talk about a reversal and that’s a bugger. The getting to shows is costly and we luv running in the finals it real ‘by the sit of your pants’ stuff. So the focus for the rest of summer is champ. This focus has made the difference, we made the last 3 finals and we won our second championship ticket at the Agility Club Show on 27^th July 2013, then the icing on the cake was the next day we won the Medium KC qualifier. What a weekend of determination, focus and sheer highs of running agility courses :)

 

 

For me it is a sense of achievement and recognition of an evolving handling style and a fabulous sheltie, who gives so much. To some this may seem a ‘bragging’ post, but what the heck we achieved this and this is a record and celebration of that achievement. And good stuff happens to need celebrating...

 

 

Mister Big and the World Agility Championships - 2012

Oh my, Mister Bigs and Marc continue their agility adventure at full speed. This time they went to Liberec in the Czech Republic to compete at the FCI Agility World Championships (web link).

What an amazing time they had, whilst not bringing home any medals as they had a very uncharacteristic elimination, and Biggles got lost in one of the tunnels they are still my champs. A total of 3 out of 4 clears.

That is agility lows and highs but never dull and so worth it :-)

Watching it on Agility Vision via live stream was great for me as I looked after Marc's other guys for him. This video by Dog Sport Magazine, is a super snapshot of the emotion of a world class agility event, with world class handlers, dogs, judges, courses and of course dancing and celebrating :-)

This is what it is all about...

And now for the next world adventure as they have qualified for The World Agility Open Championship in Spain - May 2013