Yesterday we had the latest of the Paws at Play shows.  I was helping in the Secretaries office as usual, and it proved as distracting as ever to try to run both dogs as well s I can!!  However, we did manage to get together some lovely runs and came away with  some pretty rosettes and trophies for our efforts!

PEPPER

Advanced Agility - We ran the first run NFC so that I could train her contacts and she ran beautifully.  We used our Rewind Ticket to run again for competition and she was clear, but I don't think it was as tidy as the NFC run had been!
Advanced Jumping - Mike Evans had a set a lovely course and I was really looking forward to running it but sadly we picked up 5 faults in the middle of the course as I wasn't able to send her on to a jump in time!  I was really pleased with how she ran the rest of it though!
Advanced Steeplechase 1 - Another lovely course from Mike, but sadly I was unable to get her round clear!  She was on a bit of a mission and missed a ketschker command, and then took the tunnel instead of the jump giving us a very sad E!!
Advanced Steeplechase 2 - Diane had put together a really flowing course which Pepper ran beautifully and was clear!

RUBY

Beginner Agility - The first un on this course was really good but I lost connection with her and she took the dog walk instead of a jump giving us an E, so I used my Rewind Ticket and on the second attempt she was clear!  I was really pleased with both of these runs as she got a tricky weave entry in both runs!
Beginner Jumping - Sadly we picked up faults for this run due to a missed weave entry - we're getting there but still need to work on consistency!
Beginner Steeplechase 1 - A lovely flowing course and a lovely clear!
Beginner Steeplechase 2 - Another lovely flowing course and another lovely clear!

RESULTS

PEPPER

Advanced Agility - 1st
Advanced Jumping - 1st

RUBY

Beginner Agility - 1st
Beginner Steeplechase 1 - 4th
Beginner Steeplechase 2 - Clear Round

Here they are with their little collection of rosettes and trophies:

The January show of the Kelluki Winter Series was as eventful as usual, with lots of nearly brilliant runs, but let down but some poor handling!. We had 3 lovely judges in Neil Ellis, Jen Slade and Stephen Sutherland, and I had really looked forward to the courses they would put together.

PEPPER

The first run was the Advanced Agility 2 and we managed to scrape a fab second! In the Advanced Agility 1 we used our second chance ticket but sadly didn't manage a clear in either run! Most disappointing was the E we got in the Advanced Steeplechase - she was flying and the course was fab, but towards the end I lost my way a little and caused her to take a jump the wrong way :-(. Finally, the Advanced Jumping, which was a challenging course, but we made a lovely clear and am delighted that we were placed 1st!

RUBY

It was a challenging day for Ruby! Ian had come along to the show with his Trophy stand and Ruby spotted him on the balcony of the gallery - she ran over to the gallery in every run to see if Daddy was there, so I failed to keep her attention in the ring! But she did manage a lovely clear in the final run of the day, the Beginner Jumping, sadly just out of the places on time!

Looking forward to the last show of the series in February, although I might not let Ian come this time!!

Here they are with their rosettes:

It's time to take our 2015 rosettes down and pack them away to make space for our 2016 collection (fingers crossed!).

I'm really pleased with what we have achieved this year - Pepper achieved the goal that I set for 2015 to get into Grade 5, and Ruby has returned to competing and is having fun.

For 2016 I would be delighted if Pepper can win into Grade 6 and I'd love to qualify for the UKA Grand Finals again.  With Ruby I'd like her confidence to continue to grow and for her to keep having fun.

Here are pictures of both girls with their 2015 rosette collections:
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Nedlo held a limited KC show for Small and Medium dogs on 2nd January so I took the girls along and met up with Sally and Emma to have some fun with our dogs.

The first class was our only qualifying run, a Graded Agility for all grades from 1-7.  It was a lovely flowing course and Pepper did a great job after our Christmas break.  We were clear, but having reviewed the video I can see that although she had stopped on the contact, she didn't get into the correct 2 on 2 off position, where her front paws should be on the ground.  It's a good point for training - I need to get her to completely understand the correct position and make sure that she replicates it on all contact equipment.

Next was the Special Combined 1-7 Jumping which both Ruby and Pepper were taking part in.  Based on our running orders I had to run Pepper first and we unfortunately picked up 5 faults due to poor handling on my part.  The rest of it was lovely though and I was especially pleased with her weaves whereI ran past her while she was weaving and it didn't phase her at all!  Ruby was next on this same course, but I chanced the way that I handled the section where Pepper had picked up the  faults.  This worked well for Ruby and she drove beautifully round the course, including a great weave entry and managed a clear round.

Finally we had the Steeplechase - we had a Combined 1-3 for Ruby and a Combined 4-7 for Pepper.  Ruby started really well but decided to 'freestyle' a section of the course so we were eliminated.  The 4-7 course for Pepper was quite tricky with lots of rear crosses, but she ran it beautifully.  Unfortunately she was just out of the places - she would have been 4th but they only placed to 3rd - but the times were all really close.

Final results:

PEPPER:

Grade 5 Agility - 1st (her first win towards Grade 6)
Combined 4-7 Steeplechase - Clear

RUBY:

Combined 1-7 Jumping - 7th

Here are videos of all of their runs:

And here are pictures of them both with their rosettes, snuggled in their Trover drying coats after a much needed shower: