I took Pepper to our second KC show today, run by Nedlo for medium dogs!  For good measure I took my Mum who was visiting for Christmas - nothing like getting up at 6am during the Christmas holiday!

I was really nervous but we met up with some Paws at Play friends who were there to offer advice and support, and the whole event was extremely friendly and well organised.  I'd like to thank Sally, Emma, June and Martin for their support on the day, and also my Mum for videoing our runs and keeping me supplied with coffee and bacon rolls.

Congratulations to June and Kola for their second place in G1-3 Agility (G1) and G1-2 Jumping - well deserved for great runs - I honestly thought I had got rid of you into Grade 2 but am sure that it won't be long!

Well done also to Sally and Taya for their first G6 win in G1-4 Agility - I'm sure it won't be long before you get the 3 more you need for G7!

And finally to Emma for a G1-7 (G7) win with the lovley George!

So here is how the day unfolded for me and Pepper (we'll try not to le:

G1-3 Agility

The course was quite nice and I planned how I was going to run it.  I was quite worried how Pepper would be after 3 weeks off training for the Christmas holiday but she did me proud - good wait, hit all of her contacts and 12 good weaves.  Unfortunately I had underestimated the draw of a jump towards the end and didn't give a good enough instruction so she ended up taking the wrong course - eliminated -I'll continue to beat myself up for the mistake but I'm generally happy with the rest of the run:

We had a lovely Christmas morning walk around a very muddy Farnham Park this morning!

We met up with Pip, Stu, Cameron and Phoebe with Kipper, and Julie and Darron with Charlie so Ruby and Pepper had a ball running through the muddy puddles and ditches with their friends.

We were extremely lucky to have some sunshine for our walk as it rained pretty much for the rest of the day.

Here are a few pictures of our walk:

Pachesham have introduced a new service at their shows!  They film one of the rings and if you choose to buy a copy, it is collated into a really nice film.  This is the one that I have just bought - it shows the Jumping and Steeplechase rounds from 30th November.

We got 5 faults for the jumping for the weaves - Pepper got the entry the first time but popped out, which is unusual for her.  I was quite far away from her so wasn't there to support her through them - a good thing to practice but clearly a bit too much for her at the moment.

Some of the turns could be a bit tighter but I was pleased with the rear crosses as I normally avoid them.

Here it is...

Pepper and I have been to two shows this weekend - Pachesham Grade 1-5 Winter Series yesterday, and Scrambles Winter Series today.

At Pachesham we had a mixed day:

Jumping - 5 faults for the weaves, she came out after the 4th pole but did it second time beautifully.

Agility I - 10 faults for the seesaw and a missed tunnel entry.

Steeplechase - a clear round and placed 5th.  I knew it wasn't fast when I was running it but it was good to get her round clear on a nice flowing course.

Agility II - E'd - she flew off the A-frame and then jumped up and down and barked at me!  Eventually I managed to shape her back on to the bottom and we carried on but she was a little minx!

Scrambles today was pretty similar:

Agility I - I ran NFC so that I could train her contacts with treats.  She did a pretty good round and seemed quite controlled on her contacts.

Jumping - 5 faults for having a pole down - it was such a shame as she was flying and the course ran quite nicely.  This is the one that I will beat myself up about but she doesn't knock poles very often so not sure how it could have been avoided.

Agility II - The only contact was a dog walk right at the end so it didn't seem worth running it NFC.  She did pretty well and was really watching.  We got 5 faults for the tunnel entry, all my fault for stepping away before she had committed to it.  Her dog walk contact was pretty good!

Steeplechase - Really nice course and managed a clear being placed 3rd.  David and Maggie were 2nd and Sue and Molly were 1st.  We are having a really nice friendly competition between us!

In between the two shows I also had the Paws at Play Christmas Party - it was really nice to see everyone dressed up and to be able to finish a conversation without being interrupted by a dog or having to take my turn at training!  Thanks to Michelle and Nicky for organising a fun night for us all!

So all in all, a great weekend!  We were blessed with cold, but nice, weather, two fun competitions and two more pretty rosettes to add to our collection!

A special thank you to my lovely boyfriend, Ian, for putting up with me and fending for himself while I've been off having fun with Pepper!  I'm off to make him a roast dinner now :-)