I had big plans for this year, this agility season I would be competing Spudley and Lilly for the first time. The last few years I have been working on their ringside skills, such as calmness when queuing, the vast number of dogs doing exciting running and jumping things, and not being worried by spectators. Izzy was looking fit and healthy, and I was expecting great things.
The pinnacle of my year is an international show called Dogs in Need, it takes place in August and was my first large show when I started my agility career. It is my favourite and I camp with friends so it has a holiday vibe. the classes are large with over 100 dogs in my particular classes.
This year I felt fitter and better able to keep up with my dogs, so they all had 2 runs each per day. This is 6 runs a day, sounds easy until you look at the logistics of getting the right dog at the correct ring and not missing your runs. This show has a tournament, called the classic and you get placed according to how many points you get in 4 classes. 2 jumping and 2 agility. The first competition day was a really good one for us. Izzy was unplaced 13th out of 72 dogs, in the agility, and she was placed 11th out of 100 dogs in the Classic tournament jumping. There are only a certain number of places in any class, and the awards in that class usually go up to about 10%. This is why in one class she was placed but in the other not.
Unfortunately that evening whilst relaxing she managed to injure her armpit, That meant a trip to the emergency vet and £2000 ish pounds later, and an operation Izzy was back looking very sorry for herself. This also meant that she was removed from further classes. I still ran Lilly and Spudley who both did really well, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I just wanted to get my girl home and better.
Izzy is doing really well now, and actually did a course of small jumps, to test out how the course I designed and was due to judge ran. She loved it and was jumping lovely. I have one more small competition to go, but realistically I am looking to next year now. I need to keep my dogs, and I fit over the winter, and train hard to get the results that we need.
I will update with our fitness journey as it develops.
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