Blake Hall Show - 28-29th September - (Report by Anne Alderman)

Again only a few of us managed to get to this show, but a big effort was made, as it was the culmination of the Cleverdogs championships.

The team raced as Allsorts, although 3 of the dogs currently race in Hotdogs, and the others have previously done so. But with the various combinations we were going to be slower than the Hotdogs seed time, and probably closer to the Allsorts current one of 19.99. So the dogs were Abby, Barley, Monty, Breeze, Badger and Lady.

As Cleverdogs was the same day as racing for Barley, Breeze, Monty and Badger, I decided to share the racing between them, and let Abby and Lady do the majority. This meant in our first two races we were without Barley. The dogs raced well over full height, but just didn't have enough speed against Bad Dog Meecos (3-0) or Melton Striders (3-1). We then brought in Barley, the jumps went down, and our speed improved! We went on to win our next 3 races against Killa Bytes (3-1), Ball Busters (3-0)and Springboks (3-2). We came 3rd in Div 2, with a best time of 20.49.

Onto Cleverdog pairs. Although Breeze & Monty were lying over all in 1st place, we knew this would be lost to Badger & Becky, providing they turned up. But we had to make sure we were placed high enough to stop Toastie & Dizzy nipping into 2nd place. As there was no qualifying, by luck Breeze & Monty went straight into the semi-finals, so guaranteeing us 4th in this heat, which is all we needed. As it happened, Breeze wasn't keen on playing flyball, and that's where we came (with a best time of 52.49)! Badger & Becky came 2nd, with a best time of 44.11, in the heat. So the overall results for 2002 Pairs Cleverdogs of the Year:

'The Big Final' (as Anton put it), Mini Cleverdogs. Currently in first place by 3 points was Bramble, with Barley hot on her heals. So hot, that all Barley had to do was qualify! And as there was only the two of them there to compete, Barley only had to step in the ring, to take up the challenge, and she would win! And guess what……………..she won! Her best time was 25.41. So overall points for 2002 Mini Cleverdog of the Year:

And finally, as we had finished so early on Saturday, a special class was put on for dogs not competing over the weekend. Rosie was paired with Freddie, and Ollie was paired with ? (Val's dog form Bad Dogs!). Rosie ran well, until she was 'interferred' with. She then started to ogle at the other lane. But they came 2nd. Ollie and his pair were knocked out straight away (by Rosie & Freddie!) but Ollie did behaved himself. Only on his first run did he escape. After that he went straight back to Rachel. Anton made some nice comments about him. So well done Rachel!

On Sunday I had planned to go and do some Xmas shopping! But we were called upon for our ring party duties, with Robert as judge. We did manage to get a quick glimpse around some of the show while pairs flyball was on, before getting back for Cleverdogs again.

Div 1 started the afternoon off, with Ben and Abby being seeds 3 and 6. Ben was drawn against Heidi, and today he just didn't have the turn of speed around the sharp corners to keep up. Abby also had a difficult draw, so was out on her first race, which meant Ben and Abby raced each other for 5th & 6th place. Ben came 6th (20.??) and Abby took 5th (19.99). This meant Ben was just pushed down into 4th place over all, with Link just taking away his 3rd place. Well done to Ben, 'The Old War Horse' and Andy for a good season. Abby also done well over all, and I think possibly came 7th. So the overall results for 2002 Open Cleverdogs:

Monty was Seed 1 in Div 2. He had some good racing and went through to the finals. Here he was up against River. The racing was very close, and could have been anyone's………….but every time Anton made a nice comment about Monty, he went wrong! So he narrowly lost out and was 2nd, but it was very close. His best time was 22.00.

Finally, ABC's. Badger was seed 3, and went through to the semis where he met Toastie, and was knocked out! He had a run off for 3rd & 4th place, and managed to beat Mac, so finishing 3rd (24.30). So the overall results in 2002 ABC Cleverdogs.

For the full listing of Cleverdogs 2002 results refer to the Modern Dogs Sports Web Pages at:

http://members.aol.com/moderndogs/