The big dilemma I had this w/e, was which dogs were going to race in what teams………..! I had 9 dogs, before the BFA Champs, but after racing, Badger went lame. So that left me with 8 dogs. I had the choice of pulling a team out, giving Allsorts 6 dogs and only 4 races, or putting one or two of the Allsorts in the Jelly Babies……………..and just in case Angel & Breeze didn't want to do to much, I needed another dog! So a desperate phone call to Tina & Andy on Thursday, and they kindly brought Ben along. Which then meant Ollie was the chosen one for Jelly Babies. Both Ben & Breeze (& Andy & I) really appreciated Ollie in that team. It is so difficult to have to pull out a dog from an existing team, particularly when we done so well the previous week.
Pete, Wendy & Elaine, all drove down on Friday evening, and camped. Claire & I camped Sat night, leaving Tina, Andy, Rachel & Kevin all arriving for the day on Saturday. The camping area & flyball / agility area were about 3 large fields apart, so a fair bit of walking, but from the camping point of view it was lovely!
Jelly Babies were seeded 3 in Div 4. Katie & Ollie raced everything, whilst Ben, Breeze & Angel shared the racing. Allsorts were seeded 2 in Div 2, and they were Beano, Meg, Tosh & Beau.
Race1: Jelly Babies 'v' Wolf Cubs - Wolf cubs had a few inconsistent dogs, as they were desperate for extra handlers & box loader! So we won 3-1, best time 23.13
Race 2: Jelly Babies 'v' Flap Jacks - Another straight forward win 3-0. Best time 22.90
Race 3: Jelly Babies 'v' Ball Buster Bandits - This was potentially going to be a close race, as our times were very similar! We were slightly ahead when Ben went out, but unfortunately he came back around the jumps, so Angel was brought in. Although our first 3 dogs were faster, we couldn't give Angel enough of a lead to win. So we lost that one 3-0. Best time 24.17
Race 4: Jelly Babies 'v' Ace's High - We just didn't have enough speed to beat this team. So lost 3-0, best time 24.13.
Over all we came 3rd, with a best time of 22.90.
Race 1: Allsorts 'v' Bad Dog Meecos - A fairly straight forward race, as we had them on speed. Won 3-1, best time 19.79
Race 2: Allsorts 'v' Cracker Jacks - this turned out to be our closest & most exciting race. Luckily Alison was watching our passes, and with her help, we went from being 2-0 down to 2-2. In the last race I managed a faulty pass, and had to re run. Only by luck, the opposition also had to re run, and by luck again, their dog ran round (possibly due to the TV crew who were filming them!), and Tosh completed! Won 3-2, best time 19.51
Race 3: Allsorts 'v' Underdogs - underdogs were running NFC, so we won 3-0. Best time 19.66
Race 4: Allsorts 'v' Maple Leaf Raggers - On paper, they were faster than us, but we were going to give it a go! The first race was extremely close, but they won the leg. Our next two races, Beau was just starting to watch the opposition. Claire did ask if we could swap lanes, to give us a chance! But they didn't, so we lost 3-0! Best time 19.66. Over all we came 2nd, with a best time of 19.51.
Jelly Babies had been invited to take part in the Living Heritage Country Cup Final, as they K9'ers had pulled out. They had averaged our seed time out from previous competitions, and came up with 22.63. Our first race was against the Maple Leafs, who had to beat us by 5.20secs. They didn't, so we went through to the next round!
This time we were up against Barkshire Bandidos. They had to beat us by 2.5 secs. And they did, so we then had a run off for 3rd & 4th place, against Bad Dog Meecos. Again, they had to beat us by about 2.5 secs. And in the first race they beat us. So in came Ben. He unfortunately ran out, so we lost. But we did come 4th over all, and had a little bit of unexpected extra racing.
In the evening, we went for a nice walk along the River Medway, and after eating, we went socializing in the awning, and played Uno. As usual, the evening went down hill, once the toilet was mentioned…………
Sunday was a restful day. We had all day to wander around the show and do agility! Rain was threatening all morning, and at lunch time, down it came. I have never packed a tent away so quickly! And then it stopped!! Claire & I only just managed to get to our Novice jumping, 2 dogs from the end of class. (We hadn't walked it!) Tosh came 2nd and Beau got a C/R. We then walked Novice Agility, and both made a mess of it and got 'E'd.