We had a few campers who stayed over the w/e. I went up on the Sunday to help with ring party and do some agility. (Robert had been asked to judge Div 5). Rach & Mark didn't have the best of w/e's on the camping front. Firstly, Rach would have us believe, she left the bung to the air bed at home , so they had to sleep on the ground. The second night, Toby peed in their bag of clothing………..and in an effort to finish Rach off, Mark tried shutting the tail gate down, while Rachel's head was still in the way………….
On the agility front, Ben was 2nd in Elementary Jumping, Monty was 1st in Starters jumping, and Breeze and Tosh were 3rd and 5th respectively in Novice jumping. So a good day had by all…………….(and Angel got 'E'd for sticking her head in the tunnel!).
Sunday was going to be busy, 3 teams in 3 Divs. We started off with Div 6 - Bassett Jelly Babies (Eddie, Badger, Meg, Ben, Angel and Breeze on stand by, but not required!!) This was Meg & Angels first sanctioned competition, and they both raced well. Ed thoroughly enjoyed himself, and didn't put a paw wrong all day. And Badger & Ben were the reliable 'old men'!! Bassett Jelly Babies won their first two races against the Wolverines and the Wolf Cubs 3-0, who were both struggling to get all 4 dogs up and back.
The first race of the afternoon was our toughest, against the Underdogs, going to 3-2. Unfortunately Angel heard the 'banging' and just wanted to go back to the caravan, and with a change of dog from the Underdogs, we decided to swap Angel for Ben. Although we were virtually a dog ahead when Ben went out last, he gave us a heart stopping moment, when he fumbled the ball, and went out wide. Being the experienced and reliable old boy he is, he corrected himself and came back down all 4 jumps to complete the run, which gave us the last leg! And our final run was won 3-0 against the Knight Mares, as they were also having problems getting their dogs up and back. So………we won the Div! Our best time was 22.50secs.
Bassett Allsorts (Beano, Molly, Monty, Tosh & Beau), had the chance of some good close racing, but luck wasn't with us, and we had a few problems along the way! Our first race was very close against Molton Metals, but we couldn't quiet catch them, so lost 3-0. Our first leg against the Springboks, looked like it was going to be close again, and then brain ache struck Molly! And we lost 3-1. Our fortunes changed against Buccaneers, when they had dog problems, and we won 3-0.
Our first race of the afternoon was against Molton Magnets. It could have been close, had we not messed up totally!! For some reason all 4 dogs suddenly had problems with the balls springing out of the box, in every direction, causing all of them to run round the jumps. It put a smile on everyone's faces, including ours for lighting up the xmas tree in style! We did get a time - eventually - 33.20secs (6 dogs!) And we finished the day off well, but just short on speed, against Snatch 'n' Grab. Although Beau gave them a fright when he gobbled up the distance between him and their last dog, which was turning off the box nearly 2 jumps ahead him.
So we came 5th in Div 3, with a best time of 19.55secs.
And finally, Bassett Hotdogs (Spencer, Abby, Ollie & Rosie) had the 'bad draw' of the Divs. Seed 6 in Div 1. Their first 3 races were against the Barkshire Bandits, Molton Magnets & Maple Leafs. All teams who run about 17.5 secs, so we lost 3-0 to each of them. The afternoon saw the Jumping Jacks get their long awaited revenge on us! They also beat us 3-0, and finally our best race of the day, which was close, and that was against Molton Marvels. But they just piped us to the post, and won 3-2.
So we came 6th, but they did gain their best ever time with Ollie as height dog - 18.81secs. All in all, it was a good day, with the dogs running well. All the work that has gone into the starters over the winter has paid off. And I think the team dogs came out feeling fresh, after having a break.