After a lot of phone calls, and doubts & deliberations, we finally entered Allsorts in Open & Doggy Mixtures in MB, borrowing a dog (Tyson - for those of you who don't know, Tyson is one of the fastest flyball dogs in Britain, and runs for Barkshire Bandits).
We had a relaxing weekend. Jeff & Marlyn, Pete &Wendy arrived on Friday, and Elaine & I arrived early Saturday am. Our day was spent just looking around the show & the Hop farm, and walking the dogs.
Sunday saw Vicki & John arrive after a 3 ½ hr drive of nearly 200 miles, to join us in Div 2, seed 4. Plan was Tess, Tosh & Meg to race everything (Tosh & Meg to share Mulitbreed on Monday), and Katie & Alfie share Open, (and run everything in Mulitbreed), but nothing ever goes to plan………………
Race 1: Allsorts 'v' Melton Foxes (T, Te, M, A) - Close! A double false start (I was just testing the red light for Elaine!) on the 3rd race, meant we lost it before we had got into our stride!
Race 2: Allsorts 'v' Bad Dog Meecos (K, T, Te, M,) - More close racing. Vicki, who likes the look of the blue light, thought she'd see what the yellow looked like! We were 2-2, when Pete pushed his pass just a fraction in the last race, so loosing it 3-2, best time 19.60.
Race 3: Allsorts 'v' Maple Leaf Raggers (T, Te, M, A) - Loosing narrowly 2-0, so pulled Katie in for Alfie. Unfortunately Katie fumbled at the box, and we could get it back again. Lost 3-0, best time 20.31
Race 4: Allsorts 'v' Barkshire Bambinos (K, T, Te, M) - A nice straight forward win, 3-0, best time 19.87.
Race 5: Allsorts 'v' Barkshire Bandidos (T, Te, M, A) - Again, some close racing .At 2-1 to us, I decided to bring Katie in, as we had the potential to win this one, with out the struggle we were currently going through to achieve it. Wasn't straight forward though, but did win 3-2, best time 20.03
Race 6: Allsorts 'v' Extrabuccs (K, T, Te, M) - Having won the last two races, we were on a roll to try to win this one. Again, it was a struggle, but we managed it. Won 3-2, best time 19.92
After a 3 way tie, Extrabucc's & us decided on a single leg run off, but Melton weren't available. So it went on fastest average times, and we came 4th, with a best time of 19.60. Katie also gained her FDA, so well done to her & Elaine!
Sunday evening we went for a nice walk along the river. Katie managed to slice Pete's pooh bag in half, so taking some of the bag on her stick, the pooh dropped to the ground, and Pete kept hold of the 'handle'! We then sat and watched an ambulance being towed off the field opposite having put his 'blues' on at a speed of 2mph behind a tractor! And finally Elaine was able to cook a BBQ in peace (no Dave!), and were treated to some evening entertainment, courtesy of Wayne. He was unaware we were watching him dancing with Myer (dog!). Once we had cheered his performance, Alison made him come into the middle of our camping area, and put on another performance.
Monday, was Multibreed Double Elimination. We had our 'trump card' thanks to Penny. Tyson was coming to play in the Doggy Mixtures. The main problem with Double elimination, is that you have to keep a close eye on what is happening, as until the race is over, you don't know when your next race is, or who you'll be against, so making it difficult to plan ahead.
Race 1: Doggy Mixtures 'v' ?? Herts (K, Ty, T, A) - As we didn't know what kind of times other teams would be capable of, I decided to put Tosh in first to see what we might be able to do. It turned out the other team were quite a bit slower, as Alfie was finishing with their 3rd dog! Won 3-0, best time 19.36
Race 2: Doggy Mixtures 'v' Hampshire Hawks (K, Ty, M, A) - We were going to be close to this team, so Meg started off, but they were narrowly beating, so Tosh was bought in. Won 3-2, best time 19.54
Race 3: Doggy Mixtures 'v' Mixed Up Maple Leafs (K, Ty, M, A) - This was in effect 'Div 1' now. Meg started us off, but again, lost by a nose, so Tosh came in. Won 3-1, best time 19.47
Race 4: Doggy Mixtures 'v' Mixed Up Maple Leafs (K, Ty, M, A) - By this race, we had not lost a race, and Maple Leafs had only lost 1 race. So Meg started us off. Pete pushed his pass, and unfortunately narrowly got a light. Even with that, we were behind, so I pulled Tosh in. Maple Leafs then got 2 lights! And in the 3rd race, Layla heard a bang, and ran out of the ring. So we won 3-0, best time 19.25.
It was a disappointing way to end the race, and so as we walked out of the ring, and were declared winners, we weren't quite sure if they meant just that race, or the competition. So we weren't immediately 'jubilant', until it really had sunk in…………..we had won!!