Supported by Showoffs Rosettes
 The time has come at last for Hazel Higgins of
First Contact Agility Equipment to report on a final from a competitor’s angle instead of
watching from the sidelines.
After struggling to
get back to fitness after an injury two years ago, I somehow managed to qualify my little
Medium dog Copper for the Dog Vegas Small/Medium G3-5 Combined final. Having qualified at
Easter, the poor little dog never managed another round, training session or competition until
we walked onto the final ring at the Dog Vegas show in August! Not much chance of us winning
the lovely crystal clock that was the first place trophy. What's more there were 21 competitors
booked in to run and I was running order 13!!
We all walked the
course which was set by our judge, Heather Mitchell. Thank you, Heather for stepping in at the
last minute for Gill Blanchard was due to judge. At the last minute she decided that she
preferred to compete in the Final as that weekend she had managed to qualify herself. Well
done, Gill!
It was a lovely
flowing course that was set. There were a couple of little traps at the beginning that created
a couple of eliminations. Dogs going from jump 1 to number 4 (the tunnel) and jump 1 to back
jump number 3. There was a lovely little teaser near the end with the tunnel under the dog walk
– causing a couple of dogs to lose some time on the way to the finish while they waited for
the handlers to catch up.
Course Plan
We ended up with 5
faults, when my little boy completely missed the dog walk. Because I was so intent on getting
to the other end, I must have just pulled him of it – definitely a case of great dog – shame
about the handler!
I feel that overall
the course ran really well and was a very fair test to dogs and handlers. It was a great final,
with a lovely atmosphere – thank you to the crowd for your support.
Congratulations to
everyone on getting there, especially to the top three places, a couple of rising stars here.
| Place |
Handler |
Dog |
Faults |
Time |
Comments |
| 1 |
Nicola
Roe |
Odds On
Deefa Do |
C |
38.813 |
A
Sheltie, not yet two years old – fantastic. |
| 2 |
Peter
Ray |
Nujax
Ice Danger |
C |
40.550 |
A Miniature
Schnauzer – again, two years old in September – well done |
| 3 |
Sharon
Sampson |
Cogshals Odyssey |
5 |
35.476 |
What a
cracking time for this little spaniel – especially as it is her first season competing.
Definitely another one to watch out for next year |
Thank you to Jackie
Kenny and the rest of the Dog Vegas team for organising and sponsoring the final. Thank you to
Cheryl at Show Offs rosettes for sponsoring the heats and proving us with some top quality
rosettes. Thank you to all of the shows that held the heats and to Kathrin for judging the
final.
Thank you to
www.memoriesinpictures.co.uk for supplying the
photographs.
We look forward to
doing it all again in the 2011 final. For information on the heats and final for 2011, email
Jackie at
jaxk9@tiscali.co.uk
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