Agility Update

So what have we been up to on the agility front?

I went to the Kingdom of Fife 1 day show in early April accompanied by my Mum and my nieces. It turned out to be a nice day with the sun shining on us for the afternoon. We also managed to enjoy some bacon or egg rolls and some chips to keep us going!!

Pebbles did really well with only 1 elimination in the agility round. I sent her onto the dog walk on my right and went to cross behind her to the right side but as soon as I stopped to cross over she stopped and I had to jump over her!! But she had already touched the up touch marker so was eliminated by coming off and going back on again to go over the dog walk. I am not totally surprised she did this since I have not done a lot of crosses behind at either dog walks or a-frames but given our work on getting her to work ahead I kind of hoped she would keep working forward and ignore my stop. Alas, no, it is not that simple obviously!!

Funnily enough Barney did exactly the same on the same bit of the course which did surprise me. He went onto the dog walk and jumped off the side as I appeared on his right. Mmmm, not sure about this one, not like Barney to worry what I am doing behind him.

Other than that Pebbles and Barney had some lovely rounds over jumping courses but were just not quick enough to be placed. The good news was that Pebbles did not yip as much as she had on the Sunday at Dundee after her see-saw incident. She did yip sometimes and was not as flowing as she was on the Saturday at Dundee but it was definitely an improvement.

On the Sunday we packed up the caravan and headed off to Yellowcraigs camp site at Dirleton (our favourite!). We stayed there from the Sunday to the Friday before we set off to Woodside show at Biggar. We had a great time with plenty of rest and sleep which is what I needed. And of course, there was time to enjoy the home made chocolate cake at the local tea shop J The dogs had a great time with 2 walks a day on the beach and Pebbles getting to chase the ball endlessly and until she was exhausted every evening. Her idea of heaven!!

On the Friday we headed off to Biggar camp site since we did not get onto the show site this year. It was not the nicest site and although close to the agility site it was still not the same as being camped next to the rings. However, on going to the agility site to walk the dogs and to visit Liz and Rodger on the Friday evening Malcolm decided to ask at the camping check in point if there was any chance of a spare camping pitch. And there was!!! So we hastily moved the van down to a great pitch just by the rings on the Saturday morning. Yes, a hassle but well worth it. Thanks so much to Rodger for all his help getting us moved and for his lovely Land Rover which saved the day!

The Saturday saw Pebbles in the Champ show, our first ever one! Gulp! I was very nervous! She did really, really well. With 5 faults in the jumping from a refusal at the wall (not a shock given she has never been keen on walls) and then a clear in the jumping. However, she was not fast enough overall to qualify for the final. Still a good solid performance which I was happy with. I have to say though that I was not phased by the courses which I had expected to be and thought they were pretty easy for a Champ class. Good in one way to not scare me but bad in that Pebbles often excels at the harder, tighter courses. I am sure this won’t be my complaint at the next Champ show though!

Barney did a brilliant clear on jumping for the last run of the day and finished a brilliant second in combined 5-7. He was definitely on form the whole day and was moving much faster than he has been known to do! Malcolm and I think a week on holiday on the beach chasing the ball always seems to help Barney who comes away a bit fitter. He can be lazy when he wants to be!

At the end of the day we took Pebbles to see the Chiropractor because I just felt that since Dundee she has not been quite right. And this was confirmed by the fact that all day she had been very hesitant going up the a-frame (noticed by a few observers in the morning). It turned out she had a sore back which was manipulated back into shape. Poor wee soul she must have been in pain and going up the a-frame must have been sore. Hopefully, she feels much better now!

On the Sunday we started with 2 jumping rounds early in the morning. Pebbles went clear in both and was definitely back on form – no yipping and flying along. She must feel much better without the back pain! She did not make the prizes though. Barney went clear in one round and was eliminated in the other. No prizes for the clear round – too many fast Grade 7 dogs!
To finish they both did a really tricky combined 5-7 agility. Barney did a brilliant round and despite a few traps and tight turns he performed brilliantly and went clear. Only 4 dogs in the whole class went clear! He finished 2nd which was a brilliant result.

Pebbles then did an amazing clear round and flew round even flying over the a-frame and dog walk. Yippee!! She is back and working ahead of me again like she did at Dundee before the see-saw bashing. The training is working! And what amazing weave entries all weekend! She finished 1st which was a brilliant result and only her 2nd ever win in a Grade 7 class. What a great way to finish the weekend.

BIG NEWS!

It has been a while since I have posted on my blog but there has been good reason!! Our big news is that we are expecting a small Fairweather at the end of October – WOW!!!

We have had the first scan and saw ‘BF’ (Baby Fairweather) on the screen, with a little heart beat and moving. It was amazing – here is a picture of BF as seen at the 12 week scan:

How cool is that!!

We are very, very excited although can’t quite believe it is real yet. We have the 20 week scan at the beginning of June so think it will sink in a bit more then when we can see a lot more detail and my ‘bump’ is bigger!!

So far I have felt pretty good apart from feeling very, very tired and nauseous from week 6 – week 12. Thankfully, the worst of the nausea seems to have passed and although I am not able to eat large meals at least I can look forward to my meals now!!

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that one thing I am looking forward to is the shopping! Of course, this goes hand in hand with copious amounts of research before committing to any purchase to ensure that we have bought the right piece of equipment for the job, at the best price! And it goes without saying I have already started a folder for the whole process – nothing changes J

Mum and I have already spent a couple of days looking round all possible prams/buggies/travel systems and backed up by my internet research we have chosen a travel system that looks brilliant and does everything we need. It has a carrycot (apparently a must for babies up to 6 months???!!), car seat and buggy all of which can be interchanged easily and the main frame folded quickly.

Here is a picture of the snazzy travel system:

As for the other items needed I am a bit more daunted by this. I mean who knows what steriliser to buy?, what cot mattress?, what clothes?, what bath?, etc, etc These will have to be bought after the 20 week scan! More research required me thinks!!

We are going to make bedroom 4 the nursery. At the moment this is a single room with the exercise equipment in it so this will have to be moved. The plan is to clear out the large set of drawers that are currently in the room which seems to have accumulated a lot of paper and rubbish since we moved in. This will be Malcolm’s job J These drawers will then be taken to the skip as they have seen better days.

Next job will be to clear out the wardrobe in bedroom 3 before moving the contents of bedroom 4 wardrobe into the newly emptied one. Finally, the gym equipment will be moved to bedroom 3 leaving the nursery with only a single bed and an empty wardrobe. Phew!! Then it is time to get the cot from Mum and Dad’s (kindly passed on from my brother) and put it up. I have already decided what drawers to order for the room and also what décor and bedding to get so this will then be ordered too. Now I think once this is done it will seem very real!!

I am going to keep doing agility for as long as I can without being silly and I am thinking, having spoken to a few people who have already done it, that this will mean I can keep going until I am 6 months (i.e. end of July). I will just take it as it comes though but am not having any problems at the moment.

So it is life as normal for now until the 20 week scan and then it will be all go to get ready for the big event. I mean who can believe there will be another Fairweather in our house for Xmas this year! Yikes!