Nottingham Champs DTC 28 & 29/05/16

Ethel and Earl had a really good weekend at the Nottingham Champs DTC Agility Show. The huge show was a brilliant opportunity for Ethel and myself to gain plenty of valuable Agility experience on some different courses against colossal numbers of advanced competitors. And as a bonus, we came home incredibly proud of some outstanding successes!

Once again, Ethel blew everyone away with her speed and love for Agility. She came a Clear 3rd out of 103 other dogs in Combined 1-5 Jumping, and she also came a Clear 5th out of around 50 other dogs in Combined 1-4 Jumping! It was a huge show and there were no small classes at all. She was competing against some incredibly difficult competition. There were so many absolutely stunning dogs there, and Ethel was up there with them! I am once again so proud of her; she and I make a wonderful team and I absolutely adore running her. She came across multiple things on the course that she hadn't come across before, and I learnt a lot about how I cam improve my handling skills for even more success for us as a pair. This large and popular show was the perfect opportunity for Ethel and myself to gain plenty of valuable experience to benefit us in the future.

Old man Earl went Clear in Grade 5 Agility and went Clear in Grade 5 Jumping. I'm considering giving him a break from Agility after the next show and his Dog Vegas Finals. This isn't necessarily the end of his Agility career, as I'm hoping that he will come back as a much stronger competitor when I bring him back after a well-earned break. Laying off Earl a little will also help me to really concentrate on Ethel and getting her and I up to amazing standards to achieve amazing things! Unfortunately, the competitive environment doesn't suit Earl like it does Ethel, and he performs much better in training. I shall keep up his weekend training for fitness purposes as he does enjoy this much more.

Once again a really good weekend - especially for Ethel - of fun and success!