Mt Gambier Trials

Another haul of qualifications from Mt Gambier, we got Qualification Cards, Sashes and bags of dog food. We both qualified in Rally Advanced B + Excellent B on both days giving us two more qualifications towards our RAE titles. Hannah won  Rally Advanced B too. The photo shows us with our Rally cards, sashes and dog food.
It was a strange weekend because KnK were both judging on separate days, which means that Kathy handled both of us in Rally, Agility and Jumping on Saturday, then Keith handled us on Sunday. On my Agility Masters run Keith got on the wrong side of the scramble and we lost a couple of seconds there, then I missed a colour contact on the dog walk and we finished 0.64 seconds over time. We made time on the masters jumping course, but we had a mix up at a jump which got us DQ'd. Hannah ran well in masters jumping but missed a jump and stopped, so she was DQ'd. In her Excellent Agility Hannah cut across in front of Keith causing him to twist his hip so they pulled out of that run.
On the Saturday Kathy was handling and we did do very well but we still did not qualify.
We saw the Veteran dogs having a run. The old dogs ran on a reduced Novice course with low jumps, and it was great to see them still performing and wagging their tales regardless of the outcome.
We met up with lots of our friends, had a few plays with them and spent a lot of time asleep after a very busy week end.

Hannah in Masters

Here is Hannah in her first ever Masters Jumping trial. We were at Gawler on a warm day which is not good for us, but we were on early so that was a bonus. Hannah did well, but unfortunately got a few things wrong. When we checked the video, had Hannah got everything right the first time she would have made the time. The photo shows Hannah clearing the one jump I got wrong, (Keith said "Out" as I approached, so I went Out, not my fault).
The other runs of the day went quite well but the heat slowed us down. I was less than a second over time on Agility and by the end of the afternoon neither of us were interested in running anywhere.
The video shows me running into the tunnel and walking out at the other end. It was hotter than a really hot place inside the tunnel, and there were 8 metres of it too, no wonder the dogs slowed down at the end of it.
We will be going south next week, the weather forecast says it will be cooler so hopefully we will do better.

Hannah, JDX.

Yesterday, Hannah added another title to her name, she is now a Jumping Dog Excellent. The pic shows her clearing the hoop jump on her way to her title. In the morning run she was less than one second over time but went clear of course faults, then in the afternoon she made it with plenty of time to spare. Hannah also passed in Agility Excellent in the afternoon, so now she needs 2 more passes to get her ADX title.
After the trial we went to see Molly and had dinner with her. The day was long and we were both very glad to get into bed last night.

Back Home

We are home at last. We went out into the garden and almost disappeared!  You can only just see Hannah in the long grass that is our back lawn. We sent Keith out straight away to sort this out. It took him three goes with the lawn mower before he got it down to a reasonable level. It is still not right and will need another cut tomorrow when it has dried out.
Our trip to Queensland was worthwhile, Hannah got a Gambler Dog Title, I got my Rally Excellent title and we both got some qualification for other titles. We got to meet lots of other dogs and people, swam in lakes, ran and played in paddocks and visited lots of clubs. We have been to a restaurant for dinner with KnK for Kathy's birthday, climbed hills to Lookouts over the outback, visited a Tea factory and slept while Keith drove 12000 kilometres.

MacDonnell Ranges

Hannah and I are in Alice Springs for a week. We have been training for Agility and Rally with the Alice Springs Dog Club and have been on drives out to see the sights around Alice Springs.
The pic shows us at a lookout over the MacDonnell Ranges to the west of Alice Springs.
Good job KnK got the air con working, it has been over 30 Celsius most days since we have been here, and we don't take the heat very well at all.

Tourists in the Outback

Since we left Townsville we have been tourists. We stopped at Charters Towers where we posed for the pic from the lookout there. We had a night at Richmond where we went for a walk round the lake and a swim. Tiffany would not come out and when Keith went to get her, he slipped and fell in the lake with all his clothes on. We could not stop laughing all night. Next stop was Mt Isa where we barked at a man that climbed on the roof of the caravan to fix the air-conditioned. Lucky for us that he did because the next stop was the Barkly Homestead where it was hot and we needed the air con. Now we are in Tennant Creek having a days rest from traveling. Still hot and needing the air con so we can have our mid-afternoon nap in comfort. Moving on towards Alice Springs tomorrow.

Townsville Trials

The photo shows Hannah nailing the Scramble colour for 3 points on her way to her Gambler Dog Title at Townsville. She scored 25 points when she only needed 20 to get a 2nd place in the trial, and her 3rd GD Pass.
Hannah also got another JDX pass so she needs 1 more for her Jumping Dog Excellent Title.
I missed a Weaving pole in my ADM run, pulled out of the tunnel for my GDX run and Keith ran the wrong way for my JDM run so my Agility was three NQs. I did pass my first Rally Advanced/Excellent trials so only 9 more to go. Hannah also passed RAE which means she only has 6 to go.
In the Obedience, I did not do well in the heel work and lay down on the sit stay, but still got second place. At the end of the trial we managed 5 prizes, so we did not do too badly overall.