A few notes before the SA Agility Champs

We had four qualifying rounds to determine the top 40 dogs and handlers to compete at the SA Champ finals to be held this coming weekend. I am very thrilled to have made the selection with all three my competing dogs - Baloo (11 years old), Dazzle (7 years old) and Ozz (2 years old).

We have practiced as best we can these past few months in order to prepare for the finals. You know the saying "You don't have to have the best of everything. Just make the best of what you have"? Well, that's what I've done. Training on proper contact equipment (A-frame, dog-walk and seesaw) has been non-existent for me for a number of reasons, the main one being: I mostly go to training on my own, and the contact equipment is too heavy for me to set up alone. The seesaw that I can set up on my own has been broken for months and it has not been fixed ...

But I have trained contacts at home on my contact trainer - not ideal, but making the best of what I have.



As for the rest of the equipment, the photo's speak for themselves.







I am stressing a bit, but am really going with the idea to relax and enjoy it. I am not expecting to do very well: Baloo at 11 doesn't have the speed he had as a younger dog (and he has spondylosis - growths of extra bone on the vertebrae), Dazzle has slight hip dysplacia due to a bad fall as a pup, and Ozz at 2 years old is still to young and inexperienced to expect too much of at that level of competition. So, as my sister told me to this morning, I am going to "be cool", and as the teenager's say, just "chillax" and have fun.

Will post again after the weekend. Till then - keep well.