Paws

This weekend we had a local show, so no long travelling! How lovely! The weather was just beautiful and it was really nice to have a 30 second walk to the ring instead of the hikes we have been getting used to!!

Mannix had his first competitive run at this show. It was a really positive experience for him in a lot of ways, but not so positive in others. I had almost allayed my fears about him jumping large, but they are now sadly back with a vengeance. He really struggled to make it around a full course at full height, and it wasn't comfortable to watch. He only did two runs each day, but by the second day had to drop down to medium height and run NFC (you can do that at Paws shows) as he just couldn't cope and we just felt it was too much for him. I don't think this is to do with fitness, as Paul has done so much work with him to build up to full height (sometimes at the expense of other areas he could have been working on). So I guess it's back to the drawing board! Still, no matter what our concerns over the height, we wanted Mannix's first show experience to be a positive one, which is why we dropped him down a height, and I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself!! He was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day and crashed on our bed like the spoilt sheltie he is as soon as we got him home.

I am not going to go on about it, as I am sure it is an issue that has been done to death, and most people are fed up hearing about it. I know you will always get borderline dogs, whatever the height, and to be honest up until now it hasn't been an issue that I have given much thought to. But now that I have a dog directly affected by it I can completely understand peoples concerns. I doubt it is so bad if the dog is longer bodied, but Mannix is really short in the body and just cannot lift and extend so easily. The only saving grace is that he isn't very heavily built, which is a real blessing. It's a shame he loves it so much. If he was a dog who could take or leave agility then I think Paul might look at doing alternatives with him. But he really loves it, and is so enthusiastic! We will see what happens.

Other news and Paul turned 30 this week! He had lots of nice presents, but the funniest has to be a power drill. An old man's present if ever I heard it!! When your birthday list includes a drill, it is a sure sign that you are 'maturing'!! Haha! He is off on holiday for the next two weeks and spent this morning in B&Q. God only knows what I will find each day when I get home, there will be shelves everywhere!!!!!! He also had a birthday cake presented to him at the Paws show. I loved the candles!!

So nearly the end of the season for us. One more weekend left in England, which will be Stour Valley and Trent Park. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone past!