Haven’t You Forgotten Something?

L does the Crossdale 10k, which is what we usually do on this weekend of the year, whilst I opt to continue MD’s education in the dog agility world.

I pick a good Crossdale to miss. Bizarrely there are no t-shirts this year. They have run this race for 10 years with a t-shirt and last year they had a special 10th anniversary one. Then in year 11 they drop the t-shirt. That’s not going to be popular.

L does a good time on the tricky cross-country course with that notorious hill to finish but she isn’t pleased. She sounds so like me. I’m very proud of her displeasure; it must be her competitive side coming out.

At the dog show, MD frustratingly has one pole down in each of his three runs. On the last of those, he celebrates the 100th competitive run of his short career by flattening the jump three from home on what would have been decent clear round. So close. That said all his events today were pitched at grades 3-5, whereas last week they were for grades 1-3 and were consequently that bit harder for the 'Pocket Rocket'. He’s done well really.

So 100 runs, of which only 12 have been clear rounds and a fair few have been eliminations but we’re getting there, as last week showed.

Meanwhile on the 545th run of his career, as you can see I keep count, Doggo and I are having disagreements about his contact points again. He nonchalantly skips one of them but carries on regardless, hurdles the long jump and is heading for the finish line when I call him back. Err, excuse me, haven’t you forgotten something? To his embarrassment I make him do the last three obstacles again, correctly.

We have a similar disagreement on his next course but this time when I shout loudly at him, he stops, in the correct place, and the old man achieves the first of his two clears today but unfortunately there are no rosettes to be picked up today.

Once home, L and I celebrate our respective successes and failures by heading off out to find the Dunkirk Inn. Once we find it and discover that we can get its Nottingham beers at our local, we adjourn for a pleasant evening at the Johnson’s instead.

(Sunday 26th September)

Back To School

We head home from Malham today and after a weekend of nice sunny weather it starts to rain. Suppose we can’t complain really.

We’re back in time for the new school term, for MD that is, Monday training restarts tonight. L comes along too, for the ride and the run, to her parent’s house, from where I will pick her up later. Hope she enjoys the run, despite the rain.

During training, MD and I have a disagreement. He is so typically the naughty schoolboy on his first day back. I tell him to ‘release’ his tug but all he does is knot his eyebrows in disagreement and bite harder on the toy, in a gesture that clearly says ‘nope’. Hmmm. Who’s the boss here? On second thoughts don’t answer that.

I persist in my efforts to assert my supposed authority over him and eventually he relents... but then seems to change his mind and lunges to get the just released toy back between his teeth. We clash heads. There are few things more sturdy or boney than a dogs head. Suddenly there is blood everywhere from my cut lip. We head off back to the car to have 'words' and to try to stem the flow of blood. Now I'm going to have to go into work tomorrow to the accompaniment of claims that L is beating me up again.

(Monday 6th September)