Where We Went Wrong

At a bit of a loose end today and I’m not into loose ends. L’s got Pilates and all manner of gym sessions planned, whereas I could perhaps stay home and cut the hedge. Alternatively they are sort of entries up at Bakewell at the dog show I’ve booked for tomorrow and they’re offering some pay on the day classes, so I decide to go for today as well. I take my bike with me, just in case there’s not enough dog stuff to keen me occupied.

Turns out that there are just two classes that I can pay for on the day, one for each dog. I ask the organisers if they would let me run MD ‘not for competition’ in some of the others. They are a bit awkward and say no. Some shows will, some shows won’t.

MD runs his one class very well, very smooth, quite fast, but has a couple of poles down. So just the one with Doggo to do then, then I can perhaps get my bike out. I expect the two classes to run one after the other so I should be finished by lunch and then I can go for a spin around the Peak District. Nope. Doesn’t work out that way. They make me wait until the afternoon, not even using the now vacant ring as a practice ring, which would have been useful.

Finally when Doggo gets to run, it’s a great round and amazingly we go into the lead, though we are eventually displaced down to second. That’s still not bad, in fact it’s very good. That’s out of all the large dogs. Unfortunately they intend to run the two smaller size categories over the same course and combine the results. Yep, we get beaten my couple of mini pooches and end up 4th. Still... better than me last night. L reckons it was probably the Chinese Doggo had last night, perhaps that’s where we went wrong. Chinese for us next weekend then.

Once Doggo has run it’s too late to get a meaningful bike ride in, so I head home to L, where both Son and Daughter are both out. Oooh the decadence of having the place to ourselves. Later we head out as well, leaving the dogs to rest up for tomorrow but not before I get a phone call haggling about the running sequence for tomorrow’s team event. My own fault really, I suggested a logical change of order. This was a bit illogical of me.

(Saturday 10th July)

The High Life

Another day competing with the dogs. Yesterday Newark, today Bakewell, where we're perhaps slightly upstaged by the car boot sale next door. Oh the high life. Today’s more for MD, the standard yesterday was too high for him, today’s courses are more his level. He runs well but doesn’t deliver a clear round.

I actually need to do more practice with him. Not that L would believe that I could possibly spend any more time dog training. However it is obvious today that I need to do longer sequences of jumps with him, so that he can get up top speed. Unfortunately our garden isn't long enough for this. It would be typical if we have to move, just for the dog. Not that any houses come with much of a garden these days.

Doggo is still not 100%, although he does clock a couple of clear rounds.

After the show is over we try and find a pub to have a drink in but it’s sheer hell in Bakewell on a bank holiday, so we end up back in Wollaton at Middletons, and very nice it is.

L tells me she’s entered the Great Nottinghamshire Bike Ride. Why???? It involves a bike! She hates anything that involves a bike. We're even contemplating doing the Windermere Triathlon as a relay team, so that I can do the bike section for her and she still gets to swim in the lake.

She says it's got a lot going for it apart from the bike...

I have to take a glass of wine to bed to get over that.