Crufts

After an age of hype and waiting Crufts finally arrived. Our first Crufts. Well, we didn't have any expectations and were just happy to get there and use this year as a learning experience. I was very stressed with the YKC Agility Dog of the Year at 13.10 and the flyball at 13.55. We stayed at a lovely farmhouse and arrived at 8.30 and managed to get 2 cages for the flyball and YKC benches on our tiny trolley. We benched with both the YKC and Dream Team but left Magic in the flyball benching as it was quieter. What I had not realised was that parents are not allowed to walk the course with children or queue with them. Jordan is quite able to course walk on his own but he walked it as if he was handling Rupert!!!! What really freaked Jordan out was having to queue without me and communicate with ring staff. I could see his panic and stress and Magic who soaks up stress looking very uncomfortable. An inevitable E followed when Jordan slipped and knocked over a jump wing when he realised he had to switch not turn with his shoulder, which hit Magic on the head who then fled the ring and into the crowd!!! I really felt for Jordan of all the times for this to happen. I think next time I will defiantly make sure he has someone with him in the queue. We then fled to join the Dream Team in the flyball quarter finals. Considering they only really got going as a team the week before the Crufts qualifier it was a real achievement to be at Crufts. The first race was fabulous as we won by lengths. However the heat and lack of water took its toil on the dogs and Jordan and I were in search of water and wet towels. Eventually we came 2nd!!!! We were organised for the semis with buckets of water and soaking towels. Sadly luck went against us against Warrington in the first heat and we were out. But what an experience. It's a real buzz to have 8 flyball teams escorted through Crufts by a phalanx of security officers. Since Crufts the hits on the Dream team web page have been considerable. I do hope that we will get to Crufts again. And if we do we'll have time to chat to people. Time just flew and everybody is busy but we did see some friends, many of whom doing so well. I'll leave people off if I name them. I did get offered £1000 for Magic!!!!! Well, he's not for sale and certainly not to soemone who thinks he's teh most beautiful dog and hasn't got a 10 foot fence, willing to do long walks everyday and cope with a compusive flusher on a dog walk!!!!! On Sunday we went to UKA AJAXS. Poor Magic wasn't at all keen on going in the ring after Crufts and ran out of the ring and into the Thames twice. After 2 practice runs and understanding judges we got a 3rd in the steeplechase. Rup was stonking and left with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Well, J and R are not on the brink of Champ class - only the 6 games points to go.