We're always keen to hear about our children's extra-curricular activities outside of school:
On the 15th and 16th January I went to the Open Junior Agility Championship with my two and half year old dog called Tilly. This was our first big event and I was very excited to be competing. I was also lucky that my trainer Dan had come to help me for the weekend. I was entered into four classes. Agility, jumping and two steeplechase.
In agility Tilly has to go over jumps and equipment (A frame, dog walk and a see saw). She also goes through weaves and tunnels. In jumping there are jumps, tunnels and weaves and in steeplechase there are just jumps and tunnels. In jumping unfortunately I got eliminated as Tilly was very excited to be at a competition. In my first steeplechase I was eliminated because Tilly went over the wrong jump at the beginning but after the third jump we completed the course without any more mistakes. I was happy that after the third jump, Tilly was listening carefully. The second steeplechase was the hardest course I have ever done, but I was ready for the challenge and we managed to go clear (that means no mistakes). I was over the moon with our performance and Tilly got lots of cuddles, treats and lots of time to play with her toy! We later found out we had come 33rd out of 55.
It was then time for our final class of the weekend the agility and I knew we had to tackle the see saw (sometimes Tilly likes to run very fast over this and then jumps off before the end!). After walking the course I was ready for the challenge. I knew our biggest challenge was going to be where I had to do a front cross in front of the A frame. Tilly got a little carried away with the tunnel and ended up jumping it rather than going through it, but this luckily only gave us our only fault after finishing our run. At the end of this run I was very proud of Tilly because she had remembered all her contacts (this means that Tilly needs her back paws on the equipment and front paws off) and she didn’t come out the weaves.
The presentation awards was at the end of the whole competition and I discovered I had come second in the agility, it was a surprise as I didn’t know! Tilly and I got to stand on a podium, we both stood very proudly. It was an incredible weekend and I am super proud of Tilly for everything she achieved at this competition. I can’t wait for my next competition and to start training towards my new goals. - Georgia Dennett
