Last time I forgot to add a shortened clip of the show in Kočevje, where you can see Sambo's tail set almost on perpetuum mobile mode. Due to the lenght of the clip I cut out the parts where Sambo is stamping his feet like a ram before the attack and deprived you of some good fun (the lesson of the sotry being that it is not wise to click a dog with some footwork tricks a week before a show because he can perform a Footlose scene, like Sambo did; the only thing missing was a good soundtrack…).
As you can see I forgot to pack things three days in advance on Friday so I showed Sambo in very sporty clothes for a change (euphemism for 'the same rags I wore all 4 days with only one shower along the way'; now you know why the shower before going to bed on Thursday was such a good investment…), but thinking it through it's better to show in raggy pants than to run agility in summer linen pants and flip-flops…
On Saturday we went to the agility trial in Žalec where the last requirement for the advance to the highest level escaped from us in a most imbecile way – when we make all 6 contacts, when no bars fall off we get a refusal in a really stupid place and 5 points for it. Ok, the run wasn't perfect – towards the end I sent Sambo to a jump, yelled at him because I thought I got the jump wrong and then tried to start him up again, which is quite difficult with a dog that doesn't know (or doesn't admit to know, I'm not sure) the command Forward, especially if your course ends with three jumps in a straight line and uphill (you can't see it in the clip, but the field is quite inclined and the finish was uphill, of course). It's interesting that I actually find the run quite good, even though we managed to make a refusal, even though I almost killed myself a few obstacles after that (when we had to make a 180 degree turn while running downhill) and even though we really looked like Dumb & Dumber on the finish line – first I got wrong that I got the obstacles wrong and then Sambo turned towards me after every jump and roared at me to say 'where the hell are you, speed up!'. Oh well, we do make sure that the audience is entertained. Judge for yourselves, here's our first run.
We had one refusal in jumping too – Sambo thought I didn't show the entrance to the tunnel clearly enough, so he did one spin, but otherwise we did a good job and ended up sixth.
Yesterday we went to our first RO trial this year. The working atmosphere wasn't the best and Sambo followed the mainstream; on the start he yelled as if he were on agility, but as soon as we started with our performance his enthusiasm vanished. He had a very bad concentration and to be honest, we didn't do well; the judge's opinion was that we didn't do three of the tasks so we were disqualified (as many other competitors, even from more banal reasons). Oh well, our rally career sp far was too good to be true anyway, we made three requirements in three trials, so we'll try to prepare better for next time.
The season is in its peek and we have quite some things ahead of us – this weekend there's a double show in Hrušica where I work both days (on Saturday the Black Death and Gregor will be accompanying me), next weekend we have a RO trial in Domžale and the weekend after that there's CACIB Portorož, where I'll probably be working one day and on Sunday I'll probably go to RO in Žalec. Still plenty of action to come!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
FMBB 2008
Belgians of all shapes and sizes flooded Slovenija during the second week of May. The World championship for Belgian Shepherds was held in Kočevje from the 9th to the 11th of May with competitions in IPO, mondioring, agility and a show. So Sambo and I migrated to Kočevje from Thursday, when we had agility trainings, to Sunday afternoon when the closing ceremony was held. The Slovene agility team was composed by Vista the Groen, Pia the Mali, Vinny the Mali, Dancer the Terv and the longhaired Batman and Robin, Sambo and his friend Pan. All six of us ran in the individual competition, whereas only Vista, Pia, Sambo and Pan ran also in the team competition.
Thursday beagn early, as same as the days to come. We came to Kočevje in the morning crush and some of the more diligent members were already preparing the obstacles. We set the course and the trainings began. First it was our turn to train, the Croatian team followed, and then the rest of the teams in alphabetical order. I have to say that after a whole day of watching the trainings of almost twenty teams I can now send a dog to the tunnel, to the weave poles, and yes, to hell too :) in a variety of languages. It was a long day and when I came home in the evening the only thing I could do is shower and sleep. A very good investment…
I greeted Friday's morning much too early for my taste; Gregor and I packed our things and Sambek into the pick-up and drove off to Kočevje. This day the real action began – we had to perform three runs, first two individual and then one team run. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I was considerably less nervous during the whole event than on our regular competitions (and you couldn't say I'm a nervous wreck there either), I actually wasn't nervous at all. The judges were Zlatko Gorjan and Mirja Lapanja and I can honestly say that I liked all of the courses, they were medium demanding and very fluent, so it was a real pleasure to run them. Our first run was also the first Slovene run, we were number 14 (out of cca 130 competitors) and thus were the first Slovenes to engage in the bloody fight for fame and honour (I'm only kidding, of course). Zlatko set a nice and interesting jumping which we ran very very well – except for the disqualification mistake, of course. One would think that at his age Sambo could already tell the difference between Left and Right and turn in accordance to it and I, well, I could be a bit less of a moron and not stick with my decision but moved the dog right if he really didn't agree with me. You can see the result on the clip. Around one in the afternoon we had our first agility run, where Sambo obviously couldn't decide wether to jump over the contact as usually, use a geriatric excuse to knock off a bar or surprise me with something completely new, a refusal for example. So he decided for all three options, what else. But since the jumped over contact was the first on the seesaw instead of the second on the dogwalk (which was done nicely) and since he's actually already a year or two over puberty and I contributed myself to the refusal with a less than perfect handling, I forgive him. On Friday we also had the team agility run, which we did very well. So well even that Sambek was the best dog from the Slovene team – Pia and Pan unfortunately got disqualified, Vista got 10 penalty points and Sambo with his standard jumped over second dogwalk contact 5 points. By doing that he ruined my optimistical plan that I designed during the walking of the course, so I didn't have time to do a turn at the end of the dogwalk and lead him past the obstacle nicely into the tunnel. On account of his own iniciative and perspective on doing the contacts on the dogwalk I had to change that plan slightly and improvise on the course to get him over the obstacle and into the right hole in the tunnel. Luckily I'm a good improviser in general, so here's our team agility.
Friday's night was more interesting because we decided to skip the migration from Kočevje to Ljubljana and back and camp on the scene itself. Despite the powerful sun and the high daily temperatures the night came with a surprising cold. But we survived that too and even though we camped on the scene where the event was held (20m from the agility course) we didn't sleep any longer than we would if we'd be sleeping in Ljubljana. Maybe the serenades of a pack of Pintzers in the car next to us had to do something with it, I have the feeling that the frisbee morning workout of some dogs by our tent at 7 am could also have contributed to that, not sure though. Anywho, this day started early too. Saturday was even more variegated than Friday as we had also the show ahead of us. So in the morning I took Sambo for a walk and then ran to the place where the show was supposed to be held. There was nobody and nothing there. I returned to our camp with the intention to eat breakfast and then go and check again. I wasn't that successful with that plan because they recruted me to help the Spanish agility team with some problems with the organizers. Then I found out that there was something actually going on at the show, the same time they were setting the last obstacles for the first Saturday run, so I knew it was going to be quite intense and I wouldn't have much time for everything.
From that point on the next hour and a half was really full of adrenaline; while I was taking my usual two minutes for Sambo's coat Gregor went to enter us to the show. The three of us ran to the show scene where we came just in time to cheer for our friends from Maribor, Olga and her Yar, and then it was our turn already. The judge was Myrjam Vermeire from Belgium and Sambo, being the only mature male (in champion class), got a nice description, an excellent, CAC and BOS (Best of Sex). The BOB went to a Russian female bred in Finland, Je M'Appele Ilona. There were 5 Groenendaels altogether. After our show I rushed to walk the agility course, ran through the obstacles three times and ran back to the show ring where I showed Navajo, a Terv from our Italian-Dutch friend Sandra. We got exc. 1 and CAC, after which I hurried back to the agility course. Gregor had already taken care of Sambo's warm up, so we just exchanged leashes and Sambo and I were already on the course. When we were done I took two minutes to cool both of us down and then – yes, you know it!, I returned to the show, where Navajo and I got also CACIB, BOB and BIS 3
But let's get back to agility – Saturday's jumping was far from being perfect, we did a really nice job (and fast too), but unfortunately a bar fell three jumps before the finish. But we still got (and deserved) a big aplause from the audience for a really nice run ;). The agility at noon was nice, but not as good as morning's jumping. We could have had a better time and besides the standard jumped over contact on the dogwalk Sambo managed to somehow miss the entrance to the weaves, which isn't exactly typical for his repertoire. But then again it would be too dull if he woud get on my nerves only with the dogwalk, right? So here's our Saturday agility. in the afternoon we had the Team jumping, perhaps our best run. Unfortunately we did this one with points too, I probably didn't show clearly enough the entrance to the tunnel so he ended up in between the two holes, but otherwise it was a very fluent, quite fast run, all in all, a run we can be proud of.
I think we did well in the 6 runs in 2 days so I'm more than pleased with our performances. All four pairs in the team did very well, especially Vista and Pan who fought for our honour also in the Sunday's finals and came in 12th and 19th. Slovenija did even better in the IPO competition, where a Slovene competitor and her Mali bitch even won. Go, Slovenija, go!
As far as the agility is concerned I can say that all expectations were fulfilled, however, the show fell short of my (and I think that also other's) expectations at least looking at the organization. Regardless, we had a good time at the show too, met a few old friends, made some new ones and at large, Kočevje will remain in my nicest memories for the wonderful atmosphere at the event, an atmosphere only becoming of a Belgian event. If everything goes well, we will be able to enjoy a great Belgian atmosphere next year in the Czech Republic too, hopefully competing in the agility and show again…
Until the next time
Urša
Thursday beagn early, as same as the days to come. We came to Kočevje in the morning crush and some of the more diligent members were already preparing the obstacles. We set the course and the trainings began. First it was our turn to train, the Croatian team followed, and then the rest of the teams in alphabetical order. I have to say that after a whole day of watching the trainings of almost twenty teams I can now send a dog to the tunnel, to the weave poles, and yes, to hell too :) in a variety of languages. It was a long day and when I came home in the evening the only thing I could do is shower and sleep. A very good investment…
I greeted Friday's morning much too early for my taste; Gregor and I packed our things and Sambek into the pick-up and drove off to Kočevje. This day the real action began – we had to perform three runs, first two individual and then one team run. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I was considerably less nervous during the whole event than on our regular competitions (and you couldn't say I'm a nervous wreck there either), I actually wasn't nervous at all. The judges were Zlatko Gorjan and Mirja Lapanja and I can honestly say that I liked all of the courses, they were medium demanding and very fluent, so it was a real pleasure to run them. Our first run was also the first Slovene run, we were number 14 (out of cca 130 competitors) and thus were the first Slovenes to engage in the bloody fight for fame and honour (I'm only kidding, of course). Zlatko set a nice and interesting jumping which we ran very very well – except for the disqualification mistake, of course. One would think that at his age Sambo could already tell the difference between Left and Right and turn in accordance to it and I, well, I could be a bit less of a moron and not stick with my decision but moved the dog right if he really didn't agree with me. You can see the result on the clip. Around one in the afternoon we had our first agility run, where Sambo obviously couldn't decide wether to jump over the contact as usually, use a geriatric excuse to knock off a bar or surprise me with something completely new, a refusal for example. So he decided for all three options, what else. But since the jumped over contact was the first on the seesaw instead of the second on the dogwalk (which was done nicely) and since he's actually already a year or two over puberty and I contributed myself to the refusal with a less than perfect handling, I forgive him. On Friday we also had the team agility run, which we did very well. So well even that Sambek was the best dog from the Slovene team – Pia and Pan unfortunately got disqualified, Vista got 10 penalty points and Sambo with his standard jumped over second dogwalk contact 5 points. By doing that he ruined my optimistical plan that I designed during the walking of the course, so I didn't have time to do a turn at the end of the dogwalk and lead him past the obstacle nicely into the tunnel. On account of his own iniciative and perspective on doing the contacts on the dogwalk I had to change that plan slightly and improvise on the course to get him over the obstacle and into the right hole in the tunnel. Luckily I'm a good improviser in general, so here's our team agility.
Friday's night was more interesting because we decided to skip the migration from Kočevje to Ljubljana and back and camp on the scene itself. Despite the powerful sun and the high daily temperatures the night came with a surprising cold. But we survived that too and even though we camped on the scene where the event was held (20m from the agility course) we didn't sleep any longer than we would if we'd be sleeping in Ljubljana. Maybe the serenades of a pack of Pintzers in the car next to us had to do something with it, I have the feeling that the frisbee morning workout of some dogs by our tent at 7 am could also have contributed to that, not sure though. Anywho, this day started early too. Saturday was even more variegated than Friday as we had also the show ahead of us. So in the morning I took Sambo for a walk and then ran to the place where the show was supposed to be held. There was nobody and nothing there. I returned to our camp with the intention to eat breakfast and then go and check again. I wasn't that successful with that plan because they recruted me to help the Spanish agility team with some problems with the organizers. Then I found out that there was something actually going on at the show, the same time they were setting the last obstacles for the first Saturday run, so I knew it was going to be quite intense and I wouldn't have much time for everything.
From that point on the next hour and a half was really full of adrenaline; while I was taking my usual two minutes for Sambo's coat Gregor went to enter us to the show. The three of us ran to the show scene where we came just in time to cheer for our friends from Maribor, Olga and her Yar, and then it was our turn already. The judge was Myrjam Vermeire from Belgium and Sambo, being the only mature male (in champion class), got a nice description, an excellent, CAC and BOS (Best of Sex). The BOB went to a Russian female bred in Finland, Je M'Appele Ilona. There were 5 Groenendaels altogether. After our show I rushed to walk the agility course, ran through the obstacles three times and ran back to the show ring where I showed Navajo, a Terv from our Italian-Dutch friend Sandra. We got exc. 1 and CAC, after which I hurried back to the agility course. Gregor had already taken care of Sambo's warm up, so we just exchanged leashes and Sambo and I were already on the course. When we were done I took two minutes to cool both of us down and then – yes, you know it!, I returned to the show, where Navajo and I got also CACIB, BOB and BIS 3
But let's get back to agility – Saturday's jumping was far from being perfect, we did a really nice job (and fast too), but unfortunately a bar fell three jumps before the finish. But we still got (and deserved) a big aplause from the audience for a really nice run ;). The agility at noon was nice, but not as good as morning's jumping. We could have had a better time and besides the standard jumped over contact on the dogwalk Sambo managed to somehow miss the entrance to the weaves, which isn't exactly typical for his repertoire. But then again it would be too dull if he woud get on my nerves only with the dogwalk, right? So here's our Saturday agility. in the afternoon we had the Team jumping, perhaps our best run. Unfortunately we did this one with points too, I probably didn't show clearly enough the entrance to the tunnel so he ended up in between the two holes, but otherwise it was a very fluent, quite fast run, all in all, a run we can be proud of.
I think we did well in the 6 runs in 2 days so I'm more than pleased with our performances. All four pairs in the team did very well, especially Vista and Pan who fought for our honour also in the Sunday's finals and came in 12th and 19th. Slovenija did even better in the IPO competition, where a Slovene competitor and her Mali bitch even won. Go, Slovenija, go!
As far as the agility is concerned I can say that all expectations were fulfilled, however, the show fell short of my (and I think that also other's) expectations at least looking at the organization. Regardless, we had a good time at the show too, met a few old friends, made some new ones and at large, Kočevje will remain in my nicest memories for the wonderful atmosphere at the event, an atmosphere only becoming of a Belgian event. If everything goes well, we will be able to enjoy a great Belgian atmosphere next year in the Czech Republic too, hopefully competing in the agility and show again…
Until the next time
Urša
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
This year's show season for Sambo began in May. I knew that after half a year I would have a big case of delirium tremens due to the show abstinence (our last show was Belgium in November), so I decided (around new year) to enter Sambo to the international show in Klagenfurt in May. Why not sooner? Because I worked on every single show this year, earning money for dog kibble, and there were no shows nearby with judges that would convince me (in order to meet my criteria the judge would have to have at least one live encounter with a BSD in his/her life). So when I saw that there was a show in Klagenfurt this year for the first time my alarm bell started to ring and when I saw that the judge was Štefan Šinko I definitely decided to go. Klagenfurt isn't far from Ljubljana, Šinko is a good judge and we'll probably have some competition too…
So on Sunday, May fourth, the standard team Živa & Uroš & Klark & Leia (ok, she's not a traditional member yet, but she will be) and Urša & Gregor & Sambo packed ourselves into the car and drove off, heading in search for new adventures. The showing ground was nice and quite big, we could smell the stands with reserve animal parts (Sambo's favourite being piggy noses and cow tongues) from a distance and the rings were medium big and with a very good carpet to run on – yep, we were definitely in Austria. I saw that it would soon be our turn so I dedicated the usual 1,7 minutes for Sambo's hairstyle. After the makeover we saw that we had still some minutes left, so Sambo and I went outside the hall and made good use of the green area outside. Nobody was outside, so I let him run off leash, we played and clicked for two minutes and thus returned to the hall with our spirits high. We entered the ring and Sambo was, as usually, floating in air, hopping around me and giving big smiles to anyone that would look at him. We were alone in the Champion class, presented ourselves well and got the CAC title. In a few minutes we returned to fight for the CACIB with the nice Austrian groen I met in April in the show in Celje, won the fight fair and square and got also the BOB. We happily returned to our camp and went to see what's going on with the Swissies. The answer was – nothing. And it satyed like that for a while. So we went to have a look around with Chuna the Kelpie and her human escort and came back just in time to cheer for Slovene Swissies Nuba and Klark that won both CACIBs and the BOB in an exclusively Austrian competition too.
We rewarded ourselves by setting out on a hunt for muzzles, tongues and… well, other animal parts and then let the dogs play in the almost empty hall whle waiting for the BIS. The judge for the shepherd group in the BIS was the Austrian judge Erwin Deutscher. The Black Death apparently charmed him too since Mr. Deutscher placed him among the best 9 dogs from the first FCI group, but this is as far as we got this time. Still, we had a wonderful time, made friends with the handler of the Czech wolfdog in the ring and entertained the audience with a few tricks while waiting (cause Sambo figured that he had to do something else other than simply stand for that last piece of treat I had left, so he tried with giving a bow, making a totem, and…). All in all, we left Austria in a very good mood and with nice memories of the show, and, of course, with a car that smelled like a pet cemetery. A big sack containing 100 piggy ears sat onto my head in every left turn, and on right turns this pleasure belonged to Gregor. Oh well, at least we weren't hungry :).
Neca and Nuba
Uroš and Klark
Running...
So on Sunday, May fourth, the standard team Živa & Uroš & Klark & Leia (ok, she's not a traditional member yet, but she will be) and Urša & Gregor & Sambo packed ourselves into the car and drove off, heading in search for new adventures. The showing ground was nice and quite big, we could smell the stands with reserve animal parts (Sambo's favourite being piggy noses and cow tongues) from a distance and the rings were medium big and with a very good carpet to run on – yep, we were definitely in Austria. I saw that it would soon be our turn so I dedicated the usual 1,7 minutes for Sambo's hairstyle. After the makeover we saw that we had still some minutes left, so Sambo and I went outside the hall and made good use of the green area outside. Nobody was outside, so I let him run off leash, we played and clicked for two minutes and thus returned to the hall with our spirits high. We entered the ring and Sambo was, as usually, floating in air, hopping around me and giving big smiles to anyone that would look at him. We were alone in the Champion class, presented ourselves well and got the CAC title. In a few minutes we returned to fight for the CACIB with the nice Austrian groen I met in April in the show in Celje, won the fight fair and square and got also the BOB. We happily returned to our camp and went to see what's going on with the Swissies. The answer was – nothing. And it satyed like that for a while. So we went to have a look around with Chuna the Kelpie and her human escort and came back just in time to cheer for Slovene Swissies Nuba and Klark that won both CACIBs and the BOB in an exclusively Austrian competition too.
We rewarded ourselves by setting out on a hunt for muzzles, tongues and… well, other animal parts and then let the dogs play in the almost empty hall whle waiting for the BIS. The judge for the shepherd group in the BIS was the Austrian judge Erwin Deutscher. The Black Death apparently charmed him too since Mr. Deutscher placed him among the best 9 dogs from the first FCI group, but this is as far as we got this time. Still, we had a wonderful time, made friends with the handler of the Czech wolfdog in the ring and entertained the audience with a few tricks while waiting (cause Sambo figured that he had to do something else other than simply stand for that last piece of treat I had left, so he tried with giving a bow, making a totem, and…). All in all, we left Austria in a very good mood and with nice memories of the show, and, of course, with a car that smelled like a pet cemetery. A big sack containing 100 piggy ears sat onto my head in every left turn, and on right turns this pleasure belonged to Gregor. Oh well, at least we weren't hungry :).
Neca and Nuba
Uroš and Klark
Running...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
