Deciding whether Ben would be alright to go to Olympia. That decision was made 2 weeks before the event.
The launch of my new website and my ‘INDEPENDENT WEAVES’ DVD.( www.agilitybuds.com )
Along with lots of teaching and classes.
Olympia
After Ben being at the vets to have a ‘Cancerous Tumour’ that was on his spleen and his spleen removed. (After biopsy they found it was not even a tumour, part of his spleen had died because it wasn’t used enough, and it died off. The dead bit then became sticky attracting and grabbing stuff from around the body building a lump on his spleen.) I was told from the vets he could get back to agility after 6 weeks! Despite this Ben did not do ANY agility for 10 weeks (and 4 days)
We managed 3 training sessions before Olympia. The look on his face when I put him in front of a jump ‘Me ...What, I’m actually allowed to do it again??’ He was soo cheeky in his training sessions! And I can remember the last second training session we had Ben decided he could no longer wait, he was far too excited. Which is a bit worrying, you kind of need a wait at Olympia! Well to get a tiny head start at least! I knew at Olympia he would be in ‘The Zone’ Focused and excited and do his famous wait that everyone laughs at! I was right, he did!
So what was I expecting from Olympia?
I was just so happy to have Ben, whatever happened I was going to be happy! I really didn’t think we would make it to Olympia, so everything was a real bonus! There were such a high standard of young, talented, fit and fast dogs in the line up. We were 2nd to run, what do you do in this position? The course was good; it wasn’t straight forward like the usual Olympia course. I knew it had to be clear to even think of making the final, again with the high competition I knew it had to be reasonably quick too.
I placed Ben on the start line, he followed into his starting position and released. He was a bit slow in places and struggled towards the end, he was not in great shape (fitness) but our clear was there! The first clear.
The clears started to roll in then so did the first pole! It knocked some extremely talented dogs from the final.
I just had to wait to see if we were in the top 10 to make it through to the evening final.
Yes we came 8th. I was so pleased with him. Making it to the final was just something I never expected. I honestly thought he wouldn’t be fast enough due to the lack of fitness training. This made it 4 Years we have made it to Olympia on the trot and 3 of those years have made it into the final!
The final!
Well the final compares to no other agility competition or final in the UK. Ben loves people cheering and the adrenalin really kicks in . He was such a good boy! Again I was proud whatever he did. He knocked the pole after the seesaw. I moved and pushed off for the home straight. We finished 6th. I’m really pleased with him, he is such a pleasure to work and have as a pet. God knows what I would do without him. He is truly one in a million.
Here are some pictures from Olympia 2011
Both competing photos taken by
Ian Watts
Final Picture.
Ben at the MOJO Futuretec Stand.
I want to get on the chair and watch the Pairs!
Lucy Osborne
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