Northsea Tournament - Agility

This past weekend we went to an Agility Show in Germany, anout 50 km north of Bremen. I was judging both days, Jumping 1 on Saturday, and Jumping Open on Sunday for Minis and Midis.

I travelled down with Susanne and her Monty sons Unique and Spirit. We left early Friday morning as I was to do a training session with Spooky/Kayleigh puppies in the afternoon. We planned to arrive at 2 pm which would give us plenty of time...

About 30 minutes after we left Monty threw up in the car. We stopped and when we took him out of the car he was not feeling well at all. He was stiff to one side of his neck and sluggish. I got hold of my vet who prescribed a painkiller and I also got some antibiotics for his upset stomach which now also had evolved to diarrhea. It took us 1,5 hours to get the medication, as we couldn't find a chemist that stocked what we needed. After getting on our way with a fresh supply of towels and toiletpaper ( and unable to find a chirporactor ) we headed to Germany. Monty was now relaxed on the floor infront of Susanne who now was a travelling nurse. Another pitstop to clean diarrhea out of the top crate and poor Susannes boys ( dont ask ). Monty got moved to the floor by Susanne's feet. After cleaning the crates the first time I had to empty a plastic bag with food so I had something to put the soiled vetbed in ). There was a bag of dog food and other essentials. Whizz the stinker suckd the dogfood bag into the crate wile I was in the chemists - luckily Susanne stopped her before she ate too much. The half empty bag was moved to safety (from Whizz) on top of one of the bags - wo when we turned a sharp corner - GUESS WHAT - there was dog food all over the car!!!!

Due to the delay in finding the medicine we got stuck in traffic. At one point I looked down and Monty had just sat up. I asked Susanne if he was shivering or uneasy and she said yes...OK HE NEEDS TO GO...and we pulled off into the emergency lane and off Susanne trotted to walk Monty. And he needed to go :o) Traffic wasnt moving at all so there was really no hurry.

Unfortunately we arrived at 6 pm due to heavy traffic ao I missed seeing some of Spooky's puppies. Luckily there was a chiropractor on the showground who checked Monty through and fixed his neck which had a blockage (?). We set up camp, met Marianne & Bent, then went to the hotel to check in and have dinner. I made a makeshift pen for Monty so if he needed to go during the night he would jump up on the bed first and wake me up. That worked a treat and I was up at 3.15 am. Which left me very tired the next morning when the alarm went at 6.30.

We were at the show ground at 8 and my course was already set from the night before. It was a good class 1 jumping with different options for handling. Many of the dogs were crashing into the tyre for no reason - it was in a straight line and the dogs had the sun coming from behind them so that wasnt an issue either. I wish it had been a breakaway tyre :o( We were done with 220 dogs by 12 so I could see the class 3 dogs on a very challenging course in the A3 ring. In the afternoon we got together with the breeders of the Spooky/Kayleigh litter and did a photo shoot. The puppies were gorgeous - well built and with excellent temperaments.

The evening was spent at the hotel restaurant. Susanne and I had dinner with Mia from Finalnd, Kurt from DK and Emeil from Belgium. It was a nice evening and we discussed a lot of agilty. Monty had me up once again during the night - this time at 5 am. It was warm outside so I really enjoyed our walk .... it was dawn and the birds singing was amazing. Up again at 6.30 and that was a chore - I was seriously considering missing breakfast to get another half hour of sleep.

I judged the mini open jumping - some really nice dogs in there....then a long break so I watched Mia's A3 agility. It was a challenging course with lots of good stuff in it. I was given the opportunity to run NFC with a Jack Russel called Phoebe - and we got a CLEAR in a fast time!!!! My second judging was the midi open - same course as earlier in the day - some spectacular runs again. Prizegiving was at 6 ish - a very festive occasion where everyone sits and enjoys the moment. Judges and helpers are thanked ( and the traditional wave is performed many times ), and the North Sea Winners announced.

And then we drove home. The drive was uneventful and I was in bed by 3 am. Due to the stress of Monty being sick and judging during the weekend I completely forgot a massage appointment on Monday for the dogs :o( :o( :o( The good news though is that Monty is almost fit for fight now!!!!