European Open 2016 S-M Team Champions again :)
So... - we survived! We survived long looong drive, traffic, carrying 4 crates and all other equipment all the looong way up the hill because they wouldn't let us take it there by car, we survived never knowing when is our turn and ridiculously long awards givings. We barely survived the surface though - especially Le was struggling with it a lot, slipping in almost every run...
But lots of good stuff too! 🙂 Bu was, as always, trying her very best and looking great for 10.5-year-old. Bi was trying much harder as expected as well 🙂 so it was really fun to run her - she even held all her see-saws and didn't knock much at all - other as in the first run where she slipped terribly right after 1st jump... 🙁 Big THANKS to Diamond for fixing her!!!
To again made every course look easy, but we still managed to have a little something in every run. She ended 4th in our only clean run, losing some time before obstacle 2 though as she broke her first start line stay and it took me some time to notice her at my feet, ooops!
Le however was struggling with surface a lot, she fell in a tunnel in her first run really badly, still won that run, but then the slipping and new and new painful areas just didn't stop anymore... 🙁 Thanks to Diamond, we could keep running, but I was mostly just staring at her, hoping she won't slip again, so I'm not really happy with my handling in any of the runs other as that first run (agility team) - and then Team Finals where Slovenia's Simply The Best team totally rocked and won AGAIN, beating not only all S-M teams, but also the winning Large team - by 6s - just for those who still think Large dogs are faster 🙂
I guess you just can't go wrong with a team carrying La's name and current World Champion, current vice-World Champion and (at that time) current European Open Champion in it 🙂
Slipping came back for individual finals, but we still made it to 3rd place. - Super happy for our Austrian friends Laura and Zookie for winning it!!! 🙂 And sooo happy to see so many of other Lolabuland students doing sooo well!!!
More videos coming soon...
Silvia, you have done great again and you can be proud of your dogs, especially Bu !!!
Sorry for so such slipping conditions -- you can’t be confident for your full speed running that are always amazing !
I don’t know why awards givings are always so long and late in France, even for little local competition.
When you are too confident with your dog’s start line stay, it is really disturbing the first time they decide to break it !!!
But next course, you are prepared to this event and more attentive that it may happens ! In a trail and first course in the morning, Jimson broke the start line stay … It’s because I was too confident with his stay and sloppy with my cues !
What happens in Large final and all these DISQ ? Do the course was very very hard to handle ?
My dogs stay much better if I’m confident about it 🙂 -- I think it was some kind of misunderstanding as she didn’t do it again then.
Finals Large was not an easy course, but the major reason for eliminations are always the nerves/pressure and going for that perfect line that is always at the edge. And, good Foundations (especially weaves, pushes and threadles) were very important for that course.
Great runs, Small heroes!
Congratulations!!!