Our first big agility championship event - Day 2

On the second day of our trip, we got up 5am in the morning and left our motel in Hamilton around 6am to head for our championship venue in Cambridge. We thought there would be lots of cars in the parking area, but there were only a few when we arrived at 6.30am. However, there were many dogs walking in the dog exercise area, many of whom had perhaps camped on the camping ground on the site.

This photo was taken the day before

Mint and I had two runs each; Starters 1 and Starters 2.

Our first runs were Starters 1. Mint had a slow start but gradually picked up the speed. Then, he entered the weaves, the third obstacle from the last, from the wrong side! So, Mum had to quickly bring him back to the entry to the weaves, then Mint did the weaves beautifully without missing a pole. But, because of the first failed attempt at the weaves, his run didn't go clear.

Mint

Well, as for my first run in Starters 1 ... I must admit that I ran out of the ring after two obstacles. I did it, because I wanted to go to toilet!! Mum was so nervous before the run that she forgot to let me do it. At the last moment before my run, she noticed what I wanted to do and quickly took me out of the waiting area, but it was too late! We had to go back to the start line before I did it!

After our first runs, we had a long wait. In Starters 2, our second runs on the day, my running order was before Mint's.

This time I didn't run out of the ring, as I didn't need to go to toilet this time. I think I did pretty well, but at the weaves, the second obstacle from the last, I missed the last pole!! About ten dogs after me, Mint had his run and he made the same mistake, missing the last pole!!

After our runs, a cheerful woman came to introduce herself to us. It turned out that she was one of fans of our Facebook page. It was wonderful to meet someone who knew us only in the cyberspace in person! I was so happy that I kissed her and her husband many times!

After all, we couldn't get any clear rounds on our first day at our first big agility championship event, so we left the venue early around 4.30pm, as we didn't have to stay at the venue to get any clear round certificates or prizes.

I thought we were going back to our motel directly, but we didn't. Mum stopped by a pet shop and bought a new soft crate for me! Yes, for me, not for Mint! On the day before, Mint and I slept in one crate together as you saw in the previous post (We had used to have two soft crates, but we had only one at that time, as the other one had broken). Mum bought a new one, because she knew that it had not been very comfortable for us to sleep together in one crate.

After a short rest in our motel room, we went out for a walk and found a beautiful walk way along Waikato River!!

Back in our room, we had dinner and went to bed... (Of course, in my new crate I had a much better sleep than I had the previous night!)