Notts O’ Good Starter team, Markfield 6th March 2010

Came away with a 1st place on there first outing.

Amy with Gypsy, Jess with Middie, Leanne with Benji, Hannah with Taunie, Rachel with Skye and Oly.

Starter Competion – Markfield

As this starters competition was part of the judging and ring party seminar, the competitors didn’t need to be there until 1.00pm, a rare lie in on competition day!
We met up at Tomlinson Kennels in Markfield eager to get started, as this was the very first competition for the whole team! None of the dogs or handlers had ever participated in a tournament before, other than Leanne who had only ever done boxloading for our other two teams, but never run a dog.  I don’t know who was more nervous, me or the team, as I called them all together to give them a briefing and explain what was expected of them.  You can train dogs to run up and down at training but you cannot replicate the buzz and excitement of a real race.  Nor can you really explain what the light sequence is all about to people who had never seen them before!
I took the team inside to explain how it all works and what to do should one of those lights flash on for a fault. We were first race in and the team consisting of Rachel, Amy, Jess, Leanne and Hannah took their dogs down to the box end for a recall. Janine was nominated box loader, Martyn “Maddie catcher” and I was on hand to tell everyone where to stand and release the dogs, and when to run again if they got a light. The first race didn’t go too well with Skye dropping her ball before the line each time, Maddie forgetting what flyball was and needing to be accompanied by Jess down to the box and Benji bouncing around searching for treats off Leanne, it didn’t look good for the aptly named Notts O’Good!
After a team talk during the five minutes before the next race we found what we thought may have been the triggers for the problems and went back in to try again. As Gypsy suffered from stage fright we had decided to leave her in the van to calm down and Amy took charge of Oly for Rachel while she ran Skye. The difference was all too aparent with the teams first ever win! The team went from strength to strength and although they lost the odd leg, they finished the day with a first place! They proved that Notts O’Good are actually Very good indeed, and the team look forward to more racing in the near future.
Joanna