Fairview Farm - Div 1 winners :-D

I wasn't able to go to Stockbridge until Saturday so missed Missiles running on Friday. Rockets and Ballistics both ran Sunday.

Rockets were Diefer, Sonny, Smartie, Jamie and our debutee Merlin. They were 6th seed in Division 3. The team really struggled to gel and had lights and lates everywhere. Also because the ground was so dry and hard we had trouble anchoring the box securely which was causing Sonny to fumble. Merlin did really well, he had one baby mistake when we ran in blue lane and he ran up the side of the jumps but other than that was fabby. His box turn held up really well, he was coming off a touch wide but his back feet stayed nice and high which was good. The team managed a best time of 19.31secs and came 5th.

Ballistics were Luna, Lacy, Asher along with debutees Shani and Loki. We decided at the last minute to put Loki up instead of Diefer as we thought he might be stronger over the 12" and because it would be easier to share the racing out. It would of been a shame if Diefer hadn't got much racing as he usually runs all the time on Rockets seeing as he is their fastest dog. Anyway we were 4th seed in Division 1 on a declared time of 17.50secs. Shani was great, we ran her start although I'm not sure this is the best position for her as Lisa really struggled to hold her still enough to get a good start! We did 17.13secs in the 1st race with a start of 0.2something, that was Shani, Luna, Lacy, Asher. In the 2nd race we did 17.14secs again with a big start, that was Shani, Luna, Asher, Loki. When we switched to red lane against Bassetts, Shani had a bit of trouble getting her bearings. She really wasn't trying to be naughty, she just really thought she should be in blue lane. Unfortunately this resulted in her running across on the 1st leg... Sorry Bassetts! After doing a start close to the gate she was fine and ran perfectly after that. Her box turn was stunning, Doggie portraits got an awesome pic of it that i'll post when they go up. She ran consistently around the 4sec mark. Loki also did amazingly, his box turn also held up really well. He ran around 4.4secs, he only dropped his ball twice (on one he was able to re-run and still win us the leg :)) and he did great in the charged atmosphere of Div 1. We only lost one race and that was against Bassetts but they lost 2 races which meant we won the division :-D. Also after my concerns about Asher last weekend he was the same this weekend... hanging on the box, didn't seem right, running slow... until he went in the pack and bang 3.8s then he went start for one race and ran 3.7something. So it would appear our problem is running anchor. I think he overthinks it and is so desperate to win that he forgets how to actually run and turn. Sooo we are going to have to majorly rethink our running order. I feel bad because Luna and Lacy have gelled so well in the middle but it seems such a waste of Asher if he is going to be running quarter of a sec slower. I guess now is the time to do it though!

Only downsides were that Merlin got measured at 12", he really freaked at the measurer and went right up on his toes, maybe if we practice we will get him lower, I really thought he would get 11". And Katie cracked her ankle bone which means we don't have Diefer for this weekend and we have had to have a big shuffle of Rockets and Extraset, could be interesting!

Laika also got to meet up with her mummy and brothers. It was really lovely having the whole family together. Asher adores Gemma and seemed really pleased to see her! River is literally a black and white version of his dad, he has some of the same mannerisms like wanting to have his head next to your head (anyone who has met Asher will understand!). Steve has the same colouring and coat type as Asher but in body shape and character is alot like his Mum. I'd say Laika is quite an even mixture of them both. She has Asher's Head, feet and legs but body shape, coat and tail is much like Gemma's (god knows where the ears come from!!). I'd also say her character is quite even between the 2. I'm just really annoyed I forgot to take photos!