Superb	Good	Average	Passable	Paw

We would like to cover as many shows as possible - please e-mail me details of any you have attended and I will post them - it might help us to choose where we spend our money next year.
Please give your report a Star rating.

Show report for Dartford (sat 27th) and Keston (sun 29th)

Camping - great camping area, very flat, grass cut short, huge plots with vast spaces in between. The camping was on all 4 sides of the grounds with the rings in the middle and exercise areas at both ends, this meant that no-one was very far from the rings. Only one portable toilet block and no showers, also the water was quite a trek. But the amount of space and the good sized exercise areas made up for that.

Rings and classes. Rings were nicely spaced out and there was a good selection of classes. The weather was exceptionally hot and therefore no-one in their right mind would want too many runs.

Trophies and rosettes were ok, nothing special but I've seen worse.

Entertainment: no entertainment laid on but we had a terrific thunderstorm on Saturday evening which was stunning to watch (literally so if you were in the wrong place ;-). However the huge exercise areas lent themselves to people entertaining themselves with football etc.

Stalls:  There was a good selection of stalls for the dogs

Overall - the shows were well run with a good atmosphere and the overall rating we (Shelley, Sue S, Mrs Y and Denise) decided on was 4 stars **** If there had been fantastic toilets and showers it would have been 5. Would we go back next year? Yes!

What made it especially good for me was that it was the first outing in my caravan, which is lovely :)  Mikey didn't get any clear rounds but on Sunday he didn't run under any jumps and that is progress!

Who got what? Denise got a 3rd in G6/7 jumping on Sun and I saw Jackie get a clear round but I don't know if she got a place,
Shelley got a 3rd in the all sorts on saturday with Tascha.  I can't remember the rest, can you Shelley?

Sue

Show report for RVA agility show at East of England Showground 19th, 20th and 21st July. Compiled by Sue Seekings, Emma Nicholson and Amanda Dyer.

Camping: The camping area was not too far from the rings but the units were rather crammed in and some camping spaces had concrete on them which made it very difficult putting in tent pegs etc. There weren't enough toilets and consequently some of them got blocked with overuse, however they were kept well stocked with toilet paper and towels and they had hot water. There were showers but we didn't find them as they were so far away.

Exercise area: We were able to exercise the dogs on a vast field behind the camping area, however the gate that led directly to this was only open for a short time morning and evening and outside of those times it was quite a trek to get round there. It was a public car park during the day and there were a lot of people driving far too fast for safety, however if you went far enough away you could avoid the traffic.

Courses and rings: There were enough runs, bearing in mind that the weather was very hot and there were plenty of other things to do. The courses were good and the atmosphere was generally friendly. There was one ring manager who was not what one would describe as a "people person" and who was very rude to his ring party! There seemed to be plenty of help as everyone was allocated to work for one hour in a ring and this seemed to work well. We only heard calls for help on Sunday afternoon.  The ground was level and well mown and the rings were well spaced out. There were stalls near the rings which distracted some dogs and of course the general public were watching and occasionally trying to feed the dogs!

The tannoy system was excellent - Alan Humphries has a briliant manner, calm,no nagging and no shouting. Maybe we could have had one or two more announcements about courses ready for walking but that was probably down to the ring managers.

Rosettes and trophies were good quality and generous enough.

Entertainment was excellent. There was a group playing on the Saturday night to a packed crowd who all joined in with singing and dancing, Sally was on fine form, In fact the crowd was so good one of the band members took a photo of them!

RVA hired a bucking bronco which was hilarious, although there were probably a few sore bottoms in the morning!
During the day we were able to walk around the East of England Agricultural Show, which is like the Norfolk Show. There were masses of stalls and we could have spent a fortune. We went to the fair and had a go on the carousel and the helter-skelter and ate ice-cream.

Overall rating *** only three stars as it fell down on the facilities in the camping area but it was a good show and we would go back next year.

Who got what?

Emma and Kizzy - 3rd in grade 5 agility
Emma and Bilbo - 6th in Burgess Agility
Amanda and Kye - 9th in grade 4 agility
Sally and Becks = 3 clear rounds

The hero of the weekend was Maisy who got 2 grade 4 agility wins and came 3rd in the burgess qualifier and 2nd in grade 4 - 7 jumping.

Well done everyone!

Burnham Show - 14th September
Well due to other shows big shows at the weekend, Burnhams numbers were lower than usual. Even so they were very generous with fab trophies and big rosettes. It was a small, fairly well organised show with only four rings and friendly ring parties, and with a start time of 9am- this allowed for a minor lay in! It was mainly aimed at Large grades 1-4 but Small and Medium grades 1-7. Grades 1-7 fun classes were just that, and included "Tunnels Galore" pretty difficult not to get lost, but I managed not to and won the class. It was great to have a 2hr practice ring, but the only negative being that instead of allowing allotted time for each height, you simply had to join the long queue and the ring party put jumps up and down for each dog. This meant a very long wait.

Day parking was right next to the rings, so never far to walk, which for us lazy people is always good. The grass in the rings was short and fairly flat- no big holes to wring anybodies ankles. There was plenty of exercise area- just had to dodge a few cow pats along the way! But on the whole another good show, and depending on what grades our large dogs are next year we'd definitely go back. I would give the show 4/5

Helen

Redgates Limited Show
I think all those who went would agree this was a real fun show (independent but to KC regs).  Just 3 rings limited to a max of 400 dogs, 2 rings for normal jumping and agility classes, the 3rd ring used for fun classes and POTD and there was also a practice ring open all day.  POTD classes were separate for most grades which was a welcome change and the Pause Box challenge (at which Tinker truly excelled!) brought the smile back to agility.  Rosettes and trophies were good quality and generous allocations.

Bearing in mind the recent appalling weather, the ground was very good, short grass, flat and even, and very well drained plus a lovely separate field for the exercise area and plenty of bunny poo there for Tinker to eat. As it was such a relatively small show, most car parking was "ringside" and even the most distant parking was probably no more than 25 yd's away - such a treat.  Proper toilets with running water and a good catering stand complete with hog roast added to the creature comforts.

The atmosphere was unhurried, relaxed and friendly and it felt like they'd really remembered "Agility is Fun".  I shall definitely go again next year.

I'd give it 4/5 - only missed out on 5/5 'cos I didn't get a trophy & could have done with more sunshine...can't blame the organisers for either of those criticisms though!

Letchworth Show - 29th,30th & 31st August