NZDAC 2018 – What a Show!

I am on the committee that will be hosting the 2019 NZDAC in Cromwell, and I came to this year’s event with a critical eye, looking out for mistakes that we could learn from to make it even better next year. Aside from the obvious issue of the surface, I have to say that Zone 3 did a phenomenal job with the organisation of the show and Zone 5 has a very tough act to follow!

My personal highlight was placing 2nd in Jumpers B! The lovely ribbon was so big I had trouble taking a photo of it indoors.

Here’s my take on what went well and what could be improved on.

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Welcome!

Welcome to the Five Fault Club! I’ve been thinking about starting an agility blog for a couple of years now and recent events have inspired me to finally take the plunge. My vision for this blog is to provide the agility community with somewhere to share their opinions, and also a resource for newcomers to find the answers to some of their burning questions. Guest posts are welcome, so please email me on fivefaultclub@gmail.com if you have something you want to get off your chest.

I tried out the phrase “Five Fault Club” at SCDTC training the other night and everyone had a different interpretation! To me it is a reminder that agility is about more than just winning, and that you can approach the sport with two mindsets – you can moan because a rail came down, or you can choose to celebrate because your dog did seventeen obstacles perfectly and nailed a hard weave entry. I used to spend a lot of time in the former camp but I am now striving to stay in the latter!

For those who don’t know me, I’m Kate and I’ve been competing in agility for more than twenty years. The photo above is from my first NDOA (now the NZDAC) at Auckland in 1997, with my Sheltie “Funzie”. I’m now up to agility dog number four, a Heading Dog named “Rik” with whom I competed at my 22nd consecutive NZDAC last month.