So I have been pretty poor with blogging after races but that is partly due to just enjoying ourselves. This season Paul has a few goals with Dill but in general we are having an ‘easy’ season as next season will get very interesting as Mozi will also be racing.

Paul and Dill started this season with Tri Dog, which was a great way to start the season. On the 22nd October, they did their second ever 10km at Thoresby and got a new PB 42 minutes and 3 seconds! Paul was really chuffed with that and Dill… well Dill was happy to keep going. He never tires for long! The course was good, it was mostly off road with a small concrete section. A mass start with nearly 100 canicrossers which was quite something to watch! They came in 4th for the 10km, 3rd for gender position and they couldn’t be happier!

At the end of October they did their first race with the Sleddog Association of Scotland (SDAS), it appeared a little less organised then other races we have been to but when we got there it ran smoothly and was a lovely atmosphere. The boys didn’t podium as they didn’t split male/female like a lot of races do. They put down a great time though and really enjoyed the course at Sherwood, which was different to the UCSC race. There were some seriously amazing times being put down that weekend though, there were signs of things to come, especially when all these pups come of age.

The weekend after we went back to Canciross Midlands race, it was a huge puppy play session (as are most races at the moment!) which was nice. Mozi got to see a lot and experience loads and wasn’t phased which was brilliant. Dill ran well over the two days, came away with a silver medal. They like the course at Cliff Lakes and it meant we also got to see Paul’s brother as they live really close by. Gives us several reasons to travel over.  There was some good competition as it was the last race for a lot of people before heading over to Poland.

A couple of weeks after that we went to our first ever CaniX race. We hadn’t been to any before due to a lot of rumours about it. We had been cautious but we went to watch one at Cannock Chase at the tail end of last year and everyone was so friendly we figured it was probably worth giving it a go. It was at sence valley park, which is quite small and the course though good wasn’t great, there was camping on site but only in a small car park and there were a lot of the public around and with all these things people don’t like their normal walks being disrupted. Saying that the organisation of the race, the people competing, everyone was lovely and friendly. It was a lovely race and Paul and Dill really enjoyed it. Mozi and Lily had some lovely walks round which involved running in and out of some streams. It was a lovely race and we did really enjoy it. We are hoping to get to some more of the CaniX races at some point!

The boys came first at their race, which was great, they won a dog bed (which has been incredibly useful for Mozi’s training classes!) and some dog milk (which they are still yet to try..). We loved the prizes though, the bed really has been super useful!

Then our last race was back at Sherwood Pines. It was very quiet for the UCSC race, last year the bikejor class was huge and super competitive. This year it was much smaller but the boys had some really good competition. The course was slightly shorter than 5km but they were able to put an average speed down of 30kmph which if they can keep over a 5km distance would mean they would break the 10 minute barrier which is something Paul has really been working towards. So they know that they are getting closer to it, which does at least mean they are getting closer. They won over the two days, which was actually a bit of a surprise! So that was quite a nice way to end our last race before the new year.

There will be a few more races in the new year, starting with Thetford at New Year. Then there are a few midland races we are planning to attend and of course the BSSF British Championships.

We are also getting our agility calendar together as well, Lily has had a good months rest away from any training and we have now started up again and working towards a few goals. We are retraining her weaves and contacts and seeing good progress with both. We are getting some tight turns in as well and she is speeding up quite nicely! Looking forward to next season!

Mozi has started training as well, he hasn’t done anything in harness yet, he is only 8 months and we are in no rush! Saying that he has been doing more training and we will write a blog soon about what we have done with him. We have been taking it slow with him, he is mentally still very very young even is he towers above Dill now!

We hope everyone has an amazing Christmas and New Year, shall see you soon!