Fly

Show stoppers

Leaning forward in anticipation, I waited for the word that would release me from my stay. My girl continued to walk forward until she reached the third jump in the sequence. My heart skipped a beat as she looked at me straight in the eye; whispering my release word as she smiled. Without hesitation I leaped froward with a passionate burst of energy and love for this sport.

The first jump loomed ahead of me and I put myself in a state of serious concentration so that I wouldn't ruin our round on the first jump. The green and white painted pole seemed to be miles beneath my feet as I arced gracefully over the jump and began my decent back to the green carpet of the main area at the NEC.

I soared easily over the second jump and reached the jump where my girl was standing. She quickly collected me before I landed so I was already facing the next obstacle by the time I had landed. I was directed into the darkness of the green rigid tunnel; I had never found tunnels easy, but I had gotten over my fear and shot through it at a blinding speed.

As I approached the light at the other end of the tunnel I could see the figure of my girl heading towards a straight line of three jumps. One by one they disappeared under my soaring paws. At the end of the sequence, I heard my girl call out left and I adjusted my position mid-air to accommodate her request.

I found that she was directing me toward the see-saw; my favourite part of the course. I eagerly ran up the green and white aluminium plank, pausing on the White contact point at the end, waiting for the plank to tip and hit the floor before I looked back at me girl to see where to go next. She pointed toward the plastic 'stone-effect' wall. I was able to judge my take off point to perfection and was soon racing onward at the next obstacle.

I soon saw that up next was the A-frame. I lunged at the equipment with a fiery determination in my body. Soon I found myself hurtling back down the far side of the A-frame and, after touching the contact point, I once again checked with my girl who directed me into another tunnel.

Coming out the tunnel, I was collected by my girl and pushed on toward another jump. Hearing a steady escaping my girl's lips slowed me down and alerted me to the fact that the weaves must be the next piece of equipment that I was going to face. My focus locked on to the line of poles stood in front of me. I entered the mess of poles with my shoulder on the left hand side of the first pole and started to weave through the line of twelve poles. Very soon I was out the other side and racing onward once again.

The next piece of equipment I has to tackle was the tyre jump. I could see myself coming into the jump on a funny line so I made a quick but accurate correction to my position. I met the jump perfectly and soared through the familiar 'O' shaped jump. Not far to go now I thought to myself. My legs were beginning to ache and my heart was racing. I knew I needed to press on though.

After navigating my way around a rather tricky jump sequence, I was directed toward the dog walk. I knew that this demanded precision and co-ordination; something I really struggled with. However, I managed to complete the obstacle perfectly earning myself a little 'good boy' praise from my girl who was also beginning to tire after running this gruelling course.

Next, I was sent around the wing of the eighteenth jump and on landing, told to enter the flat tunnel. When I came out the other end of the material sheet, I was called to the right and I could already see my girl urging me, willing me on toward the final jump. I increased my pace and pushed my exhausted body on even further. The last jump seemed to approach in slow motion and I reached my take off point on the perfect stride. I flew over the jump and landed to the sound of an eruption of clapping and cheering. We had won! I couldn't believe it, we had just won at the worlds biggest and best show, the most prestigious dog event, home of the most elite dogs in the world. It seemed almost surreal.

I glanced up at my girl who was already crying with tears of happiness. I knew this meant the world to her and I was all too glad to be a part of her dream. Already crowds of spectators and our fellow competitors were congratulating us on our latest success. I could tell we were going to be busy over the next few hours!

As we made our way back to my bench, I saw Zeek walking toward us. I instinctively stood up slightly taller, slightly more proud. We were champions now, I had to look the part! He happily came over to us and sat obediently by his owners feet. "Hey Storm, well done in there today. You completely thrashed us all!" I just sat there looking admirably at the older dog whom I was still slightly in awe of. "Thanks Zeek. You were great too! And we only beat you by one hundredth of a second. We hardly 'thrashed' you!" I replied, my voice filled with modesty. I didn't want my victory to make me seem big headed or arrogant in any way. He just gave a slight chuckle and a subtle head nod in my direction before leaving with his owner.

We finally arrived at my bench about 30 minutes later. Boy, I sure was beat! As soon as I lay down on my bed, my eyelids became heavy and I fell instantaneously into a deep sleep. It had been a great day and one I would probably never forget.

I woke up what I presumed to be a couple of hours later refreshed and ready to face up to what may come. Looking to my left an unfamiliar trophy and rosette caught my attention. I missed the award ceremony!? How could I let this happen? I began to panic; I couldn't see my girl anywhere. Then I caught her scent. She too had fallen asleep, only she was lying on the floor. I'm guessing she didn't want to wake me and ask me to move over slightly. I began to wonder if she had missed the ceremony as well but then the trophy wouldn't be right next to me if she had.

I looked at the trophy again, more closely this time. There was a card behind it! I obviously hadn't noticed it before. Being careful not to damage the glass trophy, I grabbed the card and woke my girl up. "What's up boy? Are you alright?" She asked, a slight one of panic was evident in her voice. Then she saw I was holding something. "What have you got there bud? Where did you get this? It says : 'Well done on your performance in the ring today! You missed the award ceremony so I brought this to you. We need to talk so can you contact me asap.' Then there's a number and name. I don't recognise it though.". She quickly kissed me on the head and headed off to find this mysterious person.

I must have dozed off again because when I woke my girl had returned with a smile the size of Wales plastered on her face. I gave her the 'I'm curious, please tell me' face complete with head tilt and ears down look but her smile only increased in size. "You made my dreams come true. Now I'm going to make yours come true!"