DIARY OF A WUSV BEGINNER....
Saturday October 1: Leaving Belgium.
It was with butterflies in my stomach, Ronny and his wife, Gert and me
left early in the morning. This was it!! Everything we have been
training for and working so hard for, was finally going to be put
through the biggest tests of them all; THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! Even
though we only had a little bit over 4 hours to drive, it was the
longest trip I have had in my life.
We arrived safely at our hotel, and we hardly put our luggage in the
room before we packed dogs and training gear, and were off to the
local Shutshund club for training. |
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Wednesday October 5
07.00: Intraining on the Stadium in Haguenau.
I have been a spectator of a lot of World championships, and taught I
knew what I had coming, but it really took me off guard when we
arrived at the stadium. Now I was suddenly a competitor. The stadium
looked 10 times bigger and scarier, and I felt incredibly small. |
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| The training went above all expectations, no big mistakes, and I felt
that Gringo and I was more than ready! The only thing I was thinking
was: BRING IT ON! |
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19.00: City Hall of
Haguenau:
All the teams and supporters where gathered, now was the time to find
out when we where competing.
| I was lucky: Thursday tracking, Friday obedience and Saturday
protectionwork; everything in the middle of the day, which for me
meant that I could sleep a little bit longer. For anyone who has seen
me before 07.00 in the morning; you know what I mean! |
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| Ronny was very unlucky, he was the LAST one of all the competitors to
find out when he had to compete; and it all came in the wrong order;
protection work on Thursday, Friday tracking and Sunday at 06.00
obedience. |
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| Now all the preparations where finished; now it was "only" the
competition left. It was a big moment for us all. The only thing that
had to be said was: LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!! |
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Thursday October 6
11.00: Tracking fields: The tracking fields looked nice from a
distance, I was thinking "this was not too bad". Talk about being
wrong! The tracking fields where difficult, because the surface
changed all the time. Gringo is usually a excellent tracker, so all I
could do now was trust him to do his job, and make sure I didn't do
any mistakes. All in all it went very good, considering the
circumstances. We did a very good track with 94 points. A special
attention to judge Willie Pope, who at least made me feel comfortable.
16.00: Stadium in Haguenau:
It was time; Ronny and Eros was up for protection work.
The stadium was packed, every one ready to watch last years world
champion in action. Was it still good? The judge Pierre Walström did
not give away any "free" points, he had so far been strict with
everyone, just the way it HAS to be in a world championship. No one
had so far gotten excellent, so this was a exiting moment. Could Eros
do it? The tribune was silent, you could almost hear the heartbeat of
the audience. |
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Eros proved again to be one of the absolute best dogs in protection
work; the competitions best score so far, EXELLENT WORK WITH 96 POINTS!
Friday October 7
12.00: Stadium in Haguenau:
Gringo and I was up for obedience. Gert was a nervous wreck, and so
where the rest of the supporters. Strangely enough the only one not
nervous was me! I could hardly believe it myself.. I had to be nervous,
wasn't everyone?? Then I stared getting nervous because I wasn't
nervous. Anyway; I kept it together and I was honestly looking forward
to go on the field. I was very proud to be the handler of Gringo, and
what I had to do now was to show the rest "of the world" how good he
really is.
I had a good feeling on the field, Gringo had a lot of energy and
motivation, we where a good team, at least we like to think so :-) Gringo
had the day of his life, he was happy all the time, and couldn't wait
for the next exercise. This of course led to a few minor mistakes, but
all in all Gringo gave all he had, and I was grateful he had this mood
on this particular day. Being the handler should be easier, but in my
case it wasn't. I did most mistakes myself, and it was here we lost
our points. On the down in movement I started running (oops!), but the
most devastating part was on the send away. I was so happy with what
we did, and so glad it was "over", so I did a mistake I will NEVER do
again. The sendaway was perfect, the down was perfect, then Christine
raises her arms in joy, and of course Gringo thinks we are finished,
and runs a few meters towards me before he understands that something
is wrong, and he goes down again. I couldn't believe it, what did I
do???
Anyway... I am very happy with the work Gringo did, he showed what a
good dog he is, and that was for me the most important thing. We ended
up doing a good job with 87 points.
At the same time in the tracking fields:
Eros & Ronny makes a EXELLENT TRACK WITH 96 POINTS!!!! |
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Saturday October 8
Stadium in Haguenau:
Only one discipline left for Gringo and me; protection work....
It was a special moment before I was entering the field; my heart was
beating like crazy, I field the adrenaline pumping. I said a silent
prier to the man upstairs, pulled myself together and told Gringo that
he had to show everything he was good for!! And I honestly think it
worked. We had the time of our life on the field, Gringo had power,
speed and everything else you want to see. In short terms; he rocked
the stadium!!
Now I could raise my arms without a doubt, I was super proud
and happy, it was a undescribable moment of joy and relief. I didn't
care what points we got, I was happy with what we did, we gave all we
got and more we couldn't do!
Judge Pierre Walström was also happy with what we did; he said loud
and clear: EXELLENT WORK WITH 96 POINTS!
Sunday October 9
06.00 Stadium in Haguenau:
This was the moment everybody was looking forward to: Ronny & Eros
doing their last discipline; obedience. So far he was in the lead with
96 protection work and 96 in tracking. Could they really do it again????
The stadium was absolutely packed, and it was absolutely silent on the
tribunes. I think no one even took a breath when it was going on.
 
For the people who know Ronny they now what a competition machine he
is. So much experience and routine, with a dog with exactly the same.
This competition was no exception, they delivered all they had on the
field. The crowd was going crazy when he was finished, and judge
Wolfgang Tauber agreed; the competition's best obedience and EXELLENT
WORK WITH 97 POINTS!!!
All in all:
As you all know by now, Eros & Ronny won again! Gringo & I ended up on
9th place, also receiving the price of honor for the competition's
best protection work.
I am extremely proud of being able to go to the WUSV, even more proud
that Ronny trusted me with his youngest dog.
A competition like this, being a team member of such a good team,
having the world's best people around me, makes me very humble and
small in many ways.
I am 28 years old, and what I was able to do this year many people can
only dream of. Some train for years and years and some people never
get to do what I did, I was lucky, and I can only take my hat off for
people that train for years and years and finally get the chance to
go the WUSV. I know what thaughts I have after an experience like this,
even if Gringo is not my dog, and I can only imagine what people feel
when they have done the same with their own dog.
CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE WHO COMPETED, WE SHOULD ALL BE VERY PROUD
OF WHAT WE DID!! HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
And a special congratulation to the Norwegian team, we ended up in 3.
place in the team competition!! Watch out for Norway in the future,
this was only the beginning!
Individual Results
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