training update

well we have actually managed a couple of training sesions since my last posting!! Far too long over due! We have been training with Laura Chudleigh, who has done really well over the last few years, and she uses consistant methods, that after enough repetition sink in for me!!!! which is perfect as that is what i need!
For those who arent aware, im having a few health issues at the moment, and i have my next hospital appointment with a specialist on the 22nd dec, to determine the best way to remove and biopsy the mass after an MRI. I will update when i know some more :)

Back to training!!! After our club match, in which all of my 5 that ran managed clear rounds :) daizy got a 3rd in her beginner class, beaten by her daughter phaze! :) Terra won hers, and harv even had a clear!! :) 2 of megs 4 runs i was very pleased with, the other 2 were horrendous!! :( lots of poles, very reckless!!
So we did our day with laura, she kindly let me stay the whole day, i was in pain from the previous day so Lydia took over and did the class with zig and then swapped to meg. I wont put everything that was done, but i was pleased with how they all worked, was good for Lydia to join in as she learns better when having to do it rather than watch it!
Since then i have put into practice with the other dogs what he have learnt with contacts, start lines, jumps & turns, and so far im very pleased with the results, meg after just 2 10 min sessions was doing nice 2o2o contacts, and looking ahead ready to release to her dead toy, zig & dai were the same, so i know just short bursts like im doing will work!!
Chase and loki have done some end positions, altho chase for some reason is finding it all a bit difficult, so im putting the low contact trainer together to get him more confident in using his bean poley legs :) Loki just needs to get used to running over things higher up!!

All5 that i trained all did some basic gridwork, waits, and with me varying my position for the release, so we did recalling down, from halfway and from the fist jump sending ahead. as chase worked well on it initially, he then had a break and later on he also did some turns :) slowly coming together!

I'm christmas shopping for them all this weekend... and maybe for a new addition too!!! watch this space!

Birthday week & how much is too much or too little??

This last few weeks has had birthdays for 3 of my gorgeous dogs, meg is 9!! where has that time gone!! I'm slowly getting albums onto face book of each dog at various stages of their lives, i did Harvey's around the time of his birthday too, as he is now 11!!! Chase has seen in his 2nd birthday and is still my baby boy :) he loves a cuddle and is sooo naughty and cheeky, he just makes me smile by being HIM!
This week i have been playing with the clicker, and playing with the susan garrett five minute formula, and daizy really enjoyed learning the 'jump' stand lol :) i will try and video some bits for next time :) Chase and Loki have had some general training lapses, as they have all not trained since early October ( they have a couple of weeks of fun foundation training now to recap before proper training next year! )

Someone in my class this week, asked me if its possible to train too much...I believe you CAN over train, and make dogs not enjoy training, and as i have seen in the past, over training can and WILL de-motivate them, undoing all the hard work that is put in. Finding a balance of the right amount of training is a hard thing in my eyes, using my own as examples
Harvey - loves learning fun things, gets frustrated very easily and will switch off for playing with toys instead after about 10 mins.
Zig - She can only train in short sessions because of her heart, but trick training etc she likes to offer her default of head low!! for her she is a 10 min max at a time
Meg - the energizer dog ( remember the bunnies??) she will train full on no questions asked 24-7 if she could... she thrives on it, she as yet has NEVER switched off in a training session!! yes she starts making mistakes, but she is SO motivated, she cannot turn off any enthusiasm for it, so all training is done in moderation for her as she would train til she dropped if she could!!
Terra - Terra will train for quite a while given the opportunity, but she is stubborn, and if it isn't clear as clear can be, it is a challenge to teach her anything new. she is very stuck in her ways of doing things!! she trains for food and toys, however she looks to where toys are, and in agility will bypass equipment she sees as un necessary and put her head down and plough, quite literally to her toy! Food is useful for her, except she cannot take food sensibly or gently, she is a grabber, so sore fingers are the usual after training her!
Daizy - complete opposite to her mum, meg, she enjoys 1-1 training, but isn't very focused on it, she likes food, and also tennis ball playing, she enjoys trick training and does learn quickly, however bring in a distraction and the behaviour is forgotten, she is VERY easily distracted hence still doing so much with her on her lonesome :-)

Chase & Loki aren't doing much in the way of agility training as such, wing wraps, ends of contacts and looking ahead is our main criteria at the moment, back end work and waits with releases are also part of weekly training.... if i get the opportunity!

Now if I'm lucky - I get the chance to train mine, for approx 5 mins each, once a week, sometimes that wont happen though, depending on weather, opportunity, time etc, id rather give them a really good walk somewhere nice that they all enjoy and spend time with me doing that, then spend the time training them at home, now the nights are drawing in, i think the training sessions will get longer at home as the walks will be done in daylight usually... I make excuses for my lack of training, i get home from work at 5.30 most days, its now dark by then, so my lunch break is usually spent walking them somewhere nice so they get to have fun walks as well as boring lead walks... after I've walked them when i get home, i have tea to cook, housework to do, spend time with harry and if I'm lucky some time for me! so time is tight, as it is for most of us with multiple dogs, families and work.

So how do you know how much is too much?? i know i don't train enough, but how would i know if i did too much? i know id be fitter, my dogs would work better without the silly mistakes i make but would it show if i was over doing it?? Food for thought!! :)


I have booked myself on some training sessions , as well as getting my own stuff up and running, and while its so soggy i have to work out what is safe and what is stupid in this kind of weather!
The club classes are closing for winter, so im hoping to really spend the winter training, playing and having general FUN with my lot :) roll on next year!!

I took this at lunch time, a bit crap as i was in the woods, and took with my phone,
but all 7 are in it :) This is what i like to see, smiley faces, having a blast :)

2 weave or not 2 weave... thats the question??

I dont know what to doooooooo :-S

There are too many choices now with weave training methods! and i dont know which i want to try - i have 3 dogs that need to learn, 2 need touching up, and terra just needs everything!!!

Writing down my plans for winter, i have sorted most plans, but weaves are just being written as weaves, and left at that, as i just cant choose!

Daizy & Terra i have started old fashion style luring, earlier in the year, it worked for my old dogs who had better weaves than meg who learnt on V's, and harv and zig had enclosed chhannels, but i never worked on independence or difficult entries....oh or the right hand side, with those two, so big holes showed there!!

So, i have chase and loki - what a difference they are! both to teach to weave, and i cant decide how, so i havent done any?!

I have a few training workshops booked, and hope to decide depending on what suits each one and of course which trainer is most helpful i suppose! ;-)

Onto jumping, Lydia and myself have just done a jumping course, and learnt about grid work, set points, bounce grids and extension grids, all which was really fascinating, i loved it, we are definatley training those with the girls this week at club!

Ok i started writing this on sunday evening, today is tuesday morning, and i have the sort of cold that makes your head feel like its been trampled my many elephants :(

Pics from the weekend

My guys taken this weekend, love them all to bits!!! :-)

Winter already?!

Well didnt that come around quickly!!! The pics above are from Exmouth Beach now its re-open for dogs!!! my lot love it, but chase enjoys it the most!! he chases waves for ages, he thinks it great fun, look at his face for the proof!!!

As with most years, im starting to think about what i need to work on over winter... usually it involves lots of groundwork training at home as i dont have anywhere to use... but now I DO!!!!! So i get to do a different kind of training plan this time!
SO with a little help from friends this will all come into action over the winter!

Now, just to be clear, my dogs over the summer get to train an average of once or twice a month,not a week or even a day like some do, for about 10 mins each.... which isnt much... but they are competing, so i dont see that they need to train that much. Now the young dogs, i have changed how im doing things with them, so i will be doing 2 sessions each week with them during november, stopping all training for december and weather permitting, each dog building up to 2 sessions a week over january. and we have some 1-1 sessions to look forward to with a friend or two, so that im also looking forward too.

The show is now over and done with, and we have a de-brief about that soon for the next meeting, so a few things will be decided then and i can then plan my winter completely. I enjoy teaching within a small club, its so rewarding most of the time!!

My dogs are all doing well, meg is a bit off colour and has had a dodgy tummy overnight, so hopefully she just ate something that didnt quite agree, we shall see over the next couple of says!

Training tonight at tail-spin, my own club, im working towards the KCAI now so every little helps as tesco's say, ive just been on a training day learning about search and rescue ( SARDA) in the area, and also a seminar on reactive dogs in class situations which was very helpful, and im looking forward to the secon part of that one in March!!

On saturday i went to see a gorgeous litter of puppies, they are stunning!!! and yes as always im very tempted by one or two!!! They are by Tigger & Geena :)

finally!!

a pic of my guys altogether :) look no lead on Loki!!! Harry has worked really hard on getting a 'wait' from her, he has done so well!!

not a long post as im up to my eyes sorting show stuff, and trying to work at the same time, not a good mix, not sure how others manage, and im getting loads of help too!!! I havent been involved in running a show in some years now, lots has changed!
thank you in advance to all those helping us this weekend, its such a big venture, we are such a small club in comparison to some, and running with another small club from the area is working really well, so lets hope we have good weather!

chase-icles

my gorgeous boy, nearly 22 months, he is such a good FUN dog, he has a great personality, jumps up wayyyy too much but does love his cuddles. He is having fun with training, and has now started on some weaves

So close I can almost touch it!!!

nearly nearly nearly have completion on a field! not to buy , just to rent, but lots of paperwork to ensure i wont abuse it!! so i dont mind, as i like to think of myself as a trustworthy person, with pretty well behaved canines!!! ;-)

this blog post i have taken the descision not to moan about anything!!!! so it may be a short one!!!! haha!!

a few well dones! to Trinnie & Pam, and to Graeme & Rib, their first outings at olympia semi's, blinking well done guys for getting to them, im very proud of you both :)

I said it so much over the weekend, especially to poor lolly who listens to so much of my moaning and general crap i may be dealing with or feeling! ( thanks lols!!x) but i am so excited to be getting somewhere to actually train myself and my own dogs, you wouldnt believe how long i have been looking for somewhere nearby that i can use whenever i like! SO now i have to scrape some equipment together, i already have a few bits, and im making my own jumps!! haha, pics when they are done!!

Zig & meg didnt get any clears this weekend, so no show news to speak of!
Loki is now a proper young lady as is having her first season :)

I have some workshops booked with the lovely Toni Keating over the winter, and also Laura Chudleigh is coming down this way for a few training sessions, so I have also booked in with her. I have also promised Hdcs members we will hold some workshops targetting specific areas over the winter aswell, so hopefully they will be popular as always :)

A brief puppy mention, Geena is getting very large and is due at the end of September, such a lovely girl, pups from these two im sure will be amazing!!!

I saw quest ( meg x boo) working at gillingham this weekend, she wasnt the most confident of worker to start with, but is definatley looking good now!!!!

baaaaa baaaaa....agility sheep ??

Isn't it funny how sheep like people can be, you know when one runs and the others follow, even though they arent sure what they are running from???
i've noticed agility people can be like that too you know, one person has a thought on something - funny how the agility community can follow that thought, without any consideration of FACT!!

Now I'm well aware of who makes comments about Harrjaks, there are actually only 2 major contributors to the rumour mills, one of which i have had a word with, another i havent seen to be able to, but her idea of Harrjaks are based on an experience, once, with one dog, several years ago, with a young, and at the time inexperienced handler. Just incase you read this, and know I'm talking about you.... please find me at a show, I'm doing Gillingham, I'm SURE you will be there, I'd like you to meet some Harrjaks you havent met before, and then would like to hear that you still have the same opinion!! There are 27 Harrjak Border collies out there, not many in the great scheme of things, but please, before you make harsh judgments, meet some!! All the owners of my pups are lovely, and all are very approachable, and all will tell you what they honestly think of their dogs! ( although ignore the name trog from pam & karen lol) you have Graeme Macgregor & Rib, Claire Dell & Wren, Patricia Britton and Zephyr, and Simon Chandler with Bob, Pam Young & Trinnie, Lolly Scott and Tigger, Lynne & Amy Bennett with Java, FInd them and meet any of them... they are all at shows around the country, and that is just a few!

Harrjak owners, you are all lovely, and I love how much you all love your dogs, and I'm VERY proud of all of you, no matter what level you work, or don't work, you have given one of my precious puppies a lifetime loving home, which is very meaningful to me, and to my family, as we worry about every puppy after they leave, we get so attached to them its hard for us to see them go, which is why I'm glad you all keep in touch so much :-)

I'm not having a moan to get you all responding, I want to make you all aware, that not all people share our views on Harrjaks, I'm learning to be thicker skinned, and let it all wash off when I hear the comments, but to hear people think they are all sharp and nasty etc does wind me up a treat, as clearly they have not met many Harrjak's and therefore can only base their opinions on hearsay

Some brilliant results coming in at the moment, Mr Rave has Won his first ever class!!! Flynn (out of tigger) went grade 4 this weekend, and came 3rd at the DIN finals, seen some fab photos thanks to Graeme with Rib, from KC festival and DIN

Tigger has a litter cooking right now, one I'm VERY excited about, Geena is a lovely big strong bitch , the biggest Tigs has gone to, so I'm hoping for nice big boned girls from this combination :-) She was confirmed in pup by a scan, and saw at least 5!! <3 This litter is due 29th September.
He went to Jay this week too, not a mating by the book i can tell you!!! lol! but it happened in the end, so pups hoped for around the end of October 2011.

Love your dogs :-)

Love my dogs so much :-) I've had a nightmare few days helping find a very frightened collie, who went missing on Thursday, and we finally caught him today!!! Definitely makes me appreciate what I have, as well as what I have lost recently :-(
My guys mean the world to me, I don't like the term really, but they are my fur- kids!!!
They get along so well as a group, always being able to do anything together, they eat, sleep, play ,walk, travel and just generally live together, for that I'm very grateful as so many people with multi dog households just can't have that :-)

I'm still grieving for Holly, I've no idea how long I will feel so empty without her, and jak, in my life every day, they leave a great legacy in Harv and he is so special :-) I hope they are looking down on him feeling very proud, as he is missing them so much it's hard to see him sad too :-(
I won't go into how Harry feels, as he has had jak and Holly as part of his life since he was born, he is obviously as devastated as me :-(

Be grateful for the great dogs you have, appreciate them always, love them forever x

Sweet dreams my princess x

I cannot put into words how devasted i am about the loss of holly, given sleep on 11th August, too weak to fight any more, sleep well hols, always my princess, forever in my heart, go find jak at the bridge x

Swat summer show, Tamisje Uka, Holly & anything else i throw in for good measure while i waffle!!

I think i have come to the conclusion i am simply not lucky in life!!! As soon as something good happens, along comes something to bring it back down again!!! why me!!
Last weekend we had SWAT show, at the most local venue i think i could ever have! Westpoint arena is only 10 mins away from me, so was lovely to be able to get up late and still get there on time!!! Monday James was Judging, he had large 1&2,as well as smalls and mediums. all jumping classes, he likes doing things unusual and really tested people by putting weaves as number 1... now some could cope with it, others could not comprehend the idea! The day went well, and after the ring was finished we set up for my day judging the following day!! arrgh scarey! Pat was my ring maanger, and i had lots of my lovely friends come and help on my ring too, karen, sharon, selena, narz & lydia, pete & vicky too, another lady scrimed for a while, sorry i dont know your name? elaine i think it was, anyway, thankyou to you all, you did a great job!!!! My courses i was undecided if were slightly easy for the grades, but when they ran i had a good mix of clears, faults and Eliminations, so i think i gauged it about right, i had no negative comments, and several comments to say they liked the courses, so i was pleased with that :O) I had grade 3 jumping, veterans, and small 1-7 jumping. I decided to leave the veterans as the same course as grade 3, just removing the tyre and long jump and replacing with ordinary jumps, the course was then reversed for the 1-7 small with the tyre being added for the straight along the end. i was trying to keep away from the straight 'up and down' style courses, which seemed to work really well.

My large G3 jumping:My small 1-7 jumping:


zig and meg worked well on the days i didnt judge, well meg only ran on monday, as she bent her dew claw right out, and wasnt looking pretty! so she was off of running unril it was healed over at not at risk of opening up, she wasnt in pain with it after the initial cut off! :-0
The bad bits from here were getting a bug :( and meggies dew claw!


UKA Tamisje
I love uka shows.
The Standard height works so much better for the girls, it also means i enjoy it more! Ok so meg only managed one clear, and it wasnt even with me!! but still, we had some fab runs, and several places on tricky courses as we only picked up the odd 5f :) so was very pleased with that, altho we do need some weave work (@ laura chudleigh you are meant to remember to send me something on that!;-) Zig picked up i think 3 x 1st places ( nov jumping and senior schase, nov snooker) aswell as 6? second places!!) she was a star!!! On the saturday i ran her again, she was lovely, we came second in our jumping after a pull around a jump went awry, and a second place with her first clear in senior steeplechase! best bit of that one was, it was the second run of it as the timing failed, we had to run for time, and luckily i also managed another clear :)

The only down side to the show, was Holly took a bad turn, and her temp flew up to 106 again, she hasnt eaten ( still) since saturday evening, but is drinking fine. the onsite vets were really helpful, and today she has also seen my own vet, her temp is down a little to 103, but she is still refusing food, so we have changed her medication slightly to see if that will help. I realise she is no spring chicken, she is my baby and i love her so so much i just cant see her deteriorate like this, she has always been so strong, so naughty, and so funny, so to see her laying helpless is heartbreaking for me, and im hoping i dont have to make the descision im dreading, i will only do what is best for all of my dogs, if that means living on toast and pot noodles so be it :) so lots of healing thoughts this way if anyone has any spare for a soppy smelly bear dog :) thank you x

We have had such a busy few weeks, we have had time off from training really, so im hoping now to get back to it! we have Kernow UKA this weekend which im hoping holly will be well enough to come along to, we may do the trade tent, or we may not, we are undecided, as it will be nice to have a weekend with just us and dogs enjoying ourselves... we shall see.

Good Night Josie x

Waggerland Josie
13/12/95 ~ 24/07/11

Josie aged 15 and a bit

Josie aged 5, when she lived with us

Josie aged 9

Sunday morning i had a call from Richard to say Josie had been given sleep, she had gone downhill in the last few weeks, and the time had come to free her from the pain that was taking over

Good night and god bless josie-bean, you will be greatly missed, you have left such a great legacy, meg, tig & pop have produced stunning litters thanks to you, and you were the start of my fantastic harrjak line, so i thank you sweetie x My interest in dogs was started with Josie, she was the first dog i took to obedience classes, and then we played in agility too, never one for weaving as she would tug a toy or take food, but would chase and herd a tennis ball! Her funniest trait had to be emptying the toy box whenever she could - by surrouding you with toys, if you still didnt cave and throw one, she would start onbits of rubbish from the bin! Ever so cheeky, she would follow a ball anywhere - and did once through a glass window, shredding a back leg in the process...but still bought the ball back!! but she did calm down as she matured, and was a good mum once the hormones took over :) Her one and only litter, are tigger, Joe, murran, megan, popi & heli, a fantastic litter that love to work, so her great work ethic has been passed down to other agility generations.

Although she didnt always live with me, i feel very grateful to have been part of her life, such a special girl, she missed being an only dog when she first moved in in 2000, it took her some time to settle, especially with holly! Jak was pleased to have his big 'sister' with him, and i think she was very pleased to move back in and have control over the toys once more when Rich & Jess moved back to the UK!

Go find Jak and go tell him to play ball, you know he is a sucker when it comes to you :) x

Well done to Rave :)

Well done Rave, Harrjak blink and you'll miss it,

He qualified for the Alpha Agility Challenge Final to be held at Malvern Autumn show in September

would you believe it...

i/we have actually done some training!!!! and video'd a little!!!

meg and zig worked on contacts & weaves, and turns on jumps with harry, then dai and terra did a little of all sorts, chase and loki did some low work, and chase then some boxes at std uka height :) he is quite wide still on turns but does respond well, he is faster over straight lines!!

When all is said and done....

Im having fun, and that is , after all, what agility is all about :) i have recently only been taking part in small UK agility shows, which are exactly what shows used to be like, laid back, enjoyable and a little less competitive! of course the competition is always there, it wouldnt be a show without rossettes would it ;-)
My little red head has done very well just lately, Naarah a junior handler from our club, and a friend, has been running her in some shows, as we have been concentrating on running the tail-spin trade stand, and between Lydia, Narz & Harry they are all runnng zig at shows :) ( i rarely get a look in now!!) ZIg has now won enough points to move up to Senior in steeplechase, whilst she needs a few still in performance to move up there too.
Meg is working really well, and now i have my own training area we will be working on getting some better handling from myself to get the decent runs even better :) i cant wait!

Terra gave the biggest surprise from the weekend, a spur of the moment entry with naarah into casual agility ( as she gets to jump slightly lower) and she actually had a CLEAR ROUND! you have no idea how long this day has been coming! no spinning, only the odd bark, no ducking the jumps or running past!!! She WON the class by 4 seconds!!!!! Amazed and super pleased!! Again, now i will be able to train more, i hope to see her working at kc shows soon!!
Daizy , Chase & Loki all did some ring wandering and playing, and also in the tent, we worked on some tricks we have been perfecting, it is definatley helping them with their learning, and daizy especially, although she was still a little barky around the rings, she was much more focused on doing 'stuff' instead :)

Holly update!! She is recovering really well and has even been camping with us, she wears a jumper when in the tent as the temp does drop alot over night, and she is feeling the cold, but her facial swelling has pretty much gone, and her coat is falling out like no ones business but that maybe the weather more than the snake bite :)

Im really enjoying my dogs right now, the courses we work on at shows are definatley trickier than my little brain can cope with, and i only hope judges dont look at us in despair when we attempt to run, as i feel thats the case alot of the time, sometimes people need to know the stories behind the dogs, and how far they have come, and maybe soon we will find the perfect courses to get some clears on :-)

all 8 waiting for narz to move :)

oh dear.....

The most handsome chase :)

Zigs last few weekends winnings!

why me???

its about time i won the lottery - im well past some good luck happening!!!

This week Holly was bitten by an adder, on the nose when we were out walking on wednesday evening, the other dogs backed off when i told them too, unfortunatley i was too far away after picking up some poo to help holly who hadnt heard me :( she was rushed straight in, i took a photo of the snake using my phone as was better than me trying to remember what it looked like!
She spent the night in the emergency vets on fluids, steroids, anti inflammitories and anti biotics, and came home yesterday morning, with a very swollen and puffy muzzle area aswell as a fluidy build up in her lower jaw and neck on the side of the bite, inside her lip is also badly bruised and looks nasty :( poor girl, she is so brave, and hasnt complained once, although, the vet said she decided at 3am to remove her catheter in her leg so they had to re-do it all :)

So if you walk in grassy area's/ heath land, please watch out for these!

Just Dogs

This weekend saw us going very locally to Feniton, for just dogs' first show, i think i can safely say it was a success, no drama's from what i could tell :-) well done on a well run show, i hope you put on further shows in the future!!!
We came away very pleased :-) Zig was a superstar! 1st in Snooker, 2nd in gamblers, which was fab as 1st ever time in games classes! i figure i have to do them at some point, why not have a go...so lydia did it lol!!! Meg had some lovely runs, as im mid process teaching a new wait, ( yes again!!) we had running starts which isnt great i know, but she is 8 now!!! We came away with lots of nice rossettes which im obviously really pleased about :-) our last 2 runs i was really pleased with as we both seemed to work well together :-)

Lydia took Daizy in Nursery, and got 5 f, they also made use of the enclosed practice ring and did some nice jump work on standard height, and some contacts, and didnt sway from the course too much!
Naarah also ran terra in nursey, at standard height and had an E for the wrong end of the tunnel, but that was it! all the jumps, both contacts all fine! so she is coming together nicely!! :)

Chase had a play around rings, and is getting more focused, altho does like to make a nice high pitched noise when it gets REALLY exciting! but was concentrating and doing some tricks and bits around the dogs working which was good! Loki went out and about several times with harry too, and was enjoying playing tuggy, and doing some general socialising around the rings, and helping draw people into the tail-spin trade stand too!

All in all a lovely weekend, nice walks, nice ground ( naughty rabbits in some places refreshing the filled holes in the rings!!lol)

At home things are going ok, would be better if James could find a full time job, but until then we have to make do! The dogs are happy and responding well to new routines i am doing with them all, which im hoping will increase their performance as well as my own!! Clicker training is coming along well, im learning much more about it, as when i have tried in the past my understanding was quite limited and i dont think i tried to give it enough of a chance :( so im back on it! It means my training plan has changed slightly to accomodate this, so i can give it all a chance to work for me & my guys

The only way is up?!?!

Friday evening we made our way to SWAT show, lovely show, I missed last year has i had meggie puppies :) SO was looking forward to this year....although there was no T-shirts for helping this year!!!!! ( tut tut!!) that was the bit i was looking forward too!

My weekend did have some upsides - im not all doom and gloom i promise :-)
Daizy has been in the ring now a grand total of 2 times, and on saturday with lydia stayed pretty focused and got around the anysize jumping course! CLEAR! so i was dead chuffed for her! Lydia then went on to do the double and got a clear in the 1-7 jumping with ziggy, unfortunatley just out of the placings, but never mind!!! The following day saw Harry ( for those who dont know harry he is my 10 year old son) had his first ever clear round with ziggy too!!! again in 1-7 jumping!!! so zig is at least getting consistant again and will hopefully gain a few places in this year, possibly her last before retiring down to anysize :)

A big well done has to go out to Claire & Wren, Winning Grade 4 agility by miles!! - ok by seconds to put it in more realistic in agility terms!!!

Lots of positives from this weekend, chase playing by the rings, loki out and about meeting more people, and also coming home to do more training with harry ( see her makeshift tunnel in the video!!) i got to catch up with Karen & Selena too, and a few pups! And met some online friends i havent met in person before too! Meg had some nice moments, so much to work on, im only hoping we can get there before she is too old! Chase had his first runs in anysize, and well, the good point was he had a good wait, and stayed in the ring.... i shall leave it at that lol!!!!
My handling leaves a lot to be desired. soooo much to work on when watching back what i do, absolute nightmare, ive really gotten to be a lazy rubbish handler, when did that happen!!! So lots to work on for myself, not just the dogs!! SO! back on to action plans, and getting stuff organised, as i try and take on too much in general, i must cut back on how much i do for everyone else, and concentrate on myself for a change!!!!

Really looking forward to the next couple of weekends, 2 UKA shows in a row :)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1969266463996 - chase waving

R.I.P Welly bun

This weekend started off a sad one, we had to say farewell to our big welly bun, yes she may have been a bit of a grumpy moo at times but she has left a HUGE bunny shaped hole :( She was a bit off colour so i booked her in for a check up at the vets, later that evening when getting her out of the run we noticed a small amount of blood near her back end, but couldnt determine the source. So then another call into the vet, who said if she could be persuaded to eat, she should be ok to wait until morning to be seen as no more blood was forthcoming. i offered her some apple and dandelions mixed up which she did eat, her pellet food was turned down, but non-theless, she ate. So next morning off we went, only to find upon sedating her she had a massive tumour in her urinary tract, which unfortunatley was inoperable, so upon the vets advice the kindest thing for her was to say good bye. She has been buried in a nice spot in the woods opposite where we live, close to wade the oap hamster, and parsley the lionhead bunny we lost at a very early age. Harry is also obviously very upset to have lost her too

2 posts in one day eh!

Well yes, purely because i thought the other one about sunday was deserving of its own spot :)

So we are on tuesday, another week ready to rush past again no doubt!! This weekend im looking froward to SWAT show, James is Judging on Sunday , and i have no trade stand, so looking forward to just enjoying a show, although i will no doubt feel i need to help at certain times ;0)

Im hoping meg will be ok in time for the show as ive been working very hard on the fitness of the dogs these last few weeks as i feel they werent quite at optimum level for working which was why we havent been working so well lately, so have been putting lots of 1-1 walks in to help with that, plus to benefit me aswell as would love to be able to run them to their full potential, and feel i let them down by being overweight myself, so hoping to improve my fitness to benefit my guys too :)

Chase is back at training and is back working nicely at medium height, im particularly looking forward to the next few UKA shows as i get to run him in some nursery classes with his toy to help him become nice and focused in the ring.
Daizy.... i think she has been having a phantom, as she isnt quite herself at the moment, she has been taking herself off to bed with her 'suckie' ( fleece tuggy she likes to suck on and fall asleep) and not playing with loki and chase as much as normal, so i think maybe a little hormonal, so she came to the barn for the last 2 weeks and just had some play time with jumps and tunnels on very low height and made a nice fun time of it for her :) She is entered in only anysize at kc shows at the mometn, as i want her to build up her focus, as she is easily distracted, and will go under full height jumps if she is too busy watching what else is going on outside of the ring. So small and fun for now, and see how we get on at uka where she is standard height so can jump lower, she is one who would benefit from the 4th height if it were to be passed, as she is very much a border line girl!!
Loki has been having lots of fun so far, and is a sweetheart, she is so much more difficult to train than a collie though!! ;-)

This week we have pulled out the mary ray trick book, as i decided my dogs need to learn more!! so this week we have taught - round! and harry taught loki 'freeze'

you never know whats around the corner...

On sunday we had a nice big group walk 21 dogs, 2 kids harry & jordan, james, myself, karen, lolly, pat and teresa, later joined by debbie my step mum and her 6 month old puppy bailey.
We walked the estuary from exmouth, towards star cross ( google maps: 50.626851,-3.433664)

Bailey was spooked by a kite surfer, and bolted in the opposite direction! He got stuck in the mud a good way away and Debbie went to get him and ended up getting almost waist deep in estuary mud! closely followed by James! Ended up having to ring coastguard, but Bailey couldn't be seen, after being last seen chest deep in the sinking mud. ( here: 50.629355,-3.416798) we honestly were fearing the worst! The coast guard met me at mudbank lane ( the other side of the railway line but in clear view of where they were and closer than the car park) and spoke to debbie and james on the phone about a safe route out, before deciding to take their 4 x 4 to see if they could get them more safely. A local walking past in the meantime tried to help out by showing a safe route, to only go into his waist and have to get back out, thank you whoever you were, but you really shouldnt have tried anything silly!! :) Unfortunatley even the coastguards 4 x 4 they took out got stuck!

After james & debbie got to more solid ground, the search was finally on for bailey, Deb was obviously in panic mode by then, as was i, and i was with gary, debbies other half, using a friends binoculours and the long lens on the camera i had with me for the walk to look in the mud & sand to see if we could spot any sign of him, or of his body, but nothing!! the train passed twice, and it was being considered that maybe he had got out and ran farther away than where we were looking, and talk was of trying the dog warden etc, and lympstone further along to see if he had found his own way onto dry land...we were hoping for anything by this point!

Over an hour later and into the search, Debbie & james were out and safe, but very mucky...We could hear some shouts, and around the corner trots Bailey... ON the railway line!! so went from panic he had been sucked under the mud, to him being on the railway line!! the train wasnt due for about 15 minutes, but it was real panic in case he wasnt caught in time! 3 people including Gary debbies boyfriend managed to catch him after a good 10 mins, luckily before the train came!! Big thanks to all involved, only a few human scratches to show for it... Big sorry to the coastguard who got the truck stuck when they went to get James and Debbie out :-(

Usually when walking we avoid the muddy areas as ive always heard stories about how dangerous it can be, and we always stick to the sand, but when your dog's life is on the line you will try anything to save them, as debbie was doing, i wouldnt recommend anyone doing what they did, but know in my heart of hearts, i would have been doing the same if it were me in that position

A few photo's pre bailey's bunk! more on facebook :)