One day when I'm rich enough (lol) i will have time to spend, training, walking and just general spending time with my dogs, all day every day :) id love that, but wouldn't we all! So we make do with what we have, time and money wise :) for me things are slowly coming together, still no caravan or puppy or nice new van, but hey ho, i suppose i shall cope!
Training wise, the guys are doing good! I'm doing SO much more i feel really good at the mo, my aches and pains are a lot less, yes they still happen if i over do it, but not nearly as bad as previous!!
Daizy was definitely sent to challenge me, she proves this to me every session we do, her focus is much more 'in the zone' but still, the slightest thing you wouldn't expect can make her lose focus just like that! it can be frustrating, but with a dog like her, there is just no rushing! everything is done is short bursts, IE if i take all 5 to train, she comes out 2nd, then goes away after 5-10 mins, and after all the others have had a turn, she will come out for a few more minutes if she is still up for some more. she is grasping the idea of stopping on contacts, like her sister quest, she naturally sits on the bottom, not ideal as id like a stand of course, but if it means she will be reliable, so be it for now!! Her grid work is really nice, she has a nice bounce, however full height large is still a few weeks away i think, at the moment she can do approx half a course of mixed height, so we are gradually building her muscle memory to taking more of the course, she is very dependant on the handler, whether myself or Lydia, so we shall see how some new environments get handled before we decide if anything is changing or if we are happy as she is and let her build up more confidence and FOCUS!! Her channels are coming along, she is a little 'wafty' if the weaves aren't obvious, so each session we start with them further open than we finish, having not fully trained on channels before this is a learning curve for us both! my own weaves are now adjusted to the new widths so they are coming out to the field tonight, and the barn for a contact and weave session on weds that i am holding!
Chase, has been doing a grand job, he is a natural learner, and a natural agility dog, he is working short courses now and jumping full height nicely, albeit not all the time as i like to reward him as often as possible, and at the moment, he looks down if a toy is placed no matter how far away that may be! He does lose is head a little if its a really fun toy, so i have to choose carefully and surprise him at the end! He powers ahead to tunnels, and is looking for his 2x2 weaves too, so progress on those are coming along. His contacts are on lead mostly, stopping, looking ahead and releasing, he isn't ready for off lead yet, so the show i stupidly entered this weekend may be forfeit!
Loki.... where to start!! harry has been a little slack, since going to the big school he now has piles of homework each week if he wants to stay in good groups at school, so he hasn't done as much as i would like him to do!! She doesn't like the channels in the garden, the base is too big, she does like the 2x2 base but it involves thinking!! jump wise, we are up to wonky poles, one side at small height the other on the feet of the jump, so about 2" lower on one side. She doesn't train at the barn well on the flooring, she is much better out on grass! Tunnels are her favourite, now she understands them, and the dog walk up until last week was terrifying! we have done lots on low planks, but she went to pieces when it was raised, so had to go back down low again, however last weekend, after having some playing on it ( some may say its not helpful but it worked for her!) she decided she COULD run over it after all!
Meg and zig did a little contact and jump work, weave are back out now so that will be mostly this week, they are both physically fit and well, however zigs feet seem to have dropped a little which may mean the end of agility at full height for her, I'm sure she wont mind having some fun in any size classes for a while before retiring. I shall keep an eye on her progress and see what she is like before deciding 100%
