Starting a blog with a well done from a show!!! that doesn't happen often now does it!
We went to SandS show in Taunton this weekend, and had so much wind we decided against putting up the trade stand! Meg and I came 2nd in the morning, and Meg and Lydia came 4th overall in the OJAC junior qualifier, meaning they get to go to Clevedon in December for the finals! Meg hasn't ever qualified for anything, so I am really please she could do this :)
Training of the guys is coming along well, the weather has meant its only been short sessions on and off, loki is still way off of being ring ready, as is daizy, but chase is almost there for jumping classes at least!
All 3 are starting to show they show lots of promise, and all 3 are beginning to weave, its a long process, weaving isnt something that comes easily so i'm taking it at their own pace.
Chase is almost on complete uprights
and to finish, Daizy & Loki having a funny five minutes :)
Doesn't happen often that i draw a blank!! Ah well, i can cope with it as a one off ;-)
Not a lot has really been happening, Tail-spin classes are going really well, the next one is being booked now, and the vets in Exmouth are being fantastic with recommendations at the moment, i have a nice steady flow of people contacting me :) The next puppy class is full, I've added an 8pm Silver & Gold class, and Bronze will be at 7pm, so progressive through the evening :) I enjoy teaching pet classes but i do find some aspects frustrating at times! :-o I don't feel as confident teaching obedience compared to teaching agility, it may be i find it all very repetitive and worry the students are getting bored, so i try and do some different things to other classes, IE a normal routine for my classes include foundation agility stuff to keep it interesting :) by the end of the 6 week block I'm very proud of my students as they do work hard :) they come with very little knowledge, but by the end they understand shaping and how to teach things to their dog, they can do basic positions; Sit, down, stand, basic recall and all start working on waits & stays, and we hold one week specifically on tricks,body awareness and balance work ( using boxes, balls, wobble board etc) they can all hand touch, and all dogs can do a trick of the owners choice :) this applies for all of the levels! once all of this is done, for the higher levels we work more towards the good citizens scheme, walking through doorways, longer duration stays, heel work, emergency stops, and send aways. You would think i would get more confidence with every group i take, but i really don't! I'm not sure why?!
Back to agility, i took my first guest trainer day for Canine Capers the other week, it seemed to go well! We worked mostly on contacts and weaves, some hadn't seen channel weaves before and had some very good results using them at slight angles to get some speed and consistency added to what they had already, the more confident dogs worked on hard angles and rewarding ahead, same went with the contacts, rewarding the position then rewarding the going ahead, all were fantastic and i hoped you enjoyed it!!
My guys are coming along nicely, Ive had a session with Laura on the channels with chase, his drive to a dead toy still needs work, he does, I notice, lose concentration with a toy, as his arousal gets TOO high for the toy and he gets silly!!He gets ott and starts herding and trying to snap at the toy, or the hand holding it!! in my own field I tried using food and had a much better result on the first session, so I'm going to try phasing out the food and moving onto just a toy and see how we get on!! the channels have helped him get a wiggle
Loki is coming on in leaps and bounds, she does however not like any surface other than grass, so my plan is to get her working confidently before trying some training sessions at other venues to try and over come this :) its not that she doesn't like it, she doesn't focus, she wont play or eat, she just sniffs!! Harry has been training her a fair bit, and is coming along slowly but nicely, she isn't very driven for most toys, but we have found she now like the mini rugby ball shaped hollee rollee balls :)
Here they both are learning a new exercise on a rather warm day - hence the lack of oompf!!
Daizy is coming along slowly but surely, we have gone from one extreme to the other,
from wont play with toys, to ball herding excess!!!
Her jumping is much better, her muscle tone has improved massively, her jump style is MUCH better, she extends most of the time now, unless she isn't sure about something.
I'm looking forward to doing some steeplechase and games classes with her at this weekends UKA show.
She & I still have a long way to go, she isn't as easy as alot of dogs can be, chase in comparison is a a dream on jump work as he give is 100%, daizy however can take it or leave it!
We have decided to put Dai to Lenny again on her next season, due early July. The last litter are amazing and i would love to repeat it! This time will hopefully be much easier now they both know what to do!! lol!
To finish, here is a usual lunch time scene,
although this day was rather warm so they are panting more than usual!!!
Now i have a field to use, i like to spend as much time there as possible!
