Blimey!

wow, not very good at this blogging thing am i!! proper slacker!!! 
OK how to fit a year into one post!

Lets see, new additions! 

Unfortunately we didn't see the arrival of any puppies from daizy and troy, fingers crossed for this year for her, i have decided to use Troy's dad however this time, and see if they like each other ;-) details for the 2 dogs are on the harrjak.co.uk page under planned litters :-)

Introducing Echo to the blog! She is a little rescue pup from 'The Border Collie Spot' a little sable girl, that will hopefully be able to play in agility later on, that future is uncertain as she has a shoulder deformity and the joint isn't formed properly. The specialist surgeon we saw says with good muscle build up and exercise there should be no reason not to work with her, whether she will cope if measuring into large, I'm not sure, at the moment she is still a good 2 inches below daizy at the shoulder, so I'm hopeful that at 8 months she has stopped growing and may just squeeze into medium.... but we will see, agility life for her, and me, isn't the be all and end all, just an added perk! 

My boys are now 14 years and almost 2 years, they are both brilliant boys, I'm a very lucky mum!! 


I've unfortunately no where to currently train on my own, my lovely little field is destined to house static caravans being repaired :-( so i am looking for somewhere local to be able to train, I'm joining in some local classes with caz, liza & fern, with Loki, Daizy & Chase, and occasionally echo too

The worst loss for us all this year was our beautiful boy Kipper, he is missed SO much its unreal! :-(
I still pull up at the house and expect him to appear, meowing, telling me how id abandoned him all day and how starving hungry he was... such an amazing cat, i miss him dearly, he sadly had a large tumour on his spine, that took over in the end, he was a good boy and purred the whole time, even as we had to say goodbye when his legs had been affected :-(

Kipper cat July 2004 - 30th October 2014

x

Just a quick HELLO!!!!

Well i cant train, its too wet, so i thought id update stuff! 

We havent yet been washed away, luckily the area im in isnt prone to flooding, the lower level and beach areas havent been so lucky! each storm batters our town quite hard! 

Anyways - quickly updating, Jacob is a fab baby, not clicker trained yet though ;-) 

The dogs are all good, we are all good bar the usual winter yuck and colds! 

I updated my planned litter page, as ive decided my heart lies with the old waggerland lines, so im using Laura's Troy, who will take me back to those rather nicely :) 

Daizy above, Troy below :) 

Now we just need her to come into season! 

To finish, a couple of pics of my young man, now 10 months old! 

its been a long time....

Wow , such a long time since i updated!
SO much has happened since November, i cant believe i haven't updated my website or the blog since then!

So most of the time my time is being taken up with the adorable Jacob Michael Seabrook, Born on 5th April at 1.25pm, with a little pulling he arrived at a whopping 9lb 7oz :)
The dogs are great with him, he is used to their barking at random times, and only occasionally jumps!!
He likes meg the best, and will smile when she comes over to say hi, she likes to sit at the bottom of his chair so he can rub his feet against her :)

Daizy as predicted came into season right at the wrong time, it would of meant we would have had puppies and baby due right at the same time, and as we didn't know if i was going to have to have another c section we played it safe and held off, it does mean that the litter will go ahead on her next season, any time in July/August all being well :)

Agility wise, we haven't done alot this year, I have started training my guys again now, my hips ( SPD) comes  and goes so I've started to do more and more, I am running classes also at my field which is fun, ideally id like to make this my job!! I have another thing lined up, but will take a couple of years for me to be qualified to practice, so i have to wait for that one to start happening first!
We have competed in 2 UKA shows only so far this season, Meg has had a 2nd and a 1st :) so she isnt retiring just yet as she is still so up for it and is jumping well :) Dai, Chase and loki have some ring skills to learn still and daizy still isnt 100% focused :(

We have had a re-home dog here to stay, muffin, who we named Mabel, she has just left to live with a family in Cornwall with the hope of doing agility, she was a sweetie crossbreed, but an absolute nutter!!!!

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Karrider Catch Me If You Can

13/03/2002 - 02/05/2013

The biggest change, is unfortunately the worst one...Ziggy, my gorgeous red head, went into heart failure and we had to say good bye :( the whole such a small wiggly dog could leave is immense, i miss her more than i could ever imagine, she was my one in a million, my baby girl, and my princess, she was everything i could ever want in a dog, i was very lucky to have had the time i did with her, but i miss her, every second of every day, writing this even months on, is harder than i thought it would be as i'm sat with tears and snot :(

Love & miss you zigs x x x

still cooking!

 These are from my most recent scan :) so far everything is looking all ok, still not past the point of knowing for sure, I have another scan at 22 weeks ( these were taken at 20 weeks) 

The date is getting closer and as i'm at risk of having to have another c section, we have decided IF Daizy comes into season from this point onwards, we will have to wait until the next one to mate her.  The waiting list has changed alot recently, as people have found other litters, so i am going to keep taking names for the waiting list for now :)
Tigger has a gorgeous new litter, sadly not enough girls for me :(  but a nice litter of 4, all going to agility homes via Lauren at Devondogs, mum is freebie, Laetare Curtain Call, a nice black tri, pups are 2 black & white black tri and a red & white, 2 boys and 2 girls :)

What a washout!

Quite literally, Exmouth has been hit with rain upon rain upon yet more rain :(  It really gets you down getting drenched on every walk, soaked dogs even with coats on! and mud! oh non glorious MUD! its everywhere, my van, my house, my clothes (....anyone remind me why i have dogs again???!! )

So no canine updates really, no season for daizymay STILL, no training for a month now, and been out to find some non muddy walks ( not easy!)  my field resembles a bog, but it does now contain an A-frame! 

I figure i will try and keep the blog running and up to date as much as possible, and combine a bit of pregnancy stuff aswell now as its starting to get obvious ! So this week im 16 weeks, i have felt the odd flutters of movement, either that or some very odd gas bubbles lol!At 14 weeks, i had some really bad crampy pains, the midwife called me in for a heartbeat check, very surreal when you hear it!
As always with me, nothing is ever simple! To explain a little more my sister has a rare x-linked chromosome disorder meaning she has a high risk of having boys with severe hydracephalous, both boys she has carried so far only made to 20 & 22 weeks before having to be terminated due to this.  I've been to the genetics clinic a few times lately but they still arent sure if im at risk of carrying the same genetic marker, so its a 1 in 8 chance i may not get to 20 weeks just yet. but as its getting more noticable, its had to be made public, we are trying our best not to worry too much!!
Obviously i've had harry,which was my point i tried to make at the genetics clinic, but that could mean he has my good 'x' with tim's good 'y', hopefully new baby will also carry my good gene (if there is a defective one) and james' good one too, but until the next few scans we cannot find out more :( at the moment, i have scans at 17 and 20 weeks, and then a specialist MRI in Bristol to confirm if they suspect a problem, which hopefully they wont!! I have a very straight talking consultant im dealing with, so if any doubts im sure he will let me know!!

12 weeks...

12 weeks & 4 days

Well who'd have thought i'd be doing a scan pic for me not for daizy!! 
It turns out i can still get pregnant after all the doctors telling me how unlikely it would ever be!
The plan for a litter are still there, i've done it all before, so to put any rumours to bed that it wont be happening, it WILL, when she finally comes into season! the wait is the hardest part! I have such a nice puppy list of people that are still waiting very patiently for this to happen!

The dogs will all have a little bit of adjusting to do, along with all of us, but not too much i hope! I have had the usual questions from non doggy family saying oh i suppose you cant keep the dogs....erm yes i certainly can thankyou!! It brings me nicely onto my latest frustration, people selling their dogs on for sale pages on facebook, daily adverts for staffies, and even lately a person advertising they are wanting a staff or pit puppy?? Seriously these people need a reality check on the whole 'pit' thing, they seem to think they are legal in the uk, even with many people posting links to government websites with full information, they even went on to add they HAVE a pitbull x staffy already?? With BSL going mad at the moment, I cant believe these people know nothing about it all?? Are they really that oblivious? How do you even start to educate this kind of person?

My moan over, training with my guys is going well, i have a few regular 1-1's now at the field, a new piece of vital equipment hopefully arriving this week, an A Frame!! :) 

I have picked back up working towards the kcai, i have a canine behaviour day on saturday at Devon Dogs, and Sunday a Canine Law Seminar in Exeter, so another few bits to add towards it :) The agility and sports dog massage course in November im organising is now full, and will also count towards my training for the kcai.
My work hours have just been reduced, and some redundancies have been made, so im starting to think about things i want to do with my life, and i really hope training is part of it as its what i really enjoy :) 
A few pics from recent times:

 Harry & Loki at Bicton Gardens

 Kipper makes a lovely pillow!

 Ziggys first clear after her first veterans show

Bicton by the pond

All we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about

Loki is coming along nicely, unfortunately her ring experience isn't going to plan as she isn't jumping!!! She will do all of the other equipment, weaves, see saw even the tyre, but not any jumps!  So.....back to training!


Here she is last night running with Lydia, which she rarely does as harry is usually the one training and running, but he was at sea cadets so here you go :) this is micro height on the feet of our jumps, small is the cup above, so quite a distance!!

Dogs in need was lovely as always, judging on the Friday went really well :) The drive was ever so long!!!
8 hours, but was worth it both ways :)


Daizy is still not in season!!! Really looking forward to repeating the Lenny litter, and she isn't playing ball lol :) oh well, what will be will be! we have lots of lovely homes lined up, so its a wait with lots of anticipation!!
She will be running this weekend in a local UKA, she hasn't run most of this season, as i was expecting her season early July, so she has been training a fair bit, her jumping is coming along nicely, her weaves are still very hit and miss, so will just be trying some steeplechase runs for the rest of this year with her!

Meg, Zig & Terra will all be running this week too, also we have Blackdown the following week, so providing I feel better I will be going to both! Meg is now Senior Steeplechase, so now classes for M & Z are the same, Novice performance still , both very close to getting out, zig needs some agility points to move, and megs some games and general points, she has 12 for agility so sorted on that part!

Chase is improving with regular work too, his weaves are still getting there, his contacts are too, he isn't ring ready yet, but will have a go in some steeplechase classes too this week and see how that goes!  He is focused on working, but he does have a loony streak where he rushes and gets SUPER excited, so i have to work hard to remind him he is jumping not racing!!

The Harrjaks have had some great results streaming in to me, i try and post on the Harrjak facebook page to congratulate you all, im sorry if i miss anyone off!  Maid ( daizy & Lenny) went grade 4 recently, Quest ( boo & Meg) has been getting some nice places too, Dish ( Meg & Reef) has made his way up to grade 7 already on his first season competing! Phaze ( Dai x Lenny) has flown up through the grades also, mickey marmite is getting a steady stream of rossettes too and really coming together, as is Tatty from the same litter :) Tarn is doing well, Jackie's foot is on the mend, but its still hard work to run!! Rave is doing well, winning lots! Wren & Claire are also now Grade 6!! We were able to watch Trinity run in the champ at Dogs in need, and popi & missie too, was lovely 3 Harrjaks all up there! :)

Not a lot really for such a long time off! Ive spent time with my family, which includes the human 2 as well the the dogs! Ive taken a break from Honiton Club over the summer, so has given me time to do more training with my own, which has been nice! However we will be resuming winter training at the barn soon, We being myself and Selena, the plan is not to hold an evening group, but weekend training instead, plus workshops for all levels :)  Looking forward to it!!

Last week we learned of the tragic loss of young Riot, owned and loved by Matt & Lauren, he was from Popi's first litter, and a very handsome young man with lots of promise :( sadly taken very quickly, so sad for these things to happen, especially when its an accident. A sad loss of a grand puppy x

Hopefully by the time I blog again I can talk about 'other' news I have but cant say about just yet! 

....that'll give the 'gossipers' something to wonder about now wont it!!

Size matters!

I'm part of a new facebook group that is talking about adding a 4th and possible a 5th height to the current uk standard heights in agility, its really fascinating seeing the divide of handlers and the reasons for and against changes. My own opinion is, im for it, yes my dogs will benefit, but, i'd be for it if they didnt too! It would definatley help with the numbers in some classes aswell, some large dog classes are HUGE now, as so many people have been bitten by the bug and also like myself end up accumulating more and more dogs!
Loki is just under 7" at her shoulder, and weighs less than 4 kg, yet she has to compete against large terriers, spaniels etc. Daizy only currently runs at UKA shows ( in Standard height) as she works alot more fluently in these. this of course is my choice to take her to, there are less shows available to us because of this choice, so at KC shows she either gets no runs, or goes into anysize. She is a physically fit, and very active, but small border collie. I have been woking on building up to KC full height with her for some time, her jump isnt naturally stylish, so lots of grid work etc has helped. She can now work MOST of a kc course at full height, however she isnt as confident or as happy when working this height yet.
Loki, of course would slot into a micro height, she can jump micro in nursey uka, and also in anysize small dog class. She is also not yet working a see saw, we have tested her weight on the end though, and it does seem she should be able to tip it!


For Harry, the south devon show was a disaster, Loki forgot how to jump!! she ran the whole course, but never jumped a single one!! little tinker, did get the zoomies mid way aswell, BUT i pointed out to harry, not once did she leave that ring, she listened every time she was called back, she ran the course in the right order, she did the tunnels, he got the crosses in that he wanted to get int, so he could take away lots of positives! He liked the big cheer he got at the end, and he came out beaming, so for me, that signifies a good run.... not perfect, but enjoyable!

Loki & Chase both had their very obvious measurements, Chase is large, officially, and loki is officially small!

Chase was off his rocker for the steeplechase run, he was a complete loon, running past and racing when i asked him to do things, he got me quite flustered!!!

I ended up having my best run of the day with meg, in one of sam chapman's courses, known for being challenging, i didnt think id get around it anywhere near aswell as we did!!

The baby Harrjaks did well here too, Phaze won her last grade 4 run, Tarn came 4th aswell in another class. brilliant results, they are ALL doing so well! DIshy is now grade 6 after winning LOADS of 5's this last week, and Rave has also had some good wins :)

Some news this week also, Tess ( meg x reef) had an unfortunate accident after sleeping under her owners car, and has had an op after dislocating her hip :( she is recovering well now i hear :)


Meg showing her naughty weaves! We have been working on our main weakness, weaving on the right! getting there...

 

Chase's weaves are improving, he is much more confident as you can see, i had started to move them closer, maybe too quickly however as he would skip the middle section, so i have opened them back up for a little while!

the sun has got his hat on!...

Finally after what seems like an eternity of mud & relentless rain, we have sunshine!!!
and now typically its 29 degrees while I'm typing this, so now its just too hot! I can't win can I!!??

So after having been forced to take a training break, due to the ground being dangerous to train on, my dogs and I are back hard at it! I'm not sure how much others train, but I plan to try and do at least 10 Min's every other day with each dog, meaning I'll do 3 one day 4 the next, although, Harvey only plays around stuff and goes through the tunnels nowadays at almost 12! Depending on what we work on, the weather, time scale etc, we can more if we can :)
Today is meant to be a peak of the heat, and as my house gets very hot when we cant leave the doors open, I have got the dogs here at work with me in the van, granted they are cooler than I am, but I'm sure people must think its bizarre that I bring them in! Right this second, they are all snoozing, no panting or fast breathing, so i can gauge from that that they seem happy and cool enough, granted they are parked in the shade, with every door open, windscreen covered  plus still damp from the walk earlier, AND they have their cage fans on with huge bowls of water.  So, this makes me think about people who don't think about dogs in the heat, general pet people pounding the pavements in blazing sunshine, dogs that look so exhausted from the heat that they don't know what to do with themselves :( it makes me sad, and really quite annoyed, people don't think how hot those pavements can get, and as for those who 'pop' into tesco etc, but "its OK as the window is open a little and I'm only popping in" they just don't realise how fast damage can happen :(

Last night I had a choice of where to walk, we chose to go for a paddle when the tide was low, it was great, damp muddy sand where the tide was still going out, and a nice calm clear patch for them to splash and play, harry too!

Harry & Loki are coming along well, they have been going for weekly lessons out with Morag & Sue over at Just Dogs, its easier for harry to learn from someone who isn't 'naggy mum' and he has now started her on full height ( small full height of course lol)  she is still hit and miss with weaves, as the has to take 2 large leaps between poles, its quite a challenge, but harry is working really hard and I'm really proud of his progress so far :) She is entered at South Devon show this weekend, so we can see how she gets on!! Fingers crossed now she trains in a class, she wont find dogs around the ring so exciting!

Chase, Daizy and Terra are all coming along well, they are all jumping better and more consistently now, even daizy, I think the muscle memory had a big part, as using the barn at honiton we only train on low height, which really hadn't helped her so moving outside and slowly moving the height has really helped. Chase is a naturally talented dog I have worked out. Jumps well, turns wide still but as he is getting more confident he is getting much better! I'm looking forward to seeing how he runs when in the ring this weekend, as it will be his second time so we shall see!  This week, the weaves have clicked, and he is just now working on straight poles with the 1st and last ever so slightly open.

Due to the heat, I will be training late in the eves this week, when its cooled down a LOT!

well well well!

Who'd a thunk it?!

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 :)

stuck for a title!!

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?! 

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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!!

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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

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 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!!

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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!

Seasons change...

Well my jumps are settled into their new home! we have been really busy getting these sorted, the dog walk is moving up once this horrid weather passes us by! 

I know the gardens need it, but my field has had plenty now!!! 

The ground here is taking a real beating, its only been about a week of rain, 

but wow it seems a lot! 

Loki is having another season, not as obvious as the last one, and a bit early too! 

So that has taken us by surprise!

Dogs in need schedule is out today, i find out what im judging too!! 

Looks like smalls and mediums, lower levels, so thats nice classes usually :) 

Now to get working on some courses! 

May sees me doing a local show in wellington, and a training day for canine capers too, 

plus working on the list of training things to get done, 

AND making an a-frame too!

New addition :)

sadly not the 4 legged fluffy variety! ( for now!!) 

We have found a caravan that suited us!! finally!

4 berth, end bath room (will actual shower!)

& HEATING!

Really looking forward to some camping shows now!!!

It is bigger than our previous caravans so i will have to learn how to use this one!