Discodogs Show Blog

It's Been a While!

2011-12-07T13:00:00.000Z

It’s been a while. I made the decision not to do any shows over winter:

1) Rum doesn’t cope with indoor venues, I don’t want the stress behaviour to return so it would be long journeys for just Ember to compete.
2) I have a wedding to pay for!
3) It’s cold and dark and miserable.
4) I only have a normal car so wet muddy, indoor school surface covered dogs aren’t really suited to it!
5) I want to get the dogs (and me) up to a better standard.

So we are training every other Sunday to see if we can better our standard as we were all over the shop this year, having too much fun and not concentrating enough! Next year I want the dogs back up to a competitive standard but still enjoying it and I still think we will stick to smaller shows as I just can’t ever see with Rum ever coping with the bigger shows. My fiancé has said I could use a caravan next year but the trouble is this would cause Rum even more stress and we would be back to square one so we will just be sticking to local shows as well.

Training is going well especially with Ember, I have always struggled with things like pulling off jumps, pull throughs when she’s ahead of me and allowing me to cross behind so these are the things we have been working on and she is picking it up well this time round, before I have never seemed to get her to really do it. Also she didn’t like the wider spaced weaves so we have been working on those along with entries and of course the usual contacts!

With Rum he is starting to push me a little in terms of contacts and waits, he is self releasing off contacts and pushing his waits a bit. So I think we might start with some UKA shows and take a toy in. His control, jumping etc is still fab and he listens every step of the way.

This weekend we hadn’t trained for long when the wind and rain set in so we had to call it a day which was a shame.

Cas will be 12 soon, she’s still fit as a fiddle and very healthy, to look at her you wouldn’t think she was that old! Her only problem is she can’t eat dry food without almost choking and the vet can’t see anything wrong so it’s a bit worrying but when we soak her food she is fine and she’s been like this almost a year now and it hasn’t worsened.

Dizzy is 13 next year and she has her good and bad days, her back legs can be very wobbly and her one front shoulder does cause her some pain however she recently had an MOT at the vets who said she was very good considering and she had a blood test which just showed her kidneys are slowing down a bit due to old age but other than that she is fine.

Mum and I have tickets to Olympia on the Saturday for the evening performance so am looking forward to seeing the agility. I was always a bit disappointed Rum never qualified for the Novice Olympia, we never seemed to get clears always 5f here and there, two runs stand out where he had the fastest time and I could have kicked myself for making silly mistakes. He would be fab powering round that course however looking back it is a good thing he didn’t as he just would not have coped with the atmosphere at all, it would have completely blown his brains! I am a great believer in that everything happens for a reason.

Wow that’s a long post! We’re in New York over Christmas so I probably won’t blog again, Happy Christmas to you all!

It's a fine line

2011-10-16T09:01:00.000+01:00

It's a fine line between a dog not worrying about doing their agility round right and a dog that just isnt worrying at all!

Rum yesterday at shrewsbury had a lovely couple of rounds in agility, one being an unplaced clear but you could tell he was going steady and making sure he did everything right, worrying about getting it wrong. This morning (back at shrewsbury show) he's gone it to the ring and flown round like a demon possessed, he was relaxed & not stressing at all but he flew round, missed contacts (normally unheard of) and missed his weave he was going too fast. It's a fine line, especially with him as I don't want to knock his enthusiasm & I know full well if I had corrected his contacts he would have then turned into Mr super creepy I am making sure I get that contact. It's very hard to know what to do with him, hmmmmm. Only jumping classes left now though & no more shows over winter so I guess am going to have to really get some drivey contacts going in training.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T08:10:00.002+01:00

Ember Update

2011-10-10T19:03:00.000+01:00

Back at the vets for a progress check. Vet was really happy with her progress, the infection has gone and therefore her toe wasn't as swollen so he could get a good feel of it & found that it is not actually broken all the way through & is just split the nail a little. He said she has done really well and can return to normal activity including agility & just watch how she goes, so fingers crossed she's sorted. We'll see how she goes off the medication and if she is still okay she can compete at the weekend :)

Ember

2011-10-04T19:45:00.002+01:00

So Ember had a trip to the vets today, he has said she has broken her nail in her toe and got an infection - nail bed infection. He's worried me a little as has said sometimes the nail needs removing which can damage the bone in the toe meaning the toe needs amputating!! So she's on metacam & antibiotics for a week - poor girlie, I feel so sorry for her!

UKA Top Barn

2011-10-01T16:37:00.000+01:00

Wow what gorgeous weather, can't get over it, yet it's not too humid so it's just nice.

Well Rum was up first with his senior agility class, he was a bit creepy on his dogwalk and I pulled him in too tight on a left turn causing him to knock a pole, otherwise he ran nicely and did an awkward bit at the end lovely, he would have won the class without the pole knock. Then was senior steeplechase 2 and he was flying round this, we messed up in the middle as he turned the opposite way out of the tunnel and whilst I corrected him I sent him into another tunnel! Oops! Senior Steeplechase 1 I got him there to go in first and had calmed him down, we were virtually on the start line when someone came along telling me she was helping so had to go first, I told her no she couldn't, I had Rum off his lead and ready to go. I don't mind letting helpers push in but when I am virtually running my dog, sorry but I wasn't having it and Rum was in a perfect frame of mind. So I got to go first and he had a lovely round and won the class. Finally another senior agility and we made a right mess of one part, I was trying to flick him over a jump with the wrong arm! Goodness knows why!!

Ember had her two steeplechases and she just felt a little sluggish and flat, I got her back to the car and she was starting to develop some lameness in her one back leg, I couldn't see or feel anything wrong. Anyway she starting biting her inside toe so I looked at it and my god it's double the size it should be! So a trip to the vet is in order, I am no vet but it does actually feel broken and I wonder if she did it at Blenheim when she really knocked that wooden pole in her agility and pulled up - but she hasn't been lame at all in the meantime? Just seems funny she pulled up at Blenheim after that class.

Finally Cas who just had Casual Steeplechase, she bombed round it and won it, I love that dog she is fabby :)

Rum is doing really well and not stressing at all, am really pleased with his progress. Here's a piccie taken at the show. We're supposed to be at Shrewsbury but I don't think we will now, so next show is TAG.

Blenheim

2011-09-10T19:05:00.003+01:00

Oh I was a little bit stressed first thing as I had 3 runs first in the ring all fairly small classes so I warmed Cas up and took her in veterans, she had a messy clear. Then Emz into her agility and she proceeded to go jump and fly off the down dogwalk plank from the top so I picked her up and took her out – I am not having that!! Then Rum in his G6 Agility – oh he was stressed going to the ring I could feel him winding up, there were only 2 dogs in the queue and I couldn’t seem to wind him down. I didn’t have mum with me to queue so I had to try my best in the queue, he did a lovely round on a fairly tricky course just backing out of a tunnel as he wasn’t sure. Then I was back in the ring for Cas in anysize and she had a 5th .

I was grateful for the break but a little concerned as to how stressed Rum had got I was almost ready to go home then I thought for his comb 6-7 agility I would get to the ring and sit with him outside to calm him down and go when the queue was very small. You could see him relaxing as we sat and chilled so I took him when there was 1 dog in the queue, he was loads better, no stress! I held his contacts in this class, I think he had a pole down but that was it, I love Rum and his contacts, he’s a good boy. In his grade 6 jumping I admit I let him break a wait, wasn’t in the right place and completely messed up the whole of the course – it was awful but all my fault!!

Ember had another agility and actually got her contacts which I held a bit (not great position but better than her flying!!) but she slowed down loads and when she finished she just sat (not like her she’s normally running round barking) and although she walked back to the car occasionally she would stop and sit. I think she must have pulled something in her back so I didn’t run her jumping although she seemed okay later on I didn’t want to risk it.

So I know now not to take Rum straight into the ring and to get him to chill before we go in and Ember seems okay now as well. We have quite a few shows planned for October, I got a bit carried away I don’t know why I hate the cold and rain lol!! I missed Bromsgrove’s closing date.

Mark and I had THE most amazing time in Vegas and he asked me to marry him, I said yes of course and we are hoping to be married February next year – somewhere hot!!! He proposed when we were stopping on the Grand Canyon Ranch, we were out on the sunset horseback ride and asked me, giving me the ring. It was perfect, I couldn’t have wished for anything more, I’ve always fancied life as a cowgirl so I was enjoying being one lol!!

We’re looking after Diz while mum is away, she’s 12 now and is very wobbly on her back legs and struggles to climb or go down steps, and falls over a few times a day – poor old girl, but she is so happy and still charges about wanting to play like she’s a 2 year old! She isn’t too impressed that Clee keeps stealing her bed though, there’s not really room for two of them!!

Shows Video

2011-08-19T07:03:00.001+01:00

I realised when I made a note of Rum’s result that actually he only ever had one show at grade 6 in 2009 so we really haven’t had much experience in grade 6 together so he really has done well this last weekend.

Here are a few snapshots from the last couple of shows:

Whilst you're on, check out my new photography blog:
Photos By Gina

First KC Show Back

2011-08-15T14:53:00.001+01:00

I had enter WBSDS knowing it would be a small KC so being ideal for Rum. I entered both days as it’s only 30 minutes away but I now know I just can’t cope with 2 days of agility any more, perhaps I need to build myself back up to two days – I was completely away with the fairies on Sunday, just couldn’t concentrate at all!

Anyway onto Rum, my boy, he is such a good boy. He tries his best for me always, always listens and is just so genuine. I managed to keep stress to a minimum, I can tell when he’s stressed as his nose starts to get pinker and pinker! And this only happened just before he ran, a couple of occasions I felt him winding up so I just took him away and calmed him down and took him back – before I hadn’t been able to get him to come down once he was wound up but he was coming down really quickly. Progress!!

I was worried that I might have been throwing myself into the deep end seeing as they were 6-7 classes so had had a lesson with Lee on Wednesday, our first training for a couple of years! I needed oxygen, am so unfit! I needn’t have worried as Rum coped fine. His jumping was first and I just didn’t collect him in for a weave entry, followed by 1-7 agility, his A-frame was a bit creepy (I must admit his contacts have been like this since he came back but I’ve not bothered too much) then I flicked him out for a jump telling him left when it was really straight for him so he spun round and ended up in the wrong direction, he then did a lovely speedy dogwalk into his stop before the last jump. Next was graded 6-7 agility and his a-frame was a lot better, our turns were quite wide and messy and his dogwalk was very creepy, but we were clear and ended up 2nd just 1.5s off the winner – very happy! Finally 6-7 jumping and he was flying, running lovely and again I just didn’t collect him into the weaves, but wowsers he felt so smooth in that class. On Sunday we had 6-7 agility and his contacts were sooo much better, really tricky course which we got round quite neatly apart from stupid me pushing him too far out for the weaves! Then 5-7 agility I thought I would really push his contacts and as it happened we were E’d at jump 3 so I really pushed and held them and they were lovely, he’s so good he tried to turn right out of the flat tunnel when I told him but he just couldn’t brake quickly enough. Finally jumping and I messed up at the start again and I continued to mess up throughout but he was good!

Cas had a 3rd in Veterans on Saturday and had a pole down on Sunday – me commanding over a jump!

Ember well, Ember, she back to testing me and pushing me again. I really don’t know what to do with that dog, on Saturday she missed her contacts so I put her back on them then she still continued to miss them throughout, the one course when I corrected her she jumped up and bit me on the thigh – she was carried out of the ring. That dog is always fighting with me and she always things she knows best, well to start with she was doing really well and listening but now I feel like it’s back to square one. It doesn’t bother me that we’re not getting clears, it bothers me she’s not listening at all!

So anyway Carol and I have found somewhere locally we can do a bit of training so we are going to do that which will be good as I need to work on weave entries with Rum. Am really enjoying running Rum as he just wants to do it right for me and listens, I suppose he’s like a breath of fresh air as Ember has always fought me and Cas used to sometimes think she knew best. I am also loving putting Cas round the veteran courses as she just thinks it’s the best thing ever and I love to run her, my little old white dog has given me so much over the years it’s heart warming to see her running round veteran classes  .

So am hoping Rum is going to be okay with small-medium shows as he coped fine at WBSDS – I don’t know if we’ll ever get to KCI sort of size shows but I am happy sticking with small KC/UKA/BAA anyway – my dogs are enjoying it and so am I, so what if we’re not chasing qualifiers etc. Although it would be nice to think I could get Emz up to G7 (need 1 agility win) before she retires but I think that would need a miracle!

Thames Valley

2011-07-25T21:27:00.000+01:00

I like this venue, it’s only just over an hour away and the ground is nice and flat to run on. My only gripe is the catering as my mum and I had food poisoning from there last time we went to the show, so we have to take our own lunch and I must admit I am not really a sandwich person but there you go.

Anyway onto the agility, I did wonder now Rum has moved into senior whether we would struggle a bit with not doing any training and there were a couple of points where I thought that if I trained I could have done it. Saying that his senior jumping was a fairly tricky course and he ran it lovely but the daft thing ran round the last jump to get his lead which was off to the side, I saw Greg Derretts youngster do the same. Otherwise I was really pleased with him, we made a mistake in the steeplechase class and I took him back to redo and he didn’t stress at all, he was so relaxed. He did seem more relaxed today other than his agility the dog in front screamed it’s way round the course and he did get quite wound up.

Ember was so naughty in her agility, she’s been so good with her contacts lately but yesterday she was NAUGHTY! She decided to fly on the seesaw, she didn’t even make it tip and just carried on like it was all part of the plan. She had a perfect round in Novice Jumping and the timer didn’t start – aargh! So I ran again and we had a major blip where she pulled off the tunnel then went in, we were still clear but wasted a lot of time, ended up 2nd. The steeplechases we messed up entirely – she was on one of her headstrong days today!

Cas is my little star and still lives for her agility, getting a 1st in Casual Jumping, love my little white dog :).

Clee Cat has his first job on Wednesday, he’s doing a photo shoot. He is a really clever little thing so am hoping he behaves himself as much as he does at home – am excited about that.

Recent Agility Video

2011-07-04T20:29:00.000+01:00

Update

2011-07-03T15:48:00.000+01:00

We attended a UKA show last weekend and a BAA show this weekend. I was a bit concerned about doing two shows in a row with Rum and how he would cope but I needn’t have worried. He is doing so well, his stress levels are remaining at a normal level. I have entered a KC show in August which is normally a good show in terms of the rings are well spaced out and lots of room so we shall see how he copes with it, it might be too much for him so he will stick to smaller shows but I will continue to do some KC with Ember and Cas in veterans. All that matters is he is happy and I enjoy the classes at UKA and BAA so if we stick to those shows with him then so be it.

Anyway onto how they’ve have done, I am really pleased with how they’re doing considering they don’t get any training and I mean nothing. Cas had her first clear this weekend and won medium helter skelter, she is like a bat out of hell over medium height and I must admit I struggle to control her!

Ember is running really well to, she’s started testing me a little again (knew the angelic Ember wouldn’t last lol!) but otherwise she’s fab, there was one course at the weekend I was impressed at how we worked as it was very tricky. She had a 1st in Novice Snooker at UKA and a 1st in Jumping at BAA, she’s been getting 90% of her contacts so am pleased with that.

Then Rum, he’s fab, he’s my boy, he does as his told, doesn’t try and push the boundaries, he’s amazing. He had a 2nd in Senior Steeplecase and a 4th in Novice Agility (with held contacts but this has now taken him senior) at UKA and a 1st in Power & Speed and a 3rd in Agility (5F for a pole) at BAA. I have always loved running him, he’s just such a genuine, honest dog and he feels so smooth to run.

Ember turned 8 this week and Diz is now about 12 so Happy Birthday to the two non collies.

Emz @ 9weeks

Diz @ 6 months - shepherd ears! Aww lol.

UKA Phoenix

2011-05-22T19:26:00.000+01:00

It’s been a while, I competed with Cas & Ember at an EMDAC show in Stoke in April as Cas comes into their medium height she can still enter competitive classes so it’s nice for her to have a couple of runs. Considering the dogs hadn’t had any agility training (I just have a couple of jumps I had been putting them over to make sure they are fit enough) they did really well. First class for each of them wasn’t brilliant but the second class went a lot better and they just knocked poles.

I really enjoyed the show so decided to enter a UKA show and entered Rum with the idea mum would come with me so she could queue for us and knowing UKA are smaller so not as stressful.

That show was Phoenix on Saturday. Ember absolutely amazed me, she ran excellently, was absolutely fab – she won Senior Steeplechase I with a rather messy run as it was quite tricky and I wasn’t sure of my handling (very rusty & first run of the day!). Then we had Novice Jumping and I thought that the course looked like it needed a lot of running and with Ember she’s not normally one for going on by herself! But I was wrong she had another cracking run but knocked the last pole – gutted! Novice Agility, she was fab again but typically she missed her a-frame (I should have put her back on) and Novice Gamblers I won’t mention as we never ever get our heads round gamblers! Finally Senior Steeplechase II which I hadn’t walked as the rings were a long way from the parking and I was shattered! She had a near perfect run, I shaped her more into her turns so they were a lot tighter, I was getting back to knowing what I was doing, we just had a messy turn where I front crossed, she won that class too!

Rum was a good boy too, though I am so unfit I just couldn’t keep up and he has always been used to me being up there with him so he was a little unsure at times! Novice Steeplechase I he was flying and took me by surprise at how far ahead he was, he went into the wrong end of the tunnel and turned out of the box. Then onto Novice Jumping, I thought it was a nice course for him as he could really power on, he was running lovely but just jumped too long to get the second weave entry – I didn’t shape him into the turn, I took him back which I shouldn’t have done as it really stressed him out and I just felt him snap into Mr Stress at that point so I know if he goes wrong not to correct him as it really wasn’t his fault. Novice Agility and he sort of fell off his seesaw somehow which worried him so I held him on a perfect a-frame contact and told him it was okay, he then carried on fine, otherwise he ran lovely in that. Gamblers again we’ll say no more. Then finally Novice Steeplechase II, ahh we went clear bless him but it was very very messy as again I was just struggling to run, my legs were giving up lol! The last tunnel I told him right and he flew right out of the tunnel which surprised me that he actually did it so I didn’t then reinforce & he turned back as if to say – am I right lol. Anyway he ended up 2nd and I was pleased with that as it had been extremely messy!!

Cas had one Casual Jumping and although missed her weave (not sure why as she’s always always got her entries) she flew round like a spring chicken and won the class.

So it was a fab day, it was lovely to have my boy back as he always feels so smooth to run and with our system of mum queuing and it being a smaller show he didn’t seem to be stressing at all. Though I am so unfit, my legs almost gave up in the last run and I am just nowhere near my dogs, I haven’t been doing any exercise whatever though so it’s no surprise lol!

Were off to Paris next week, Mark and I will have been together two years :)

Happy 11th Birthday Cas!

2011-03-05T12:54:00.001Z

I can't believe Cas is now 11!! She still acts like a 2 year old and I think as she's white, will never go grey so she never looks old.

I moved in with my boyfriend a few months ago and brought Rum and Cas with me, mum has Emz & Diz as Diz has always been close to her when I have gone off to shows and Diz and Emz get on very well and to be honest Ember has always liked mum better anyway. It makes life easier as neither of us are worrying about keeping Diz and Cas separate, they're happier too.

Rum is also a lot better as he is getitng more attention. Though I started by taking them for a run with a frisbee daily (something we never did before as Diz wasn't up to it) but Rum just couldn't cope again with the adrenaline and he was stressing so much. So now we just have gentle walks and sometimes some obedience training. I had thought about trying agility with him again but if he can't cope with frisbee chasing there is no way he will cope with agility - it's such a shame that for a young dog I can't let him have good fun chasing a ball etc. But if he's happier without then that's how it has to be. He is so protective of Cas it's so funny to watch them, my boyfriend has a German Shepherd who Rum hates and he really protects Cas from her.

We're picking up a kitten on Wednesday as we wanted something to do some ratting and I miss having a cat, I had thought about bringing Dixie with me as she is such a character and so pretty, but it's not fair to upset her and mum is attached to her and she absolutely adores Diz and Emz. So we said we would look for something. Unfortunately not a rescue as nobody came back to me on rescues so we had to go elsewhere.

I haven't been very well during 2010 so am hoping 2011 will be a better year, I have turned a corner the last couple of weeks and long may it continue. We have rebooked NYC for Christmas, this year we will get to go!! And I am starting a city & guilds course in photography soon also!

This vid just sums my gorgeous girl up:

Our Travel Nightmare!!

2010-12-22T10:00:00.000Z

Oh my god, what a weekend, do you know when you're sitting in the comfort of your own home watching the news and you think 'that will never be me.' Then you find yourself in the middle of a nightmare?

It started Saturday morning when we left snowy Wolverhampton at 10:30am in plenty of time to get to Heathrow for our flight to NYC, little did we realise the chaos to unfold. We steadily made our way down the M6 averaging about 40miles an hour on the snowy road. Everything cleared for one junction on the M42 and things were looking up, that was short lived as in soon got back to averaging 40mph on snow again. Then it all went downhill, we reached the junction before Newbury and it was a standstill - there was snow between the lanes, changing lanes was treacherous and I could feel the tyres struggling for grip. We were probably queueing for a couple of hours when we got past the junction and the traffic had cleared, again this was shortlived and we were soon queueing again. This time we were averaging a mile in an hour!

You start to think you had wished you had listened to the advice - keep water, food and a shovel in your car! We hadn't eaten all day and were starving. The snow was about a foot deep and the motorway hadn't been gritted, it was a nightmare. People were going to the loo on the side of the carriageway (we cut the bottom of a bottle out so I could have a wee! Lol!) and building snowmen on the central reservation. It was quite surreal!! We finally got the root cause of our blockage - lorries jacknifed all over the carriageway!! So we got through and finally got to Heathrow 13 hours after we set off! All the time following the car in front's tracks in the snow.

At Heathrow we had already been notified our flight had been cancelled but we got there to see if there was any information on our next step - nothing!! There were people sleeping everywhere and it was chaos. So we went for some food at MacDonalds (this is like midnight now!) - wow a burger has never tasted so good!! While we were there we searched for hotels available - nothing - so sleep in Heathrow? We decided to opt for the car, Heathrow's cold hard floor didn't look very appealing. Luckily I had some of those silver blankets in the car but still we were frozen and every time you moved they crunched. We must have caught an hour's sleep before we got up to get into Terminal 3 to see what was going on.

At 5am we were in the queue at American Airlines behind a lady who had been there when the desk was open on Saturday - she had been given the customer services number to ring (which just makes you hold for ages and fails to tell you they closed at 5pm!!) or to come back on Sunday when someone will be at the desk at 5am. Well we waiting till 6am and still no show, so we decided to make our way across to terminal 5 to see if BA had any flights available, terminal 5 was a lot better organised however we were directed to BA's website to book. We made our way back to terminal 3 to see if there was any sign of AA and still no show - the terminal by now was even more packed and really you could not move at all - you would not believe the mess the place was in unless you had seen it with your own eyes!!

Off we went to MacDonalds for breakfast where we searched for a hotel (finding the Holiday Inn available) and new flights (finding flights with BA 22nd-28th - Christmas in NYC and we would be safe with Wednesday flights - 3 days time no problem!) So we made our way to the hotel and more queues of people - 2 hours we had to wait to check in there were people everywhere again! We finally got into our room and I was so pleased to have some peace and quiet and a bed!!!

All Sunday afternoon we tried to get through to Expedia (our booking agent) without any luck. We finally got through Monday morning only be told to ring back later as hotel reservations wasn't open for them to contact for a refund. Later that day after 90mins on hold we finally got through and everything was refunded, well 7-10 days from the hotel and up to 12 weeks refund by the airline!!! We booked another hotel with hotels.com making sure we got through quickly and checking on the cancellation policy.

Our Statue of Liberty View Room - or is that the M4??

Tuesday was looking good as the temperature had risen to 3 degrees, no more snow and the second runway was clear. We went round to see my aunt and two cousins and during our visit found our flight had been cancelled - the only BA flight to NYC from terminal 5 to be cancelled, all others were flying. Just our luck, we couldn't believe it. So all that for nothing, I cancelled the hotel again no penalty. Gutted, NYC at Christmas was my dream holiday and we had a tour to the Niagra Falls booked which is something Mark has always wanted to do.

Mark, my cousin and me

We decided to leave Tuesday night with more snow forecast Wednesday morning in the Midlands we thought it best to get home, it took a little over 2 hours to get home this time, bit different to 13 hours!!

We have another holiday booked leaving Manchester on 26th, returning the 2nd to Lapland so I hope we get to go. I am sick to death of queueing, of snow (in this country as they can't handle it), of traffic, of lorry drivers, of looking at flight information and sky news (which we have done continuously for the last 4 days!!

Update

2010-11-27T16:37:00.000Z

It was Rum's 5th birthday on the 25th November, I can't believe he's 5 already!

Mid October we took him and Diz to the beach as I really am not sure whether Diz will be up to it next year and she loves the beach. Here are a couple of pics:

Here are a few pics I took today:

And non-dog related, my lovely boyfriend bought me a day's formula ford racing at Silverstone, it was amazing!

And I raced in the Cambrian Rally back in October, great day, I didn't get as much of a thrill out of it as I imagined, which is good as it didn't make me come away thinking I want to do more - it's too expensive lol!!

Agility

2010-10-04T18:09:00.001+01:00

I met up with Anna and Lee yesterday and today I was on my laptop when I came across some agility videos and realised how much I missed it. So I got out the little equipment I have kept and had a play with Rum. He is such a fab dog, I wish we could go out and compete, he is an amazing partner. Though it's no wonder my back ached, stand up straight woman!!!!

One Horsepower to a Couple of Hundred

2010-08-23T16:36:00.001+01:00

It’s been a while again, have had a bit of a rough time lately but thanks to support of friends and family I am gradually moving along the road to recovery.

Poor old Diz has developed severe arthritis in her neck/right shoulder so is now on metacam full time. It was awful to see her shaking in pain and squealing with the smallest movement.

I had to sell Bean as my knee just wasn’t up to the amount of work he needed, I found myself just hacking him a few times as anything more was too painful. He has a home with a local family (literally 2 mins away) who have their own paddock so he is getting lots more attention than I could ever give him.

I’ve bought a car to take to track days and do some drifting with, well it’s a joint car with my boyfriend – Toyota Mr2 GT. I have a rally driving scholarship final in 2 weeks and it was really to get some practice in for that, however am sure we will keep it and run it until it dies!

Dixie chick is a fab little kitten and although I haven’t done much training with her she has already figured out how to fetch and is driving us mad with it!! I’ve entered her first show in a couple of weeks to get her used to being handled by strangers, always good for doing media work etc. Here's a little video of Rum getting her to play when she wasn't in the mood as was recovering from her second vaccination!!

I’ve got a musical interpretation day in a few weeks with Emmy Simonsen, I am sooo excited about it. If you haven’t seen any of her routines, look her up on Youtube, she’s amazing! Musical interpretation has always been my downfall and probably the main reason I stopped as I just ran out of ideas. So thought I would take the hairy one (Ember) as Emmy works her sheltie so well, it would be too much (stress wise) for Rum and Cas can’t do as much as she used to. I am soooo looking forward to it!!

Meet Dixie

2010-08-03T21:22:00.000+01:00

I thought it was time, after losing Kali that we had a kitten, so her she is. Meet Dixie, a 10 week old rescue kitten. I am hoping she will follow in Kali's pawsteps and do some media work. She already recognises the clicker and we have started working on a sit!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-23T08:36:00.000+01:00

Happy 11th Dizzy

2010-05-31T11:04:00.001+01:00

Sometime about now Diz will be (if not already) 11 years old. She has done so well considering we were told she wouldn't last till too old an age due to her spinal surgery when she was 4. She does have her stiff days and is a little incontinent but other than that she is still her old bouncy self and living life to the full.

Here she was at 6 months old the day after we had her followed by a few pics taken the other day.

And here's last year's video

Dizzy - Celebrating 10 Yrs from Gina Graham on Vimeo.

Jumping Bean!

2010-04-17T15:54:00.000+01:00

Today was the first time I have 'jumped' in 10 years and the first time I had done anything with Bean. It was the first time he also progressed to more than just trotting poles. Am so pleased with his progress :) Though he's already costing me money having broken a headcollar and lost a shoe!! But everyone who meets him totally falls for him.

Introducing Bean

2010-04-14T07:42:00.000+01:00

I know it's not dog related but I would like to introduce you to Bean! He arrived on Saturday.

Since the weather has been better and we have had lighter nights I have found myself itching to do something. I used to ride from the age of about 7 till I had Diz when I was 15. The dogs have taken up my time and money so I haven't ridden since. Without agility I have time and money for something else. So what else but get a horse! Although so much for saving for a house!!

Bean is a 14.1h welsh section D and is almost 4 years old. I have found the most amazing livery yard just a couple of minutes down the road with 110acres I can ride over without touching roads, so Rum can come out with me which will be lovely.

I must admit the minute I got back on a horse (we looked at three on Good Friday) I felt back where I belonged and that I have 'come home' so to speak. Bean stole my heart, he has the most lovely nature, so kind and gentle. I hope to start jumping him and do some shows late summer so I will keep you up to date with our progress!

I couldn't resist buying him some bling - diamante browband :)

That's All Folks

2010-02-16T21:18:00.000Z

Well the van has gone, the sports car has gone and am back to one vehicle - a 2006 reg Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC - my new toy. I totally adore this car!!

The caravan is going to be sold too (shame as it's such a fab little van), thanks to my lovely bf who is doing that for me :) And I will prob put my contact equipment on ebay.

I have decided it's time to settle down and save up for a house, agility just uses up virtually all of my salary and I need to start being sensible. I also want to travel more.

Rum just isn't happy doing agility and he was my hopes and dreams so without him being my partner I am not interested any more.

I am also not sure I like the way agility is going, classes are won by hardly any difference in time, it's down to the wire virtually all the time and it has become far too mathmatical for me. The enjoyment and fun just seems to have gone.

Also my skin infection returned after setting foot in Kingswood and 3 weeks later the scar still hasn't gone completely. So local training is out anyway. I think everything was telling me it's time.

The dogs don't seem to miss it, well okay I think Emz does a bit as she seems to have got a bit stroppy these days.

I will really miss all the great friends I have made during my 9 years competing and thank you everyone who has helped me along the way. I am not saying never, more like an au revoir.

Here's Rum on one of our morning runs:

Think he was getting a bit fed up of me taking pics!

Another Year Over

2010-01-01T17:15:00.000Z

2009 - What a year!

My aim for the year was to get Rum into a Novice Final but that wasn't meant to be as he won up to grade 6 in July. Another aim was to get Emz into Grade 7, she is just one agility win away. For Cas it was to stay healthy and she has done that even had some high Grade 6 placings along the way.

Agilitywise I am not sure how I feel anymore, I haven't done a show since the end of October and haven't trainined since before my gastro - mid September. And to be honest I have not missed it. I decided to retire Rum from indoor shows when he just wasn't able to cope with the stress of the UKA show in Cheltenham, there really isn't any point putting him through it. And so I didn't think it was worth doing any with just Emz.

So 2010, am not sure what I am doing. Rum has got as far as he can as I struggle with training him - our only group lesson available is indoors and he doesn't cope well, when in a private lesson outdoors he switches off and plods round, so neither benefits us and we struggled in Grade 6 as he just isn't getting any training. Ember will be 7 this year and is never going to be the most consistent dog in the world. Cas will be 10 and it's only a matter of time before she starts to struggle. So I really don't know whether agility is for me anymore, I just don't have any motivation, nothing to aim for. Plus Rum is a lot nicer to live with when he isn't doing agility, he is so much calmer, he really struggles with the stress of agility shows.

So we shall see, I may see you around, I may not. If I no longer do agility I will really miss all the friends I have made during my time competing.

Happy New Year!

Happy Xmas

2009-12-20T09:48:00.001Z

Catch Up

2009-11-17T11:34:00.004Z

Again it's been a while, Ember won up to Senior Steeplechase at Cheltenham UKA. It's my birthday this week so am out a bit though have got a cold and feel dreadful!! I have heard a song I would quite like to do a new HTM routine to and hopefully enter Rugby in January, I haven't done much this year as was concentrating on agility with Rum but I want to get going again next year.

The Jeremy Edwards video has now been finished, am really pleased with how it looks:

Also here's a pic of Lee and I in Castletown, Isle of Man from our training weekend, was a great weekend everyone was lovely:

Don't forget the LGT Workshop DVD is still available and will make an excellent Christmas present!!

www.leegibsontraining.com

RIP Kali

2009-10-26T18:41:00.003Z

I know it's not a dog related post but Kali really was one of the pack, she was just like a dog and even did some media work, if only I had thought about it earlier she could have done more as she loved going out in the car and meeting everyone on set. She was a real star and a one in a million cat, there will never be another like her. Before the dogs came I had trained her to sit, spin, jump a jump and also fetch a stick as I was desperate to have a dog I treated her like one and I think she thought she was one. She had a massive cancerous growth and had to be put down today, she was in pain and they couldn't make her comfortable.

It's been a while....

2009-10-19T18:44:00.001+01:00

I hadn't realised it had been so long to be honest. We haven't done much since KC Festival really and work has been quite manic, personal life has been busy so I haven't stopped really!

We competed for a day at Dordale and Cas picked up a 4th in Grade 6 Jumping which I was dead chuffed with as she is almost 10 now so she's still going strong, Ember had a win in Combined 1-7 Jumping. Then the show at High Peak was cancelled and I was so looking forward to it. We did a day at Bromsgrove and Rum had a place in a blast of a Combined 1-7 Jumping course however this was the beginning of my illness and I got worse that week only to find I had gastroenteritis after a trip to the Doc on the Thursday. I was totally gutted to have to pull out of judging at Dashin on the Saturday but had to spend the day in bed, on Sunday I felt better until I got up and felt horrendous again, I lived on toast for a week which was a great way to lose weight (1/2 a stone!) but that's soon gone back on!

I was just about up to fitness for UKA Top Barn where Cas won Senior Steeplechase 1, Senior Steeplechase 2 and Novice Jumping, Ember won Novice Steeplechase 1 and Novice Steeplechase 2, Rum had a 2nd in Novice Agility and a 4th in Novice Steeplechase - they were flying that day!

I have just got back from a training weekend with Lee to the Isle of Man, take a look at his blog as he has uploaded some piccies. It was a short stop and we didn't get to see much as our flight was soooo late on Friday (thank goodness for Weatherspoons in the airport!). But it was a great weekend, fantastic company and everyone was really receptive to our ideas and I hope everyone has gone away inspired! Well done everyone and good luck for the future. And thanks to Christine for looking after us so well despite her not being well!!

This week am doing something for Burgess involving training a celeb's dog to do agility! Will post more when we are done.

Ember's win @ Dordale:

Cassie's 4th @ Dordale:

Blog

2009-08-21T21:30:00.002+01:00

Haven't had much time to blog, went to Spain instead of DIN (had an amazing time :))) )and did my packing instead of all of KC Festival lol. Rum had a 2nd in G5 Agility at Lincoln and Ember and Cas both had places in Comb 4-7 Jumping too. On the Friday at KC Festival Rum had his first G6 classes and coped REALLY well (apart from a bit of an all over the place run in G6 Jumping) so I was really chuffed.

I want to say well done to Chris Hickman and Fiddle who is my fav black and white collie ever, she's a stunner for winning this g3 jumping class and KC Festival and since winning another at DIN:

3 Down 1 to Go

2009-07-28T06:58:00.003+01:00

I was so pleased with Rum at Derby he went clear in pairs with Carol and Calca and they came 3rd. He had a bit of a hesitant clear in Combined 4-5 Jumping and came 3rd (0.05s of his brother lol!) and 2nd in Grade 5 Agility with a gorgeous run round a tough course and held contacts - I was dead chuffed with that run round Mavis Sherwin's course. Sunday wasn't so good he skipped a weave in Jumping, missed his entry in Chum (I rushed him) and dropped a pole in 1-7 Jumping with another lovely run.

Cas was all over the place this weekend or I was! We had poles here and there as I was pushing her too much.

Ember had a bad Saturday which resulted in me taking her out of both agility classes and knocked a pole in C6-7 Jumping which she would have won by 2secs. No matter though as she won G6 Jumping on Sunday so just an agility to go now! And also had a 2nd in Comb 1-7 Jumping. Her other agility was a bit better but she's started flying her other two contacts now and before it was just her a-frame so am getting rather fed up of her pushing me all the time!

What a Weekend!

2009-07-21T07:08:00.004+01:00

My life is just mega busy at the moment and I am not at home one evening in the week so I wanted to have a break but I dragged myself out! So considering on Friday I didn't feel like doing either of the shows I had entered at the weekend, we actually did pretty well.

Rum and I didn't have that great a show at UKA, he picked up a 2nd Q in Novice Snooker because he went back over the start before pink and black. Then in Novice Jumping he had a pole down, I took his tuggy into the Novice Agility and worked his contacts, last run was Novice Steeplechase and he again had a pole down - it's not like him to knock poles so I was unsure whether he needed to see chiro. However he didn't knock one at Chipping Norton so must have just been having an off day. We started off with Combined 1-7 Jumping when he had a lovely clear but I came out saying he was slow but being so pleased with a super tight turn round the corner of a box, went to have a look at the results and he was 3rd, just over 0.1 of a second off the winner! I was so chuffed with that. Then Greaded 4-5 Agility and he jumped off the top of the dogwalk landing on the contact, I was so annoyed and shocked I lost track of what I was doing and pushed him too far past the A-frame, shame because the rest was nice and I managed to get a super smart finish with a blind cross at the end of the weaves. Then Graded 4-5 Jumping and I did the stupid thing of changing my plan having watched others go and we had a refusal early on then made a right mess of it!

Cas had a 1st in Novice Jumping at UKA and a 2nd in Senior Steeplechase. I think it's a shame as she is going to be stuck in Novice forever as she doesn't do agility so I am contemplating training some UKA agility classes so I can try and get her up. Then at Chipping Norton she had a pole down in Comb 1-7 Jumping and am not sure why and in Graded 6-7 Jumping she missed her last weave as I pushed her out too soon.

Ember had been so naughty in some of her classes last weekend I had ended up taking her out of the ring, but this weekend she was fab! At UKA we had a 3rd in Novice Snooker, not sure how many points but it wasn't a Q as she had a pole down on one of the early colours. Then a storming round in Novice Jumping - 1st. She almost had a flying round in Steeplechase but right at the end decided to change a flick flack into a pull through ha! Her agility round we trainined. Then at Chipping Norton she had a nice round in Combined 1-7 Jumping but flicked left round a jump and back jumped. Followed it with a storming round and won Grade 6 Jumping with a time that was 1 second quicker than the winning Grade 7. Her agility she was NAUGHTY!! Anyway for her win we got a portrait shot off the photographer there - DS Event Photography:

Rum is Grade 6!!

2009-07-12T20:54:00.002+01:00

Just a quick post to say Rum won G5 Jumping at RVA so is now Grade 6 - KC Festival will be his first G6 I think, which was his first G5 last year! So that's nice he has spent a year in grade 5, I have been holding him there this year (contacts and not competing in jumping lol!) but thought it was about time he moved! He also had a 3rd in G5 Agility, Cas a 2nd in G6 Jumping, Emz a 2nd in G6 Jumping and 5th in Steeplechase. Videos to follow at some point.

France!

2009-07-05T17:26:00.006+01:00

Last year I decided I would really like to experience agility abroad and I love France so I picked a French show and had the dogs – Rum and Ember (I didn’t bother with Cas as she is 9 now and only doing jumping so I thought she could stay and keep Diz company) vaccinated.
So we set off down to Poole to catch the ferry to St Malo, found a park for the dogs to have a run in at lunchtime and stumbled across a lovely little Italian restaurant by a lake. I was a little concerned as to how the dogs would be on the ferry but they were fine and they didn’t stress out at all. The ferry crossing was fairly smooth and we arrived in St Malo early evening.

I had decided to rent a cottage in South Brittany in the hope we would get some sun, well the cottage was more in Loire Atlantique in a little village called Les Moutiers ens Retz. On our way down we stopped at a service station to feed the dogs and let them off for a run and arrived at the cottage late evening.

We were up early to go to the show in Ploermel, it was quite a big show as there were two rings rather than the usual one – makes a difference from the 14 at Thames! We had to look up what our ring number was on a list then book in, at this point the competitors hand in their licences to compete which are then handed back out at the end, because I didn’t have one of these I handed in my record books. Then the running orders are listed for all your classes. I had four classes with Ember and 3 with Rum as Rum is not KC reg so he doesn’t get to run in the level class.

Ember was running first in the Open Agility which was a qualifier. In France you have to have your dog off lead while the dog in front is competing and you then walk to the start with the dog under control (you are unable to touch your dog, well you are once but sometimes this can be interpreted as more than once by the judge and you would be E’d so it’s best not to at all!) and wait for the judge to tell you to go. I was pleased that I managed to get both the dogs to the start without them bombing off over a jump lol!

So Ember, in the first agility she had the first pole down (she was in category A which is our equivalent of small but the jumps were a bit higher), she then missed her A-frame and had another jump down but I was really pleased otherwise as the weaves are spaced further apart, the tyre was tiny and she has never seen a table in the ring. This was then followed by another Open Agility (not a qualifier), this was a disaster, she knocked that many poles down I lost count!! And she slipped at the end of the weaves (the metal bar was really thick in the middle). Unfortunately I missed her level class as I thought she was in 2-eme degree but she was actually in 3-eme degree, these level classes are the only classes that count towards progression, so you could win hundreds of opens and stay in level 1 as it’s only the level one classes that count. All dogs start in level 1. Finally the jumping class, she was fab in this, had a pole down near the start so I didn’t really work the tunnel entry as well as I should have done and she went in the wrong end but otherwise she ran really nicely.

Rum had the Open Agility (non qualifier) first and did a lovely run but I just lost him in the tunnel – grrr shame as he ran really well. Then the other agility and he missed his down contact on the dogwalk but then I struggled to get him in the tunnel and when he landed after the wall he took the wrong jump I didn’t work him into his turn. In this class the judge had said you must leave the ring when E’d. Finally jumping and grrr he went into a tunnel again when he shouldn’t have – obviously something we need to work on!!

Everybody has to wait until the end where you all sit and watch the presentations, after this you then get your licence back with a copy of your results for each dog. It was a great experience, thank you to Theresa for helping me with everything. Am so pleased with the dogs considering they learnt the table at home last week and have never done it in the ring and the weaves are a lot further apart which Rum seemed more comfortable with but Ember just looked like she was running between them ha!

Well we had a lovely week, a lot of the time it was too hot to take the dogs out during the day so they were better off stopping in the house which was kept cool with the shutters closed. It was lovely to go for a run along the promenade first thing in the morning with the dogs off lead not having to worry about traffic etc. The one day it was cool enough to take the dogs to the beach late afternoon, so we all went for a swim which was fab – Rum is such a strong swimmer!! He easily pulled me back to shore.

Here are a couple of piccies:

Bad Blogger

2009-06-22T07:35:00.009+01:00

Well I haven’t blogged for ages in terms of shows, my agility motivation has really diminished lately. I really enjoy training and judging but I just haven’t had any enthusiasm for competing the last couple of months. I have been so busy with other things lately agility shows were becoming stressful and I just couldn’t cope with that on top of everything else. So I took it upon myself to change my mindset and now shows are my getaway. :~)

Rum has been suffering from stress for a while now, just before Christmas it got really bad so I had him on DAP and some xyklene, we worked through this bad stage where I could not get him to do a thing because he couldn’t think he was stressed out up to his eyeballs! Then when the outdoor season started I realised that he wasn’t fast because he enjoyed it, he was fast because he was stressed out, he wouldn’t wait because he was stressed about the dog behind him, he started missing contacts. I realised my hopes of getting to Olympia were vanishing before my eyes, but what’s more important? In my opinion it’s a dog who actually enjoys agility, people may have thought he did but if you looked closely he didn’t at all – it was adrenaline from the stress. Chris Hickman has been excellent and really helped me, after reading Control Unleashed I started working with him at Waldridge initially. From there we have been doing calm around the rings, making eye contact with me rather than watching the dog competing. Slowly we are getting there, and working him now really makes me realised how stressed he was! We started getting our waits back (though if we have a barky dog behind us they aren’t great and I don’t really want to push him in that situation as he isn’t comfortable) and contacts back again.
At Newton Heath this weekend he was amazing, a 3rd in Novice Olympia (not qualifying as was in 2 parts) and I got lost in an awesome jumping class which I really drove him round and he had a great time, followed by a beautiful run in agility where I held his contacts and ran on past. His contacts are so much faster and confident I haven’t had a creepy contact all weekend which is a first!

Cas was a little stiff this weekend and had a couple of poles in her jumping classes so am going to see how she goes. At Thames she was the only one to have 100% clear rate including a 14th in Pairs with Lisa Thompson.

Ember has been another reason I haven’t been enjoying competing, at Waldridge there were lots of start jump then weaves which she has always struggled with and didn’t get a single entry. After that she seemed to lose all confidence in finding her weaves and didn’t pick any up in the ring, I felt all that hard work had just been wasted and we were back to square one. But am pleased to report she didn’t miss a single one all weekend, in her jumping she picked up a really tricky entry and just had a pole otherwise would have won by 2 seconds! Then we are still having a-frame issues and I have decided to down her afterwards as putting her back over is rewarding her for missing and if I took her out it’s giving the obstacle a really negative association. Anyway in the next class she had a beautiful a-frame and we had a 3rd in Grade 6 Agility. Sunday she was so fab in Crufts singles but made a stupid mistake and messed up a straight line of jumps! I was so pleased as I got into position while holding her on her dogwalk and left her in her weaves while I went off into position. In her jumping she was NAUGHTY and was so headstrong she wasn’t listening.

Here are some pics I took with my new lens.

And this is Jingo, Chris Hickman's goldie, she hasn't got many photos of him so I said I would take some, weather wasn't great so didn't get any particularly amazing shots, but I just love this one - isn't he gorgeous!

Race For Life

2009-06-19T07:03:00.003+01:00

I am really proud of myself, was just going to walk the two laps (5K) but on the second lap Anna and I ran and we didn't stop, so we ran 2.5k. Really pleased I did it, have only ever run 0.8k at the gym before so I had to push myself to keep going - it was great to feel we were making a difference.

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/ghos

Dizzy Celebrating 10Yrs

2009-06-18T07:37:00.003+01:00

Sometime in June 1999 Diz arrived and we took her home from rescue in December 1999.

Training

2009-05-29T06:36:00.003+01:00

I was asked to take the competition class at Addicts yesterday afternoon, so had to quickly come up with a layout, I used part of this from one of Bud Houston's layout where it was used in an opening sequence at a Grand Prix qualifier. I wanted something with tunnel under dogwalk as I saw one dog completely freak at it a couple of weeks ago.

It was a really good layout as it was sequences night tonight rather than a whole course. So we did both the around the outside warm ups - 2 jumps, weaves, jump, dogwalk 2 jumps and the opposite, the weave entry proved a little trickier so handlers had to make sure they continued to head for the weaves rather than cut the corner!

Then onto the trickier stuff we did the 3 jumps in a line and over the jump towards the tunnel, tunnel, dogwalk and 2 jumps. This proved easier than I thought and there weren't many dogs that took the jump from the left. So we did the same but took the jump from the left away from the tunnel and this proved trickier, handlers were moving too quickly when they thought the dog had come through.

That's all I've got time to blog about at the mo, am enjoying judging and training more than I am competing at the moment.

Rum!!!

2009-05-23T14:25:00.003+01:00

Cat (http://www.themodernlove.co.uk/) took this shot of Rum at Waldridge, I think it is absolutely amazing!!!

Waldridge - Beach!!

2009-05-17T22:28:00.003+01:00

Here are some shots of the dogs on the beach at Markse, Redcar. I love Waldridge show and I just love the beach, we spent Saturday evening by the sea and most of Sunday morning we decided to stay on the beach rather than do agility - just listening to the sound of the waves on the sand is so relaxing. The dogs loved racing round in the sea. We were so lucky with the weather, it stayed dry and we even had sunshine on Sunday morning :)

And a couple of my little angel in the caravan

Beacon Agility

2009-05-10T13:43:00.002+01:00

Rum's first run was the CSJ qualifier and I thought I would quick release his contacts if they were solid, and they were stunning he was so confident about getting into his position and was completely solid until his release. Unfortunately I didn't push him into a jump and we got 5R, he then proceeded to fly his see-saw as he saw his lead so I put him back on it. Then G1-5 Jumping which was more like a G5 course, tyre, jump then a choice for the dog of 2 jumps, weave or tunnel. I thought I would risk it, just tell him weave and not really baby him at all, much to my surprise he zoomed past everything else and picked them up, I should have more faith! Unfortunately we had a pole down and another 5r when I crossed behind a jump too soon pulling him off. Finally Dog Vegas qualifier and he had pole 3 down so I thought I may as well really hold his contacts and he was really good, especially pleased with the dogwalk as I carried on running past the last jump while he was on his contact then released :)

Cas had a jumping class and had a couple of poles down but worked well.

Nice early finish today!!

Beacon Agility

2009-05-09T17:42:00.003+01:00

Just Ember at Beacon's small/medium show.
We started with the Olympia Stakes and I was really pleased with her, she did a lovely tight pull through after the dog walk, picked up a weave entry that a few seemed to be missing, flicked away nicely to the jump before the a-frame and missed her a-frame! I thought last weekend we might have cracked it, so I took her in the practice ring today but it didn't make any difference.
Then C5-7 Jumping and she had the first pole so I insisted on a proper flick away on jump 3 and carried on, really pleased with her weave entry as I was cutting a corner running along the weaves pushing her to get the entry :)
Then Crufts Singles and she did a cracking round, I was so pleased with her - pulled off the dogwalk, flicked away nicely, tricky weave entry again and flicked away at the end nicely. But the stupid handler moved too soon and she went in the wrong end of the tunnel! Grr!
Finally team, Sarah and Tikka had 5f on dogwalk, then Ember who had 5f on dogwalk and a-frame, David was clear, Aljeanna and amy had 15f. It's a cracking little team and we had fun running it :) I am a bit annoyed at Ember's contacts as they were so lovely last week!

Ember's individual runs:

Team:

Shrewsbury Agility

2009-05-04T18:00:00.003+01:00

I was judging all day Saturday, didn’t get finished till about 6pm! Then I didn’t get much sleep on Saturday night and so Sunday I was rather shattered to say the least!! The caravan was fab (first use) even if I didn't sleep in it a single night and it was there 3!! And thank you so much to a certain person who gave her time up to teach a few of us some reversing techniques and I got it on the drive first time - Yeah!! :)

Rum ran the Derby first and his contacts were perfect, nice solid stop position and release but unfortunately he had the spread down. Then 4-5 Agility and I was so pleased he went straight into his stop on the dogwalk while I was moving to the side a jumps width away to call him back, he was so solid until I released. He had a pole down and we had a bit of a moment where I got a little confuzzled, his a-frame was perfect too. I was SO pleased with him, fingers crossed he’s confident again with his position. I have been testing my courses with him when I have judged and played tuggy while he is on his contact and it seems to be working, touch wood!

Cas was in a tricky C6-7 Jumping and really could have done with a wait but if I hadn’t moved too soon I think we could have done it, she had 2 poles anyway. Then a lovely G6-7 Jumping and she worked really nicely, just had the first pole down and I moved to soon on a flick flack.

Ember ran in G6-7 Jumping and to be honest I wasn’t up to it as it was first thing in the morning and she started fighting me so I took her out. After a few hours sleep we were ready to roll in a tricky C6-7 Jumping and we did the first half fabulously well then came a cropper when I moved too quickly past a flick flack (again, this is something I am going to have to work on now I can run a bit faster!!) and pushed her out. Finally C6-7 Agility which I hadn’t walked as was queuing for another run, I didn’t call her enough off a jump as I didn’t think it was that close, so annoyed as her contacts were the best they have been in a long time and she picked up a tricky weave entry and did some lovely work.

While I am on I have to say a huge well done to Lee and the gorgeous Scott who won three grade 5 agility classes over the Bank Holiday weekend, taking them firmly into grade 6. Not forgetting the naughty merle who had a 3rd in Champ.

Lee Gibson Workshop DVD available now from http://www.leegibsontraining.com/

Bluebells!

2009-04-28T21:29:00.002+01:00

The obligatory annual bluebell shots ;)

ASBO

2009-04-26T16:22:00.003+01:00

Anyone who knows Ember will know her nickname is ASBO as she barks A LOT!

For agility I started with a bog standard collar and lead, then found it took me ages to find the D ring to clip her lead back on due to all her coat! We moved to a slip lead but I ended up managing to choke her half the time, or rather she did when she wanted to go somewhere suddenly! Then I got a fleece dog games harness which was great but a bit of a faff. I had noticed loads of agility shelties wearing a certain sort of harness and always wondered why they were so popular and then I saw them at Crufts and realised how easy they were to take off and on - just one big clip and slipped over their head - dead easy. I didn't want to go with the bog standard princess/diva/agility on her tag so I saw a link to a great site that does personalised tags from Bernadette's blog:

http://www.dogstoppers.co.uk/

So here she is in her harness and new personalised tag :) Thanks Bernadette (for sharing) and Michael (for making).

Agility Addicts

2009-04-25T20:26:00.001+01:00

I was judging in the afternoon, so the dogs only had runs in the morning. Started off with rain but the afternoon was lovely, here are the dogs looking a bit windswept - Broseley is a lovely venue but quite high up so it is windy up there!

Rum started with Open Jumping and in both rounds missed his weave entry. Rum and I are struggling at the moment as he is getting stressed out of his mind when he trains in a group but when I go for a private lesson he completely switches off. So we are struggling at the moment as are only training at home and the garden isn't that big. Though he had a lovely round in Open Connector and came 2nd (to Cas).

Cas had a pole in both Open Jumpings, the first time was when I fell over!!! The second time was me rushing her. Then she had a lovely round in Open Connector and won.

Ember also missed the weave entry the first time in Open Jumping but the second time had a fab run but just pulled round the back of a jump as I was so far behind! She tested my Open Agility course and her contacts were lovely, her waits have been good today also :) Sarah Childs ran her in my Open Connector and had a lovely run but Emz knocked a pole then started running over to someone watching as she thought it might have been me even when I was standing right behind her - god her eyesight is bad! Lol. Emz runs really well for Sarah as she can run very fast :) not like short arse me ;)

Sugar Plum Fairy

2009-04-24T07:18:00.002+01:00

Thank you Rivergate who took some fab photos of us Saturday :)

http://www.rivergate.org.uk/

Westglen HTM

2009-04-18T19:37:00.001+01:00

Rum hasn’t done much HTM, we competed in 2007 and he had enough points to move into Novice but towards the end of the year he was frightened by some speakers that fed back really loudly and he was right underneath them! The following show I could hardly get him in the building let alone the ring, so we worked for several months on positive association with HTM let alone the ring. I did a really simple routine last September and he was brilliant so I thought I would teach him some more heel positions and enter him in another show.

Well he was brilliant, he was freaking out a little before we went in as the dog before had been barking & barking dogs are scary! I thought we might end up training and my mum was poised with a tuggy! But now he was fab, the first half of the routine he worked amazingly and the second half we had a couple of moments where he looked a round a bit to make sure everything was okay, I was disappointed with his finish as I just didn’t steady him before he came through my legs – disappointed in myself not him. Otherwise though I couldn’t have been more pleased with him as he was happy and really accurate to start, I just need to do more with him now so he gets used to the environment.

UKA Agility - Sun

2009-04-12T21:12:00.003+01:00

Rum was really difficult today, he was really stressing in the queue yet yesterday and Friday he was really chilled. The only thing I can think is on the 3rd day of competition the adrenaline levels have just got too high for him to cope. We had a messy clear in Novice Jumping, ending in 5th place. I trained his agility and the steeplechase classes he just wasn’t committing to things and pulling off really easily. So I am really a bit down about him again, he has found it really hard to cope today, thankfully my mum did a lot of queuing for me.

Cas was a little star, clear in Senior Steeplechase with a messy moment and she won, I was really pleased as she did a flick round to the tunnel near the end and this is something I have never really taught her. She demolished the first pole in Novice Jumping which was my fault as I didn’t steady her. In her second steeplechase she just had a pole down as I called her too early. In the final steeplechase she had another nice clear, don’t know if she got anything as there were other nice fast clears.

Finally Ember, started with Novice Jumping and she put in an amazing round, I was sooo chuffed with her – crossed behind weaves, flick away to last jump, pull through and flick round and send ons – she has come on so much, she won the class. In her first steeplechase we made a mess of the start and tunnel entry but did some lovely send ons. I trained her agility as I expected her to push her contacts after yesterday and she did! In her second steeplechase she was fab, lovely send ons but dropped a pole. In the last steeplechase she dropped a pole and started to fight me so I took her out as I don’t want that starting again! She has been dropping more poles than usual this weekend so I think I will have to do some more jumping exercises.

I had entered tomorrow but I won’t be going as it is too much for Rum and Cas only has one or two classes and my back isn’t great so I’m going to give it a miss.

TAG Agility - Sat

2009-04-11T18:08:00.001+01:00

Rum had team first and put in a lovely clear, it was fantastic to watch him power round a big course. Then in his first agility he flew his dogwalk so I put him back on it but the rest was lovely, in his other agility he ran his A-frame so I put him back on.

Cas had veteran jumping again and ran well with just a pole down.

Ember ran team first and was the only one to be faulted with a pole down, we would have been 4th. Then had C6-7 Agility and took a pole out early on so I reinforced her contacts. Followed by C6-7 Jumping and she ran it well as it was a difficult course she had the 4th to last jump down as just got her take off completely wrong. Lastly G6-7 Agility and we got a nice wait and I thought being the last day of KC competition I would push her contacts, it paid off as we won! 1 down 3 to go! I looked at her times for the two C6-7 Jumpings where she just had poles down and she would have been 2nd in both. She is working really well at the moment, just knocking a few poles which is down to me trying to tighten her up!

TAG Agility - Fri

2009-04-10T16:00:00.002+01:00

Rum ran 3-5 Agility first and he broke is wait so I put him back instantly eliminating us. He then flew his see-saw so I put him back on and ensured he got his A-frame and Dogwalk - he is still not back to his old self where contacts are concerned, at least he is going into position now even if her is self releasing. Then 4-5 Agility, he was going lovely so I made sure we had an E as we were well on our way to an E, shame but I don't want to risk moving up while his contacts aren't rock solid. He did a lovely recall through the weaves and some lovely send ons but was nice and tight on his turns.

Cas just had Veteran Jumping. She has been retired from agility classes for a while and at this show she would have only had one combined 6-7 run so I thought she may as well enter veterans, would rather do that as I don't want to push her too much in her golden years :) Anyway she had a fab run and really enjoyed a blast only to win it, which I was surprised about as there were some fast dogs in the class.

Ember started with C6-7 Agility and I knew looking at the course there was NO WAY we could get the weave entry so we just went in to train contacts and she did all three lovely! Then G6-7 Agility and her contacts and weaves were fab but she turned the opposite way I expected her to which put me out of position for the next bit and she got E'd going into the tunnel grrr! Finally C6-7 Jumping and she was AMAZING, tight turns, lovely go ons, but she had a pole down, another grrr!

Dogs have worked really well especially Emz, just been little mistakes.

Wye Valley

2009-04-04T13:45:00.003+01:00

Just Ember at Wye, it was really nice to concentrate on one dog. I took the car and couldn't be bothered to tidy out the boot so she was clipped onto the front seat in her harness. She was really happy apart from when I started singing and dancing and she thought I had gone mad - she can talk though!

Anyways our first one was a quite straight forward Graded 6-7 Jumping, Ember went clear and I was really pleased I managed to cross behind her weaves, followed by a flick flack and two pull throughs which weren't the tightest turns she has ever done and we had a bit of a twizzle before the last jump as I was on the wrong side, we finished 3rd. Then Combined 1-7 Circular and she had a mega wide turn so I tried to tighten her for the second turn only to pull her through, shame as the rest was fast and tight. Then Graded 6-7 Agility, she did fab wrong end of tunnel, pull through and flick round, onto dogwalk, lovely contact, really tricky weave entry she found herself! Then she had a pole down so I trained her contacts for the rest of the round. She has worked so nicely today I am really pleased with her.

Cancer

2009-04-02T17:38:00.001+01:00

On 17th June I will be taking part in Cancer Research's Race For Life. I am taking part as part of a group from work.

Cancer has touched most of us during our lives. For me, my two grandads, one grandma and great uncle have died from cancer. My uncle has also survived cancer. It is therefore a cause very close to my heart and I feel I am going to help make a difference by running the Race For Life. I would be extremely grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes of your time to sponsor me. All monies go direct to charity, click below to take you to my sponsorship page - GHOS.

Those special people who can touch our lives,

Are like precious jewels amongst life's treasures.

They shine on us and leave a lasting impression;

An unique mark on our heart;

A gift without measures.

Many thanks :)

Time Out

2009-03-30T14:50:00.004+01:00

Thanks to everyone who has sent support following Saturday, it means a lot and I am not going to let one person ruin agility for us. I feel a lot better having eaten lots of chocolate egg and having gone on a lovely relaxing walk over Wenlock Edge:

Agility Addicts

2009-03-28T19:00:00.002Z

Rum started with Senior Agility, he flew his see-saw, a-frame and dogwalk so I put him back on. Then in round two he did the same again so went back on. I am really disheartened about the whole thing and upset because his contacts were so fab and I was so pleased I could have a dog I could trust. Then one training session he slams over the a-frame, hurts his back and is now associating the contact area with pain and I didn’t manage to get him to stop in training once. It is not like him and I just feel really down about him at the mo. Though his turns are great and we almost got round the senior jumping which was really difficult but the stupid handler messed up. In Easter Egg Skelter we were queueing and he was on his agility handle and a dog came up to him which he told to bog off, just had a snap get out of my face and didn’t make contact. I apologised and this woman swore at me and tried to kick Rum, luckily I reacted and pulled him towards me. I was in shock and it was only actually when I got home I thought about it, she tried to kick my dog! People in the queue were really supportive and I would like to thank them for standing up for me as I was just totally taken aback by the whole thing. The woman would not give her name and told members Rum lunged at her dog, which he did not do (and I have witnesses to that) as he was on a handle and was by my side, I hope I never see her again as I am so angry she tried to kick him! Needless to say we didn’t run the class very well and in hindsight I should have gone away and calmed down before running. With everything that has gone on today, him stressing about contacts then that woman I just feel like giving up - he was going so well and now we've just crashed so am kind of glad I am concentrating on Ember this week as she has Wye.

Cas was a star and had a 4th in Senior Jumping and a 2nd in Easter Egg Skelter winning me an Easter Egg.

Ember was good too and got all her contacts, though didn’t go right to the bottom of her A-frame so I put her back on both times, her dogwalk and see-saw were amazing and I held her in position. Senior Jumping she kept coming out of the last weave for some reason but otherwise was FAB! Then Easter Egg Skelter which she flew and won, so another Easter Egg! :)

Rum

2009-03-18T19:46:00.004Z

Well last night at training Rum just didn't seem right so I managed to get an appointment with the chiro, she found the middle of his back was twisted and the muscle around it was in spasm. So she straightened him up - was quite a stubborn twist as took a few attempts! He is now on rest for a few days with a daily massage poor lad. So Ember, Cas and I went for a long walk by ourselves in the evening sun, here are a few piccies:

You know it's much better when it's the two of us

On squirrel watch!

We were out until sunset

Walkies & Training

2009-03-15T16:14:00.012Z

It has been a beautiful day today, took the dogs out for a couple of hours this morning down a walk I have just discovered and it's only down the road! Literally a 5 minute walk away, so annoyed I have only just found it. Some pics with the compact camera:

Group shot

Taking a break

I love daffs, such happy flowers

At Crufts I bought the new Mary Ray target stick and I love it, it's fab. It has a little ball on the end which you put treats in and you have a lever on the handle which opens the ball and therefore drops the treat. Also on the handle there is a button which is a built in clicker! So I don't have to hold the clicker, treat and target stick it's all in one hand! I have to say it is fantastic and I wouldn't be without it now. It's helped Emz no end as she's so mad for food she would keep sneakily looking back at me but with this she doesn't. Here's a short clip of Rum working for it:

Tuffley Limit Agility

2009-03-14T18:57:00.001Z

Rum was first up in Graded 3-6 Jumping. It was a rubber surface and I must admit he (and I) struggled on it, I felt like I was sinking and Rum was really clingy, we had 5r as he ran back to me then past a jump - otherwise he ran really well. I have been working on his turns and even in a fast line of jumps he turned on the spot and really tight which was great. Then Helter Skelter and we had a bit of a moment where I almost fell over and he bounced at me asking for directions lol! But otherwise we were clear and came 2nd. Finally agility and he was amazing, his wait, his a-frame, his weave pick up, his turns, his dogwalk was still a little creepy and the handler 3 jumps from the end didn't tell him where to go and another 5r and he then proceeded to get very confused by my flapping!

Cas ran in the jumping first and considering she hasn't done full height since December I was really pleased, she had a fabulous run with just the first pole down. Then helter skelter and I forgot Cas isn't as responsive on her turns and didn't nag her enough so we had a big E. I was really pleased with how she ran though considering the surface and she hasn't run for a while, just one pole. :-)

It was a really nice show, the walks in the woods that back onto the venue were very pleasant and the weather helped too.

Crufts - Ember

2009-03-07T17:17:00.005Z

It was Ember's turn today, Rum had more points than Ember for Jumping but I decided to run Ember to give them both a bit of experience. I walked the jumping course and wished I had had them running the other way round as it wasn't quite as tight as the agility so it would have been better for Rum, but still.

Ember was fighting me all the way round and I just didn't feel we were working together. She pulled off the first tunnel and ran into me, I really had to run as fast as I could to keep up but that just seemed to make her go faster! She did the pull through to weaves nicely (has been one of our bugbears) but then pulled off a jump on the corner and looking at the vid I think I possibly didn't hold position long enough?!? She wasn't committing to obstacles at all and I was having to go every step with her. When we make one mistake it all tends to go to pot! She enjoyed it though and does cope really well with the carpet.

Crufts - Rum

2009-03-05T20:04:00.003Z

Rum was competing in YKC Senior Agility - our last year in the YKC and Rum's first year at Crufts. I was a bit worried about how he would cope as he can be such a stress pot. At first he wasn't great but after some ice cream off his auntie's mum, some biscuits off someone he befriended then a pigs ear off a very nice passing lady he was much happier! Then proceeded to mug everyone for food!

Anyway onto agility and it was his first time and artificial grass and you could tell, his first turn he fell over! The weave entry was tight for big dogs and quite a few of the larges missed it and Rum was one of them, I didn't expect him to go for it as much as he did because he had been worrying and didn't call him over the jump into his turn so he landed long, went in the second weave. Then I sort of gave up a little and didn't work the next bit and he got E'd but otherwise I was really pleased with him, his first a-frame wasn't great but his second one was good and I was really pleased with the way he flicked to the a-frame.

Here we are, piccie taken with camcorder so not brilliant:

Time for home!

And a couple of totally amazing collars I bought for Cas - bargain at £5 each!!

UKA Hereford

2009-03-01T21:13:00.004Z

Rum ran in Novice Power & Speed first, his a-frame and see-saw were lovely but his dogwalk was so creepy grr! Then he was clear in the speed section and ended up 3rd. Following that he had a lovely if a bit messy run in Jumping and ended up 5th. In agility he was going soo well I pushed his contacts and the dogwalk he wasn't really in position however I had peeled away and it was fast so I released him, he had the last fence down which was a real pity and then I was told he would have won by 5 seconds! Finally Novice Steeplechase and he had a nice neat run but I didn't really push him down his final line as I worried he might have a pole down as the spacings were tight and we ended up 3rd. So he had a really good day and I was really chuffed with him.

Cas ran Novice Jumping and had a couple of poles down - the surface was quite heavy going and she didn't feel very smooth. I really pushed her round Novice Steeplechase and she won it. That means she is now Senior in Steeplechase.

Ember was naughty in Novice P&S and missed her a-frame. In jumping her stupid handler had walked the course incorrectly and sent her over an extra jump - major grr as she was clear!! In agility she was naughty on her a-frame again so got taken out of the ring. In Novice Steeplechase she worked lovely but took a pole as I moved too soon, the timing failed so I was offered a re-run with faults still standing - she then pulled an amazing clear out, I am so pleased with how she is going on away from me.

All in all a good weekend, especially for the collies. Video below, please excuse the audio YouTube is disabling anything I am upload so unfortunately I am having to stick to YouTubes extensive (not!) audio collection!!

Agility Addicts

2009-02-28T20:21:00.002Z

Rum's first run was Senior Agility, his contacts were quick released and lovely and fast but unfortunately I didn't nag him enough and he flick flacked instead of pulled through. In round two I held his contacts, he released himself on the A-frame so I put him back over it and held otherwise he was lovely. In Senior Jumping we had a cracking first run but he just had the second pole down and I moved too early to pull him off a jump, in round two he didn't flick correctly round a jump and back jumped but otherwise perfect. Finally Jump N Gamble and he went clear in the jumping all be it with a twizzle because handler commanded too late and then we complete the Super Gamble - jump, tunnel, weaves with handler standing behind a line - we won the class so was sooo pleased!!

Cas ran Jump N Gamble (standard) first and had a nice steady run and completed the Super Gamble, we came 2nd. In her first Senior Jumping run she had a couple of poles down and in her second run had a lovely clear and finished 2nd.

Ember ran Jump N Gamble first and had a pole down which was a shame as would have liked to have tried the Super Gamble - we've never got to it before! Then Senior Agility and she actually had a clear!! We weren't placed as I made her lie down after her a-frame and held her dogwalk, in round two she missed her a-frame so I put her back on. Then Senior Jumping, she was amazing and the little madam came out of the second to last weave which is most unlike her, in round two we made a right mess!!

Newton Heath Agility

2009-02-21T17:36:00.000Z

Rum's first run was Grade 5 agility, it was tyre then dogwalk and he crept all the way down the down plank - grrr! He felt really weird in that class though, very clingy and we made quite a few mistakes as he wouldn't go on away from me - I am not sure why. His a-frame was nice and fast though, he did self release and I didn't want to put him back on because I don't want him to creep down it - he's such a sensitive thing! In the second Grade 5 agility class he broke his wait and I wasn't in position so I messed the start up, he then missed his a-frame contact so I put him back on the contact and his second a-frame was nice. He was running a lot better though this time and wasn't as clingy. At the moment I am not aiming for clears with him - I want fast contacts and drive and am being really fussy about how he runs, if he doesn't go clear and his contacts are nice I'm happy, if he goes clear and his contacts are creepy I am not because I know he can do it but he just worries when he's in the ring.

Ember was going really nicely in Grade 6 agility and getting all her contacts so her stupid handler had a moment near the end where she started getting excited and Ember ran to the front of me barking as I hadn't told her where she was going next and we got 5refusal -grr stupid handler!! Then Combine 6-7 Agility and I rushed Ember over the see-saw forgetting she wasn't Rum and it takes longer to tip for an Ember and she flew it - I didn't put her back over because it was my fault and she has only ever done it a couple of times before - then because I quick released her a-frame in the other class she thought she could get away with missing then running her contact - whose fault again for quick releasing earlier!

Here's a short vid Lee took, excuse his comments on Ember's run when Rachel and I have a little natter about naughty shelties ;-) I was really please with her weave pick up in this class.

Contact Drills

2009-02-15T12:26:00.001Z

Two things I want to work on most this year:

Speeding Rum's contacts up.
Increasing the success rate of Ember's A-frame contact.

So I did some contact drills with the ginger ones today, here is the vid:

Rum's contacts used to be really creepy when I threw the toy ahead and I realised this was because when he self-released to get the toy I would take him back and do the whole thing again. So I started just putting him on the contact and releasing him to the toy and his contacts don't seem to be as creepy :-)

I've Been Tagged

2009-02-11T19:17:00.006Z

Sue (http://rushnsassydogs.blogspot.com/) & Rosie (http://hairygang.blogspot.com/) have tagged me. The rules are:

Open a document or file folder
Click on the fifth folder and then the fifth photo
Post the photo and describe it
Then tag 5 other bloggers

So, here is the picture:

Dizzy is mad about chocolate (they say like owner like dog lol), she really is a chocoholic and has eaten her way through a hole tub of roses, giant toblerone, big bar of dark chocolate before now. You only have to say the 'C' word and she goes mental! So for Christmas I couldn't resist this doggie chocolate reindeer I spotted in Pets At Home, she didn't eat it all at once - I just let her have the ears on Christmas morning :-) None of the others are bothered about chocolate, Rum doesn't like the way it melts in his mouth (weird dog).

And the only people I can see that haven't been tagged (well the might have been & don't know!) are:

http://leegibsontraining.blogspot.com/

http://www.ashdownforest.webecode.com/blog/

http://madmerles.blogspot.com/

http://cockercircus.blogspot.com/

Unplanned Saturday

2009-02-07T12:55:00.005Z

Well I was supposed to be at the Gundog Show but it was cancelled yesterday and it's a good job they did, Kingswood is only 10mins from me and I wanted to go shopping and couldn't get out of the village at 10am, dread to think what it was like at 7am!

So no show, no shopping, the sun came out so I thought I would take the camera out with new (to me) lens and dogs. Here are some snaps:

Snow Dogs

2009-02-04T18:39:00.003Z

Only managed to take a few snaps in my lunch break:

The cat didn't seem too impressed with the cold white stuff!

Agility Addicts

2009-01-31T16:50:00.003Z

In Rum's first Senior Agility round he missed his dogwalk as he flew so fast, I am not too fussed as I expect a few to be missed as he gets his speed going so I asked him to get back on his contact and we finished the course. In round 2 I realised putting him back on the contact isn't a good decision as he crept all the way down the down ramp! He gets so worried about doing the wrong thing and I have never told him off at all and always just say oh dear lets try again but he still worries. In Senior Jumping I didn't call him enough to get a pull through and in round 2 he was absolutely flying but he just wasn't listening and had about 4 poles down which is not like him to knock poles. In Speed Jumping he was such a good boy but I raced him too much and he took a pole. So lessons learnt - don't ask him to get back on a contact when he misses it, don't race him too much and don't let him follow a screaming dog as he just doesn't put brain into gear!!

Cas ran Speed Jumping and for some reason skipped a jump out, I know I was cutting a corner but it doesn't bother Cas. Senior Jumping she had two poles down but in round 2 had a lovely clear and came 3rd against some good senior/advanced dogs so I was really pleased with that.

Ember had an AMAZING dog walk contact in Senior Agility and got her a-frame but pulled off a jump. In round 2 another amazing dog walk and she jumped her a-frame so I put her back over and finished the course. In Speed Jumping having watched the vid back her stupid handler made the most basic mistake ever and tried to direct her with my right hand when she was on my left - twice! Senior Jumping and as we were going round the corner I realised she was jumping a medium jump and I lost concentration for a second so the judge let us restart but the sheltie with a turning circle of a jugernaut missed a pull through, in round 2 though I really got on her case and she was clear finish 2nd (to Sue White's medium - Bug) so I was mega chuffed with that - she got the weave entry lovely which was at speed in a straight line.

Ember & Cas Speed Jumping

Ember/Cas Speed Jumping - Addicts Jan 09 from Gina Graham on Vimeo.

Ribble Agility

2009-01-18T16:46:00.000Z

Rum I ran in Grade 5 agility and held his contacts which were lovely and fast. Unfortunately in pairs he decided to have a deaf moment and went off in the wrong direction! I didn't run jumping as was cold and wanted to go home!

Cas was a good girl in pairs just rolling a pole which her partner did also, only the one run for her.

Ember had a fab dogwalk in agility but missed her A-frame so she was put back over it. Jumping didn't go very well so I picked her up and took her out as she was getting very frustrated!

Training

2009-01-11T22:10:00.000Z

Yesterday really inspired me to do more HTM with Rum as his heelwork can be really stylish and he would look great in the HTM ring. He has had really bad ring nerves but when I competed with him in September he was so much better and only had one concentration lapse. Because of this I have concentrated on his agility and not taught him many moves but now I want to do some more with him as I think we could overcome the ring shyness. I really like his heelwork so would like to go down the HTM route really rather than freestyle at the moment, but there are so many HTM positions I need to teach some more!

We did some training in the garden this morning concentrating on weave entries and I did some heelwork with Rum. I am still not happy with his weaves as he is chopping and changing his style through the weaves and I want him to be consistently weaving with one style whichever it may be. I think I am more likely to get the one foot style as it is only when he is being lazy he goes to consistently two stepping through. Perhaps I am being too fussy! Here’s a vid:

Dog Training from Gina Graham on Vimeo.

Rugby HTM

2009-01-10T21:27:00.001Z

Today was the day of the Crufts Freestyle Semi Final, I had heard it was a big entry and looking at the programme there were 20 or 21 dogs in it and only the top 10 qualify. I haven't done any practice since September with Cas as I just really haven't had the chance, my new job has taken up so much time and with the dark nights there just hasn't been a spare minute. So to be honest I didn't expect anything from her but she was really good and only had the odd bark not losing anything for it though. She missed a couple of cues which was understandable and her back weave and back spin was a bit wide. I was really pleased to come 12th, if we had practiced we could have done it but am not upset about it, yes it would have been nice but I am not gutted as I know I didn't put the time in. So anyway need to work on a new routine now which has a bit more to it.

Year End Review

2008-12-31T16:01:00.006Z

I have to say I am pleased with the dogs’ progress even though I didn’t get Rum to Novice Olympia – perhaps next year providing he stays in Grade 5!

I was looking over Rum’s results and it stood out that we have really made progress, at the beginning of the year he was having 4ths in Novice at Addicts and at the end of the year we had two 1sts winning us up to senior & finished the year with a 1st in Open! We didn’t start KC shows until May really at which point he was Grade 4 but is now Grade 5 with two jumping wins. His contacts are better but still can be quite creepy – it’s a difficult one as toys make him worse and he isn’t particularly motivated by food. So I have been doing lots of quick releasing at home but in the ring I want him into position quickly and stopping there a bit as this seems to make him more confident as he knows exactly what to do – what is helping is not using a stop command to make him stop just to reinforce the position, he isn’t then waiting to hear the command & it doesn’t rely on my poor timing! His jumping has really improved as we used to struggle without control points (ie contacts!) but now he is turning really well and we seem to have really improved.

Cas has slowed down, with this being her first year in grade 6 I didn’t really expect much from her. I decided mid season to retire her from agility classes as we weren’t enjoying them and it felt a real relief not to stress about contacts. She doesn’t really go training much, a quick session in the garden every now and then is enough. I am pleased with her, she’s still fit (is almost 9 now) and has had some good placings - 3rd in Comb 6-7 being the highest. I am just happy to be able to run her and she’s still fit and healthy.

Ember has been fab, we’ve had our best year yet. Charlotte Harding did some work with her in April and actually got her last 2 wins into Grade 6 (all jumping!) - thanks Char :-) . She then went on to win 4 more classes at Waldridge. She’s doing well and am really feeling like we are more of a partnership now, we still have contact and wait issues and I think we always will as she pushes you every step of the way and questions everything. Now I am fitter I am finding it a lot easier to handler her, I need to maintain my fitness though and with the gym having been closed over Xmas I can feel the muscle melting lol!

The ginger ones (Ember & Rum) have had their passports and can travel from late May next year. I have always wanted to compete on the continent and am looking at shows to enter.

Happy New Year everyone!

Agility Addicts

2008-12-28T18:05:00.003Z

Rum ran in Christmas Contacts first and his stupid handler dropped the coin and faffed getting another so I was nowhere near him to direct lol, his A-frame contact was nice but his see-saw a bit creepy. In Open Jumping he had a lovely run just dropping a pole when I front crossed too soon and then pulled off the flat tunnel when I called to early - good boy. In Open Agility he was AMAZING, his see-saw was lovely and fast and his A-frame too, I released as soon as he was in position (as will be holding at KC shows and I don't want him to think they will always be held) and he came 1st, soooo chuffed! He was 2 seconds faster than Cas and she was on standard height with tight turns! In pairs he misjudged his pace and crashed a jump.

Cas actually went clear in Christmas Contacts and came 2nd. Then Open Jumping and she just dropped a pole when I moved off too fast, shame she would have won by 3 seconds. Last class was pairs with Liz & Barney - Cas is 8/9 and Barney is 9/10, both rescues and both white with black splodges ;-) so we thought they would pair up nicely, they both ran really well. It was double pairs and the first changeover was a little messy but the other was perfect, anyway to our delight we found they had won it by 9 seconds! Show those whippersnappers a thing or two lol!

Ember missed her A-frame in Christmas Contacts so was put back on. In Open Jumping the little so and so was running superbly until she decided to ignore me and shoot off over a jump after the flat tunnel just a couple of jumps from the end - grrr! In Open Agility we had handler navigation error - oops and she was flying too. Finally pairs and both of us picked up an E at some point ;-)

Thanks Carol for doing these vids, Rum & Bryer in Double Pairs

Cas & Barney winning Double Pairs

Happy Christmas

2008-12-24T18:04:00.003Z

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

I was in the garden doing some agility with the dogs and all of a sudden the cat decided she wanted to join in, couldn't resist a video (taken on my phone)!

LGT DVD Out Now

2008-12-15T18:13:00.003Z

Some of you may or may not know for the last few months I have been involved in the making of the LGT Workshop DVD. This has now been released and I personally think it's an excellent, affordable and informative product. You can buy it from Lee Gibson Training

Caravan!!

2008-12-07T14:54:00.004Z

I am now a caravan owner, Jeremy Clarkson will love me!!

Wyre Agility

2008-12-06T20:21:00.002Z

Rum was first up in Combined 3-5 Jumping, he was amazing and we went clear I was so pleased as he worked away lovely and after a long blast I said steady and he really thought about his turn, anway he ended up 1st! That's his second grade 5 win. Then we waited till about 4:30pm when we ran Combined 3-5 Agility and I didn't turn him in time and he was E'd, did some nice contact training. Then Graded 3-5 Agility and his contacts were nice but he had a few poles down as he had been queueing forever and had got so wound up.

Cas ran Combined 6-7 Jumping and was fab, it wasn't an easy course, she was clear and 15th.

Ember was naughty, jumped her A-frame so I put her back over it. Then jumping and I just couldn't get her to turn at all!

Agility Addicts

2008-11-29T19:31:00.002Z

Rum was a very good lad today and was really responsive. His first jumping round he just had a pole down so I shaped him into that jump better the second time and he won the class - Novice Jumping so is now into Senior at Addicts shows :-/ Novice Agility he was amazing then stupid handler forgot what she was doing before the weaves and got him E'd, the second run he flew his see-saw (very naughty boy!) so I put him back over it. Finally Open Connector and we had a (very messy - my shaping was non-existent) clear and came 5th.

Cas had a couple of poles in open connector then I pushed her in the gap of a flick flack in her first senior jumping run and the second went to pot completely.

Ember was little miss inconsistent today. In agility her contacts and weaves were fab but her sending on to tunnels was non-existent. Then in Jumping could I get any turns out of her, she kept working far too far away! In Connector I just didn't hold my posisition long enough and she back jumped a jump.

Happy Birthday Rum

2008-11-25T21:31:00.006Z

Happy 3rd birthday to the blue eyed boy. I can't believe three years has gone by so quickly, he has done me proud, although we are going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment he has been amazing for me and I wouldn't be without him. Thank you Caroline and Cai and Gill and Maddi.

Newton Heath Agility

2008-11-23T08:50:00.002Z

Rum and I just aren't on form at the moment. In his first Grade 5 Agility he just was not listening and backjumped virtually everything - he has this thing about backjumping he's started the last couple of weeks -his contacts were nice though. In his second Grade 5 Agility he was soo much better and listened, though I pulled him off a jump to early then started moving forward on a flick flack. Finally Grade 5 Jumping and he was storming round but jumped into a pinwheel and his stride took him through the gap past the next jump and he tried but just couldn't make it, looking back I perhaps needed to shape him into the pinwheel more.

Cas just had one Grade 6 Jumping run and without a wait I cannot possibly see how we could have done it and I didn't see anyone without a wait get past 2 without being eliminated. She had the first couple of poles down but has been jumping 'standard' height for the last month.

Ember is my little star of the moment. In Grade 6 Agility she missed her A-frame (judge had said in briefing he wouldn't let anyone put dogs back over) then we struggled with a flick out but the rest was lovely. In Grade 6 Jumping she flew and so did I ;-) (my fitness is so much better now) and we were clear and came 2nd. Video below, Ember just seems to be really listening (touch wood) lately.

The Dogs

2008-11-17T18:41:00.008Z

No show this weekend but I took the camera out (take a look at Flickr - Discodogs or my site and each dogs' slideshow for more) but here are my favs that really reflect the dogs' personalities.

Dizzy - the footballer__________Rum - Forrest Gump

Ember - ballet dancer_______Cas - out of her tree!
_______

UKA Hereford

2008-11-09T15:02:00.006Z

I hadn't entered the show but decided to go and enter on the day because the photographer would be there to take some shots of Diz. However he phoned yesterday to say he wasn't going so I thought I wouldn't bother either having seen the weather forecast. Anyway I woke up at 6:45 this morning and decided I would go after all! When I arrived the sun was shining :-)

Rum ran Novice Steeplechase 1 first and it was a naggy course, needless to say we didn't get round but it was my fault because I tried to cut a corner and didn't send him out enough. Novice Jumping followed and the scribe said to go and when Rum was over the first jump the judge said in your own time and I lost concentration as I wondered whether we should have gone and in that split second Rum was off! Then Novice Steeplechase 2 and the course was a proper steeplechase, Rum had a lovely clear but didn't seem that fast however I think the jumps were quite tight and he was having to gather himself for each, anyway to my surprise he won it. Last was Novice Agility and he had number 3 down so I trained the rest - his contacts were really nice :-)

Cassie's first run was Novice Steeplechase 1 and I knew I could get her round, she ran beautifully, clear and won it. Then Novice Jumping, again a lovely clear and won it. Finally Novice Steeplechase 2 and she had a pole down when I was stupid and did a front cross I didn't need to, she then stumbled and had the next pole down. She's a good girlie.

Ember was an utter nightmare in Novice Steeplechase 1 so I didn't hold out much hope for Novice Jumping with a tricky weave entry but OMG she was absolutely AMAZING and I think it is probably one of our best if not THE best run ever, she was a whole 2 seconds quicker than Cas and needless to say won it. She was just so in tune with me. Novice Steeplechase 2 followed and another stonking clear, again she won it. Novice Agility was last and I opted to go for a training round to reinforce her contacts but otherwise she ran nicely. She is getting so much better with her send ons.

So 5 wins in one day, I do feel a little greedy, but the dogs were just fab. Couldn't resist a photo, the trophies were tankards so we have 5 tankards now :-D

Gingers!

2008-11-05T20:25:00.002Z

Well the two ginger ones (Rum and Emz) have been in for their rabies vaccination today, we're back again at the end of the month for their bloods to be taken to make sure they are protected. Then 6 months after that we can travel - all being well! Fingers crossed the vaccination takes otherwise it will be another month and I would like to do DDV with them next year. Neither of them bother about the vets in fact Rum is positively excited at all the people there he could mob and Ember too!

Cassie

2008-11-04T21:49:00.011Z

Well I have been concerned about Cas for a couple of months so I booked her in for a hearing test. As soon as we got there we realised she was going to have to be sedated, she only glanced at the vet and was barking at her. Cas was determined not to give in, but eventually after 15 mins she succumbed and the hearing test could be started. I have never known Cas so floppy she's normally such a stiff little dog always alert - it was quite weird! Turns out she has normal hearing in both ears at 40 decibels so I don't know what it is with her, I guess she's just becoming stubborn in her old age! Lol.

She came around quickly after being given the reversal injection which surprised the vet as she said they normally take a long time, but not Cas she was going to be awake even if she didn't feel it! Bless though she's still a bit wobbly and has actually worked quite well as she has slept through the fireworks! She'll be standing there and all of a sudden her front leg will go and wake her up again and she's still a bit floppy and cuddly - I can give her a fuss without her wanting to play! Here she is in her TTouch wrap.

A vid of her trying to fight sleep, lolol!

I bought a sat nav last week as my job has changed and am out on the road a bit now, was quite funny as I have it connected to my phone and I received a text on my way with Cas tonight and it read the text out loud. I was in histericks listening to it trying to interpret text lingo lol! I have a sad life! And if anyone is selling tickets to see The Killers in Brum let me know as am desperate for some!!

Agility Addicts

2008-11-01T20:02:00.003Z

Rum was a little naughty today as he missed his A-frame when I was behind him in Novice Agility so I reinforced second time round. In Jumping it was a tough course, Round 1 was a disaster and Round 2 was a lot better but not clear. Finally Open Catherine Wheel and we stormed round, he was amazing and beat some good grade 6 and 7s to win it. :-)

Cas was a good girlie, she just dropped a pole in Senior Jumping Round 1 because I hadn't straightened from a front cross! Then dropped a couple of poles in Round 2 - not sure why. In Catherine Wheel I couldn't set her up further enough back from the first jump and she took it out.

Ember was so fab in her Senior Jumping but took a pole out in each round. We stormed round the Open Catherine Wheel and she won it easily. Finally the two agility rounds which we won't talk too much about as she was an absolute nightmare! She won an orange dog witch toy - hmm how ironic!

Shrewsbury Agility

2008-10-18T14:18:00.002+01:00

Just Ember at their small/medium show. I have to say today (even though we didn't have any clears) was the best day we have had together in a couple of months. In pairs she ran with Aljeana and Amy and unfortunately both dogs took a pole. Then G6-7 Agility and she was amazing - got her A-frame (have been retraining a 4 off for half an hour every day this week lol as she flies so much in the ring she is struggling to stop in a 2O2O) and dog walk which I ran past and held her on and a really difficult weave entry but stupid handler didn't push her out to the tunnel enough and she took the wrong entrance. In G6-7 Jumping she broke her wait and got a 5R - don't see how we could have done it without a wait - shame as she stormed round the rest of it. Finally C6-7 Jumping and it was jump-weaves and as per the norm on that setup she went into the second weave, otherwise was cracking. We didn't fight any single run today and felt like we were working together - typical last outdoor show!!

Agility Addicts

2008-10-11T20:27:00.003+01:00

Ran Rum round agility first, knocked first pole so didn't say a word for contacts and he was straight into position so I held him there with a stop, in round two stupid handler pulled him off a jump by commanding too early. He had a fab clear round Jump N Gamble and we went for a super gamble (only way to win) which is jump-tunnel-weaves with handler behind the line, he didn't get it and I didn't really expect him to. Then Novice Jumping and he was clear, I am really having to run to keep up and he had a couple of moments where he looked back to check where I was, in round 2 I tried something different and we were E'd but he ended up 1st with his first round result.

Cas started with Senior Jumping and just could not seem to hear me after the first jump and was totally confused about where to go so I took her out, the noise was horrendous and she is really struggling hearing wise at the moment. In Round 2 it was a lot quieter but she had a pole down and still felt a bit unsure. Finally Open Jump N Gamble and she had a lovely clear and did the Super Gamble ending up 1st.

Ember started with Senior Jumping and to my amazement was clear, I thought she was a bit wide so wanted to tighten her up on the second round but it caused her to miss weave entry and knock a pole, anyway she ended up 1st with her first round result. Unfortunately in Jump N Gamble she had a pole out so didn't get as far as the gamble, her time was about the same as Cassie's too. Then Senior Agility, in Round 1 I got lost and in Round 2 I didn't send her out enough past a jump and we got E'd. Am still struggling with her A-frame contact, out of 4 times she got it 3 but I cannot get her into a nice stop and hold grr.

Anyway a good day with a win for each :-)))

UKA Top Barn Agility

2008-10-05T19:13:00.004+01:00

What a horrible wet morning, I ran Rum in agility and my god he was flying (I think he thought woo hoo we're back outdoors again lol!) he flew over the dogwalk and lost his footing and missed the contact which was fair enough, so I put him back over, see-saw fab and A-frame just amazing, so quick right into position and I held him there calling him over the finish. Then Novice Jumping and he broke his wait and so I put him back eliminating us, ran the rest nicely and did the pull throughs well. In Novice Steeplechase he had a nice clear with a couple of hairy moments and came 2nd. In Novice Snooker he had to do the A-frame 4 times, and OH MY GOD he was amazing, way ahead of me straight into position, 2nd time he released himself (I think I may have been late with my command to hold him in position), 3rd time straight into position, we made a bit of a mess of the rest of the course so I sent him off round a corner and over the A-frame while I was ahead and a jump away to the side - he was straight into position again. I am soooo pleased with his contacts he has always always done his second A-frame in a creeping manner and I am just amazed at how different his contacts have been - lets hope it continues!!

Cas was fantastic and did a lovely round in Novice Jumping coming 1st and also in Novice Steeplechase also coming 1st - the standard height suits her so much better.

Ember was a struggle as Novice Agility was a big spacey course and she tends to twizzle and yip when there are big gaps between obstacles when I can't keep up! Then Novice Steeplechase and she was flying, went to take the wrong tunnel so I called her, started heading towards the right tunnel then I could see her think 'ooh perhaps it's not tunnel after all' and she pulled off getting 5r but still finished 2nd. Her Novice Jumping was a real shame as I just ran out of puff half way round (I had had something like 5 runs in the last 10 mins running back and forth to the van) lol. Snooker was a disaster so I carried her out, I just cannot send her on to obstacles that are miles apart and I cannot keep up.

Lune Valley Agility

2008-10-04T19:08:00.002+01:00

Rum well, gosh I had forgotten how much we struggled indoors as everything is so close and judges seemed to have a thing about really close pull throughs. In the C4-5 Jumping he was too responsive and pulled off a jump early, the rest he ran lovely. Then G5-7 Agility and I was determined to run his contacts confidently dropping his contact command 'stop' as this had been causing him to creep down the contact, so once he was position I gave him his release and they were a lot quicker and was so chuffed - thanks Lee for the tips :-) I then didn't hold my position enough for a pull through but the weave entry was REALLY difficult and he was nowhere near getting it. Finally G5-7 Jumping - I think there were 5 pull throughs in this class and actually he didn't do to badly and got a fairly tricky weave entry but I could tell by the end of today he was getting a little fed up of being nagged. Sooooo pleased with his contacts though :-D

Cas ran C6-7 Jumping and I was in the wrong place so made a mess of it, then G5-7 Agility and she was fab apart from missing her contacts (this will probably be her last agility class as am now retiring her to jumping) and knocking a pole and wing which landed on her head!! She is fine and ran lovely round G5-7 Jumping just having a pole then I was lazy and didn't send her to the tunnel.

Ember was in C1-7 Agility and only missed her weave entry, got her contacts nicely. Then C6-7 Jumping and stupid handler made the exact same mistake she did with Cas! C1-7 Jumping and we stormed round, had a bit of a wide turn where she wanted to carry on and not turn, but we ended up 2nd! Finally C6-7 Agility and the only good things were contacts and weave entry - the rest was awful lolol!

Got home just in time for Mrs Doubtfire - love that film, lol very sad!

Dashin Dogs

2008-09-28T21:04:00.003+01:00

On Saturday Rum really crashed into the last jump in his jumping class and Sunday he knocked 3 poles which is unlike him so I think he may still have been a little bit sore though he isn't lame. He had a 4th in Grade 5 Jumping and that was with a detour, me thinking he was faulted and just standing there letting him work the course lol! He was naughty in Dog Vegas agility so I held his contacts. His contacts have been fab all weekend though his a-frame was quite creepy in his last class.

Cas had a 5th in Grade 6 Jumping, nice run and then knocked a pole in Comb 6-7 Jumping. She had a fab agility round on Sunday getting all her contacts but I pulled her past a jump grrrr! Then she was naughty in both jumpings and I had to pull her out which I have never done in jumping so am still a bit unsure about her.

Ember had a 4th in Comb 6-7 Jumping and that was with a twizzle as I struggled to keep up! The agility classes weren't Ember courses so I reinforced her contacts. She was storming round Grade 6 Jumping when her stupid handler started sending her the wrong way - major major grrrrr!

HUGE well done to Lee and Scott who won two Grade 4 Agility classes (their first time in G4) :-) Am glad to be home, it was a bit mad with 12 runs I didn't seem to stop especially Sunday!

Bromsgrove Agility

2008-09-21T19:10:00.004+01:00

Sunday

I judged Graded 1-2 Agility and Grade 3 Agility. It was my first time judging and I really enjoyed it. Here are my courses, 1-2 on the left and 3 on the right.

Saturday

Ran Rum in Graded 5-7 Jumping which I hadn't walked! He was naughty as shuffled in his wait and went round the first jump, so I put him back and he worked lovely apart from completely flattening a spread which was on a turn. Then Combined 1-7 Agility and he picked up the wrong tunnel entry, rest was lovely. Finally Burns Derby and he got his contacts but then the jumping was jump weave and the weave was on a funny angle which he didn't get as it was also quite tight and his stride just took him past it. This time last year Rum was winning Grade 3 Agility so am pleased with the progress he's made over the year.

Cas I ran the G5-7 Jumping and she had a pole and the spread down, then C1-7 Agility and the naughty so and so missed her dogwalk and then A-frame so I put her back on, in C6-7 Agility she got her dogwalk but then was being weird and sort of switched off so I took her out - am a bit worried about how she was in that class.

Ember missed he weaves in C5-7 Jumping, she struggles when they aren't following a jump, so this was a pull through and send to the weaves and she just cannot pick this type of entry up. Then C6-7 Agility and she missed her dogwalk so put her back on then got her A-frame but released herself so put her back on and took her out, I didn't run the last agility as it would have sent her round the bend!

Paws In The Park

2008-09-14T20:27:00.006+01:00

Sunday

Rum ran in C4-5 Jumping first and it was really twisty we got E'd early on but he ran it nicely until we got to a pull through which he wouldn't pull through!!! Then Graded 4-5 Agility and he was lovely, his contacts nice and quick again and I just felt he really listened - did two pull throughs lol, but he did something weird between the A-frame and weaves and am not sure why so he had 5R - having watched video back I still don't know why he did it.

Cas ran in Graded 6-7 Agility and procedeed to miss her contacts and we made a right hash of it. Then we ran Combined 6-7 Jumping which was a tricky course (perfect for us) and I was in shock we got round it, over the moon, then to find out we came 3rd was just amazing, in a combined class - wow!

Ember we won't mention was very naughty on her contacts in agility but got a nice weave entry.

Cassie's 3rd and Rum's agility 5R

Saturday

Rum's first run was C5-7 Agility and I went in thinking I would train his contacts and they were awful! I have never seen them so slow!! Then Combined 3-5 Jumping and he had a cracking run but just rolled a pole, darn shame as he was running lovely. Then C3-5 Agility and we were clear but I held his contacts. I was really pleased though as two of the weave entries were REALLY tricky and he got them fine :-) Rum worked in Novice HTM and I was so pleased as have been having trouble with him switching off in the ring but he had a wobble to start but once over that worked lovely so was really pleased with him.

Cas ran C6-7 Jumping and rolled the second to last pole, a shame but I didn't feel we ran that well it wasn't our type of course. That was it for her and we went on to compete in Crufts Advanced Freestyle performing to Cotton Eye Joe and the little star came 4th gaining her qualifier for the Semis next Feb!

Ember was okay in C6-7 Jumping but rolled a pole early on, in Helter Skelter she was naughty and missed her weave entry. So I entered her into the Weave Challenge and my god she did it perfectly 2 out of 3 times and won the qualifier for the Small/Mediums but I never made the final as I was working Cas in the Freestyle - shame!

Cassie's Freestyle Routine

WBSDS Agility

2008-08-31T21:20:00.000+01:00

Rum's first run was Combined 1-7 Jumping, he was going lovely until after the weaves when I wanted to bring him through two jumps and he decided to flick himself the other way which totally flummoxed me, Rum thought he had finished but I got him back and we were clear ending up 12th so I was pleased with that. Then 4-5 Jumping and a tough weave entry which he got but couldn't steady himself enough for the second pole - shame he worked the rest lovely - nice and tight! Then 4-5 Agility and the numpty had a pole down which I think was due to me nagging, lovely round, got a tricky weave entry and held the contacts a bit (though not enough!). Finally Combined 1-7 Helter Skelter where we had a nice clear with a messy bit where he almost went into the tunnel and we finished 7th. All runs on the video apart from Helter Skelter as the camera work wasn't great ;-). Really pleased he got some tricky weave entries - guess what we were working on at home all last week!!

Cas ran Combined 1-7 Jumping and naughty handler was in the wrong place doing a stupid blind turn and she ran past the tunnel. Then 6-7 Jumping and I moved off the weaves too soon and she came out. 6-7 Agility and she was going lovely but was very naughty and missed her dogwalk despite me standing right by the contact – A-frame was lush. Then Helter Skelter and she just had a pole down because I was nagging her too much!

Ember was in la la land today, in the one jumping she missed a tricky weave and it just went downhill from there. In the other jumping she decided to go bombing straight on out of the tunnel instead of listening to my ‘LEFT’ – darn pity as she ran lovely. In agility she was all over the place but got her contacts apart from A-frame which was the last contact and I put her back on and got a lovely weave entry. Finally Helter Skelter and the naughty dog determinedly ran through the tiniest gap between my leg and the wing, another great shame! Ooh she’s such a naughty little dog.

Dordale Agility

2008-08-24T16:12:00.003+01:00

Ran Rum in Combined 5-7 Jumping, he had the second pole down, worked the rest lovely but missed the weave entry as it was quite tough. Then Grade 5 Agility and he missed a tough weave entry again, difficult one as we don't get them at training and so I don't know what to do as he will get them at home. Then Grade 5 Jumping and he broke his wait and got E'd - you needed a wait!

Didn't take Cas as I don't think she is 100%.

Ember was good in Combined 5-7 Agility as she got all her contacts but she cut across me and picked up the wrong tunnel entry. In Combined 5-7 Jumping she had a lovely round with a couple of wide turns and came 2nd (beaten by a grade 7 dog). Then Combined 1-7 Jumping and stupid handler made her push round a jump instead of flick flack the jump - stupid handler!!

Pembroke Agility

2008-08-20T18:42:00.003+01:00

First up was agility and Rum just was not listening, he flew off in the wrong direction and was generally doing what he wanted to do. In his second agility he was better but was naughty and flew off his A-frame so I put him back on - I am getting a little fed up with this contact business as he hardly ever missed one and just lately he is being naughty. Then Circular Jumping he was a good boy, went clear and won it for the large dogs in a time of 20.10.

Cas missed all her contacts in the first agility as per the norm, then the second agility she was better and just missed her a-frame. In circular jumping we were clear but unplaced as she seemed to be struggling a little especially with right turns so am going to to take her to the chiropractor.

Ember was naughty and missed her a-frame in agility so I put her back on and carried on, she was twizzling and yapping but her first run is tending to be horrendous! Circular jumping and she was amazing and won it for the smalls in a time of 20.40. In jumping she got eliminated at number two by shooting off into the tunnel, such a shame as she ran the rest lovely and I pushed a tricky ish weave entry and she got it.

Dashin Dogs

2008-08-17T19:06:00.001+01:00

Rum was such a naughty boy in his first two runs, his agility he pinged his dogwalk so I put him back on, in jumping he just wasn't listening and was in a world of his own. He was so amazing in team but unfortunately there were two Es. Then Grade 5 Jumping and he ran it really well - was a reall big Rum type course, I didn't think we were fantastic - well he only went and won it!!

Cas missed her a-frame in agility so I put her back on, then in jumping she had a couple of poles down, not sure why. Grade 6 Jumping (same course Rum won) and she had a lovely clear, coming 13th not a Cassie course as it was so big. Finally team and she was running last, the pressure was on as the team had gone clear but we did it and won team so are in the final tomorrow! Wow!

Ember had a pole down in jumping and pinged her dogwalk in agility so I put her back on. Combined 6-7 Jumping (same course as Rum's win) and we went clear - with two sets of weaves!! She had a couple of spins but otherwise ran well and came 5th.

Well Sunday our first dog had a pole down then Cas had a pole down, not much to report on as I am always rubbish after we have won a class!!

Dizzy Update

2008-08-13T20:13:00.003+01:00

Well Diz has been sporting her magnetic collar since I went to camp - 26th July. She has also been having those joint chews from Pedigree. I have to say I am amazed at the change! She is so lively now, always on the go. We played football the other night (her favourite game!) and whereas in the last couple of months she hasn't been able to get up the next morning (so I stopped playing) she was fine the next day and hasn't had a bad morning like that since wearing it. I am so chuffed it has made a difference, it was horrible to see my lovely Diz Dog suffer and her colitis cleared up within a week too.

KC Agility Festival

2008-08-10T20:47:00.002+01:00

Friday was the day of the two Novice Cup classes and we had a Grade 5 Jumping too, the stupid idiot of a handler rushed Rum's weaves in every single class and he missed his entry every time - grrrr stupid stupid handler! I went to the show thinking first show with Rum in Grade 5, classes are huge (180 dogs) and very competitive so we would do some nice training. We went clear in Grade 5 Agility which was a really hard course and it was a little messy and contacts were a bit slow, but I was dead chuffed to get him round it and we ended up 9th! In Combined 4-5 Agility I decided to really reinforce his position on his contacts and hold them, clear but not placed (as expected). Then in Grade 5 Jumping he ran like a dream and to my (very pleasant) surprise we ended up 3rd!! So much for me saying he won't be competitive in Grade 5! Sunday was a bit of a wash out, he broke his wait in 4-5 Jumping and then missed his weave entry which was really hard. In G5 agility he was sooo naughty and completely flew his a-frame so I put him back on. Finally G5 Jumping and he missed his weave entry which a lot of dogs were doing, I think it because the spacing between them and the jump before was quite tight.

Cas - well we just couldn't get it together, so many 5 faults and silly little odd mistakes. Her dogwalk and see-saw contacts were fine but she was missing her A-frame, she was picking up weaves from the most awkward of angles.

On Friday Ember was hard work and we messed up a flick flack in the cup jumping and in the cup agility I was so excited she was going clear I didn't move onto the next bit and she flew off in the other direction!!On Saturday we were having an okayish round in G6 Agility, clear until the second to last obstacle which was the dogwalk and she flew her contact - grrr. She had a clear in Combined 6-7 Jumping, I had to really run and we did have a couple of mega wide turns but ended up 5th! On Sunday I ran her jumping and after two obstacles picked her up and took her out and we went home as I had a cracking headache and Ember isn't the sort of dog to run when you don't feel 100% and I think she knows it!

And I bought a new pair of Ditas, anyone who knows me will know how worn my old pair were - well after 7 years they would be lol!!

Agility Addicts

2008-08-02T20:52:00.000+01:00

First class was agility for Rum and he had a pole so I trained his contacts and he worked it lovely, we repeated the class and again he had a pole down (both times stupid handler getting in the way!). Then jumping he ran it lovely, but entered the weaves the wrong side, darn shame I didn't pull him to me enough. Then Tunnel Vision and he was absolutely flying then stupid handler started calling him to early and pulled him off a jump, major mahor grrr! He worked soooo lovely.

Cas started with agility and for the last couple of weeks has been at home not having much exercise (when I was at camp I took the ginger ones ;-)). She had the first couple of poles down in agility so I trained her contacts, in round 2 she went clear coming 2nd in Senior Agility. Then Jumping again a nice clear but at one point went left instead of right so just came away with a clear. Finally Tunnel Vision and she had a pole as I handled her too much like Rum and put my other arm up to block her turn.

Ember was naughty in agility and missed her A-frame so I put her back over then in round 2 she missed again so I took her out. Jumping she went in the weaves the wrong side like Rum. Finally Tunnel Vision and she had several spins before the tunnel coming 3rd.

Pleased with them as they all waited on the start line and worked nicely, only my mistakes.

Rugby Agility

2008-07-13T20:14:00.000+01:00

First run was Graded 1-7 Jumping (which I hadn’t walked!) and I got a wait out of him, he was soooo responsive! I was amazed as he was responding straight away to commands and I almost pulled him off a couple of jumps because of it lol! Otherwise he was fab and picked up a really tight weave entry and came 2nd in Grade 4. Then Combined 1-4 Agility and again he was so fab and his contacts were lush, I was in the wrong place and he knocked a pole. Last run was Combined 1-4 Jumping and I put him in a wait, he was naughty and jumped the finish! So I set him back up again and got a wait and he worked it lovely, again just so responsive. He has really amazed me today and just worked so well I couldn’t have asked for more.

Cas only had one run which was Graded 1-7 Jumping and she knocked the first pole, because I had her in a wait and I didn’t wait until she had cleared the first jump before I moved. Otherwise she worked it really nicely.

Ember had Graded 1-7 Agility and she knocked the first pole too, then she missed her weaves – naughty girl. Then Combined 6-7 Jumping which was a really tough course but I surprised myself and we worked really well but again missed a difficult weave entry and then was just plain naughty with her weaves!!