Time Out

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!