Training and Sheltie Show

What a hectic weekend!! On saturday Brooke and Matthew did a puppy training session with Lucy Osborne which was great fun. Brooke was the only non collie but she did well and def enjoyed herself. They did wing wraps, work to a dead toy, recalls up a line of jumps, sending on up a line of jumps and a front cross.

One thing that did crop up was that Brooke finds jumping hard when she is chasing Matthew! She flipped herself over a jump both at the training day and in a lesson on Monday. To be fair she hasn't done a lot of jumping and we obviously need to do a bit of gridwork with her.

Here are a few videos of Brooky - first one is wing wraps.

This is Brooke going up a line of jumps to a dead toy with Matthew standing quite far out to the side

Same exercise but with Matthew standing behind a jump - didn't think Brooke would manage this but she proved me wrong!! Her speed over the jumps is coming even if the style is a bit hit and miss :-)

Brooke trying a front cross followed by a wing wrap - clever puppy works it out!

After such an exciting time on saturday we had to get prepared for a VERY early start (4.15am!) on sunday to go to the Sheltie Agility Show which we were organising as the ESSC committee. It went really well despite the terrible weather and it was great to see so many shelties doing well. Thanks must go to our lovely judges and helpers who made the show run so smoothly and to the competitors for supporting the show. Special mention must go to Jenni and Rommy who came 2nd in the steeplechase at their first ever show!! Also to Jane and Robbie who had a cracking agility win by a margin of 10 seconds!! Looking forward to the show season starting now :-)

Brodie has got the all clear to train again so I'll work him micro height this week, small height next week and see how he goes. I'm hoping to do a couple of UKA's with him in a couple of weeks so I'll take it easy (not sure he will tho!!) and only do a couple of classes with him. I can't wait!!!

Brooke and her pal Mitch

This is Brooke and her big friend Mitch who I have mentioned in previous posts. As you can see, he is learning to relax around other dogs! When Sarah and Simon first had Mitch, he was extremely reactive to other dogs and would jump, scream, scratch and spin on the end of his lead even if the other dog was 100m away. Gradually he has realised that he can communicate with other dogs and trust that they are not all out to get him, bless him. Sarah and Simon have worked so hard with him so all credit to them, he is such a lucky boy to have such a great home :-)

Firstly he learnt to walk along side Bracken, then Brodie and then both of them together. I thought I would use Brooke as a good test as obviously the older two have been 'stooge' dogs for years now. Brooke is still a bit scatty and excitable but clever little princess was a star! In fact, her and Mitch really hit it off. I love the photo above, she looks so proud of herself and Mitch looks so chilled out!

We have been enjoying this lovely weather recently. This is Brax with 'giraffe' on the field just before Brooke nicked it and pulled its head off!! Last weekend we had the ESSC Working Section AGM and as trophy sec I had the fun job of presenting trophies to lots of lovely shelties and their handlers. Its great to see so many doing so well, so please get out and about collecting points for next year!! Here is a picture of some of the winners

And here are all the trophies that are awarded each year for a variety of disciplines including agility, obedience, working trials and dual purpose including breed showing. Sadly there was no one claiming for the agility grades 1-2 trophies and they are lovely.

Lian brought Sonic to the AGM so it was a good opportunity to do an 11 month photo. Thanks so much to Lian for these amazing pictures and for breeding such a gorgeous pair!!

Brooke pretending to be Mitch!! (Just a small hairy version!)

Brooke 11 months old!

I have been late with posting recently so Brooke actually was 11 months on sunday but I've finally got round to putting some recent pictures of her on here. This was the girls playing on the common - what sweet innocent faces they have!!

Brooke watching Brax and getting ready to pounce!

I throw the ball and they are off like sable rockets! Brooke normally wins but Brax likes chasing her :)

Brax even has her teeth out in this photo!!

Brooke goading Brax to play and Brax pretending to be not interested at all!!


We have done some more balance and co-ordination work recently and Brooke loves putting her feet on anything! We don't have our own equipment so we set up cones to practice lefts and rights in the lounge. Brooke is now getting to grips with rear crosses which I think Matthew may rely on as he'll be quite far behind her :)


I thought Brodie was missing from this post so here is a pic of him playing clicker games with the box and wobble cushion. I basically set it up and clicker them for being imaginative and putting different feet on the items. Brodie wanted to do 'elephant' trick and Brooke wanted to sit on the wobble cushion so standing on both items was a result. I have also put on a Brodie snow picture as its cute!!

Brodie and Max news

Sorry for the lack of blog updates - I've had a mad few days! Unfortunately Maxi pony had colic at the weekend which was very stressful as he wasn't drinking :( Vet said that she had seen loads of colics due to dehydration. The temperature went down to -15 at the yard and the buckets were freezing five mins after filling them. Max had been in more than normal so that meant more hay which didn't help with the dehydration. Thanks to all my amazing friends who helped me lunge him and brought hot drinks to keep me going! Also tip for anyone having the same problem - my friend Heidi adds peppermint tea to their water - worked for Max!

Thanks to Holly for taking these beautiful pics of Max - I just LOVE the one of his eye :)

The other news is that my Brodie boy is now 5! I can't believe that its so long ago that I picked him up, brought him home and from the minute I met him I know he was going to be MY dog. I was on the lookout for a tri boy sheltie with a white nose preferably and it was meant to be! He is a proper Mummy's boy and such a lovely little dog to have around, perfect with nervous or aggressive dogs and loves puppies and children. He has tried his hardest for me at everything we have competed at. Brodie is truly a dog in a million, taking me on an amazing journey from my first proper agility competition in Grade 1 up to the dizzy heights of Grade 7 and a RCC!! I owe him so much - I know he'd settle for a lamb bone :) Love my boy!

Snow day!

We have had a chilly but fun weekend! The pic above was taken on market day in town and Brodie and Brax are distracted watching a kid having a tantrum but Brooke just sat staring and waiting for Matthew to come back - proper Daddy's girl!

She is a VERY grown up girl now as she helped me in a behavioural session for the first time. Brodie and Brax have been helping Mitch the greyhound get used to relaxing around dogs as he used to just scream, spin and leap around lunging at any dog that wasn't a greyhound. Mitch is a very loving, big huggy boy who if he hadn't found his forever home with Sarah and Simon would probably still be in kennels now being overlooked. Wow he has fallen on his feet - they have put in soooo much work with him and I'm very proud of all of them! He got to the stage of walking with Brodie and Brax without reacting at all. They are both very good as they know when they are being 'stooge' dogs, having helped me with aggressive dogs for years. It was time to introduce Mitch to little Brooke and I did expect a few fireworks as she has never seen such a tall dog, or one that is muzzled and being a puppy she can be quite bouncy and silly! Well they surprised and amazed me!! She got out of the car, threw a few beautiful calming signals in his direction, he did the same back and we had a lovely walk together. So proud of both dogs and they did seem to get confidence off each other. It was quite magical to watch :)

Yesterday evening the snow came down so today Brooke had her first snowy walk. She LOVED it and charged around like a nutter!! Here are a few pics from our walk.




Brax gets snowballs really badly :( I'm not sure if its because she is spayed and has a different coat texture to the other two. My first sheltie Bramble was the same as Brax but Brodie and Brooke seem ok. It does make Brax angry about the snow, even with her coat on! Has anyone got any good ideas on how to prevent this?

Brodie only has a little collection of snowballs!

Tired sable girls!!


Snuggly Brooke - snow is tiring!!

Frosty walk photos

Two tired shelties after training last night - what a cute pair!

On the field this morning - Brax doing her 'I'm cold hurry up and stop taking photos' face!

My handsome Brodie toad


Brodie and Brooke having a sniff - put picture on here to show how much tail and trousers Brooke has got now!

Cute Brax 'praying' for some food!

Brodie and Brooke both went training last night (different places!) and wee Brax got to stay home snuggled up by the radiator! She didn't look in the least bit upset about being left :)

Obviously I didn't see Brooky wooky at school but Matt says she was a good girly and much more tuned in this week and tugging like a looney. All the dogs had at least an hour and half walking during the day including lots of running so Brooke was much calmer.

Brodie worked in class for the first time since Sept and had a great time -he finds the new width weaves hard to get a rhythm in but I'm sure it'll come with time. He ran at small height and was doing some lovely tight turns which we had lost during his injury. It made me smile all the way home knowing that he had a fab time and is enjoying his agility so much :D

Brooke redeems herself!!

Brooke has redeemed herself after being very teenage and getting up to mischief! She is just so adorable and cute that even when she is taking the lid of the food bin its hard not to laugh at her!! After the brain blowing excitement of class on tuesday we decided that another 1-1 with Dan was required to get her to focus in a less intense environment. She was still distracted (sure she is brewing a season as she is being a dreadful tart!) but got her working head on and did some lovely bits. Being a horse rider its a bit like judging how much warm up each horse needs before competing - too little and the session is not productive, too much and their wee brains are fried!! Brodie and Brax are good examples - Brodie needs very little walking/mental work before doing agility training as he gets mentally tired quite quickly. Brax on the other hand needs a fair amount or she is crazy! I think before class for Brooke I need to do some attention and focus work as well as having free running during the day!

Anyway, I'm off on a tangent! Brooke did a bit of her 'herdy' behaviour but coped well with doing staircases, stars and a line of three jumps to a tunnel. Here is a video of her in action - bless her :) Blink and you may miss it!!