Posh girls!

The two gingers had a bath today from my friend Jenni - thanks so much as they look so smart and fluffy! After their baths I took them to do a trick training demo for the patients at Grove Hospice in St Albans. The girls worked their little socks off and made everyone chuckle with their antics!

Here are some post bath photos :)

Brooke 18 months!

Matthew had a much deserved week off this past week and although I was still doing walks, I didn't do any training as such so we could spend some time together. It also meant that we could do some training with our dogs as Brooke hadn't done much while in season.

We went to Ajaxs UKA show on the sunday and while Matthew ran Brooke and Bracken, I ran Brodie, Dolly and a little terrier called Jenson. I have never done 6 runs in one day before and my legs were soooo stiff the next day! Jenni came with Rommy as well so it was a nice day out seeing friends and cheering each other on! Rommy did some lovely weaves nfc and also WON the beginners steeplechase! Dolly came 2nd to Rommy with a slightly scrappy clear in the steeplechase (I need to front cross faster!) Little Jenson got 4th place in steeplechase as well so all clever doglets! Videos of the above runs are on YouTube

Brodie ran in the Masters but unfortunately due to bad mummy got E'd on jump 5/6. My (very bad!) excuse is that we haven't done much champ level training this year and need to go and do some homework! Here is his jumping run - I was pleased with his weaves particularly as many dogs took the jump rather than doing weaves. Unfortunately the agility video is really bad and had to get binned as Matthew was holding a dog at the same time and its really wobbly!!



Brooke ran nfc in steeplechase and nursery which meant we could reward her first attempts at contacts in the ring. Here is her nursery run - thanks to Henry for filming!



The shelties went to have their photos taken professionally on thursday by Cat Clark (Dog Rad Design) as part of Matthews wedding anniversary pressi from me. I can't wait to see them as the shelties loved posing and Cat took some amazing ones of Brooke's running dog walk :)

This past weekend we went to UKA again so that Brooke could try weaves in the ring as she turned 18 months on the 19th - wow time flies! She did casual agility first and did a cracking dog walk and weaves first time. In jumping she got her entry in the weaves but was going a bit fast and popped out again but got them second time. It's so nice being able to reward baby dogs in the ring. She is still easily distracted and lacks a bit of confidence but is getting better each time :) Brodie did Masters jumping and got E'd (only 3 clears across all four heights!!) but I was so pleased with how he worked. We didn't stay for the agility as they were only setting it up at 6.15pm and we had a 2 hour journey home!!

We spent our anniversary morning doing a little bit with Brooke and Brodie at the field - Matthew and I both agreed that it was the perfect way to spend time together! He is so lovely, my pressi was a brand new tunnel!! Brodie did some gridwork to get him to extend his stride a bit and I also tried him over some KC height jumps which he managed fine, I was worried as he hasn't done that height all year. Brooke had loads of fun doing some Aframes and rear cross work - here are a couple of videos.

Rear cross wing wrap - if you look closely you can see she is putting in a check stride to get a tighter turn



Brooke A frame sequence

Busy, busy, busy!

I've had lots of walks these last two weeks as a couple of people are on hols and have left their doglets at home with friends/relatives so I've had a lot on. We have also had gorgeous Bailey to stay and he has been enjoying all the extra walks! Here he is having tummy tickles from Matthew!

A couple of weekends ago (pre Bailey) I went to Wales for my cousins Granny's 90th Birthday party. It was lovely to see everyone and I took the older two shelties as Brooke has been in season and the logistics of coping in someone elses house would have been tricky! My Uncle had made a photo gallery of pictures and my Auntie and Mum had done a cake - wow they were tasty cakes! It was so lovely to see everyone :)

On the way to Wales Brodie and Brax did some agility! Brax did a couple of casual classes at micro height and won one! Brodie won a couple and came 2nd in a couple which has given him enough points to be in Champ level at UKA - yay!!

Bailey and Brax after a long walk :)

This is a photo of Max yesterday looking like a hairy bear! He has grown in his winter coat so early - the horses are all confused as the weather has been so weird this summer. I'll be dusting my clippers off before long...!

My friend Sarah who has Mitch the greyhound sent me these lovely photos of him on a day out. Its hard to believe that he was dog reactive and with patience and kindness, Sarah and Simon have helped Mitch overcome his fears. Its still a work in progress but Mitch is taking very positive steps and getting braver - love him! In the photos, he is wearing the yellow muzzle - just a precaution but you can see how relaxed he is!!

Its a hard life! Mitch asleep with his 'sister' Hobo and 'brother' Amos. When I first met Mitch he would turn himself inside out at a dog 50m away! What a clever hound :)