Agility Club and Sparkle 6 months!

I went to the Agility Club show with Jenni on Saturday as she was running in the Starters Challenge Finals!! It was lovely to be able to go and support her as it is something of a J9 tradition as Matthew and I were both placed in it years ago, Paul and Chester won it a couple of years ago and Caroline and Bobby have made the large final a couple of times. Rommy was a good boy and came 4th!! I will let Jenni post more about it on her blog-needless to say I was very proud of them! Also taking part was Chantal with Brooke's sister Savannah who looked amazing for a baby and Caroline and Bobby who did a cracking run only to find that there was a mix up and they were E'd.

Brodie had a couple of runs, one for the ESSC team comprising of four sheltie boys, all Grade 6 and 7. They clocked the fastest time but unfortunately had 15 faults so no Crufts this year. Brodie also did a lovely run in Singles but I'm a wally and sent him over a jump the wrong way!!

Lots of agility coming up this week and weekend so watch this space...

Dolly has been staying with us over the weekend-she found it exhausting!!

Sparkle having Matthew cuddles!!

Half birthday girl posing with one of her fav toys :)

Matthew giving the gang bed time sweeties!!

Brooke showing off her froggy legs :)

Newlands and Sparkle pupdate

We had one of those days at Newlands where despite six runs we didn't get a clear round but we got a lot of really 'good' eliminations! Dolly is getting really confident at shows now and we now need to crack the weave issues. Generally they are good in training (bear in mind she is not mine so I can only train them once every week or two) but she does lack confidence with them at shows. She is staying with me for a few days soon so lots practice!

Brodie only did one run and got E'd for being a tad enthusiastic, lol!! Brooke had an unfortunate run round a jump in C4-5J and a brain melt down in the C1-7 jumping (seems to coincide when I hold her in the queue, she worries about where Matt is and then runs like a twit being gobby!) Her G3-5 agility run was awesome, unfortunately with her new found confidence she didn't stop on her dog walk (equally she didn't do her true running contact) so Matthew asked to put her back on. The judge thought he was barmy as she would have easily won had she carried on but very proud of Matt for sticking to his criteria!!

Here is Brookes agility run



Brax hasn't done anything at a show for a couple of weeks as they have been KC shows but having trained her at KC height, we think she might be able to give a it a go at some stage. She is not struggling with the height and health wise she is the best she has been in years!

Sparkle is improving on her leg slowly. She is now on 5 min walks - woohoo!! She is getting used to wearing her little leg wraps and we are finding ways of wearing her out! This is her trying a food toy kindly lent to me by Jenni and Rommy-thanks! :) Yesterday we carried her into St Albans and I sat on various benches while Matthew went into the shops. She is getting amazing at 'wait'!



This weeks photos - Brodie and Brooke enjoying the sun!

Dolly with the rawhide that she claimed!!

Sparkle discovering the joys of an empty food bag - cloth tunnels will be no problem at all!

Sparkle actually still at Newlands show! She is getting a big girl tail now :)

Poor puppy :(

My poor Sparkle baby :(  She had a wild fit of the zoomies and ended up colliding with some furniture and came off worse. She was yelping and holding her leg up and although there was nothing obvious I was worried that she had fractured something. She spent yesterday at the vets and was sedated and x-rayed to rule out any breaks. Luckily she is in one piece but has severely sprained her carpal joint (wrist) and is having two days of complete rest followed by two weeks of very short lead walks an being kept quiet (!) After that we have to build her exercise up VERY gradually over a couple of months as the vet wants to make sure that there is no weakness in her joint.

So Dave Munnings training day tomorrow is out :( I'm sad not to be going but pleased that I don't have months of crate rest - it could be worse!! All baby foundation training will be put on hold until she is 100% and she isn't allowed to do her fav tricks of spinning and running backwards. I have ordered a pair of Back on Track carpal supports for her as they are preventative as well as remedial and will give her support when she starts doing more. If anyone has any ideas for entertaining nearly 6 month old puppies that can't do much then I'd be very grateful!! Jenni has already said she'd lend me her Nina Ottosson toy :)

I love this pic of Sparkly - taken by Kevin Hicks at sheltie camp this year

LAPS and Billingshurst

A real agility adventure this weekend! We decided very last minute to go to LAPS UKA as there was a Beginners Steeplechase and Pairs qualifier on the Saturday. Well Brooke puppy was a good girly and managed to qualify despite a fairly wild run!! No video as everything all happened at once and I only got a couple of runs on video. It was a lovely venue and despite the heat we managed to keep the dogs cool parked in the shade. 

The dogs had all seen Sally the physio on Wed. Brooke had the all clear, Brax has a slightly tight bit in the middle of her back and Brodie has a little niggle in a shoulder muscle. Brodie's only run over the weekend was in pairs which was good as he went like a rocket over the toy height jumps! Brax did some NFC dog walks quite nicely and unfortunately made a mistake in the weaves and then back weaved resulting in an elimination in the pairs. Brooke did a lovely run in the Beginners agility but had a pole, see video below



On Sunday we went to Billingshurst KC show with our lot and Dolly spaniel. It was a lovely day out as Jenni and Rommy were there and we also met up with Chantal who has Savannah (Brookes sister) and Spice and Roz with Brookes niece Tula and her sheltie boys Alfie and Toby. Dolly and Brooke had three runs each. I had pulled Brodie out of his run as Sally thought a twisty G7 course would be too much for his shoulder this weekend so he had a day off to his disgust! 

Dolly did well, she came out the weaves in the C1-4 Agility but the rest was lovely. She got a clear in the C1-4 jumping - her first KC clear and the timers stopped mid run!! I did it again and bless her she went clear again and ended up in 12th place out of 110 dogs :) Her confidence is growing and we are getting it together more in the ring. Her last run of the day was a disaster as my poo bags flew out of my pocket and put her off and she had brain ache by then!! 

Here is her jumping run

And this is Dolly's agility run



Little Brooke had a bit of a wild day yesterday! Matthew and I were talking about it and we think she threw his timing a bit as she is now speeding up in the ring. She did some really lovely bits though and she really doesn't seem bothered by the heat, crazy puppy! We love that wild little Bean!! :)

This was Brooke last night after her busy weekend!

Sparkle cooling off in the paddling pool this morning - she loves it, maybe its her flyball parentage?!

I love my job!! :)

We ran a fun show on Sunday at my field. It was for members only and really to give the people who had never competed the chance to win a rosette or two and to see what happens at an actual show. It was soooo hot but we were really lucky as a couple of people kindly brought gazebos with them and Dolly's Mum had donated a paddling pool to keep the dogs cool. Jamiesons had their clothing stand and there was a BBQ at lunch for everyone, ooh and beer :) Sarah's husabnd Patrick had made us some timers (proper infra-red ones - amazingly clever!!) so we could be really accurate with the results and Matthew got bulldozed into judging, lol!!

I was really pleased with how it all went and all the dogs and handlers really enjoyed it despite the heat! I was very proud of some of my baby dogs who have never been in an agility show environment before and they coped really well with it. We gave people the opportunity to run NFC if they wished so they could reward their dogs. One of the little rising stars was Willow beagle puppy (15months) who did her first competitive run in a steeplechase and WON! Clever girly-she will be one to watch! My job just makes me smile :):):)

We didn't compete at the weekend as we were busy organising for the show but all four doglets went to a training session with Dan on Monday. They all worked their socks off! Brodie and Brax went first and did some of the more complicated stuff. They were brilliant and Brodie tested me with his preference for tunnels over contacts! Did some great weave entries too. Then it was Brookes turn and she did some fab stuff - here is a little video of her.



Sparkle had a go as well - we were working on wing wraps and going on. She has done the two separately but not put them together yet. She gets it in this clip but is a little hesitant on the go on. The best thing is that she tugged like a nutter with Dan as well as us! I have that in another clip but need to edit it as Matt filmed the ground for some of it! If you watch carefully you can see Sparks harness break at the end - good thing it did it in a field and not on a road...



This is one of her just doing a wing wrap, her turns are coming on nicely. She is only 5 and a half months so she isn't doing much - just a couple of ten min sessions a week if that :)



Finally uploaded vids from GT UKA. This is Dolly getting a few faults on a beginners jumping run but I was really pleased as hardly anyone went clear. The angles were quite hard for baby dogs and she kept her speed up nicely. We are definitely starting to work as a team more in the ring. Sorry about the shaky video and the noise - Matthew was filming and holding a rather excited Brooke!!

One of those weekends...

Sometimes you end up having one of those weekends where nothing quite goes according to plan! We went to GT UKA on Saturday with a great action plan - lots of NFC runs to do some training in the ring with the doglets with specific goals for each dog (I know I'm geeky - I can't help it, lol!) For Dolly it was rewarding weaves and contacts but particularly seesaw, for Brooke it was weaves and dog walk, Brax it was dog walk and Brodie was doing two runs competitively.

Well Brodie came 2nd in Snooker but it was a poor show on my part as I forgot to cue the last A frame so he ran past it - yes I'm an idiot! Then his steeplechase clashed with Brooke and Dolly's jumping run and I hadn't walked it - ended up 4th but very wide turns and bad handling from me! Dolly on the other hand was a little star- lovely contacts and weaves coming on nicely. Only dodgy point was her jumping off half way down the A frame - most unlike her but a previous dog had done a WEE on the top of the A frame!!!! I forgave poor Dolly and her sensitive nose!! Fortunately it was a NFC run so I put her back on and rewarded it :)

Brax was still a bit cheeky on her dog walk - she is so good at my field and at Dans but in a show environment she just can't help it! She is getting the contact but not reaching her criteria so we still need to work on that! Matthew had a great lesson with Dan on Monday and the two girlies were amazing and needless to say Brax did stunning dog walks - cheeky minx!!

Thanks to MJC photography for these amazing pictures of my flying Brodie :)

And little Brax being a scary bear!!