Busy August and Bru gets a Reserve Ticket!

We had a flying visit up north to visit my Mum and Amy and then on to Scotland to see my Dad on the way to Kindgom of Fife champ show. Pickle went absolutely potty when he saw my Mum and Amy, he definitely remembers them! He met their elderly cat Pudding as well as and was very good, she had to give him a little warning ninja paw which made him (sensibly!) back off! 

Walking in Berwick

Bru was amazing at champ winning the jumping, 4th in the agility with a held seesaw and then won the reserve ticket in the final! 💛 He was running so well! I'd love to see the winning run as we missed it and to be 1.5 seconds ahead of Bru (and Ashleigh Butlers Sully who did a fabulous run and was so close to Bru time wise) it must have been incredible...

Spark made her first champ final of the year! She also had her very first unplaced clear in the champ jumping but I think it is because I played it safe and took the long route round a jump 😂 She got E'd in the final on a threadle which is funny as its her most reliable skill usually!! 

Me and my Dad

 The week after we did KCI and no champ for Spark and Bru had a refusal in each round so didn't make the final. We were home early to mow my field and have a take away! 

Then this weekend we went to Welsh KC for champ again and the doglets did us proud! Spark was E'd in champ jumping but 5th in the agility which I was thrilled about as I never get round Lee Gibsons courses! 

Brooke Bean doesn't compete any more but if there were a competition for sunbathing she would win by miles! 💚

Spark still isn't very tolerant of Pickle but if he is sleepy he is acceptable!! 

No competing at KCI for Branston this year but we practised our waits on the podium just in case we are ever good enough! 

One day worth of veg! Its gone mad at the moment!! 

I have also had an influx of Toads in my field, especially under the tunnels! 

Branston smiling at his girlfriend Elfie!

Its been fun running my two on the same course occasionally, they are very similar speeds but I probably trust Branston more 😂

My beautiful Sparkalina 💜

Branston turns 2!!

 Its crazy to think that at the start of July Branston Piccalilli turned 2 years old! He has grown into such a handsome boy ❤ always cuddly, happy, up for learning new things and absolutely loves life! He has come on so well with his agility recently, unlike our previous dogs he has competed at KC shows before the age of 2 and managed two placed clears out of 12 runs in total. He has developed a habit of running past jump 2 and then going on to do the course beautifully so many of the Eliminations are due to that 😂 I'm hoping he might grow out of it!! 

Here is his latest weekly video...loads of skills coming on nicely and even managed to blind a dog walk which was a bit scary but nice to have a trainer there to tell me what he was doing! Next thing to tackle is blinding the end of the weaves as he hasn't done much of that.

Matt had his first UKA judging appointment last weekend which he enjoyed although the pressure was on with it being a Beginners steeplechase qualifier! Ours had fun testing the courses out as they didn't compete as I was scriming for Matt. I take my hat off to anyone who judges as I couldn't do it! I love the course design aspect but wouldn't like the pressure! 

Spring photos of the gang plus Vyne

I had to venture to some bluebell woods last week to get some pretty photos of the doglets! It was so peaceful just wandering around and hanging out with the dogs

Branston Pickle is loving his training, he is now doing all of the equipment but we haven't sequenced seesaws enough or in different places to compete in agility yet. We have got two jumping runs our first KC show at the weekend so will report back how it goes! I'll be as fussy with him as we have been with Bru and Spark, if the course isn't flowing enough we will adjust it or not run it! 

My photos have loaded out of order but look how pretty my tulips are! 

Bru got to do a workshop on his birthday with Dan which made his day! 💛

Someone is very tired after his training! Branston did a workshop with Nicola and Becky designed for training in a show environment. He coped really well with having another dog running the other side of the fence but was aware of it while in his waits! Such a good boy sequencing his weavies and dog walk in a new places and also doing his first seesaw away from home ❤

My Amaryllis from Christmas has just flowered finally!!

And look at our Coronation post box topper!

Bru competed at Vyne and was such a good boy, 5th with a held seesaw in champ agility, a refusal in champ jumping and made the final! Unfortunately he was E'd in the final but he was running so well and his weaves were fabulous!!

Sparkalina only did champ jumping and got E'd! Such a fun course as well and then we missed the agility as were watching Bru!

Miss Brooke Bean had her first scent work workshop yesterday and had the best time sniffing! She is learning to find cloves and seems to have a natural flair for it 💚

Spark on the start line...when she broke her wait I realised it might not go well!!! 💜

 

Team GB tryouts and Crufts

 As usual I'm behind with this! February was a busy month with the Team GB tryouts and amazingly it was a very dry month and I actually managed to teach in my own field which is a rarity through winter. Bru racked up four E's in the four Team GB tryout runs but he showed some amazing skills that he didn't have this time last year. The best bit was that he managed some insane weaves but then did something daft on the same course like running past the start jump as in the video below!! 

Two weeks later was Crufts and Bru was in Novice Cup and Champ...very random but for some reason the KC didn't hold the Novice Cup at Crufts last year so it had rolled over to this year. Bru was absolutely amazing and loved the atmosphere! He won the Novice Cup overall!!! 💛🎉🎉 He was second in the jumping with a very scary moment where he turned the wrong way and 2nd in the agility with a held seesaw. I love this photo of him with his posh sparkly harness and lead on from Tater Togs!

Onto the Sunday and champ day! Matt had a whoopsie on the jumping where Bru ran all the way round a jump so saved the E but got faults. There were so many clears that he knew he would have to go for it in the agility round and wow he did a stunning run and finished 4th!! All the videos are on my YouTube channel but here is his agility round 💛

He made it into the Final and was running first! The turn off the dog walk proved very tricky for a lot of the dogs and unfortunately Bru did a cracking dog walk and Matt then said go instead of right so Bru shot round the side of the third jump. Then it all went a bit wrong but so proud of them getting there and running on TV right before best in show!!! Hopefully they will be back in the future!

To finish Bru's news 😂 we also went to champ at Wyre show last weekend. His Dad got him E'd in the agility round on a technical course but they went on to win the jumping round again some very fast spaniels! We don't think Bru runs that well on sand compared to grass as he doesn't train on it as much so we were very surprised and had already left when we found out he had stayed in first! 

When we were at Wyre we met up with Branstons Dad Kuri and his sister Sidr. Kuri is such a sweet dog and has lots of things in common with Pickle. We even managed to get them sitting and posing for a photo!

Pickles agility training is going well, he is now sequencing dog walks, Aframes and weaves but still hasn't got a finished seesaw due to the wet weather! All of his weekly videos are on a playlist on my YouTube channel as its nice to keep a record of what he has done at what age. None of our dogs have had a seesaw before 20 months so its obviously a theme 😂 I have had people ask what I do when with my puppies but I might do a separate post about that. 

He has turned into a handsome boy...I am biased! We had his hip scores back really quickly and they are 3:3 so lovely and even ❤ His coat is getting darker and his nose lighter! He is still the sweetest boy, a tad overexcited at times but I'd rather he was full on and confident! At our latest agility lesson we had a girl collie in season and he worked like usual, played tug, didn't go off sniffing at all and stayed really focused so can't ask for more! Our latest weekly video is below

Branston thought Crufts was the best day out! He loved walking round and meeting people and seeing the other dogs. We also got to meet up with our friends Rowena and Nigel and their shelties Toes and Dougal! Look what a gorgeous quartet they are and no doubting which one is Pickle with that tail!! 😂

Brooke Bean loved her Crufts walkies as well (second right in the above pic) We recently got a blood test and vet check done as she has just turned 12 and we wanted to make sure she was doing ok. Her sight isn't great in the bright sun or dark but her liver/kidneys were all good. We have retired her from hoopers as I was worried about her catching the hoops and not being as confident. She is a natural at using her nose so I have booked her on to a series of scentwork workshops and am really looking forward to learning more!

Sparkle bear had a run at Wyre in the champ agility and it reminded me that she really isn't keen on running inside when its noisy! 💜🙈 The positives are that she ran, did stunning contacts and a cool layer. The rest didn't quite go to plan but she tried hard! Her handler was useless and didn't cue her tunnel turns at all! Now she is ten I am trying to keep her happy and fit to keep running this year, luckily as she is top end medium so I don't think she will struggle. We have also done our first hoopers show 😁 My friend Jo-Ann put on her first Javawolf Hoopers Show and we went along for a girls day out and had a great time! I tried the distance options and she did me proud and even won her assorted class and won me a wolf 🐺

Happy 2023!

I can't believe we are into a new year already! I decided to try and update this and am currently trying to type with a Pickle putting his head on my typing arm...not helpful!! We had a lovely break over Christmas and New Year. We saw Matts folks on Christmas Day and then went north to see Amy in her new house in Northumberland which was very exciting with the added bonus of seeing my Mum there as well! Unfortunately the weather wasn't so good so we didn't explore many walks but it was nice to think about all the exploring we can do next time! Although we had a super festive break it was very sad being the first one without Toad 💙 We miss him so much and he always loved Christmas and all the socialising.

I love this photo and didn't realise until it was bigger that both dogs are shaking!

Brooke Bean is going to be 12 in March and we think her eye sight is getting a bit worse in bright sun. She is still very lively and full of herself but we might get her bloods checked at the vets soon as she is drinking more than usual. She is still obsessed with sitting in things!! 💚

My little Christmas helper! He put his trick training to good use tidying away wrapping paper 😂

How is my puppy now 18 months?! ❤ I'm biased but I adore him, he is cuddly, clever, funny and so much fun to hang out with! He isn't ring ready for agility but we almost have upright weaves so we might be able to do some jumping runs at some point. His contacts training has basically stopped as the weather is so terrible and my field is a bog 😕 We are having a load of fun with trick training and doing the odd bits of agility here and there though! He had his hips x-rayed last week so fingers crossed for good results.

We are trying to step up Bru's training a bit after his winter break. Matt made it to a Beyond Grade 7 workshop this week and Bru was awesome! 💛 He just needs some more practice course running (Matt that is not Bru!) before the Team GB Pre Selection Qualifier in February.

And what can I say about my Sparkalina?! 💜 She has come back from her shoulder/rib injury all guns blazing and is so keen and ready to work. She even had the all clear from her physio today, no niggles at all (a rarity!) I ran her in Pickles training session this week and she nailed all the discrimination and had the best time. She is obviously not ready to retire just yet! 

We made it to Wrest Park on New Years Eve for a lovely dry wander round

And a couple of Pickle action pics! Plus his most recent weekly video. They are all on a playlist on my YouTube channel if anyone wants to see an Ickle Pickle!