It's been so long!!

 I can't believe that I haven't updated my blog for so long! I really have neglected it since my Mum got Facebook and keeps up to date with our adventures on there. We have also had a lot going on with various non dog related things and a few stressful bits of family news. 

Since I last blogged the big news is that Bru has been selected to compete for Team England at the World Agility Open Championships (WAO) in the Netherlands this May! 💛 Unfortunately he was measured straight after a bitch in season at the tryouts and was a fidget to be measured 😂 He was 323mm which means he had to compete in the 300 catergory but still managed to hold his own against the small mediums! It is fun to have a road trip to look forward to and Bru has the Team GB tryouts next weekend so fingers crossed for that.

Branston Pickle is now Grade 4!! ❤ He has done two shows at G4, in his first one at Inspire he did two runs and got two E's for taking off course jumps too enthusiastically! Kelluki was his second show at G4 at he did two runs and won them both which was a shock! Mostly because he ran so well in the venue...I can't even get Spark to walk in there as its so noisy but Pickle coped so well 😁 Below is the link to his weekly video playlist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-oOeOvs1QN4YzLABS5tbt92q3NKKt_Y

Sparkly turned 11 years old last week, I can't believe it as she is still my little puppy 💜 We tried one indoor show over winter and it was a bit of a disaster, she hated the rain on the roof and had a meltdown so I decided not to enter her into any more indoor shows. Luckily we have been able to have a lovely time at my friends Javawolf hoopers shows which are outdoors and a very relaxed atmosphere. Sparkle has done really well and I love trying to push her distance work a bit! I will still compete her at agility this year while she is still so up for it and she gets checked over on a regular basis by our super physio as well.

Brooke Bean is 13 next month and loving life! 💚 She still walks for around an hour a day in total and keeps the boys in order. Unfortunately the monthly scentwork class she was doing folded but we are looking forward to trialling someones scent workshop next month. We have decided that we thought it was fairer to not take her to the Netherlands in May so she is going to have her Nana look after her!! They will have a lovely time together 😍

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 🐺

Massive catch up!

 Matt and Bru went to the European Open champs at the end of July and although I was very sorry not to go with them (Toad is now 15.5 and high maintenance bless him!) they did us proud! 💛 They did four runs in total and had one that was a bit chaotic but the other three had just one tiny mistake in them! The best thing was the weave homework had paid off and in three runs they were brilliant 😁 Contacts were great too!  

While Matt and Bru were in Belgium we had the start of a heat wave here where it hit 40 degrees at times. It was awful and the dogs hated it too. I was starting work at 7am and finishing by 9.30am to get some training done before the worst heat. The ground was really hard and dry too and Spark managed to rip her dew claw off 😔 It has taken ages to heal and I'm still wrapping it up to do agility with her just in case.

When Matt and Bru came home they went to the Kennel Club festival to do the Novice Cup qualifier and they WON it!! This means that they are off to Crufts next year in Novice as well as Champ 😂 We think it is bonkers that a dog can be in both...we really don't understand why they didn't hold the novice semi finals last year for this years Crufts! 

We have had some Wrest Park visits which we have loved. We do a longer walk for the younger three and then a potter for the older two with a coffee!

And some random pics!

My little Pickle is now almost 15 months and soooo handsome!! 

And we are learning how to weave! 

Spark makes herself comfy! 

His jump work is coming on nicely, he has just started jumping 30cm 

These two were awesome at WBSDS!! 

Brooke has been doing some hoopers workshops and loves it! 

And last weekend we tried Mantrailing which she has a natural flair for!! We think her eyes aren't so good any more so its nice to let her do something that relies on her nose instead

Branston Pickle is coming on nicely in his agility work! Just starting to do some dog walks but not the most confident with that yet so I'm taking it slowly. We haven't done Aframe or seesaw yet but have started weaves and touched on most of the various jump and tunnel skills. I am still a bit shocked by his speed! He is quite long and around 40-41cm tall but takes less strides than Sparkle. I have ran them over the same sequence a couple of times and he so far has been quicker! 😮

https://youtube.com/shorts/Lizc-21Ei0Y?feature=share

Bru qualifies for Olympia! And puppy camp exploits!

 One of Matts goals for this year with Bru was to qualify for the (not) Olympia Semi Final where the top ten dogs go through to do agility at Olympia Horse Show! It is so tough to qualify for as only the top three in each heat qualify and then you have to get through the semi final. But not only did he qualify but he won it despite Bru turning the wrong way on a jump (handler error!) 💛

Spark didn't have a qualifier in her height but she did win her agility run! 💜 At the age of 9.5 she is feeling so cool to run and I wouldn't go as far as comfy slippers but she is more predictable! 

As it was the Queens Platinum Jubilee weekend the rosettes were very appropriate! 

Brodie and Bean are doing well at the moment. Brodie is a little bit stiff but at 15.5 that is to be expected! 💙 He can't be on supplements due to his pancreatitis so we are careful to manage his exercise but he still enjoys two 15-20 min walks a day. 

Brooke is loving doing bits of hoopers and at any other time is generally the laziest dog we have ever owned! When she does work she is a barky mad whirlwind though!! 💚 Here she is doing some hoopers recently

Branston Pickle is now 11.5 months old! ❤ He is cuddly, funny and loves to learn! We had great fun on a puppy camp with Dan and Dave a couple of weeks ago and his sister Sidr was in his group so it was good for him to focus with the excitement of her and his Grandma Lian there! It was tricky stuff but he was great and worked so well! All of Branstons weekly videos are on my YouTube page on a playlist if anyone wants to catch up with what he has been doing! 

This is more of a note to myself for the records so feel free to skip this paragraph! So far Bran has worked on loose lefts/rights, wing wraps and starting those as rear crosses. We have done wrapped rounds, just started push round slices, threadle wraps and slices and wrong end of tunnel/tight tunnel turns. We have put our mat on a plank a couple of times and he seems to be getting the hang of it! 

Bru is on Team GB for the European Open Championships!!

I'm so so proud of these two!! Bru and Matt have made it onto Team GB for the European Open Championships in Belgium in July!! 💛 The hard work starts with weave bootcamp commencing this week, he still struggles with weave entries and exits so we have been doing short sessions in the garden to help him understand it better.

At the start of April I took Branston Pickle for a weekend break in Wales to catch up with my family and celebrate my lovely sisters 40th birthday (a month early but nice to be sooner!) Here are a couple of holiday snaps, it was fab to catch up with everyone and also have a semi surprise party with a fabulous cake made by my very talented friend Julie (from Julies Cake Company in St Albans) 

We have also done our first couple of shows on the year, we had a brilliant time at Kelluki! Brooke bean got to play hoopers and even managed to win a couple of veteran classes! Bru and Spark had fun playing agility on some cool courses. Here is Brus winning agility run

Branston has been practising watching the dogs in the ring quietly

Spark had a very successful weekend at Wallingford show, she won the G7 jumping and came 4th in the agility! 

This is her winning jumping run!

Unfortunately Bru did lovely runs apart from the weaves...hence the weave bootcamp this week!! 😂

In other news I got my new jumps for the field, they are amazing and perfect for young dogs as they go so low and are very pretty!

Branston is almost ten months old now and is doing more in the way of agility training. He is so enthusiastic and keen to lean ❤ He did a puppy camp a couple of weeks ago and worked so hard! It was lovely to see his Granny Lian and sister too!

Our garden is still fenced off as our fences are still not repaired from all the storms 😕 It is our neighbours fence and we have even offered to pay to fix it but she wants to sort it herself. In the meantime we have a tiny patch of grass that is ok for the dogs but are trying to make the most of it.

We found some bluebells the other day on our walk!

Branston passed his Level 1 Hooperstars and has done all his Level 2 exercises so fingers crossed he passes! He is started to really understand looking for the hoops!

And the cutest little puppy pic! Oakley is only 9 weeks old in this photo and so gorgeous! He explored my field and then crashed out in the coffee shop! 💕