Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Brodie has won into Grade 7!!!
This will be a short update after our mega agility holiday as I need to sort out videos and pics. We went to Dashin Dogs for three days and then onto the Summer Open show. The dogs worked really well and Brodie got his last Grade 6 win on a tricky 6-7 course at Dashin Dogs. I can't believe he has only been Grade 6 for 5 weeks!! He will be Grade 7 in time for the end of the season so we will get some training in over winter and who knows, maybe try our hand (or paw) at a couple of champ classes next year?! Quick well dones to Megan and Hattie who won into Grade 2 at Summer Open and also Lisa and Dylan who won into Grade 4. Both very well deserved wins!! Proper update soon...
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Hare n Hounds adventure!!
We had decided after doing the KC Festival last year that we would try a different show this year that wasn't quite as big and stressful. Hare n Hounds was a lovely show (although it was a long way to go) it was worth it for a 2 min walk between the rings and the car, a real ale tent and a relaxing atmosphere!!
Brax did really well and got six wins and numerous placings! Here is a video of her winning a C1-7 jumping class. Brodie got 8th on this course as well.
All of the classes were C1-7 or C4-7 apart from one graded class on the sunday. Brodie did well to get three placings considering he was up against 3 agility champions (and 3 fast collies) in all of his classes!! Considering the courses were relatively flowing and not too taxing, I was most pleased by the fact that Brodie was one out of the places 5 times and the majority of the time he was the fastest clear that wasn't a Grade 7. This is Brodie doing a C1-7 agility and me being a bit rusty after a couple of weeks off - looking back at the video I didn't give him enough warning about the turn before the weaves!
Big congratulations must go to all our friends who did so well at the KC Festival, in particular Jackie and Mr George who have qualified for the Starters Cup at Discover Dogs :)
Brax did really well and got six wins and numerous placings! Here is a video of her winning a C1-7 jumping class. Brodie got 8th on this course as well.
All of the classes were C1-7 or C4-7 apart from one graded class on the sunday. Brodie did well to get three placings considering he was up against 3 agility champions (and 3 fast collies) in all of his classes!! Considering the courses were relatively flowing and not too taxing, I was most pleased by the fact that Brodie was one out of the places 5 times and the majority of the time he was the fastest clear that wasn't a Grade 7. This is Brodie doing a C1-7 agility and me being a bit rusty after a couple of weeks off - looking back at the video I didn't give him enough warning about the turn before the weaves!
Big congratulations must go to all our friends who did so well at the KC Festival, in particular Jackie and Mr George who have qualified for the Starters Cup at Discover Dogs :)
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Weekend off!!
We have had a relaxing weekend without doing agility but it did feel weird on Sunday not to be getting up early! We decided to go off to the cinema after taking the dogs for a nice walk. I had a fab day yesterday, catching up with an old school friend. We had a meal out and did a couple of nice dog walks, including one to the local pub as the weather was lovely :)
What was really obvious was that the shelties were far more unsettled than normal as they hadn't been out at a 'party' all weekend! Oh well, they'll be busy enough in the coming weeks!!
What was really obvious was that the shelties were far more unsettled than normal as they hadn't been out at a 'party' all weekend! Oh well, they'll be busy enough in the coming weeks!!
Monday, 2 August 2010
Brodie gets 3rd G6 win!!
Wow we have been chasing our tails this weekend! On saturday Matthew took the dogs to the Agility Club show in Ardingly. Brax was a good girl and managed to get through to the Champ final but unfortunately flew her dog walk contact. Back to the contact school for little Miss B! However, we did realise that she has made it to final of every champ except one so at least she is relatively consistent!
The big news is that the Medium ESSC team has QUALIFIED FOR CRUFTS!!! The team was made up of Lian and Sing, Lisa and Tyler, Bernadette and Zen and Eleanor and Smo. What a great team!! Unfortunatley the smalls didn't qualify but I'm sure the meduims will do us Sheltie fans proud :D
I drove round the M25 on saturday to get to the show in time for the Starters Challenge which Brodie had qualified for last year. He started really well and was the fastest dog until the point that he fell off the seesaw! Awww poor Toad had a wimpy moment as the seesaw was pointing towards the crowd and it just spooked him. I made him go back on it and he was fine although he went into the wrong end of the tunnel as you can see him on Lians video looking at the crowd. He came 2nd in the final last year but was really affected afterwards and wouldn't run at all the next day. In fact it took over a month to get him running properly. I was hoping that the same wasn't going to happen this year and I'm pleased to say he was brilliant on sunday so major relief! Whereas many people struggle with contacts or weave entries, I know that Brodie is far more likely to spook at a judge running too close or someones dog barking at the ringside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=docWjOlPRA0
We went back to Catton Hall on sunday to the Derbyshire show. Brodie was really on form, winning his graded 5-7 agility, getting 3rd in graded 5-7 jumping and a 4th in graded 4-7 jumping. That means that Brodie has now got 3 of his wins towards grade 7!! Although the show was in the same place as last weekend, the classes were much bigger with almost 50 in grade 6 mediums so I'm very proud of Brodie as there were some very good dogs there. Brax did a lovely agility run and then just missed her dog walk contact again (conact school asap!!) She did some fast clears in some other classes but missed out on a place. We are having a weekend off next weekend before the manic august and sept shows start! I think the dogs deserve a well earned rest too!
The big news is that the Medium ESSC team has QUALIFIED FOR CRUFTS!!! The team was made up of Lian and Sing, Lisa and Tyler, Bernadette and Zen and Eleanor and Smo. What a great team!! Unfortunatley the smalls didn't qualify but I'm sure the meduims will do us Sheltie fans proud :D
I drove round the M25 on saturday to get to the show in time for the Starters Challenge which Brodie had qualified for last year. He started really well and was the fastest dog until the point that he fell off the seesaw! Awww poor Toad had a wimpy moment as the seesaw was pointing towards the crowd and it just spooked him. I made him go back on it and he was fine although he went into the wrong end of the tunnel as you can see him on Lians video looking at the crowd. He came 2nd in the final last year but was really affected afterwards and wouldn't run at all the next day. In fact it took over a month to get him running properly. I was hoping that the same wasn't going to happen this year and I'm pleased to say he was brilliant on sunday so major relief! Whereas many people struggle with contacts or weave entries, I know that Brodie is far more likely to spook at a judge running too close or someones dog barking at the ringside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=docWjOlPRA0
We went back to Catton Hall on sunday to the Derbyshire show. Brodie was really on form, winning his graded 5-7 agility, getting 3rd in graded 5-7 jumping and a 4th in graded 4-7 jumping. That means that Brodie has now got 3 of his wins towards grade 7!! Although the show was in the same place as last weekend, the classes were much bigger with almost 50 in grade 6 mediums so I'm very proud of Brodie as there were some very good dogs there. Brax did a lovely agility run and then just missed her dog walk contact again (conact school asap!!) She did some fast clears in some other classes but missed out on a place. We are having a weekend off next weekend before the manic august and sept shows start! I think the dogs deserve a well earned rest too!
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Adams agility show
We had a busy weekend away at Catton Hall for Adams show and didn't get home until Monday hence the lack of blog updates! The dogs were travelling in style in their new car crate
The poor dogs were definitely ready swop us for new handlers on sunday! We had a cracking graded 6-7 course which had tunnels under A frame and dog walk and required the ability to work your dog at a distance. It also included the weaves and dog walk twice each! I was so proud of Toad as he was one of the few dogs to get round all the tricky bits and he was fast and clear until I pushed him over the start instead of the finish - arrgghhhh!!! I knew there was a chance of that happening and I had meant to be on the other side of the dog walk but he surprised me by working faster than I had anticipated. I was very proud of him working so well despite me!! Brax got a jumping win on the sunday but her and Matthew really got it together on Monday winning the G7 agility and jumping and getting 3rd in the helter skelter. This is a video from my phone of her jumping win on Sunday
Brodie ran like a star in the Graded agility and won by over two seconds, I can't believe he has a second Grade 6 win already! He was going nicely in the jumping and unfortunately I just dropped my arm on a 90 degree turn and he did what he was supposed to and came in to me. It was my fault for trying to front cross before the weaves whereas I should trust that I can rear cross on the weaves (which he did perfectly after he'd been eliminated). He ran well in the helter skelter and was clear but just out of the placings.
There wasn't any videos of Brodie doing agility but I thought I'd video one of his little habits that makes me laugh! He has this funny quirk about rubbing like a cat on the feed bins at work - it always concerns me that he likes the Bakers one best!!
The poor dogs were definitely ready swop us for new handlers on sunday! We had a cracking graded 6-7 course which had tunnels under A frame and dog walk and required the ability to work your dog at a distance. It also included the weaves and dog walk twice each! I was so proud of Toad as he was one of the few dogs to get round all the tricky bits and he was fast and clear until I pushed him over the start instead of the finish - arrgghhhh!!! I knew there was a chance of that happening and I had meant to be on the other side of the dog walk but he surprised me by working faster than I had anticipated. I was very proud of him working so well despite me!! Brax got a jumping win on the sunday but her and Matthew really got it together on Monday winning the G7 agility and jumping and getting 3rd in the helter skelter. This is a video from my phone of her jumping win on Sunday
Brodie ran like a star in the Graded agility and won by over two seconds, I can't believe he has a second Grade 6 win already! He was going nicely in the jumping and unfortunately I just dropped my arm on a 90 degree turn and he did what he was supposed to and came in to me. It was my fault for trying to front cross before the weaves whereas I should trust that I can rear cross on the weaves (which he did perfectly after he'd been eliminated). He ran well in the helter skelter and was clear but just out of the placings.
There wasn't any videos of Brodie doing agility but I thought I'd video one of his little habits that makes me laugh! He has this funny quirk about rubbing like a cat on the feed bins at work - it always concerns me that he likes the Bakers one best!!
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Puppy pictures - awww!!
Matthew and I were sorting out some of our photos the other day and I found some adorable pup pictures! Seeing as I didn't start this blog until they were competing, I thought I'd pop a couple on here (also it may help my case for number 3..!)
Brodie was 10 weeks when we collected him but right from day one he liked sleeping on his back with his feet in the air! This is him relaxing at Brax's first agility show
This is Brodie age 4 months at his first 'Sheltie Camp'
Monday, 19 July 2010
Rugby Show
The dogs were at Rugby show this weekend and Brax was doing both Champ class and the Crufts team qualifier. Rugby is a big show and it has a very high standard of competition as there are a lot of qualifiers but it still manages to retain a nice atmosphere. Although I wasn't there to cheer on the saturday, Brax managed to get through to the champ final but unfortunately got eliminated due to a handler error! Matthew ran Brodie for me on the saturday and they got a 4th in the G1-7 agility - Yay go boys!!
Brodie and Brax did really well on the sunday, no placings but all clear rounds, including on a tricky C6-7 jumping course. I'm loving the challenge of doing some of the trickier courses and seeing how different people handle it. All the Sheltie Club teams did really well in the qualifiers, it was a case of nearly but not quite!
I have been busy today driving round the M25 and M4 to have a new dog tailguard fitted so that the shelties can have the run of the boot! It looks fab and I can't wait for the next few shows to try it out!
Brodie and Brax did really well on the sunday, no placings but all clear rounds, including on a tricky C6-7 jumping course. I'm loving the challenge of doing some of the trickier courses and seeing how different people handle it. All the Sheltie Club teams did really well in the qualifiers, it was a case of nearly but not quite!
I have been busy today driving round the M25 and M4 to have a new dog tailguard fitted so that the shelties can have the run of the boot! It looks fab and I can't wait for the next few shows to try it out!
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