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 😍

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! 

Puppies and agility...what to do when?

 I promised I'd do this so have got round to it finally! The answer is basically how long is a piece of string?! 😂😂 I think in many ways this is dog dependent but my last few dogs and clients dogs follow a rough plan. The most important thing is the partnership between dog and handler! What motivates them, if its toys then what sort of toys, rate their fav treats and work out what physical and verbal praise they like best too. 

Brooke as a puppy loved to put her feet on things so 2o/2o was easy!

With my dogs I let them off lead at a very young age in safe places so they learn to hang out with me before they get cocky! I also do lots of trick training and toy play (usually very early before the other dogs are up) I love this time and think it creates a really fun work ethic. I carry them all over the place but their first walks are usually just down the street a few metres to watch the world go by and on the front field where I work. Along side trick training with Branston I followed Dans Agility Geek videos for lots of fun foundation games that are geared towards agility. I did two different sets of puppy classes with him (one indoors and one outdoors) so he got used to working calmly in a group and ignoring the other dogs. I also booked onto trick workshops and puppy agility workshops when he was 6 months plus. Not to do agility equipment but to play the foundation games around other dogs, play tuggy, retrieve his toy and settle in his crate/the van between turns.

Spark doing proprioception work on a workshop

Branston started straight tunnels at around 6.5 months and jumps bumps at around 7 months. He first saw a pole on a jump, a curvy tunnel and did wing wraps at 8 months. His first session with poles on his jumps was a gridwork workshop and it set him up nicely for success! Bru was even later and did his first jumps at 9 months old. Bit different to our older dogs who did nothing before a year and then were expected to jump 35cm straight off! 

Both Bru and Branston learnt a lot of their skills on hoops first which was perfect as by the time they first saw jumps they already knew how to drive on in a straight line, turn left and right and do front crosses and rear crosses as well as find a little hoopers tunnel and go round a barrel. The only contact they 'do' at this stage is bang the bottom of the seesaw occasionally so they learn that planks move!

With the last three doglets I have started mat work for their running contacts around 8/9 months when they are pretty much fully grown. I don't see the point in doing it earlier as their stride length changes and they need to be quite coordinated to hit the mat at speed. Once they are happy doing the mat on the ground I try a low plank but mine haven't done full dog walks before 14 months. Usually once they have their dog walk in a sequence I introduce the Aframe around 16 months and the full seesaw is the last thing I do contacts wise but as they know about it banging its usually not too scary! 

With their jump heights it depends massively on the size of the dog! Pickle (big medium) did 10-15cm to start with about 8-10 months, 20cm 10-11 months, 25cm around 12-14 months, 30cm around 14-15 months, 35cm around 15-17 months and then finally medium at 17 months. Bru (quite small small) did 10-15cm from 9-11 months, 20cm from 11-13 months, 25cm from 13-15 months and then 30cm at 16 months but we still jump him 25cm in training a lot of the time. 

In general I like my young dogs to 'dabble' in various activities to get them focused and learning in different environments. Pickle has done tricks, rally, hoopers, agility and mantrailing and I think it has made him a well rounded dog who loves to learn! 

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 🐺