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
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 😍
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!!! 💜
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 🐺
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!
Poor Sparkle has been lame and has had to see her physio a couple of times over the last week. Her first rib needed to be manipulated and she had muscle spasms in her shoulder and neck. We think it was jumping out of the van that did it, I don't often let her jump out but assumed that because she was landing on grass it would be ok...apparently not! I have decided to give her a proper rest from agility for a month and then build her up again. She hasn't got any shows entered and hates a lot of the winter indoor venues so that makes it easier to rest her! She will be ten at the end of January (my baby can't be that old!!) so I will be careful with bringing her back slowly.
I'm hoping that she will be fine when I start running her at agility again but it is always at the back of my mind that she is injury prone and getting older! We have always had a gut feeling on when to retire our other dogs. Brax was retired at 11.5 years old when her eyesight started to go, Brodie was retired at 12 as lower height was disappearing and he is a teeny medium so I would never have asked him to jump higher again. Brooke was retired at 10 years old due to the weakness in her shoulder and although she is still running like a nutter we didn't want her to have the impact of jumping. She is now 11.5 and struggling with her eyesight in some situations. Mantrailing and hoopers (in good light!) are great for her!
We have also found that the longer the older dogs have off agility the harder it is to get them back into condition again. Their muscle tone drops soooo fast! So with Spark I'm going to give myself a kick up the butt to do lots of conditioning work to help on top of her usual walks. Watch this space!
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! 😮
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