New cool coat!

Brodie got his new cool coat today and looks very smart wearing it. Typically the weather is now rubbish and cool coat may be redundant for this weekend! At least I'll be prepared! Brodie had a bath today and looks very posh, he had so much dead hair blasted out of him that he looks half the size!

There is a pic of my clean pony who also had a bath this week!

Catch up!

I have felt a bit lost for the past couple of weeks with no agility competitions to do! Having said that, I have had fun doing other things instead. Last saturday I went to Royal Windsor Horse show with some friends and we had great fun shopping and wandering round watching all the beautiful horses.

Brodie had a visit from the physio last week and she found that he was VERY tight in his hindquarters and back. He also had a sore patch behind his shoulders and in his neck. He wasn't sure to begin with but once Caroline produced some treats he decided that she wasn't too bad! She was great and as soon as she had finished he stood up, had a good shake and did his 'meerkat' impression to see what was on the table! He hasn't been able to do that since falling off the dog walk so it was so cool watching him realise that he could move again! His first competition since Vyne will be next weekend so it'll be interesting to see how he copes. He'll probably be wild!!

Brax had a fun day at BATS on saturday and did really well getting a 4th in the C5-7 agility and a 9th in the C5-7 jumping. Considering the size of the classes, she did so well. We have always said that she is solar powered though!! Huge well dones to Lian and Sizz, Megan and Hattie and Lisa and Tyler for their places. Sorry if I missed anyone out, its hard not being able to go when its such a local show!

Matthew and I had a very relaxing day off yesterday. We walked the dogs round the common in our village and there was a fete on which had morris dancers, stalls and a random cow grazing on the common! The dogs weren't bothered about any of it and I think the thing they found most exciting was meeting another sheltie!!

I went for a ride this morning for the first time in two weeks as Max has had a couple of niggles and has also had the physio out who found he was very tight in his neck. He was so hot after walking round the block that I gave him a bath. Wow did he need it! (I have tried to upload some photos but blog is not playing ball so they'll have to wait!)

Beacon and Tunbridge Wells

Brax has had a good but exhausting weekend going to Beacon on saturday and Tunbridge Wells on sunday. She did really well in the Champ jumping coming 4th but got an E in the champ agility. It is those pesky tunnels under A frames, so we must do some more work on obstacle discrimination! Clever sheltie also got a 6th in C5-7 jumping but unfortunately the small ESSC team didn't get placed. The medium ESSC team however, came 2nd so well done to them!

On the sunday, Brax did a very nice run in C6-7 agility to earn another 6th place and she went clear in the team event. I got to run her for the first time in competition in the C1-7 Olympia Agility which was great fun! And we went clear!! We were just out of the places but I was very pleased to get her round quite a tricky course. We have filmed some of her rounds but I haven't worked out how to put them on the blog yet! A big well done to Lisa and Tyler, Lynne and Hattie and Eleanor and Smo who all got top ten placings in the Medium Olympia 1-7.

As for Brodie, he is still not right. He was given a quick assessment yesterday at the show by a therapist who confirmed that he is very tight and needs a proper treatment. He is still not cocking his leg properly or trotting freely so I won't do agility with him until I know that he is 100%.

Brax 1st Champ Class!!

We have had such a busy weekend that I don't know where to start!! On sunday we went to the Sheltie Agility show which thankfully was inside as the weather was terrible. The dogs were soooo excited about all the other shelties being there! Many thanks must go to the working section committee, especially show sec Lian who had to endure the electronic timing not turning up (second time this has happened at sheltie show). We had a great time and Brodie did really well getting a 3rd and 4th (3-5 and 1-4) in the jumping classes and a 2nd in the agility (3-5). The icing on the cake was being awarded Best Medium Novice in show!! He won the Best Medium starter last year so I'm so pleased he is still consistent!! Brax was a good girly and won the pairs with Saturn and also got a 2nd in the 5-7 jumping and 2nd in the 6-7 jumping. After the show a few of us went out to a local pub for a meal which was a nice way to unwind and catch up!
On the Monday we went to Vyne KC show and had a day of mixed emotions to say the least. It was Brackens first champ class so poor Matthew spent the morning looking very pale and like he needed a couple of strong drinks! Brax had an agility class in the morning and despite being e'd early on, he carried on to make sure she got her contacts. Her jumping class was amazing, she absolutely flew and ended up 3rd in the C6-7 jumping against some very fast dogs despite it being a fast dog course without all the turns she needs to make up time!

Brodie on the other hand was not having such a great day. His first class was the C1-7 Olympia agility and the start was jump then dog walk. Well he went off like a rocket and I still don't know what happened but he fell off the top plank. I think it was the wind probably combined with him being in mid air and he isn't a heavy dog, weighing in at just under 7kg. I put him straight back over it as he can be such a nervous boy that I wanted him to 'get back on the horse' and he seemed fine going over again. Not surprisingly he is very stiff today especially through his back so I am going to get him looked at by a physio before I run him again. His wonderful Auntie Lian has lent us a Back on Track coat which is helping his circulation -thank you!! I just hope that when he runs again that he is not nervous about the dog walk.

Anyway, Brodie being out of action for his other two classes meant that I could concentrate on Brax doing her champ class. Matthew felt better having walked the jumping (oooh it was fun getting to walk it without the stress of doing it!!) and Brax went in there and did a stonking run going clear. It rained and hailed between the jumping and agility but fortunately stayed nice for Brax's agility round. I couldn't believe it, she went clear which put her through to the final! The final wasn't held until 6.30pm by which time everyone was frozen and wanting to head home but the Brax fan club were still going strong! We couldn't believe it but again she went clear in the final and ended up 7th which was only one out of the placings! She is the smallest, naughtiest little sheltie with the biggest attitude but we think she is the best girly!! We are so proud of her to come so far, from our first agility dog who would NOT weave or do contacts to going clear in a champ class!! We love you Brax :)
These runs were caught on camera by Colin and Lian

Scotland Trip!

Last weekend we went up to Scotland to visit my Mum and Dad and have a wee break in St Andrews where Kingdom of Fife show was on. Matthew and I met at St Andrews University ten years ago so it was weird being back there visiting old haunts, including Janettas amazing ice cream shop (52 flavours, oh yeah!!). My Mum lives a couple of hours north and my Dad lives near Edinburgh so it was lovely to see both of them over the weekend as we don't get up to Scotland very often.



















The dogs did really well over the weekend, Brax got a couple of wins at her first show as a grade 7 and also a 2nd and a 3rd. One of her wins was a stunning agility run on a very windy day and we wondered if she would manage to tip the seesaw! Brodie got a couple of 2nds and won the c1-4 agility which means he goes into Grade 5 at his first show in Grade 4. It wasn't quite the plan as I didn't want him to win out too fast but the agility he won was a bit quirky so some of the faster dogs struggled. Brodie seems to be more confident this year so hopefully we won't be too out of his depth once we get into Grade 5!

We met the cutest sheltie puppy that was for sale and I would have popped her in my pocket if it wasn't such a long way home. I couldn't resist a cuddle! We met up with a couple more gorgeous shelties and my Mum took this cute pic of what must be three of the smallest shelties and one of each colour! Brax is sitting with merle Ava and tri Ellie who is (Lians) Sizzles sister. Awwww aren't they sweet!

New Agility Arena!!

I'm such a bad blogger! So much has happened in the last couple of weeks that I don't know where to start!! We have been to Scotland to see my folks, done two competitions and had the new arena finished at work. I'm going to shamelessly advertise this new facility as I think its fantastic for agility training, especially with a young dog as its fully fenced. We (my boss, me and the other two trainers) did so much research for what surface to use and after debating for ages, we decided that artificial grass with a deep pile was going to be best for the dogs joints and for the humans running on it. We also teach a lot of puppy and pet dog classes so we decided against rubber or sand. I have run my two on it and its fantastic. Its 25x20m and we have a full set of equipment and also a 'mini' Aframe, dog walk and seesaw for younger dogs. I can see me being entertained in my lunch hours!!

Triche is hiring it out as well as doing classes for £20 an hour for up to 2 dogs (each subsequent dog is £5) or £10 for 30 minutes. The website for the kennels is www.littlerevelend.com and it doesn't have info on it about the arena yet but it does have contact details and a map. We will also be hiring it out for training days.

On the subject of work, we have an 14 year old Jack Russell in the kennels at the moment called Snowy who is looking for a home. His lady owner died and he has been taken on by Oldies Club which is a great charity specialising in rehoming veteran dogs. Unfortunately he didn't get on with the foster carers cats so he is staying with us at the moment. He is a very spritely 14 and certainly doesn't act his age!! He was recently castrated as he can be a bit too interested in the ladies and he is used to being an only dog so ideally he is looking for a quieter home where he would be the only animal. He still loves his walks and will happily potter around for an hour sniffing! If anyone knows a home for Snowy please let me know or call the kennel number 01582 794862.

Spring @ Shuttleworth and naked pony!!

Finally now the weather is a bit nicer, my pony is staying out 24/7 so no mucking out - woohoo!! He couldn't even be bothered lifting his head this morning when I went to get him, obviously not missing his cosy stable at all. I always that a field of spring grass for horses must be like us living in a house of chocolate!!
The dogs had Spring at Shuttleworth show this weekend, Brax did both days but Brodie only did Sunday. Sometimes I need him to do trick demos or help socialise puppies at work in puppy class. I'm sure he'd rather be doing agility though! They both did really well as it was a big show and there were some very good dogs competing. Brodie got a 3rd in the C1-3 agility and 3rd in the G1-3 jumping which I hadn't walked so it was a bit 'wing and a prayer!' I must apologise to my poor dog for me messing up the weaves in the TFO so he only got to do 3 obstacles!

Brax was flying (off her contacts in the agility!) in her jumping runs. She got a 2nd in G4-7 jumping and by far her best result was a 5th in the C1-7 jumping. There were some incredible dogs in the class so to even be placed was an achievement as the course wasn't a Bracken sort of course (not enough tight turns and twiddly bits to make up time!). She also did the TFO but wasn't placed as Matthew used it as a good chance to practice those darn contacts!!

Here is a rubbish video of Brax doing the C1-7, sorry my videoing skills are so terrible!



Matthew and I both had the chance to run someone elses dog yesterday which was great fun. Lian asked Matthew to run Sizzle in the C1-7 and bless him he did work for Matthew despite looking slightly confused at the start! Matthew really enjoyed running him as we only have one dog each and we never run dogs other than ours so its a good experience. Gladys asked me to run her cute terrier Benji in small TFO and he was fab! We got quite far round and were clear. I really enjoyed it and it was funny standing in the queue and running in the same class as Matthew!

Brodie was so tired yesterday evening that he fell asleep on his Bretford rosettes from last weekend (thats how badly I need to do some housework today!) He looked so cute I had to take a pic of him.When we were filling in Brodies warrant book we realised he has enough points for his silver warrant! In fact he needs less than 300 points to get his gold warrant! He is my little superstar :)