Bridge House
Wow well Dolly spaniel obviously thought that Grade 3 was rubbish as she went and won into Grade 4 straight off! We went to Bridge House in Surrey and the classes were a decent size so I didn't think we would even place with some held contacts but she came 2nd in the 1-3 agility and won the graded 1-4 agility! Superstar girly :-) Sparkle did some lovely work and I gave her faults by patting her on her seesaw.
No videos but this is the course that Dolly won!
And this was Sparkles course. I managed a blind between the A frame and jump 3, her wing wraps on jump 7 and 9 were really tight and I managed to rear cross the weaves :-) I also got a blind in on 13 and sent her out to 18 so I was ahead on her dog walk which she did beautifully-it really all clicked and was a fab course!
Letchworth
I took the medium crew to Letchworth for one day and two of them did very well! Sparkles first run involved flying off a seesaw (wooden one) at high speed and landing in a heap. Luckily Sally and her magic physio fingers were there and sure enough she was sore in her shoulders :-( Dolly did a lovely run in her first agility but self released on the A frame so got put back on. I have decided to teach her a running A frame over winter as I think it will be more fun and motivating for both of us! Her next agility run was better but she got marked a refusal but still ended up fastest 5 faults and 6th in a huge class-clever spanner! She was 8th and just out of the placing in the jumping. Mr Toad got eliminated in jumping but I didn't walk the course! He ran well in the agility and ended up 4th on a fast blasty course-not bad out of 70 odd dogs!!
It has been such a wet week-having to dash out for walks between showers and sometimes failing! I managed a dry walk with my two where I could actually take some pictures and the bonus was that we had all the fields to ourselves!
I love this picture of Toad and Sparkle-she looks so goofy and he is so cute :-)
One of the few pictures of Sparkle that show the white patch on her bum that has faded so much
Toad was getting bored of having his photo taken!
Brodie and Bracken waiting for dinner
Brooke is doing well, the physio is happy with her progress so she has to go back to the vets in the next couple of weeks as her three months rest is up. She has been doing her wobble cushion work very well and it is the highlight of her day!
I am still taking her out and about to watch the world go by, this time Bracken joined us for coffee on the common!
And Brooke just LOVES being a pub dog!!
I have Dolly staying on a sleepover tonight as we are off to a party tomorrow-she does make herself at home! It is her first show as a proper Grade 3 dog-can't wait!
I took these at lunchtime today-so funny :-D
I went to Adams show last weekend and Sparkle was very clever winning a C4-7 jumping!! She had a fun day out popping up to the Flyball Champs up the road and meeting her breeder, Grandpa Viggo, and brother Bertie. Brodie was hilarious and was shouting his head off at the dogs running. I also now have a few people wanting Sparkle babies if we were ever to breed from her! I tried the Beginners Steeplechase qualifier with her at HADS and she had two poles but the fastest time. She went so fast that she broke the new e-gility system as the guy who invented it came over to tell me she had logged an 'impossible' time! She is finally getting to training speed in the ring which is making my timing easier.
Last week the dogs all had a check up with their lovely physio and to be honest I thought Brodie might have a niggle or two but Spark was the most broken poor girly. Her pelvis was out, her back was sore as a result and her shoulders were really crunchy and tight. She had some laser treatment and manipulation and was to have strict lead walking for the rest of the week. Brodie was a bit tight over his lower back and Brax had a sore spot on her back. Ironically Brooke bean was the best out of all of them and was just there for her weekly laser!
During the week we put Brodie in with his wife to cheer her up...he is such a gentleman! What a sweet couple :-D
The dogs had had the all clear to compete at FAB on Saturday...less said about that the better! Spark did manage to keep poles up and win a steeplechase but couldn't weave so she went back to physio on Monday and had a sore rib. Poor girly! So its the night before KCI and I haven't done ANY training for over two weeks...doesn't bode well!! At least I should have a fit dog, fingers crossed :-)
Brodie, Sparkle and I went to Rally on Sunday. It was Brodies last Level 2 and Sparkles first L2. The competition was fierce as it was open to L2's only (no Level 1's) so the standard was higher than I have been used to. Brodie was awesome and got 207 out of 210 and came 5th!! He is now Chandling Ebony Charge AW(G) RL2.Ex
Sorry for the lack of pics, my phone has died so I have an old brick and it doesn't take pics!!
Again I have been naughty about blogging-I do apologise! So much has happened in the last few weekends so will try and summarise :-) Firstly well done to the ESSC (sheltie) Medium Team who are off to Crufts next year! Brodie is reserve on the team so he gets to go along and cheer his mates on!! The focus for winter will be keeping him fit and his muscle tone up, he loves his pink wobble cushion and I love this pic of Brax photo-bombing!
Sitting looking so happy out on a walk :-)
Brodie says mouse hunting keeps you fit too!!
We went to Kelluki UKA show at the beginning of July, mostly so Brax could do Masters and I could do some NFC contacts in the ring with Sparkle. I did one competitive run in gamblers which she won and got a pretty pink lead as a prize! Brodie came 2nd in a tricky champ jumping and Dolly spaniel came 3rd in steeplechase!
The weekend after we stayed at home but did a gridwork workshop at my field. Blaze and Squidge took part in their first ever workshop and did really well running over jump bumps. This last weekend we both went to Rally, Matthew and Brax doing level 1, Spark doing her last level 1 and Brodie doing level 2. It was Matts first time doing a whole course as he hadn't even practiced a whole round but they did so well and ended up with an excellent score of 196 and 5th place, beating Sparkle into 6th place by one point! Spark was a bit distracted having her Daddy there but still got a score of 195 meaning she is now Reivermorada Fiery Angel RL1.Ex! Brodie got 195 as well in his Level 2 and came 3rd-what clever doglets!
Here is Matthews round with Brax
Brooke enjoyed being carried round the rings to watch and meeting up with some shelties!
I took the medium crew to Empingham agility as well (Spark, Brodie and Dolly spaniel) I was soooo pleased with all three! Sparkle had an amazing run in the agility, nailed all her contacts and weaves and just did a wrong end of tunnel. In jumping 4-7 jumping it was just a pole and a refusal in the 1-4 jumping. So pleased that she managed weaves in all her classes and although she is still less focused and fast than she is at training we are starting to get it together in the ring. I keep reading on facebook about dogs younger than her that are already G7 and wondering what the hurry is??! Anyway, Brodie did me proud on a tricky agility course where he stopped in position on his dog walk and stayed there with a tunnel tempting him! So clever! Dolly spaniel was the star of the day tho and won a C1-4 agility by a very convincing 2 seconds making her Grade 3!! That means that she can finally enter graded classes and come to more parties :-) She also got her Flyball dog graduate award-such a multi talented girl!
I have started teaching turns on the dog walk with Miss Sparkle and am pleased so far with how she is working out her striding. The picture below shows straight on runs on the left hand side. The right hand pics show a turn each way. Photos aren't great quality as taken from a video :-)
Naughty blogger! I have got behind a bit, probably due to keeping everything up to date on Facebook and Instagram and forgetting to blog! Anyway first news is that Brodie and Brookes boys are 6 months old today-Happy Half Birthday to the Braxway boys!! We are having a little party tomorrow so hope to put lots of pictures on here of them next week. I love seeing them grow and seeing how they differ from each other but how they have all got some of their parents traits (good traits I hasten to add!) As one of my pup owners said, she is so pleased that Blaze has his Mums work ethic and his Dads temperament and both their good looks-to be honest comparing them to their parents is the highest compliment Matt and I can be paid as breeders! We are really pleased with how they are all turning out and what a great job all their owners are doing with them :-)
Anyway that was off on a tangent! Last weekend I went to Milton Keynes show and ran Sparkle and Brodie. Sparkle did two jumps each day and Brodie did pairs with Helens Sweep on the first day and two runs on the second day. Mine aren't used to doing two days in a row and I was glad that they coped really well with the excitment, especially as the weather was so warm. Sparkle had a pole in her first jumping at Grade 4 but otherwise did a lovely run and made a minor whoopsy in the 1-7 but really pleased with her weaves in both classes.
Here was her G4-5 jumping. I cued her late on the pull in which is why she took the pole.
The J9-ers did really well with Jenni and Rommy winning the C1-7 Brillo Bounce qualifier and Sarah and Bailey winning Grade 1 jumping!! On the Sunday Sparkle did a stonking run in the G4-5 jumping and won it! It was one of those runs that just went to plan and felt amazing, lovely to start getting that connection in the ring with her and trusting her more. Our other jumping was not so good...green weaves straight after a tunnel...cue Sparkle looking confused and wondering what on earth I am talking about! Mr Toad did an awesome run in the agility to finish 3rd, just fractions behind Rommy-go J9 sheltie boys!! I don't have any videos from Sunday sadly. Here is the sofa picture-they look at bit miserable but I think they are just tired!
I took Dolly, Dixie and Sparkle to Kelluki on Friday as they had a practice ring with full aluminium equipment in it...and they allowed food in the ring!! I didn't enter Spark but played in the practice ring with her twice and she did beautiful dog walks, seesaw and weaves. Just the metal A frame that seems to be the issue now. Hoping to practice at a friends soon to give her more confidence. Dolly was running nicely considering the heat and came 3rd in a very fast Novice steeplechase! Dixie (Dolly's younger 'sister') was along to get measured and loved playing in the paddling pools!
Matt and I went back to Kelluki on Sunday so Brax could do Masters but sadly it wasn't to be this time as she got E'd in the jumping. Here is her Masters agility run which unfortunately the timer failed on so she had to do it all over again, poor Diddle! I missed the start and its not the best filming.
Brodie did a steeplechase and a jumping and managed to get 2nd in the jumping-love running my boy! He tries soooo hard bless him, only a second off the winner who is a collie! Miss Sparkle played nfc agility and we did gamblers for competition and she was hilarious, good thing there wasn't actually a course to do as she was wild but somehow managed to win it and got a pink lead! (The yellow rosette is Dollys)
Brooke bean is doing ok, she is visiting lots of places to hang out and people watch! She is good at having her bio mag therapy too :-)
And here are a few random pics from the last couple of hot weeks!
I took my two to compete at the Dog Barn in a Rally competition on Saturday, Brodie was doing Level 1 and 2 and Sparkle was just doing Level 1. It was a very soggy day so I'm really pleased that my Level 1 ring was indoors! It was a lovely show though and again I was struck by how friendly and helpful everyone is. They had lovely Rally themed cakes on sale as well!
Brodie was a total star! He was a bit unsettled in his Level 2 round as a car backfired and put him off but the judge was lovely, stopped the clock and let me take a second to settle him. He ended up 5th which I was amazed at! He did his Level 1 round like an absolute dream, so attentive and everything just flowed. Spark on the other hand I had to work hard to keep her attention and it felt much more messy. I could not believe it when Brodie came 2nd with 207 points (out of 210) and Spark won it with 208!! I had seen some amazing obedience dogs go round and they were sooo accurate but I forget that Rally isn't necessary about perfection, its about flow and connection with your dog and each judge looks for slightly different things.
My two having a rare moment of looking angelic!
On Sunday we went to MADS UKA show, mostly to do Masters with the older two and do some nfc with Sparklina, particularly aluminium dog walks as they are more of a challenge for her than wooden or plastic. I handled Brodie like a numpty and got E'd in both bits of masters, Matt and Brax on teh other hand came 2nd in both bit making them 2nd overall and qualifying for the grand finals again! Spark did some good nfc stuff too-love UKA for baby dogs!
Brooke bean is being a good girl most of the time and continues to stay so happy despite all of her restrictions. We had coffee on the comm on today and she loves people watching-she has always been very curious!
No wonder they made such gorgeous babies!
This is Spark BEFORE her weekly agility lesson! She was so cute all curled up that I felt bad waking her up!
And this is her having a race around the field today with Squidge...if you look closely you can see Toad mousing in the long grass!
Brooke has had many weeks of not being allowed to run around and do normal dog things so she has made some notes about fun things to do if you are restricted just in case other poorly dogs could get some tips...over to Brooke!
I am not allowed to do ANYTHING at the moment, I even have to go to the toilet on lead which is really embarrassing :-( Because I hurt my shoulder I have to be in a pen or a crate most of the time and am not allowed to walk or be loose in the house. I have a choice of beds in my pen as sometimes I like my bed with sides to put my chin on and sometimes I like my blanket so I can stretch out. I also have a special Back on Track bed that is therapeutic and I love sleeping on that in Dads office and in my crate at night.
Eating is the highlight of my day!! I love my food and its sad as I don't get to eat as much now as I'm not running around. My Mum and Dad have a huge variety of food toys for us doglets. Here are some of the toys I get my food in to keep me busy! Since I had my operation I haven't been drinking very much so my food has been really well soaked which makes it harder to get out of the food toys. Sometimes Mum is really mean and freezes it in my Kong toys-grrr!! You don't need to have fancy toys though, sometimes they put my food in a plastic bottle or a folded up bit of cardboard and I love ripping it up. I have used some fun food games too that involve pushing and sliding things but I got a bit too wild with my bad leg-oops!
I am having this thing called bio magnetic therapy twice a day at the moment. My lovely physio Sally has lent Mum and Dad a machine and I have started to associate this with sofa and bed time! I get to cuddle up on the sofa in the morning while Mum has her cup of coffee and at night time they let me curl up on the bed to be done as it takes 20 minutes each time. It is warm and nice and I often doze off having it!
If Dad is working from home then I hang out with him in his office for the day spending some of my time attached to him via a lead and some of the time in a crate. If I have to go with Mum in the car then I get my own crate on the back seat so none of the others bash into me and I get a hoof to chew on-yippee!! I love hooves and Mum says they are good for my figure as I can't eat them like most other chews :-)
Because of Mums job she is like a flea in a fit and we go all over the place! She takes me out and lets me sit watching the world go by. This is me and Brax having a picnic. Mum had walked my lovely husband Brodie and stupid Sparkle and they had got all smelly in the river so us posh gingers wanted to get as far away as possible! Mum let us sit out while she ate lunch. I am getting good at going to coffee shops too-Cafe Nero is my favourite...I can sit in if its nasty weather and sit out on the the common if its sunny. Otherwise I would get no fresh air! Dad is strong so that he carried me on a walk round the fields. It was nice to be out with everyone again. They say I've got to stay at the vets on Friday for another operation so wish me luck everyone.
My puppies cheer me up and they are now handsome 5 month old boys!! Here is a picture of each of them, so proud of my boys :-)
