Adams and my Birthday Bonsai!

It was my birthday last week and I got well and truly spoilt! One of my pressi's was Bertie the bonsai from one of my friends. I am going to attempt to keep him alive for as long as possible as my track record with plants is not good! He is a Buddhist pine which is a type of Yew.

I took the medium crew to Adams agility for a day out and they did so well! Dolly was a little star winning her jumping class and her agility (with faults) so she is Grade 4 with two jumping wins! Brodie did a stonking couple of clears but was one out of the placings in each. Love my boy! Spark had an amazing run in the agility but got E'd on a jumping bit. Her contacts were great! She won a jumping class too and would have won the other jumping except for a pole. I think she is still building strength after time off with her hamstring injury.

 Brooke bean has been looking better this week and has had a couple of straight line runs off lead. She loves putting her feet up after a busy day!

As I had no lesson this week I took my lot to the field to do a bit with them (not Brax as she is still getting over being poorly)

Sparkly did some nice work, I have been running her in leg wraps to help her be more aware of her feet when jumping but they also make contacts easier to see!

Bluebells and Cheese!

 Matt has been practising with his camera, we had some beautiful bluebells in the garden and he got these shots of the doglets

I know there are two of Toad but he is so handsome and I couldn't decide! :-D Sadly little Brax hasn't been very well again. The antibiotics don't seem to be helping so need to go back to the vets :-(

Bailey collie came to stay over the past week and he is such a lovely house guest. My dogs all love him and he is so sweet. This pic cracks me up! He wouldn't drop his ball and my shelties were very uncooperative!

On Saturday we went to Hatton Agility Festival. Toad did Rally (his second Level 3) and was amazing...I however was not...I walked straight past a sign so got NQ'd! Brodie was non the wiser and thought it was great fun but was confused about where the jumps were! He did get to do agility later and was very very excited, one messy clear and a wild E in the agility!

Spark worked really nicely and won the C4-7 helter skelter :-) She won CHEESE! I am a huge cheese fan and her prize had a slate cheese board and crackers too. Unfortunately it was very hot and my car battery was flat so it took a while to come home so not sure what state my cheese will be in! 

Spark did her first competitive agilities in the ring and her contacts were lovely (particularly considering wooden contacts in one ring and aluminium in the other!) We got E'd in both for failing to go round a jump and both times I cued it badly! She had the fastest time in the 5-7 jumping but just a pole down. Love this pic that one of my Instagram friends took of Spark concentrating on her seesaw!!

Birthdays and FAB Kent

As Matt and his Mum share their birthday we have had a nice weekend off having a couple of treats! The first was that Matt had booked to take his Mum to The Grove near Watford for high tea...it was amazing! You can have as many different types of tea as you want and they were served in quirky teapots authentic to the country of origin. Matt and his Mum were more adventurous than me!!

 The sandwiches, cakes and scones were so good and we couldn't eat them all so took some home!

On Saturday we went to FAB show in Kent, Brax did the two IFCS qualifiers (snooker and jumping) and won both! Bless her, she was loving doing some agility again :-) Brodie won his senior steeplechase and Sparkle did some lovely nfc work coming back from her injury. Good day all round :-)

My two were watching a bird! Brax is the best poser :-) She was at the vets yesterday after being a bit off her food and having a gurgly tummy for the past day or two. She is on antibiotics as vet things he thinks she had gastroenteritis a while back and gets secondary pancreatitis that flares up. Hopefully the antibiotics will sort it. 

WBSDS show and Brooke off lead!!

With Sparkly being out with her torn hamstring I had a quieter couple of days at WBSDS which is a nice close show. I had Dolly and Brodie running on Saturday and only Brodie on the Sunday. It was good to see a few of the J9-ers running too! They all did me proud with good placings and lovely runs :-)

Dolly was really on the ball in her C3-5 jumping run and (touch wood!) we seemed to have cracked the weave issues as she managed them well. She came 7th out of 68 dogs despite a sniff so I'm pleased with her times too! Her contacts in the agility were nice but she self released on the seesaw so got put back on. Brodie was totally nuts! Unfortunately in both of his agility runs there were tunnels lurking under contacts which proved to be our downfall...homework! He was clear in both of his jumping runs, just out of the places in one and crazy and off on one in the other!! Here is the slightly more controlled run :-) At the age of 9 he has really got to grips with ketckers too!



The other exciting news is that Brooke came to the show and really enjoyed pottering around and chatting to her friends. She loved watching the action!

After almost four months of rehab and a year since she was allowed off her lead, Brooke had a little run across the garden on Friday. Might not seem like much but it made us very emotional! Her physio was happy with how she looks so we are allowed to double the distance.

Brodie and Brax had a nice walk yesterday with Brodies best mate Rommy, son Squidge and their mum Jenni. We went over to Jenni's and walked round the fields there which was lovely...shelties are such posers! 

Sparkle is still on lead walks and wearing a thundershirt or body wrap to make her more aware of her body as Sally physio would like her to do some agility training in it. She looks funny wearing it tho!

Yes Spark, I am laughing at you! :-D

Introducing Dino!

No we haven't got another puppy! Dolly's owner has a young working cocker called Dino that I went to pick up with her last year and he is now 8 months old. Unlike Dolly and Dixie he isn't going to go shooting but mostly do flyball with a bit of agility thrown in and she would love Matt and I to do some agility bits with him. He is a natural, a really quick learner and loves to do everything 100mph!

He still can't pose like a sheltie!

Here is a video of him doing a few puppy agility bits...his baby flyball work has really helped his agility work and vice versa :-)

A mixed bag!

So far the start of April has been a bit up and down. We had the ESSC Rally training day on the 2nd April and I took Toad and Brooke bean. Brooke thought it was an amazing day out seeing all the shelties especially her friend Rommy and son Squidge! She managed quite a lot of the exercises in the morning including some lovely trot work. Here is a short video of her doing some heelwork :-D

Toad as usual was a superstar! He worked on some of the harder Level 5 exercises including a retrieve and a angled recall over a jump (that apparently doesn't look like a jump as Toad struggled with this!) We are looking forward to doing some more Level 3 competitions this year. This was him in his crate at the workshop...Toad in the hole!! 

Brax and Spark missed out on the workshop so they had a nice fields walk instead.

The weather has been improving so I have been able to do more teaching. The dogs love joining me in the field and we can usually fit in some balance work which they love!  

I had Brodie and Brooke booked in to see our lovely physio on Friday for a routine check over. Luckily Brodie only had one tight spot and the great news is that Brooke is now allowed to do 30 mins walk three times a day! And...in a couple of weeks time she is allowed to go off her lead and do a couple of recalls Exciting but very scary!! *gulp*

 Spark had her usual Dan lesson on Tuesday and I wasn't 100% happy with how she was working. She had a couple of poles and some unusually wide turns and when I watched the video back in slow motion I could see she was dropping a hind leg a bit over her jumps. Nothing hideous but just not right...glad I am a paranoid owner as when the physio checked her over she found a wonky pelvis, sore back and torn hamstring. I felt like such a bad mummy :-( Spark loves to work bless her and doesn't give much away when she is sore. She is on lead walks, bio-mag therapy twice a day and stretches.

So at the weekend the only dog that could play agility in the field was Brax!! She took full advantage of being an only dog and even stole Sparkles toy to play with :-D

 I love this pic of Mr and Mrs! Toad had been snuffling in long grass!

March, the show season starts...and CRUFTS!

I have been so bad at updating the blog recently. I admit I have had a lot on my mind as I decided to sell Diva (or actually was pushed to a decision by the hasty departure of a field mate) My riding days are over due to lack of time and a very dodgy back and knee. I will be very sad to part with her but it is the right decision for both of us.

At least the weather is improving slowly and means I can get more training in. I took my two and Dolly spaniel to Dog Vegas show at the start of March and although I could only stay for the morning I still managed to squeeze five runs in! Brodie ran past the dog walk in both classes which is so unlike him but I think there were reasons for both (one was totally my fault!) Dolly jumped really well but weaves were our downfall and the dog that got 2 out of 2 clears was Sparkle! She won the Graded 5-7 jumping and came 2nd in the C1-7 jumping, so proud of her! Videos here

Then less than a week later Brodie and I had the excitment of Crufts!! Although being reserves we didn't get to run, we had the best time cheering on our team and were very proud of how well they did WINNING!! What a brilliant result and well deserved. Icing on the cake was getting to run round the main arena with Brodie for the lap of honour :-D What an experience! Third year that Jenni and Rommy who I train have made it to Crufts so very proud trainer as well! I haven't got a link to the video but its on the Crufts official channel. 

Here are some photos from the big day...

Toad trying on his amazing team kit, sponsored by Doggystyle

Toad and his best mate Rommy :-) Toad looks very serious and Rommy looks very happy!

Lian had these amazing cup cakes made with our dogs on them!

Blingy harness!

Pic courtesy of Linda Gore....me and Toad, Lian and Sonic, Jenni and Rommy, Chantal and Savannah, Sammie and Penny. Our team kit was sponsored by Agilitywear and the ESSC Working Section

After Crufts we looked after Maverick as his Mum was showing at Crufts. He settled in really well and thought Brax was worth flirting with! Shelties waiting for breakfast

And Mav, Mama Bean and Daddy Toad :-D