Happy 2023!

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! 

Saying goodbye to Brodie

This is a post I have been dreading writing. I have just copied my Facebook post so sorry if you have seen it before but this is why I have been slow at updating my blog. I still have cry most days as I miss my beautiful boy so much but memories also make me smile. I have put some of my favourite photos of him on here from the last couple of years, including ones of his last agility and hoopers runs, some daft ones, posh ones and him just being the wonderful little dude that he was

Chandling Ebony Charge AW(G)

10/2/07-27/10/22

Last Thursday our precious boy fell asleep in my arms for the last time after a couple of strokes during the day. Words won't be able to sum up my dog in a million, he was my little tri shadow and my heart is sore and broken after 15.5 years of loving him

Brodie and I dabbled in rally, showing, obedience and found our true passion in agility. He got me from Grade 1 to Grade 7 and took me on some amazing adventures and to things we only had dreamed of He was a regular at demos at the local hospice, entertaining people and enjoying the cuddles afterwards. My stooge dog and wingman for behaviour work and puppy classes as he was so great and calm around other dogs. One of his greatest achievements was being Papa Toad to three beautiful boys

He was a beautiful soul inside and out, we weren't ready to say goodbye to him just yet but for his sake we are glad it was quick. Now reunited with little Bracken, his bestie and his son, run free gorgeous boy xxx

Pondering when to retire a dog?

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! 

Massive catch up!

 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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