We're on the way

What an eventful weekend!! Saturday was a really mixed bag, contacts were very inconsistant Maisy missed weaves and Charlie decided he had no idea what a dog walk contact was! however Maisy didn't have any poles down and despite taking a 5 in his agility Charlie came 3rd, if he had just managed a toe on the bottom of the dog walk he would have won out!! Jo had some great runs with Ronny & Keisha but that illusive win just keeps slipping from her grasp, it's agonising waiting for classes to close but all those 2nds and 3rds prove it's only a matter of time. After a lovely relaxing evening in front of "Strictly" with a bottle of wine and 2 very tired dogs we woke up ready for another day. Maisy was as mad as ever so another tactic came to us, instead of keeping maisy away from the rings which wind her up I walked her round and round, eventually she seemed to get used to all the dogs rushing about and was much calmer as Clare queued for me, the grade 1 jumping round was a nice course and to everyones relief the judge decided to take the weaves out as they couldn't get the pegs into the ground.. Maisy went in about 4th dog and had her listening head on, she flew round with no poles in a time of 18.056 seconds it was a lovely smooth clear, after waiting what seemed an age Jo and Sheila indicated from accross the rings that I had won! so only one more Jumping win to take us to grade 2. I wasn't going to do my last agility round as she had been a bit naughty to say the least, but Clare and Jo persuaded me to train it, the little madam got all her contacts!!! but I pulled her off the dog walk entrance.. so you never know we might have an agilty win in us too one day...

The Newnes

Today Clare and I are off to Oswestry, we have decided to camp off site, not only so we can have electric hook up but we find it a whole more relaxing atmosphere for the dogs. We should arrive mid afternoon which gives us plenty of time to set up camp and enjoy the peace and quiet before the weekends competition. I'm really looking forward to this show as there are practice rings, this way I can reinforce Maisy's contacts before we go in the ring, she has been brilliant in training but quite naughty in the ring so a little reminder won't go amiss. Amy is out partying with her YKC friends, they are off to Alton towers, I think Amy is only going to hold the bags!! but I'll update next week, lets hope there aren't too many naughty poles this weekend.

Bromsgrove

I was lucky enough to get Friday afternoon off work so had plenty of time to get to the venue and set up, it was a lovely afternoon and after setting up camp and walking the dogs I still had time to relax and enjoy the lovely evening with Kathryn, Ian, Ellen and her mum Louise. On Saturday I had 2 agility and a jumping with Maisy and a jumping with Dylan, Maisy had a pole in the agility which was down to me dropping my arm and a couple of eliminations due to bad handling!!! and Dylan got faulted on his weaves, again down to me forgetting he isn't confident with off side weaves, I could even hear Amy telling me off in my head as he popped out halfway through!! in the afternoon I was speaking to Jo who had felt Keisha was running off par, so we all ventured down to the ring to watch her final jumping round, she looked stunning and I must admit I thought she had run brilliantly but Jo still thought she had been a bit sluggish, I checked the time and she was in the lead (Sluggish my foot!!!) after the class had closed we checked her place and she had won it, so thats 2 grade 4 jumping wins only one more to go for both Keisha and Ronny to be in Grade 5. Sunday was another day, I had decided to take Maisy in the Agility first, it was a nice course which I felt would suit Maisy, well it suited her just fine, she hooned around having a great time with no regard to any of the contacts and no respect for the weaves at all!!! i ended up taking her out of the ring to think about her actions!! what a naughty girl, thinking back it makes me smile, Maisy was just having a great time at my expense and it makes me appreciate more how much effort she puts in 80% of the time, bless her. Dylan had two lovely clear rounds in his jumping classes albeit steady but he had a great time and was a really happy dog all weekend, Maisy's last class of the weekend was the combined 1-2 jumping, it was a lovely course with a few draws, I had spent a little time watching friends run it so I knew where the real draws are that I sometimes miss in the mele of walking it with 200 people, Maisy went clear, it was a little messy and we ended up 2nd with a lovely bit of crystal to show for it.

Amy had two 3rds in her obedience, Summer was lacking drive which is what Amy wants to work on over the winter, she has really increased her drive in the agility ring so we know it's in there we just have to get it in heelwork, she took Ben and Summer to the beach on Saturday afternoon, Ben loves the sea and really didn't want to come home, we must take him there more often, apparently he was off as soon as he heard the waves.. Bless him.

Different Directions

This weekend Amy and I are off in different directions, Amy is heading off to Great Yarmouth for a weekend of Obedience, unfortunately she has drawn the short straw and will be in a tent!! whilst I'm off to Bromsgrove agility weekend, luckily I'll be in the warm caravan, and as it's only me, both Maisy & Dylan will be allowed to sleep inside. Dylan is also enterd in the jumping classes, it's been ages since I've run him at a show, he gets very distracted by all the demons in his head! but hopefully as the weekend goes on he might revert to his old form and get a clear, he's a very tidy jumper but he just hasn't done much recently and the handling technique is much different to how I now run Maisy so it might be fun to watch if nothing else.. Last night we took all the dogs to Janes for her monthly competition, Maisy was a little manic! and I ended up being eliminated, but it was my own fault, I gave her an extra command as she entered the weaves which bought her out and didn't commit to the last fence which confused her and sent her spinning in circles waiting for the correct command!!! poor child, Dylan had his spaniel head on so ran around with his head in the air and Summer was great but the spot light confused her as she approached the dog walk so she jumped off the side. Summer has been great in training and now Amy has startd to use the technique her friend showed her the concentration is much better and she has increased her speed and confidence.... just goes to show you what you can achieve with a little effort.

Wiccaweys Limit Show

I have been training my Niece Alice and her dog Smartie for the past few months, Smartie is Summers Brother. Wiccaweys had a small limit agility show not far away so we decided it would be a good opportunity to let Alice have her first go in the ring. Smartie and Alive were brilliant, only taking a couple of poles here and there and just a few mistakes which you would expect from a nervous first timer, all in all I was incerdibly proud of the two of them - Well done.

Amy had been to Coventry obedience show in the morning and had popped into the show Summer managed a cracking clear in the helta skelta, and she and Amy again looked like they were having a great time. I was a little distracted in the morning and didn't give Maisy my full attention resulting in a few silly handling errors, then in the afternoon we all missed walking the agility course which made me work that bit harder, but it paid off although a little messy in places we managed a clear and went on to win the class by 4 seconds!! Two shows two wins Woop Woop.. Yesterday they were running a fun dog show, so we took all 4 dogs for a fun day out, I had decided to take Summer in the obedience, she was working really nicely outside the ring but again my old obedience nerves kicked in and it all went to pot under the Judge!!! I came away remembering why I had given it all up!!! Amy and Ben came 2nd in the musical mats and Mum and willow gained a 3rd in the dog most like its owner!! they announced the obedience results during the afternoon classes and I didn't bother going into the ring but to my amazement we got 5th place!! Sara & Jess came 2nd and Anne & Crafty came 7th well done to you.

Another very worthy mention must go to Amy & Summer who were awarded Judges choice best junior handler in the Agility.. I'm very proud of you both.X