Moan Moan Moan

I was going to save this post for my end of year round up, but recent events made me decide to post now and get it out of the way! As competiors in the lower grades of Agility any place or even a clear round are very precious to us, this usually means something we have been struggling with in training has clicked, or for some, a very long awaited win, with a dog who has been on the brink for a long time has finally come. In the main peoples comments are genuine and very warmly appreciated by those who recieve them, however occasionally there will be ther person who's comments are not necessary and actually quite hurtful when Clare won at Preston we where all thrilled, it was so well deserved, a person whom I have always tried to be supportive of made the comment that it was easy to win out of grade 2 but 3 was a different matter!! Actually Grade 2 was not easy to win out of with Charlie, and it was testement to the hard work that has been put in that won the day. There are also those people who hover outside the ring eagerly waiting for you to put a foot wrong so they can gleefully tell you about your bad handling, you are not doing me any favors, up to now I have accepted their comments and moaned about them afterwards, but no more, do you not think I am aware that my dog broke it's wait? after all I was stood their in the ring right next to her, I possibly even watched her do it, and decided in the nano second I had that I would carry on, do you think I was unaware of the various handling errors I made? but what you were unaware of is that I came out of the ring albeit dissapointed with myself but extatic that my dog was unaware of my mistakes and had a ball regardless, I was thrilled that on this occasion she blasted through the weaves without fault and turned left on my command from a distance, all of these things you missed! In the very wise words of Winnie The Pooh, "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all". On the other hand, next season I will be making the time to watch more rings in the hope I get some free training tips!! and if I watch your round and find myself impressed I will comment afterwards and it will be because I mean it. If you have been guilty of making negative comments to me in the past, I hope you are a brilliant handler because I will be watching you and when i say nothing to you outside the ring you'll know why!

Trainers!!
What I look for in a trainer be it for Agility or obedience firstly is someone whom I can get along with, it doesn't matter if they are ticket handlers, I have a friend who doesn't even run a dog who has given me some fantastic advice, and I have travelled hundreds of miles for a lesson in the freezing cold, however I am learning all the time what makes a good and bad trainer, I think we should all have an ever increasing list which we should add to each time we encounter a new experience. Recently a friend of mine was told by a trainer that her dog was un-trainable and she should get another dog to start from scratch with! he has had issues with his contacts either jumping them or creeping slowly to them, I know this dog very well and in my mind he is confused, he always tries to please and clearly just doesnt understand exactly what we want, the girl that owns him is 16 and to be told that her beloved pet was not suitable was heartbreaking. You can make your own mind up which list this trainer now falls under, I personally found it shocking and this dog will not be retireing as we now have a point to prove, but we will do it with love and motivation.

Hopefully a much happier post next week after Wyre on Saturday, Maisy was excellent at Yvonnes on Tuesday, Ronny was so funny but I'll save that for another day.