Fresh Approach

Amy & Summer had a very educational evening last night, and we were amazed at all the little things we had let slip, so Amy came a way with plenty of homework and for once none of it should be very difficult as Janes new methods fit exactly with how Amy has been working on her own so the future looks bright. Maisy and I start Agility training in ernest again this weekend, I have been reading Dawn Weavers book Knowledge Equals Speed which I have to say has been a bit of an inspiration, I have found actually taking the time to sit and read this book has enabled me to really understand the reasoning behind it rather than blindly following it because it has been written by a top handler, today I have also ordered Susan Garrett's 2x2 weave pole dvd, Jo has been working with this method over the past couple of months with great success so I thought I'd give it a try and I'm sure all these new ideas will keep Maisy amused for hours.

Crufts is now only a matter of weeks away and looking at the state of Summer it is a bit difficult to imagine she will be joining the "Show" dogs on Working & Pastoral day but there she will be taking her well earned spot with the rest of them, we have been warned that Summer is probably not the judges type but to be honest this is the first time she has qualified in breed and therefore we will have a great day out and WILL be bringing the best border collie home even if the judge doesn't agree!! but I do fear a jolly good grooming session is on the cards sooner or later...

Now back to some training

Maisy has had the past few weeks off, and to be honest it's been a lovely treat to spend some relaxing quality time with her. Our daily routine has now changed due to Amy now working normal office hours which means Dylan, Summer & Ben have an early morning walk together with Amy & I and then after breakfast I get to spend half an hour walking Maisy before work, little does she know I'm working on her fitness, but I am determined this year to see if I can crack her stamina issues, not that it's ever a problem at shows because in true collie style she would literally run herself into the ground if I let her. Amy has decided that she would really like to get back into some serious obedience training with Summer, when she first had Ben we used to go to a lady named Jane Webb, she was absolutely brilliant not only as a trainer but also with a young Amy and Ben bringing the best out in them as a team. Janes methods have evolved over the past few years as have our own and tomorrow we are going to visit Jane to see how Summer gets on, this combined with their training at Rugby should stand them in good stead for the comming season. I'll post again on Thursday with an update.

Snow more!

Finally the snow has now all melted leaving behind plenty of mud!! funnily enough it only seems to be Summer who brings it back into the house! which has helped us decide that we are going to build a dog run in the garden, Steve wants a new mega shed so I have persuaded him that I could tag a purpose built outdoor run and kennel onto the back of it, my Idea is that if we use slabs and astro turf it will also be a mud free zone, and over time we might persuade the girls to sleep out there, at least during the warmer months, i'm sure they wont mind but I think the boys might have something to say if I asked them to sleep outdoors, they can't even sleep in the awning at a show!! such pampered pooches....
We are starting to enter all the agility and obedience shows again, it's a bit of a nightmare because all the schedules seem to be hidden until the camping has gone and then they suddenly appear on the main agility site!! I am slowly realising how to play the game, but it is very annoying having to spend so much time searching for illusive schedules!! and I'm not sure it's very sportsmanlike either?? Amy and I are really looking forward to the show season, it all goes very quiet over the winter and it feels like ages since we saw all our doggy friends, My diary is full already I think I only have 1 weekend off between Crufts and the middle of September!! I may have to re-think that it does seem a bit much and I really wanted to fit in a week away with Steve at some point!!! Poor Steve.

Snow

Well as expected Wilmslow show has been cancelled, I am quite relieved, the thought of driving all that way in the current weather conditions was a bit daunting, especially as our dogs would be travelling in the back of the truck in sub 0 conditions. So we opted for snow games instead, all of the dogs have really enjoyed the snow, Dylan always comes home looking like a little polar bear and he really loves getting a good towling down before his end of walk treat.

We still have loads of snow left in the village, I've borrowed my Dads camera for a few days so i'm making the most of capturing the snowy action.

Training

Today Ellen and Amy had a lesson, It was really good to see both Summer and Hamish so enthusiastic in their work and the girls certainly came home with very rosey cheeks. I really wanted to see if Ellen could cut the apron strings and let Hamish have a go at things himself and he certainly didn't dissapoint, his contacts will take a while to correct but we just started of with a few games accross the dogwalk which he really seemed to enjoy, next week I am taking it down so we will all be back to planks on the floor for the next few weeks.

Summer was very distracted by Hamish I think she was showing off!! but she has really sped up meaning Amy has to be much more alert as to her postioning and vocal commands, by the end of todays session both dogs were making some very tight turns and I'm really looking forward to the next lesson.