Tuesday 30 March 2010

Kennels and stuff

Well the indoor kennels are now finished and I've ordered my fencing so hopefully in the next 2 weeks the outdoor run will be finished too. Now all I have to do is build up the courage to actually put the dogs outside at night!!! but I have decided that from Sunday night onwards Maisy, Rupert & Summer will be sleeping in the Kennel.Rupert is nearly 13 weeks old now and his training is up and down, he is nowhere near as quick to learn as Summer was but once he has it he seems to have it good. I'm doing plenty of target training which I am hoping to use for the 4 off contact method when he's big enough for agility, I have used a version of Dawn Weavers 321 go wait commands by using ready, steady go, so I throw his toy and then say "Ready, Steady Go" and he is allowed to race to get it on the "G" of Go and today I also used this for his recall but saying "Ready, Steady, Come" instead, this really worked well as he gets so excited he races in and ends up in a lovely close present looking up for his click and bit of cheese. I've had to progress to cheese as he was getting bored with his own food for treats and kept telling me he had had enough and sitting by the door!!! obviously I played another training game before I let him finish but oddly enough he hasn't done it once since the reward has been upped to a suitable level.

This week I have made an effort to start jogging with Maisy!! it's nearly killing me, but I have a training schedule to follow so with any luck I should be up to running 3 miles in the next 6 weeks! or I might just still be walking - Who knows but at least we are still having our 1-2-1 time even if i am to puffed out to talk to her!

Amy and I have a really busy weekend ahead of us, infact we have a really busy April ahead, Friday we are off to Leicestershire Amy has an obedience show on Friday followed by the Midland Border Collie Clubs Utility day on Saturday and their Obedience show on Sunday, this will be the first time we will have put up the new awning I'll try to take some photo's if we manage to errect it before nightfall! then on Monday we are at Solihull riding club for a day of agility followed by an Easter Egg hunt at my parents house! if that isn't enough this is all followed by weekend camping shows throughout April - Fun times ahead!

Monday 22 March 2010

Start of the season


This weekend was officially the start of our agility season, Saturday we were at the Peterborough show ground for the team and pairs challenge, it was a miserable day and our results reflected this, all of the dogs were E'd at one point or another all down to bad handling! but it was a good practice for yesterday which was BCCofGB show at Newark, we had decided to take Rupert along for a bit of socialisation and he was indeed a showstopper. Amy ran both Summer and Dylan in all 3 classes and was very pleased with the results getting 1 clear with each and only a couple of silly faults in both of the other classes, Maisy did great contacts appart from flying the see saw in both classes, the trouble is I didn't steady her before she approached which meant she had little choice at the speed she took it I think her brakes just failed her. and she has started to pop out of the last two weaves in her rush to continue the course so a little more practice required for bothe of those issues, appart from that she had a great jumping round only taking 1 pole, if it wasn't for that she would have easily won the class and taken us into grade 2! Ellen also had a near miss getting a 2nd in the agility with less than .5 of a second, his little twist cost them dearly but it does go to prove it's only a matter of time for both of us.

Congratulations must go to Lucy and Milly, who had a great first show, no clears but they certainly didn't look out of place and Milly was very well behaved, looking forward to seeing you at many more in the future, and also to Jo and Kody who had 2 top 10 places in grade 3, looks like Kody is shaping up to be a confident mali just like the others.

April is set to be a busy agility month so bring it on!..

Thursday 18 March 2010

Wonder Woman

Our good friends Jo & Craig managed to capture Amy's winning round on video - woop woop thanks it's great.


Tuesday 16 March 2010

Crufts 2010


What an exhausting 4 days!

Thursday - Breed & Handling - It all got a bit complicated as Amy, Summer & Amy's friend Lucinder went by car to the NEC and I followed by train so I didn't distract Summer in the ring! well it seemed to work as the Handling class entered the arena Summer was blissfully unaware I was at the show and therefore wasn't looking out for me in the crowd, It was a strong class with some top handlers in but Amy showed Summer off brilliantly and made the final cut, Sheila and I were very excited but managed to keep fairly quiet whilst the Judge made up her mind and placed them in order, Amy came 4th and we were all over the moon. following this Amy took her to the breed ring and as we thought was not the Judges type!! but we stuck around to watch Ruperts Daddy Teds who I am proud to say won his class, Rupert was obviously over the moon.Saturday - Flyball
We arrived at the NEC nice and early as the flyball started at 9am! all the dogs and handlers were excited and we were drawn against our friends Nuneaton, we knew this would be a really hard race and we weren't wrong. we lost the first leg so decided to unleash our secret weapon "Ronny" this year Ben was handling him he was first dog and stood on the line, the Judge asked if he was ready and she blew the whislte - Sadly Ben had forgotton to take his lead of which was wrapped around his hand resulting in another loss and us being knocked out of the competition! we all took it in good spirit and everyone enjoyed the experience, although I think Ronny was a bit confused to have travelled to a show and only get 1 race!! still i don't think Ben will ever live it down!

Sunday - Dogstable & Best In ShowAgain I arrived seperately for this event and made my way to the ringside, the Dogstable is a combination of agility and obedience meaning the agility dogs had to calm quickly for the obedience parts of the course, both Kathryn and Amy had qualified at Discover Dogs in November and both did lovely clear rounds and the placings came in with Kathryn 6th and Amy winning, we were over the moon, Summer was a real star and has done us proud at her first Crufts.



Wednesday 10 March 2010

Weigh In

So today Rupert had his final vaccination before he begins on his new adventure into the big hopefully not too bad world. I had him weighed and he is now 7.7kgs so he has managed to put on 2.3kgs in a fortnight! there is no doubt that he's going to be a very big boy. Summer is all spruced up and ready for the show ring, she will just have her final bath tonight and then it will be an early night in preparation for her Crufts debut tomorrow, I might even give Maisy and Dylan a quick flick over with a brush before Saturdays flyball. Amy and I have been finalising our shopping list which just seems to get longer and longer, especially as the new kennels are arriving on the 24th March, they are no good if I haven't got the run sorted out.. so I've got to look at astro turf and some kind of dog friendly mesh fencing pannels not to mention all the things I need for Rupert - I'm not sure 4 days will be enough! Right I'm off to charge up my camera batteries ready for 4 days of fun with my dogs and good friends, updates as soon as I can.

Monday 8 March 2010

So Much to do!

Time is just flying by, Crufts is only a few days away and there is so much still to do, tonight Summer is off to see Sheila for her final trim before the big day, and little Rupes is tagging along to have a cuddle with Grandad Chris and for Sheila to check him over for spoilt spots!
The Brickyard Babies had their first and last flyball training session before the finals on Saturday and I'm pleased to say they were all paw perfect, and Amy even has her outfits organised (just waiting for the shoes to arrive). Tomorrow evening we are having our Crufts nails done and Wednesday is Summer's bath night. so it's all go leading up to the big event.
NEWS.... Jo and Keisha have qualified for the World Champs in May the top 8 dogs qualify and Keisha & Jo ended up in 3rd place, not only that but Keisha was also awarded the top grade 4 BSD award, we are so proud of you both what a well deserved start to 2010, we can't wait to be on the sidelines watching you through the season ahead.
Finally - Good luck to all our friends competeing at Crufts this year, a few to mention:
Jo and her Mali's
Ellen & Hamish
Alice & Smartie
Kathryn & Jess & Diesel
Jane & Robbie
Hils & Sheila with Ruperts daddy Teds
Anne & Gloria

and anyone else who I may have accidently ommitted!

More updates as they happen over the next week XX

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Pupdate

Well Rupert has now been at home nearly 2 weeks, he is so funny with his little ways, and because he is such a little piglet his training has started very well. I give him 5 minutes everyday concentrating on what he does natrually, so far he has a lovely sit and down, he natrually touches my hand with his foot so we are developing that and he will touch my left hand with his nose even if the treats are in my right hand and he will gor through my legs if I'm sat on the floor a bit like a tunnel, so lots of little bits and pieces to be starting off with. it does sound very young to be starting his training but remember these are all things he does anyway so he doesn't think of it as training and thats the way I intend to keep it.
Maisy and Summer spent the day with the Midlands Border Collie Club on Saturday as examples of the breed for the Judging assesment, each dog had to be judged 3 times and both were very well behaved, especially Maisy who has never even stepped foot in a breed ring! and there were moments when she looked at me as if to say, "Why do I have to stand up when lying down is much more comfy?" we had a lovely lunch and finally left to pick Rupert up from my sisters after 4pm, when we arrived Uncle Smartie looked exhausted, he had, had a great day playing with his little nephew and both boys were worn out. Tomorrow Rupert is 9 weeks old so I'll try to get some more pictures, Crufts is just over a week away so we are busy preparing Summer and have a Flyball training day on Saturday before the big day.