March Freeze

25th March and it feels like -6 outside with the ground covered in snow! we have our fingers and paws firmly crossed that the ground clears before the weekend, however I doubt it will and i'm afraid the Bretford will probably have no choice.
We took Brucie and his little friend Islay to their first Dave Munnings course on Friday morning, it was seriously cold (well for me as a spectator) but they were both little stars, and so much fun to watch, they saw lots of new things and both Amy and Sally came away with lots of homework before the next on in a months time.  We spent the rest of the weekend at the training barn, Saturday was our club match, we had entered 3 dogs, Rupert, Summer and Ruby, Both Ruby and Summer did really well, with Ruby gaining a 2nd place in the steeplechase and Summer comming 4th in the agility.  Rupert although was brilliant in most ways was knocking more poles than normal, perhaps the lack of training over the past few weeks has made a difference but I have to admit to being REALLY dissapointed.  Sunday was the Barn show, again Summer and Ruby were really good, just having the odd pole here and there, and again Rupert knocked lots of poles!! but I had taken Maisy who was a star, I had forgotten just how mad she was, and at 9 years old I couldn't ask for more, god that dog can shift.
Lots of fitness training this week for Rupert, we then have a 3 hour session with Dave Munnings on Thursday and then we may or may not be heading for the Easter show.

Blinking Weather

Rupert is all back to normal now after his op, so we are starting back to training this week.  We have a match on Saturday and a little show at the barn on Sunday which Maisy is going to LOL that could be fun! 
Brucie is growing really fast, he's on the floor now, getting into mischief.... but such a lovely young man, Amy has started her local puppy classes, it's the 2nd one tonight, and she has her first foundation class with Dave Munnings on Friday, so there will be lots to talk about after the weekend i'm sure.
We went to the last Bitz and Bobz show of the season yesterday, Amy took Ruby and Summer, both dogs ran quite well, Summer has some blinding moments of brilliance followed by plenty of can't really be bothered moments! which is obviously frustrating for Amy, however we are looking forward to taking her to the outside shows, so long as they don't get cancelled, I just have a gut feeling we may be staying at home for easter if this Blinking weather doesn't buck it's ideas up!! very depressing....

Playdates

Brucie had his second playdate with his new girlfriend Islay, she's a lovely blue merle collie who's just 1 day older so an ideal play pal.  After a lovely play session they almost stood still long enough to get some pictures, here is our favourite one, he just looks so cute.

Rupert had his op on Tuesday and all went well, I keep checking and he doesn't seem to have any infection, however we have an appointment at the vets tonight for a check up and then again next week.  Apart from him being a bit peed off with me on Tuesday evening he seems to have forgiven me now :-) so he's getting a two week holiday from training, means he'll miss out on the next Laura training session, but i'm sure we'll catch up.

Training starting to pay off

Brucie is now 9 weeks old and everyone seems happy about his presence.  Summer and Rupert have decided he is quite a good little playmate, we just have to watch he doesn't get too bedraggled by them.  Above is him (centre) with his litter sister Jess (left) and Luna (right)  taken yesterday at Bitz and Bobz show.  He had a great day out having lots of cuddles and meeting lots of people and puppy friendly dogs.

We have done quite a lot of training recently, trying to concentrate on a more in front style of handling - which I like A LOT. seems to suit our partnership.  Amy had a 3 hour training session with Anthony Clarke on Saturday and I went along to watch, Now Anthony is a 21 year old young man, who quite frankly puts some of his peers to shame!, he is knowledgeable about his subject and gets the message across without patronising you or feeling the need to spend time describing how wonderful he or his dogs are, so well done Anthony, and also Amy and Summer who worked brilliantly all afternoon came away feeling very positive.

Yesterday we had decided to take Summer and Rupert to the Bitz and bobz show, the first agility course wasn't good for me so I decided to train my contacts and Rupert was very good, Summer was great apart from a couple of silly mistakes, in the jumping Summer was spooked by something, it did appear they had moved the horses but whatever it was she didn't like it, still trying for Amy her mind not on the job, however she certainly pulled it out the bag in a tricky 4-7 agility class going clear and coming 4th (clever girl) Rupert had a couple of poles in the jumping and although I gave him mixed messages in his agility he worked fantastically well on the difficult jumping sequence and I came out thrilled with him, he then went on to have a lovely clear in the steeplechase to end in 2nd place, just a couple of late commands by me took the win away, so we came home very happy.
Tomorrow Rupert is being castrated, although I still have mixed emotions about it, it IS the right decision, his temperament just isn't right and there are plenty of stud dogs in the world so I think he will be a  much happier dog in the long run, so he is now on a training holiday, I'm not sure how long for this will be determined by our vet.