End of Term

Friday was Reno's last beginners session at NADTC. He now has to join a big boys class - How time flies, I hope my baby is ready!!!!
I'm pleased to say that his sores have completely gone and he is feeling a lot better. He'll be on Antibiotics for an other few days and his coat will take a long time to return to it's former glory but he is definitely on the mend.

Last weekend we went to two completely contrasting shows.

Saturdays was at a wet and windy Hargate (where we train with Jo Rhodes). As the courses were 1-7 we went thinking it would they would be a bit of a blast but when we got there it was clear that the courses were going to be tricky! Kiros finished 4th in Agility and 5th in Steeplechase.

We had a great day meeting new people but it has to be said that Sunday was even better catching up with old friends - both 2 and 4 legged!

Sundays show was at Newark, out first out door show of the year. Kiros's first run was early and, although clear, it was a bit half hearted and his mind seemed to be more on socialising then Agility. He was also clear in the combined 6/7 Agility but both runs were out of the placings.

Reno met up with Speedy (who loved him a bit to much! ) and his Daddy with Zippy. We couldn't find Speedy when we took the photo.

His Agility training is coming along nicely. Reno is getting a lot more confident about driving on over jumps and increasing the distance he works away from me. We've had a great couple of training sessions this weekend with Jo on Saturday focusing on his waits, which have deteriorated a little, and today with Lucy Osborne introducing drive between obstacles, which he responded to really well.

We are off to Norfolk on Friday morning for a weeks holiday. We normally go for the Agility Show in July but as they have moved it to June this year we thought we'd go for the Easter show. Unfortunately there aren't any Grade 6 classes scheduled so Kiros will have to run Anysize Jumping. I'm not sure how he will take to the lower jumps!!!

As usual we are staying at "The Limes" so I'm looking forward to seeing Gill again and having a chance to do a bit of sight seeing.

Poor Puppy :(

On Thursday we discovered a small scab between Reno’s shoulder blades but didn’t think anything of it as he plays quite rough with Kiros and Ronnie so could have been nipped.

By Friday there were a few more spots down his back so I bathed him in the shampoo that I use for Kiros when he has itchy skin. Reno had a really busy day on Friday with walks, swimming and training so I wasn’t surprised when he was tired on Saturday.

On Sunday I knew there was something wrong as I took his lead of in the exercise area at Nuts and he just stood there! I tried to look at his back but it was obviously very painful so I took him to the Vets on Monday.

When the Vet examined him I was horrified to see how bad his back was – a mass of weeping scabs and sores – so he was bombarded with antibiotics and booked in yesterday to be clipped and cleaned up.

Here are the results, poor boy.

The Vet is convinced it is a Flea allergy and gave me a serious talking to about flea control even though they know that Kiros is highly sensitive to fleas so I’m very careful to the dog’s treatment up to date. I even buy all of my Frontline from the Vets so they have a record of what I’ve used!

When they cleaned him up they didn’t find any fleas on him but did find a few dirts so it is possible all of this damage was caused by one flea.

Anyway the good news is that, although he doesn’t look very pretty, Reno is almost back to his normal self. The Vet said he can continue training so long as the sores don’t get dirty and they should heal quite quickly. I’m hoping he will be well enough to go to the Border Collie show on Sunday as he’s really looking forward to seeing his brothers.

Nuts, Newton Heath, Training and Decorating!!!!

I did intend to end my lengthy silence with picture or even video of Reno training but so far have not remembered to take my Camera with me so you’ll have to wait!


So here’s what I’ve been up to starting with Agility Nuts on 14th Feb. Kiros ran his little socks off at this competition with only 5f for a refusal (my fault of course) in 4 runs. He came 1st in Snooker, 3rd in Agility and Jumping and 4th in Helter Skelter. The points he gained now mean that he is just 7 off the top spot in the Senior league so everything to play for next Sunday.

Flush with success I headed of to Newton Heath the weekend after only to come away with 2 Eliminations! He likes to keep me on my toes does Kiros dog :)

The highlight of the day was seeing Jo and her Mali’s. Zippy is a very handsome boy but quite different looking to Reno. I’m looking forward to seeing more of them as the Agility season starts.

Talking of Reno, although I seem to have done quite a bit of training with him he’s nowhere near ready to compete. The problem is our speed differences! I can’t keep up with him and because he doesn’t confidently go on yet he tends to go around jumps or miss obstacles.

So far we are jumping just below full height and can do all sorts of handling moves provided we start from a wait and I can get in front of him. He is beginning to go on into tunnels. His full height Dog Walk is a bit slow but accurate. The A-frame is a bit too fast for his ability resulting in a hand stand at the bottom! He’s very nervous of the see-saw but has only done it a couple of times. We’ve covered Long Jumps and Spreads and he has no problem judging how far he has to jump. His weaves really haven’t progressed any further from a 3” channel as my stick in the ground ones are moving too much in the wet weather.

Jo Rhodes’ class is still working on foundation training at the moment which he is really enjoying. I think when we start doing a bit more proper Agility there he will start improving faster.

I’m really not sure when to start entering him in shows. I’ve got to fill some entries in by the end of the week because of closing dates. Got to make a decision soon!!

A lot of talk so I’ll leave you with pics of what has been taking up all my spare time. I’ve just finished re-decorating our bedroom for the 1st time in 18 years!