Getting ready for Xmas!!

Oh dear.......how much time has passed since my last blog entry?!!

Ade and I are well and truly into our "Christmas Countdown".  The lack of Snow this year has meant that we have been able to do all of our usual Xmassy things plus a couple of new experiences to add to our list.

We really missed our visit to Lincoln Xmas Market last year but made up for it by spending most of Sunday 3rd there!!

Last Friday we spent the evening at Rufford Country Park admiring the Aura Illuminations followed by a day at Newark visiting the Christmas Tree Festival.

We'd been to something similar at Melton in previous years and, although there were nowhere near as many trees here, we found Newark to be just as nice :-)

Our trip this weekend was to the impressive Hardwick Hall.  We've spotted the Hall from the M1 several times when passing but hadn't actually visited it before.  This visit has made us realise that we needed a lot more time then we had allowed to see all it had to offer.  I think we may be planning a return visit in the Summer.

So onto Agility matters!!!

Decembers Nuts show was last Sunday and I wasn't judging so had a chance to work both my boys on all of the courses :-)

Kiros missed his weave entry in the Agility so was E'd and had a pole down in TYOL but won both his Jumping and the Speed and Power:-)

Reno

Elementary Agility - Judge:- Di Polkey - Tricky weave entry that he missed and then a mistake in the weaves and run by at the Dog Walk.  Having said that, he did great "stop" contacts and the run by was my fault for not straightening him properly.  In that situation I'd rather he bailed out then taking the up plank in an unsafe manner.

Elementary Speed and Power - Judge:- Andrew Green- I handled the Speed section really badly getting Reno eliminated for back jumping.  Again good contacts but he needed two attempts at the weaves.

Elementary Jumping - Judge:- Ann Miller - Lovely course but Reno really disappointed me on this one:-(  He started well but when I asked him to weave he turned around and bit me!! He did eventually complete them and finished the course well but I know he could have done better.

Elementary TYOL Jumping - Judge:- Nell Pegg - Reno completely miss judged a bounce stride, landing on and demolishing a jump!  This meant that he took a jump out of order so I had to quickly re-think my course.  Miraculously I managed to avoid elimination - No placing but at least points for the league.

Today we had the NADTC Xmas party.  Kiros couldn't come as his neck is giving him a bit of pain again but Reno had the time of his life!!

He loved the games and came 2nd in one the involved my carrying a present as I ran him.  The "eat a sausage" game was probably his favourite but he had a pole down so came home with 10th place.

As I was judging the last game Ann got to run him for the first time.  Reno was such a good boy for her, in fact probably a little to focused on her as he was convinced she was going to give him a sausage and kept looking at her hands rather then going into tunnels!!

Again I want to finish this post by congratulating Paul and Tiber on their amazing Nuts debut :-)  No clears but some really competitive times.  Make sure you take his collar off in future Paul!!

November's Nuts

I signed off my last blog posting on a high, contacts and weaves getting consistently good and looking forward to Jo's 3-5 course........why is it things start going wrong when you get to that stage?!!

Reno has forgotten that contacts are for stopping on!!!  I can't put my finger on what has suddenly gone wrong but the only way I can think of solving it is to go back to basics again, "treating" every contact and even bringing the target back in if necessary.  I was a little disappointed as I'd hoped to run Reno in the Agility classes at Nuts last weekend but hopefully it is only a minor set back.  My goal is to have him ready to run Agility by next March, the start of the outdoor season, so plenty of time :-)

I wasn't asked to judge at this months show but was still very busy as I volunteered to manage a ring all day.

Kiros ran beautifully as always and still came home with two 1st places (Agility and Tunnel Torment Jumping) even though he had some really good competition at this show.  We didn't do so well in the other two classes......2nd pole down in the TFO Agility and Eliminated in the Jumping (typically the run I played my joker on!!)

Reno would have benefited from a little more time running around the exercise area as he was a bit over hyped!!

Elementary Jumping - Judge:- Hailey Sommerfield - 8th Place! - I was very aware of the fact that the Large Novice + Jumping was running in the next ring and had seen Ray and Amanda Ellerton queueing with Laser and Limit.  I hoped that they wouldn't get to the front of the queue before we did as Laser sends Reno into a frenzy.  Luckily our queue ran a bit faster then theirs so I got to the start line with Reno as Nicci Hinson was running Leo in the next ring.  What I hadn't accounted for was that, in Reno's eye's, Leo was equally as exciting as Laser so we entered our ring with Reno on two legs!!!

I wasn't sure if I would manage to keep Reno in the ring let alone run the course but to my surprise as soon as I set him up his focus was purely on his course and nothing else mattered.....what a good boy x.  He literally flew around the course and even got his weave entry.  Unfortunately, as seems to happen more often then not when he goes into the weaves in front of me, he popped out after the second pole.  I'm not sure if that's to do with him not braking enough or me putting him off as I catch up? I brought him back, put him straight into the weaves and finished with 5f in a time a fraction off 2nd place.

Congratulations to Hailey who put up a lovely set of courses for her first judging appointment :-)

Tunnel Torment Jumping - Judge:- Zoe Dalby - Great wait by Reno and a lovely start, avoiding the first tormenting tunnel, only to be eliminated for going diagonally across a box.  This is something I need to work on with Reno as I don't seem to be making myself clear to him.  In my defence he did put me off a bit by starting to squeal as he ran this course.  He's never done that before!!

Monday night's training was a 6/7/International Jumping Course.  I'm so enjoying doing this sort of thing with Reno.  Although he is obviously not quite ready to run this sort of thing it really helps me to put things into perspective.  With Kiros I have achieved so much but at Reno's age he hadn't even won out of Elementary and we wouldn't of had a clue how to start with a course like that.

Finishing this post I want to say HUGE congratulations to Paul and Tiber who did their first competitive runs at Dog Vegas on Saturday and came away with a 2nd and 7th place (hope I've remembered that correctly!!).  What an amazing start :-)

Must try harder!!

Reno has been much more focused in training over the last couple of weeks.

The Sunday before last I went to Paul and Pen's to share a training session with Paul and Tiber. 

Both dogs enjoyed working together.  Tiber is showing a bit of spirit and pushing Paul a bit at the moment but he's looking really good.  His debut is next Saturday at Dog Vegas.  Good luck Paul!!

Reno worked some lovely sequences with only minor errors at the weaves and a couple of naughty contacts.

At Jo's training last Monday we were working on sequences.  We particularly enjoyed the one Jo set up to get us thinking of the fastest line for the dog and Reno demonstrated a brilliant understanding of the rules.

Then onto Ray's training at NADTC on Tuesday night...Ray set up a really nice grade 3 course which we would have gone clear on it it wasn't for a large pile of horse poo that Reno spotted on a turn!!  Still, can't complain about the perfect weaves and contacts :-)

On Saturday Kiros, Reno and I went to Katie's to do some training.  Jo was there with Ronny, Keisha and Zippy and Jackie came with Speedy, Leo, Jake and Brindle. 

Here's were the "must try harder" comes in.  I was really please with how Reno worked in a place he'd never been before on different equipment and with the excitement of having his family around him but I've realised that I could be doing a lot more to help him.  I've got a real tendency to cut corners and expect him to pick things up without any help from myself.  Comes from running Kiros for too long I guess?

So from now on I'm going to push myself a bit more to run faster and get to places to help him out (well that's the plan anyway!!)

After the lovely lunch which Katie made for us we took all 12 of the Doggies for a stroll together.  You can't see Brian and Heidi on the photo as they'd found the muddy ditch!!

Tonight is week 4 at Jo's Training - Grade 3-5 Course.  Really hope we do well!!

Reno's 3!!!

I'm so late in posting this but Reno and his fellow Kronik Kids celebrated their 3rd birthday on Monday.

It's hard to imagine he is that old as he really hasn't grown up yet.  But then looking at his Daddy I'm not sure he ever will!!

Not really much to report on the blog to be honest.  We have done a bit of training but it hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped as Reno has been quite naughty.  I think he's been getting too much attention :-)

Last weekend we had a lovely time down in Dorset so I thought I'd just post a few photo's of Doggies having fun.

Not sure what Kiros is saying to Reno and Ollie in this one?!!

Winter Nuts (and Training!)

Reno and I have improved so much over the last few weeks.  The training session with Anthony Clarke, together with Jo Rhodes Winter Training Plan, has contributed a lot to that improvement.

I am very guilty of analysing the style of trainers whose training I attend (perhaps that's the teacher in me always looking for new idea's!).  I'm not sure if Ant is a trained educator or if his style is completely natural, either way it is very effective.

If you were asked to literally answer the question, "What did I learn during the session?" you probably would answer "Nothing!".  

Ant is very much a "Facilitator".  He sets up exercises that he knows that everyone on the course has the knowledge and skill to negotiate (even if they don't think they do!!).  Then gives the participants the encouragement and confidence to succeed.

Part of the first sequence involved sending the dogs from a pipe tunnel, through the gap between two jumps and over the back of the jump on the left.  Almost without exception we all ran it the first time shouting strange commands to our dogs with them looking one way or the other and eventually making their own mind up what obstacle to take!!

Ant assured us that if we had trained our dog properly we could just run in a straight line with our arm out and they wouldn't take either of the obstacles to the side..........What a revelation!!  In fact I got so excited that it worked the first time I forgot to turn Reno after the jump and he just kept going onto another jump in the distance :-)

There were many more Eureka moments during the session but I won't bore you with them all.

I've also found a bit of time to do a bit of training with Reno on his weaves.  I'm just working on simple exercises with 4, then 6 and now onto 12 poles with the emphasis on getting it right.  This seems to be paying off as he is now getting his weaves quite consistently a NADTC.

I'm very aware that I seem to base my "training" posts around one off sessions that I've had with trainers and forget to mention the hard work that Jo Rhodes is putting into Reno and my development so I plan to rectify that now.

Jo has devised a plan to address the areas that Reno (and the other young dogs in our class) need to work on so we can all start next year's season with confidence.  We have just completed the first 5 weeks of that plan and ended up running a FCI World qualifying course.  The only thing I didn't attempt with Reno was the weave entry.  Apart from that (and breaking another weave pole!!) he ran beautifully.

Last Sunday was the first Agility Nuts of the Winter Series.

I judged the Agility in the morning so used Reno to test my Elementary course before it was walked.  I was really pleased with the course and, had I been judging Reno, he would of had 10f.  He knocked the pole 4 and had a run by at the dog walk but got his weave entry!!

I was a little disappointed to not have any clears in the Large class.

Elementary Agility

Starters Agility

Novice + Agility

I had to alter my Veterans course as First Contact supplied their rubber equipment.  Lovely though they are, we couldn't lower the A-Frame so it had to be left out.

So how did my boy's run?

Ann ran Kiros in the Agility and I had to mark one of his dog walk contacts!!  He had a pole down in the Up and Under Jumping but won the Jumping Class and the Power and Speed.

Reno:-

Elementary Jumping - Judge:- Zoe Dalby - Great wait and lovely start but I miss handled the jump before the weaves causing a refusal and then a missed weave entry.

Up and Under Jumping - Judge:- Pat Bishop - Lovely clear and 2nd place.  What a good boy :-) Just beaten by Vegas - the super fast Visla!

Why have a Malinois?

I haven't updated my blog for ages and was planning a big update last weekend but, somehow, it didn't feel appropriate after finding out that Conor and Katie had tragically lost Megan.

It's fair to say that every Dog is specially to their owners but I truly believe that Agility gives us a closer bond with our friends. In turn, every dog that we have to pleasure to spend time with enriches not just our lives but that of those around us.

My first encounter with Ronny's litter was in December 2008. The Pups were just 6 weeks old, the first time I'd met a litter that young, and I was there to pick Reno from the bunch. A task that I thought would be completely impossible!!

I took along a few toys for the baby's to play with and although they all loved playing with them (Megan was particularly keen on the tuggie) it was obvious which pup was Reno as he kept coming back to me for a cuddle. 

Even at this young age it was obvious that Megan knew who was boss by falling asleep on top of Reno.

The next time Reno met up with his litter mates was April 2009.  Ann and I had ventured down to a show at Newbury and we met Conor and Katie for the first time.  The pups had great fun playing with each other and Katie captured it all on camera.

Just before their 1st Birthday Katie and I booked Reno and Megan on a training day with Lucy Osborne.  This proved to be a great start to their Agility training and, of course, gave them another opportunity to bond with each other. 

Megan obviously understood Reno's favorite game - "I'm going to steel your toy and you're going to chase me for it"!!

Although we've met up again at several different shows regrettably this is the most recent photo that I have of the Pup's together.

Playing with Kiros and Harley. 

You can see how Reno got his idea for his game, can't you? :-)

At times like this it is very easy to dwell on regrets - Why didn't we make more time for the pups to play together? - particularly at Nut's Show?  Why did Reno take the pole in the Team Dash costing us a qualifying place?!! - but I'd rather remember the joy that Reno and Megan shared.

When I first started competing in Agility I envied my friends that had "breeds" for being part of a group of like minded people that could share their successes.

I knew that getting a Malinois would allow me to be part of a group like that but I didn't realise that getting a "Kronik Kid" would bring an even closer sense of belonging and closer friends - So................

Go Ronny, get that last win into Grade 7 and some Champ tickets to go with it!

Zippy, prove to everyone that you're a "chip off the old block".  We can't wait to cheer you on in Champ and at Olympia!

Speedy,  keep working on tightening those turns and you'll be soring through the grade's in no time!

Kody, teach your Mum and Dad everything that you know so they can help give Heidi the confidence to show her real potential!

And............

Reno, just have fun baby.  I love you so much!! xx

Agility Nuts KC Show

Wow..........what can I say?!!

Paul and Pen put on an amazing show :-)  I know that both of them felt the stress a little but didn't let anything show to the competitors, Judges and other helpers.  Our every whim was accommodated!!

That's not to say that the show wasn't hard work - I spent all of Friday being Pen's "Dog's Body" making sure they were walked, fed, toileted, etc, Scribed on Saturday and Ring Managed on Sunday - but my lovely friend's "can't do enough for you" attitude rubbed off on the competitors at the show and we were almost fighting off willing helpers. 

Could it have been Pen's amazing catering that was drawing people out of the woodwork?  I've never been so well fed at a show in my life!!

Sticking to my guns I didn't run Reno in any of the Agility classes even though I'd entered them so this is how we got on in the jumping:-

Saturday's classes are on the video above:-

Combined 3-5 Jumping - Judge: Bob Sharpe - What is it with me and Bob's courses?  I know that they are going to suit Reno and me.  They are always challenging but within our capabilities. Watching the video you can see that Reno actually followed my handling and then lost focus when he realised that I wanted him to do something different to what I was signalling him to do!!

Graded 1-3 Jumping - Judge: Joy Hitchcock - Perfect course for the grades and I worked Reno a bit better in this one although it looks like I actually pulled him away from the weaves.

Kiros was clear but just outside the placings in both of his runs.

Sunday

Graded 3-5 Jumping - Judge: Edna Soames - Another lovely course from Edna.  I look forward to seeing what she puts up as she always manages to make her courses individual.  Reno started well with a lovely angled recall but was drawn to a tunnel entrance in the middle of the flick-flack so E'd.  The next part of the course gave the handler a choice of pull or push throughs.  I opted for the "push" which worked really well.  Then onto some box handling followed by weaves and a bit more handling before the finish.  Reno picked up the weaves and finished the course perfectly.  Apart from the E at the beginning this felt like a great run :-)

Combined 1-3 Jumping - Judge: Andrew Garratt - Regular readers of my blog will know how much I like Andrew's courses.  He is quite unique in that he only runs small dogs but has a great understanding of how to set courses that get the best out of large dogs.  My only criticism of Andrew's courses?  Lots of running!!!  The start of the course was actually quite similar to Edna's (after I've just commented about her individuality!!) but this time the tunnel was a little less tempting and Reno worked it well.  We had a slight miss understanding at the weaves and (I think) we were E'd just after them.  The rest of the course was quite Helter-Skelterish so Reno loved it :-)

Again Kiros was clear in the Helter-Skelter just outside the placings but, this time, E'd in the jumping!!  Not sure why but we occasionally have moments on the course when I go one way and he goes the other :-(

This weekend is NADTC's Fun Day and I'm taking all three boys.  Not sure how Ronnie will do as he hasn't ran a course for about a year.  One thing you can guarantee is that he'll bark a lot.  I'm hoping someone (Ann?) will take some photo's so I have more to post on here.

Next Tuesday Reno and me are on a very timely Anthony Clarke training session.  One thing that is obvious from the video is that, again, I am not running confidently and my arm movements are "wishy washy".  I'm sure Ant will have me "snapping" like a good'n by the end of the session.

Chatsworth Country Fair

A great day out for all the Family!!!

Plenty for Mark and Ade to explore (including 3 Real Ale tents) and Agility for Ann and I.  What more could you want in a Day?!!

The Agility was a Limited KC Show for Large Grades 1-5 (with higher Grades able to run NFC).  Four runs were scheduled and our Judge for the Day was Rosie Pearson.

I've decided not to run Reno in Agility until his contacts are 100% sound in training and was glad I'd made that decision when I saw the course.  It really wasn't for us (more at the 5 end of the scale).

The Power and Speed was a much nicer course.  Reno's first two contacts (A-Frame and See-Saw) were great but he was drawn by a tunnel in the Speed section, releasing himself from the Dog Walk to go into it and getting himself E'd in the process.

He ran the Speed section well and would only of had a refusal on an offset jump which caught out a lot of Dogs.

I really liked the Jumping course.  Appropriate for the Grade of Dogs and well spaced out allowing the Dogs to flow.

It started two jumps then weaves so, predictably, Reno ran past the weaves and into the tunnel!  After that he ran the course beautifully until he got to the last jump. 

If you've been to one of the shows organised by Graham Taylor before you will know that he uses very "traditional" Agility equipment.  The jump wings are almost the size of horse jumps and they tend to have loads of "fillers".  Reno didn't seem to notice any of the other fillers but the last was a brush jump and it caused him to pull up like a horse and practically smack his nose on it!!

Our final run was Team Trio.  A jumping course with no weaves so we managed to persuade Sue to run Faym with Reno and Harley.  The course would have been lovely with normal sized jumps but with the horse jump wings it was quite hard for the handlers to run straight and get to the turns.

Sue went first with Faym so she could use her wait start (she ran well, just going around a few jumps but generally following the course) but this put me at a disadvantage with Reno.  I had to trust him to take the first jump on his own to give me any chance of getting to jump 4 which was a turn but set a long way out.  Reno was a really good boy, completely understanding his "Look" command but unfortunately I didn't quite make it to the top so we got a refusal on jump 4.  After that he ran clear and Harley was E'd on the last jump!!

Exciting news and quite unplanned!!  Ann and Mark now have a new addition to their household. 

Introducing Vee!!!

She's a 7 week old Working Cocker and has been breed by Shooting friends of theirs.  They know and love both of the parents so couldn't resist. 

Indi has accepted her well but Harley wants to leave home at the moment.  My Boys won't have a chance to meet her properly until her jabs are complete.

I'll finish this post wishing Paul and Pen good luck with their first Agility Nuts KC show this weekend.  Hope the weather isn't too bad for us? :-)

Training, Training, Training!!!

Firstly I have to apologise for the title of my previous post..........I really didn't mean to bring Summer to such an impromptu end.

The last couple of weeks have been all about training for Reno and I.

Starting with Tues 23rd at NADTC.  This was Dog of the Month night and Allison had set a lovely competition Agility course.  Reno ran beautifully on his competition run getting and completing 6 weaves and stopping/remaining on his contacts until I released him.  Unfortunately I got a bit over excited and sent him to the wrong jump after the A-Frame. 

For the first time ever our next two runs over the course were clear.

Last Saturday we went on the Training Day with Alistair Bray.  I have to apologise to Alistair for saying I had no idea who he was!!  I have seen him competing before but hadn't heard anything of him as a trainer.  I can't imagine why because he is very good.

I particularly liked the way Alistair managed to keep the day moving. He managed to make it informative and challenging even though he had such a diverse range of Dogs and Handlers attending.

So what did I learn from the Day?

Firstly, and most importantly, it was a great reminder of things that I had forgotten.

1.  I have taught Reno to "look" at the first obstacle but I have to remember to remind him.
2.  My foundation training has worked.  Reno does understand my handling but I need to make it a lot clear for him then I do for Kiros.
3.  I am a consistent trainer/handler!!

Our only real stumbling block was (of course) the weaves.  It's obvious that Reno still finds them difficult and as a result, uninteresting.  Alistair talked about Mirroring to help him develop an even rhythm.  The other thing that he observed was that I had (inadvertently) encouraged Reno to not go into the weaves.  His suggestion was to take him back to the obstacle before if he goes wrong so he not only has to get the weaves right but the entry as well.

As expected Reno's contacts were perfect in isolation but when I put them into a course he still self released.  I think the solution to this is just to remain consistent but to help I have decided not to run any more Agility classes in competition until he can get it right in training.

We're of to Chatsworth Country Fair tomorrow.  I love this show as a lot of my friends from club go and as we all get to park together we treat it as a bit of a party.  We had to miss it last year as Kiros was running in the ABC Semi Final at Stoneleigh.

Good Luck to everyone running in this years Olympia Semi's especially Jo who has qualified Keisha, Ronny and Zippy in the ABC, Grace and Kiah in the ABC and Dave and Rusty in the Senior.

I'd better wish Good Luck to my Kelpie friends as well!!  Anne and Kafka and Jay and Tommy in the ABC.

P.S. Sorry about the photo of Reno - I must get some more taken of him jumping as he's much better now:-)

End of Summer

OK not exactly but this weekend WAS the end of the Agility Nuts Summer League for 2011 and, sadly, the last show that will be held at the gorgeous Park Land Stables in Ruddington :-(

Kiros, as always, ran beautifully winning every class that he went clear in and finishing the season as runner up in the Veteran League. He even managed to win the pairs with his pal Kizzy.

So onto Reno's performance!! 

No video's this time.  It's a shame as there were a couple of runs I'd have liked to have seen.

On the whole I think that we have improved since last Nuts but there are still some incredibly frustrating occurrences.

Saturday

Elementary Agility - Judge: Andrew Green - Started Jump/weaves so I took his Ball into the ring in the hope that Reno would attempt the weaves..............he didn't :-(

Elementary Tunnel Torment - Judge: Ann Miller

Although Ann judged this course I actually designed it and knew I'd struggle to keep Reno out of the tunnels.  I wasn't wrong but after I'd extracted him from them I ran 9-end beautifully!!

Elementary Jumping - Judge: Ann Miller

Ann designed this course and from the moment I saw it I couldn't wait to run it.  I knew Reno would do well in it and secretly hoped he'd go into the weaves.  He gave them a try but chose to go and look for his toy instead.  I managed to get him back and after another failed entry he completed them successfully so just 10f.

Elementary Gamblers - Judge: Pen Sensky - Although this was scheduled as an Agility class Pen had set the obstacles in a way that you could choose to do jumps and tunnels only.  This meant that I could amass a good amount of points for us by just sending Reno from tunnel to tunnel taking in the jumps in between.  We didn't attempt the Gamble as it had an A-frame in it but still managed 7th place in this class :-)

Sunday

Elementary Jumping - Judge: Di Polkey - Great start.  Even better finish with Reno working the handling section brilliantly.  Shame he wouldn't complete the 12 weaves in the middle of the course!!

Elementary Power and Tunnels - Judge: Paul Sensky - I can't believe what Reno did on this course.  The Power section started with the weaves so I took him up to them, held his collar and told him "poles" - he still chose to run past them and go into a tunnel!!!  After that he then did all of the contacts with a perfect stop at the end of each of them.  The tunnel section just blew his brain but he enjoyed it.

Elementary Agility - Judge: Jackie Boyd - In the same ring as the mornings Power and Tunnels so I foolishly expected the same behaviour on the contacts.  Obviously Reno can only stop on each contact once in a day.

Elementary Helter Skelter - Judge: Di Polkey - Saving the best till last!!  Lovely clear finishing in 3rd place (so I've been told the top 3 were separated by a very small margin)

The other course that I designed for Saturday was Starters + Tunnel Torment

Only a few more shows entered now - Chatsworth, Agility Nuts KC and Dog Vegas - so depending on the course may not run anymore Agility and just concentrate on Jumping and getting the weaves.

I've booked on a training session with Alistair Bray next Saturday.  To be quite honest I have no idea who he is or how he handles but thought a days training with new dogs in a different venue would do Reno a lot of good.  Wish me luck!!

Dress Rehearsal

Reno and I have decided that this year is just a "Dress Rehearsal" for next year!

2012 is going to be our year so watch out for great things :-)

So the rehearsal continued at the WDSDS Show yesterday.  Just Reno and Kiros competing as Ann has decided to give Harley a break. 

What a nice little show and contrastingly different to the KCI.  The only downside to it was the number of Dogs that left their rings to chase Dogs in the next ring (thankfully on only one occasion resulting in an attack).  Talk on the Forum has suggested that this type of behavior was on the increase but this was the first time I've actually witnessed it. 

Not sure why this show was so affected?  The rings were well spaced.  Maybe the show was frequented by less experienced handlers?  Maybe it was the Small and Large Dogs competing close to each other? (3 of the Dogs running out of the ring were Small) or maybe it's just that at bigger shows it's just less obvious?

Either way you had to feel sorry for the poor Lady that ran just before me in the 1-3 Jumping.  Her Dog was attacked by a Collie that flew in from no-where whilst she was setting it up at the start line and then, after she had composed herself, a Jack Russell ran at her Dog from that next ring whilst she was running the course!

Everyone was willing her to go clear on the re-run but unfortunately her Dog ran past the last jump :-(

Anyway......on to Reno's performance!!

Check out the Start line on all of the runs......they are for real with no editing.  What a difference a week makes?

Graded 3-5 Agility - Judge: Sue Leech - "It's all about the Contacts"!!  Jump, weave start that Reno seems to struggle with and this was no exception.  The pull through didn't work either but we know we have to practice this.  Two really great contacts so I decided to quit and praise.  The A-frame was especially good as Reno found a leaf at the bottom that he thought had to be targeted.

Combined 1-3 Jumping - Judge: Patrick Bray - Really interesting course with off set jumps that could be handled in several different ways.  It's fair to say that we had an excellent start and finish but it was a shame about the bit in the middle.  I really thought he was going to weave in this run but he lost confidence at the last second.

ABC Agility - Judge: Doc Docherty - Naughty See-Saw so repositioned and left the ring.  Probably for the best as we wouldn't have been able to do the bit after the A-Frame!!

Combined 1-5 Jumping - Judge: Anne-Marie Hill - Good start but Reno showed exactly what his problem is with the weaves.  If he gets the entry he struggles to keep going.  I'm hoping that this will improve when he realises that all the weaves he meets will have the same (larger) gaps. The end of the course was completely my fault as, for a fraction of a second, I couldn't work out what jump I was supposed to turn at!!

Kiros ran a lovely Veteran Jumping (unfortunately not on film).  Didn't manage a placing but had a great time.

Agility Nuts is next weekend.  Once more Ann and I are sharing Judging - This time Tunnel Torment Jumping and Jumping on Saturday leaving us Sunday to concentrate on our own Dogs.

My plan for this show was to take Reno's toy into the ring to train the weaves and contacts.  Not sure what to do now as we've had quite a bit of success recently without the toy and I don't want it to be another thing that I have to phase out?

Scunthorpe

My plan from now on is to record on my blog how Reno and I ran in on each course to provide me with something to look back upon and track our progress.  Hope it's not to boring for you...my avid followers!!! :-)

I have to say that this weekend was our most promising to date.  There are positives to be taken from every run. So here goes.............

Saturday 6th August 2011 (Not videoed as I forgot to take my camera to the ring!)

Graded 1-3 Jumping - Judge:  Emma Rouse - I loved this course, really unusual but flowing.  Reno got his weave entry but came out at about the 3rd pole so 5f. I put him back in and he competed all 12 brilliantly then just a refusal further on in the course when I didn't commit him to a jump before back crossing.  10f in total - Not Eliminated!!

Combined 1-3 Jumping - Judge: Bob Sharpe - It was obvious that this was going to be a good course with elements that suited Reno and our way of handling.  The start was tricky for us - two jumps straight into 6 weaves but with two tempting tunnels on either side.  I wasn't surprised when Reno chose a tunnel over the weaves - E!  I got him back on track but called him to early for a turn resulting in him landing in a heap before the jump and the "Three in a row" towards the end of the course didn't work. Reno and I seem to be struggling with this handling manoeuvre at the moment.

The heavens opened at lunch time so we decided not to do the Agility runs as I was going to use them for training.  Luckily there was a practice ring at this show so I was able to do some contact work there.

Sunday 7th August 2011

The first run on the movie is Kiros's Anysize jumping.  As you can see he had an amazing time but knocked the 1st pole.  Only Kiros could knock poles at that height:-)

CSJ C3-5 Agility - Judge: Gary Murphy - This is the only clip that I've included our entire "start line" on to save you getting very bored.  Unfortunately every one this weekend was similar.  After discussing this on our journey home Ann and I have come to the conclusion that I haven't been consistent enough with my "Sit" command and Reno doesn't actually know that it means bottom on the ground until I say "GO".  Homework required!! 

Despite the lack of "Sit" I was very please with this run.  Two lovely contacts and nice weaves.  I decided to quit while we were ahead and leave the ring so we could have a good game of tuggy and lots of sausage:-)

G3-5 Jumping - Judge: Michelle Guerin - Good start but Reno got a whiff of his toy and chose to find it rather then weaving.  My handling went a bit to pot after I brought him back but again his weaves were good.  I must learn when I 'm not going to be fast enough to put in a front cross.

G3-5 Jumping - Judge: Jackie Smith - Another lovely course but probably my worst handling of the weekend.  The only excuse I can offer was that I obviously gave up trying after I pushed Reno into the jump wing, rather then through the gap between the jumps, at the beginning.

Adams Derby - Judge: Bob Scott - Great 2o2o contacts in the "Power" section.  It's a shame they are so slow but I think I'd rather enforce the stop then work on the speed (that I know he is capable of) later.

I hadn't intended to do the "Speed" section.  To be honest I wasn't optimistic about getting through the "Power" but as we did I thought we may as well give it a go.  This was the hardest course of the weekend and although we got E'd I was pleased with how Reno attacked it.  Especially his weave entry even if he wasn't able to stay in them.

Reno was a little distracted at the top end of the course both in the "Power" and the "Speed" sections.  You can't see it on the movie but there was bag at the far end of the ring that must have had some smelly food in it!

Ann tried a few runs with Harley and, although he set of well on some of them, he allowed himself to become distracted after the first few obstacles.  He's such a strange boy as he always comes out of the ring wagging his tail like he's had the time of his life.  Anyone know a good Doggie Psychiatrist?!!

Next Saturday we are off to WBSDS Show.  We've never been to this one before, generally choosing the KCI Festival but as neither of us currently have a Dog that is competitive we thought we'd give something else a go.  Hopefully far less walking :-)

Holidays!!

I'm really not good at having Holidays. 

I was planning to take a full week off work starting with Empingham Show but managed to sneak in a couple of hours last Monday :-) before we headed down to Dorset on Tuesday.  The joy of being you own Boss!!

Empingham Show was very enjoyable.  I'm not sure why but I've always struggled to look forward to this show in the past (Maybe it's because I normally enter too many in July?) but this year it was almost perfect. Nice and relaxed.

All of the Grade 3 courses were well thought out and flowing.

This is Saturday's Grade 3 Jumping (our 1st run).  With Paul and Quincy showing us how it should have been done :-

Please excuse the strange banner across the beginning.  I've got a new camera that saves video's in a format the Movie Maker doesn't accept so I used this programme as it was free.  I didn't realise it would do this!!

Again our weekend of competing was encouraging and disappointing all in one!!

Reno wasn't reading my cue's very well on some occasions and then on others my cue's were way to late.

Both of his jumping courses on Saturday used green weaves that I felt were very difficult for him to see.  He ran passed this set but in his other jumping on Saturday he just missed the entry, going in at the second pole.

I was pleased with his Agility on Saturday as he stopped on the Dog Walk contact.  I'm trying to stop him going wrong in the ring so had planned to work him to the end of the first contact, praise him then leave the ring.

Paul was judging two of my courses on Sunday.  I worked on his ring all day and helped him set up both courses.  They were lovely and I was so looking forward to running both of them :-)

Optimistically I planned to do two contacts in the Agility - as the first one was the See-saw I felt sure he would stop on it.  Unfortunately he didn't so I held it down for him to correct himself, praised him then left the ring!

I can't believe I made such a hash of Paul's Jumping.  My timing was so far out but on a positive note Reno followed my handling perfectly - even going round two jumps because I didn't signal a change of direction.

It really doesn't surprise me that he'd totally lost confidence in me by the time we ran his last jumping with Reno more or less doing his own thing which included a perfect weave entry and completing a set of 12 weaves................yeahhhh!!

We did manage one clear round though................Pay on the Day Helter Skelter!!

The weather was glorious for our few day's in Dorset and the Boys made the most of it playing for hours on end in the Garden with their Friends.

Ollie still manages to get the better of Reno even though he's half his height.

Although he sometimes has to rely on Kiros to hold Reno down!!

It was a perfect opportunity to build Kiros's exercise back up gradually and (for once in his life!) he seemed quite sensible, not overdoing it.

On Ade's advice I've bought him a Bio-flow collar.  Ade has one of the bracelets and firmly believes that it keeps his aches and pains at bay.  We'll see how Kiros gets on with his.  Anything to help keep him comfortable.

Just had to finish with this photo.  Even though Reno is starting to show signs that he is growing up he couldn't resist sneaking onto the work top.  Bless him :-)

Good News Week

I'm so pleased to say that Kiros's operation went better then I could have hoped for:-)

He had a Pre-op Blood test that was perfect.  Exceptionally encouraging result in a large dog of his age.

Two lumps were removed with a good healthy margin around them and sent off for analysis.

The Vet Nurse told me "He's not in a good mood!" when I came to pick him up last Thursday afternoon and she wasn't kidding.  I guess Kiros is just a fiercely independent boy and was incredibly angry when he discovered that he couldn't do what he wanted to.  I've never heard him growl so much and he even snapped at me when I tried to lift him out of the Car!!

After a good nights sleep he was back to normal.  In fact a bit too normal.  Keeping him form playing rough with Reno and just lead walking is proving quite difficult.  Thankfully he will be back to off lead exercise on Monday and I should have an idea of how long it will be before he can run a bit of Agility again.

The best news came when the Vet phoned to say that both the lumps were benign...............Now I can stop worrying :-)

I've also had a very good week with Reno.

The video is of the training I did at Paul and Pen's on Sunday.  I'm working on bringing some "fun" back into the weaves so have used just 6 poles and have started to use his Tennis Ball as a reward which he seems to enjoy.

The weave exercises are an easier version of one at the end of Susan Garrett's 2x2 DVD building up to the sort of thing we were trying to do at Jo's the week before.

He's really not making many mistakes now and did some great weaves at both Jo's training and Lucy's training at NADTC this week.

We are at Empingham this weekend and I'm trying not to be overly optimistic but surely he will weave properly in the ring soon?!!

Happy Birthday Kiros

Kiros celebrated his 11th Birthday on Sunday by doing his favorite thing in all the world..............Agility:-)

It was Agility Nuts this weekend and he ran amazingly in every class, only missing clears in two classes due to my poor handling.

His final haul was three 1st's, three 2nd's and a 4th in pairs with Kizzy.

Typically if Kiros goes clear in Veterans at Nuts he wins the class so I think he is beginning to slow a little. 

For the first time I have been able to make a direct comparison between his and Reno's time as they both went clear in the Up and Under Jumping with the same course - Reno was 2.25secs faster getting 2nd place in Elementary!  Having said that there were 6 tunnels on the course that Kiros finds harder now he's getting older.

At the moment I'm really hoping that I will be able to enjoy more of his Birthday's with Kiros. 

He's been to the Vet's to have a lump in his stomach investigated and it has turned out to be a Mast Cell Tumour.  The lump is being removed and analysed on Thursday but the Vet seems pretty confident that it isn't attached and that she can take a good margin from around it.  That doesn't stop me worrying :-(

Ann and I shared a day's Judging on Sunday so, although I didn't Judge all of these classes, here are the courses I designed:-

Elementary Speed and Power

Starters + Speed and Power

Veteran Speed and Power



Reno ran the Speed bit of the Elementary course beautifully (I think recording the fastest time) but wouldn't even try the weaves in the Power section, even though I held his collar and took him right up to them, preferring to go back into the tunnel and getting himself eliminated.

Running him was exceptionally frustrating at the weekend!

The bits of courses I though he could do I either miss handled or he decided to take his own line and his weaves have got worse with him ignoring and running past them again.

I think that he is going to leave me with no option but to stop competing with him all together.  Very annoying as I have entered a few shows in August when I was optimistic that the additional work we'd been putting in was paying off!!

Remembering that I had a problem with Kiros's weaves when he was young I decided to look back at past video's of him only to find out that his problem wasn't as bad as I remembered.  At Reno's age Kiros as reliable getting independent entries (mainly on straight lines) and had a great rhythm.  He was taught by pull/pushing him through up-rights!! 

I think the main difference is that Kiros LOVES weaving - Why doesn't Reno?  Maybe by shaping him I've allowed him to go wrong too many times?

Jo set up a long straight line last night to see what the problem was - Jump, Jump, Straight Tunnel, Jump, 12 Weaves.  Reno would do weaves on their own and Jump, weaves but when we tried from the Tunnel he started running ignoring them no matter where I stood.

He's obviously not slowing enough to go into them, but why not?  Does he not know how to or does he just not want to do them?

No competition book for this weekend so (hopefully) plenty of time for practice!!!

Two Weeks of Training..............

Haven't quite gone according to plan!!! 

We don't have much on show wise in July.  Mainly because Reno really wasn't doing that well when the July shows closed but also because (with the exception of Tuffley) there wasn't much I fancied and it seemed an ideal time to get in some extra training.

Paul and Pen left for the Lakes last weekend but said I could visit the paddock whenever I wanted.  So last Saturday morning I headed off with a plan in mind of what I wanted to practice.  Tried the electric gate when I got there but there was no power to it. Hung about a bit and tried again. Still no power :-(  So decided to take the Dogs on a nice walk on the way home.  I actually discovered a lovely new walk around Gedling Woods but didn't have my camera.

Following a text from Paul I discovered that there had been several power cuts in the village so I must have been unlucky.  I decided not to try Sunday as it was so hot.

Monday and Tuesday's training were a bit strange as Reno was working really well on his contacts and jumping but his weaves and waits didn't work at all.

By Friday I'd decided to try the paddock again and arranged to meet Fiona there...............You guessed it - Still no power!!

We managed to get in (not saying how) but by the time we had set up us and the Dogs really didn't want to do much so, after a little bit of weave practice that went very well, we spent the main of the time letting them run around and play with each other.

Not sure Black-Jack and Ruby wanted Reno to join in!!

By this time I was desperate to get something constructive done so I booked to go to Sue's this Saturday and shared a very productive training session with Sue and Allison.

As Faym is still doing channel's we set this sequence up using the "swivel" channels.  What we hadn't realised was that they didn't work in two sets of six and if you look closely at the set nearest to the camera you can see that the gap between the 4th and 5th pole is smaller.  Reno had already successfully completed this set before we realised and, although he made a few more mistakes then normal, worked really well.

Jo's given me a few things that I've been working on to improve his focus and hopefully stop him feeling the need to wander off the start line.  I wish I knew why he did this?

He so enjoyed being with Faym and Guess.  Typically he completed the exercise correctly - just not on camera!!!

Next weekend is Agility Nuts again.  Ann and I are sharing Judging Agility and Speed and Power on Sunday so we don't miss any of our runs.  Not sure how that is going to work in practice but as the entries are quite low I'm sure we'll have plenty of time.  I've just got to come up with a few courses :-)

Reno Ricochet

Reno has had a great weekend at Agility Nuts :-)

He has managed, for the first time ever, to do the weaves in a competition course and in the process has invented a brand new Agility handling move. 

It works most successfully on courses where the weaves come after a tunnel and involves the handler positioning themselves mid way between the two obstacles.  The next part of the handling move then involves the Dog exiting the tunnel at high speed, body slamming the handler and then precision re-bounding into a perfect weave entry! - Reno Ricochet

This move was demonstrated for the very first time today in the TFO Jumping and the result was Reno picking up a 2nd place.

Most unfortunately it wasn't captured on film but then it needs a bit more practice to be perfected so probably best that it isn't shared yet!

You'll notice from Reno's photo that he actually won three top places this weekend.  The others are 1st in the Open pairs with his new friend Shannon (who is only 22 months!) and 3rd in the Open Steeplechase.  This is a result that I'm very proud of as the top four Dogs were separated by less then 0.4 of a second.

Kiros, as always, ran beautifully but missed out on a few clears because of my erratic handling.  Having said that we still finished the weekend with three 1st's.

Our runs today were a bit rushed as I was Judging the Agility classes. Here are today's courses:-

Elementary Agility

Starters + Agility

Veteran Agility

Elementary Tunnel Torment Agility

Starters + Tunnel Torment Agility

Veteran Tunnel Torment Agility