Agilitynat

Outdoors Nuts in January?!!

2012-01-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

I was really looking forward to Agility Nuts Show last Sunday - Kiros was back to form, after having missed the Xmas Party and struggled with stiffness as a result of playing too roughly with the youngsters whilst we were away, and I had a few things to try out in the ring with Reno.

You can imagine our surprise when we arrived at the venue at 6.30am only to find the Arena full of extremely large horse jumps!! The venue was double booked :-(

Thankfully Trent Valley has a very large outdoor menage that we were able to use. Paul and the venue owner had to quickly decide on how we could safely keep the Dogs and Horses apart whilst allowing enough room for each. So parking was segregated and we started work on setting up the rings under the flood lights. The good news was that rings were so much bigger then inside so we were able to construct the courses very easily!

As the competitors started to arrive they must have been extremely worried that they hadn't brought enough clothes or that it would rain on us (we didn't even have any tents and Sue and Hazel had to use a stable for their office!!) but they all entered into the spirit of it and I didn't hear a single moan:-)

The Agility Gods must have been smiling on us as we had a great day. It only drizzled fleetingly in the afternoon, we finished whilst it was still light and I think it was warmer outside then it was in. The only, very minor, annoyances were that you couldn't watch the show whilst eating and we couldn't use the tanoy. Apart from that I actually preferred to be outside.

It was lovely that there were friends at the show I hadn't seen in a while, Tina and Katie, but a bit of a shame that I didn't have much time to spend with them.

I really don't have to tell you how proud of my Kiros I am do I?

He loved every minute of the show. Having not done any Agility since Decembers show he couldn't contain his excitement and I couldn't have slowed him down if I'd tried!!

He was clear in all of his 4 classes and 1st in every one:-)

Little Reno has so much to live up to but did himself proud.

Elementary Agility - Judge:- Pat Bishop - No weaves or See-saw on this course. Good wait and stop on Dog Walk. Although he stopped on the A-Frame he self released which left me momentarily indecisive and resulted in the next pole coming down (I really should have put him back on) - 8th place.

Elementary Snakes and Ladders - Judge:- Pen Sensky - Least said about this one the better but Reno did a good A-Frame!!

Elementary TFO Jumping - Judge:- Ann Miller - This was the only course of the day that had weaves in and I really wanted to give them a go. Unfortunately I was late commanding the turn before the weaves resulting in what would have been an E on a normal course so we were out - 5th place.

Elementary Jumping - Judge:- Richard Ludlow - Luckily our ring had finished and packed up whilst this class was still running so I had time to get Reno and warm him up with a good game of fetch and tuggy before we ran. The course was huge (I'd already ran it with Kiros in Veterans) and I'd just watched Paul and Tiber do an amazing run putting them into the lead. Could I get Reno around it in a good time?..........................The answer is yes!!!!!! We had a couple of hairy moments but Reno just pipped Tiber's time finishing 1st!!! What a good boy.

I think Reno must have liked running outdoors in Jan because this was definitely his best performance to date:-)

Once more I'm finishing the post with a well done to Paul and Tiber for not only coming 2nd in the Jumping but the TFO as well.

Whoops!!!!

2012-01-13T01:27:00.000-08:00

Once more I've been so long up dating my blog and I've got so much to tell you that I'm going to have to make several posts over the weekend..................

I'll start with Christmas as I have tonnes of cute photo's that I took whilst we were away.

Needless to say we had an excellent Christmas with loads of presents and things to do but by far the best part of it was having time off to spend with my family and the Dogs.

The Dogs really enjoyed helping Hayden and Bowen unwrap everything on Xmas morning. To be honest I think they were more interested in the wrapping paper!

Then it was the patient wait for Christmas Dinner............................................................................

but some were more patient then others!!!!!

Then, of course, there is always that Boxing Day feeling:-)

and Ronnie is still looking for a new toy to play with!!

Getting ready for Xmas!!

2011-12-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-19T05:21:00.000-08:00

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!!

2011-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2011-10-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

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!)

2011-10-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-10-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2011-09-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-23T06:39:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-08-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

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..............

2011-07-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

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

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!

2011-06-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

No sure where the time has gone.......one minute I was keeping on top of my blog, the next minute it all goes to pot!!!!

If you have been reading Reno's bother and sisters blog you will realise that, thanks to his siblings, Reno has won his first KC rosette. 3rd in the Team Dash at Dog Vegas. Unfortunately Reno took a pole down on his run so the team wasn't clear but, non the less, it was a great achievement.

Nottingham ADTC show was the weekend after.

I always find our show incredibly exciting. It is amazing just to see the venue go from an empty field to a bustling show and then back to an empty field again. You really feel like you've achieved something and this year we felt was the happiest and most exciting show we've ever put on :-)

I did the manual timing in the Large Champ ring on Saturday (in my opinion the best job at the show - you get to watch all of the top class Agility). Jackie Gardner has to be one of the best Judges to work with. Her attitude is great - neither too serious or too flippant and unshaken confidence in her decisions - and her courses were really exciting. The end result couldn't have been better with Dave and Rusty winning their 3rd ticket making her Ag Ch Bonvivant Kallisto.

Ring managing the Team ring on Sunday wasn't without it's challenges but this was made easier by my amazing Judge, Martin Cavill, and Ring Party.

I managed a few runs with Reno and Kiros over the weekend but the results were quite poor. I even managed to get Kiros eliminated in his Veteran Jumping!!

I was looking forward to Hinckley Show and relaxing after our show. Unfortunately a combination of badly fitting trousers and Reno knocking me over meant that my first run ended in embarrassment and things didn't improve after that...............I'll let the video speak for its self!!

Oh well, onwards and upwards to the ABC show this past weekend.

Reno's runs on Saturday were actually not that bad. All E's but some great start lines and good attempts at the weaves and an "almost" run in the Steeplechase.

Sunday was a very exciting day as his Daddy came to watch him run. He got a bit carried away in his Agility and had to whizz off to see Daddy and his A-Frame was really naughty but he did a tricky jumping sequence very well and a great stop on his DW.

His 1st KC non E came in his first Jumping run with just 10f at the weaves. I actually thought he hadn't been E'd in his second Jumping until I realised I'd missed part of the course!!

The main highlight of yesterday was that Reno went straight in and completed 12 weaves in his Speed and Power and that he really enjoyed himself in all of the runs. He definitely went up a gear in terms of speed and driving on :-)

Kiros and Ronnie enjoyed themselves at the show.

Because it was quiet I was able to take Ronnie out for some nice walks around the exercise area, bless him.

Kiros loved the Veteran Jumping courses and won both of them. The Trophies are lovely and made all the more special because one was sponsored by Ann in memory of Scully and the other by Janet and Clive in memory of Skye - two very special Weimi's.

Normal service resumed.....

2011-05-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you Andrew and Katie for your lovely comments after my last post :-)

Sorry that I beat myself up a bit but sometimes a little set back is what I need to make me more focused!!

After watching these snippets of video I'm much more confident about our progress.....normal service resumed.

Reno is working so well in training and I'm convinced if I can be a bit more consistent in competition great things are just around the corner :-)

I've decided to stray slightly from Susan Garrett's 2 x 2 as I feel that Reno now understands how to weave 12 poles and get an entry but our particular problem lies in putting them into a course. Because of this I am going to concentrate on putting the weaves into short sequences at the moment then go onto do days 11 and 12 in a few weeks time.

I've got quite an exciting weekend coming up.

On Saturday we are going to Belvoir Steam Festival. There is an Agility Competition there but, depending on how things go, I may not compete. The whole point of going is so that Ann, Mark, Ade and Myself can have a nice day out together.

On Sunday it's back to Bakewell again, this time for Dog Vegas. Pen's judging the Team Dash (and 2 other classes that I'm in I think) so it should be fun. We're looking forward to running with Reno's brothers and sister again :-)

The Weakest Link

2011-05-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

At the moment Agility with Reno seems to be full of surprises - some good and some bad!!

Although I didn't manage to do any weave practice with Jo on Monday night we did a lot of work on start lines. Jo wanted to know if Reno understood that handler standing still by a jump is a turning cue. Pleasant surprise number one was that he completely understood and shortened his stride like a pro to turn tight :-)

I set the course up for training on Tuesday night. Pleasant surprise number two - Reno got every weave entry in his class (quite straight forward) and also managed the more difficult entry that I'd set up for Kiros's class.

So on my way to High Peak I was a little nervous but quietly optimistic. Why is it always at that point things start to go wrong?!!

Reno's first run of the day was in jumping and he managed 3 jumps before an elimination, dodging me and obstacles to go into tunnels, but I did manage to get him through 12 weaves (eventually).

Above is his Agility run. He had no intention of stopping on his contacts and, again, went into a tunnel 3 times rather the weaving!!

But the team dash was the biggest humiliation of the day!!! It had been spitting with rain most of the day and by the time we got to run the dash the heavens had opened so Andrew didn’t put any weaves into the course. Reno ran first and worked the tight corner that I was worried about lovely then I relaxed and he took an off course jump getting eliminated. Then Speedy ran – clear, Zippy – clear and then Megan - you’ve guessed it – clear!!!

By this point Ann and I were both soaked and had lost the will to live so we left without attempting his last Agility :-(

Thanks to Jo for posting a video of the dash on her blog as I've been able to analyse my handling in that run and the Agility. My conclusion is that the weakest link is...............Me!!

I could list a number of things that I did inconsistently but the biggest disappointment was the start lines. After all of the training that we did a few days before how could I have thought that Reno would know to turn when I was still moving?

My resolve for next weekend is to run in competition like I do in training.

On a lighter note Ann, Sue and I went to watch the World Agility Open yesterday nr Bristol. It was a very long but incredibly exciting day. The British competitors were literally world class and I was so proud to see Dave and Rusty receive Gold in the Individual Pentathlon and Team events.

To top it all we were treated to Susan Garrett at her finest with what can only be described as a perfect run in the Biathlon Agility.

Day 10.......

2011-05-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

is entitled "Building Drive and Footwork" but I'm not sure we achieved either!!

(Sorry about the very dark video in places. I'm not sure what happened)

Reno found this training session quite challenging and really had to think about some of the exercises.

Surprisingly the one that he found hardest was the "send on" which he does easily through the channel. Hopefully this will be easy to work on?

His footwork was also all over the place for the first 6 poles and then he got into a rhythm in the last 6. Again, I'm sure that this is something that can be fixed.

This was the last chance that I'll have to work on the 2 x 2 weaves before Reno's next competition, High Peak on 14th May. I'm hoping that either Jo or Allison will set some weaves up in a course this week so I can try them out.

I suppose I'm going to have to trust that Reno knows what I want him to do. It doesn't matter that he makes a mistake in the weaves, just that he makes an attempt at them.

Reno's See-saw (at the end of the video) is improving nicely. He's looking so much more confident with it :-)

Fingers crossed for High Peak!! At least Reno can have fun in the Team Dash with his brothers and sister.

Day 9 - Sorry Susan............

2011-05-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't exactly your Day 9 but I needed to know that Reno would pick up fast easy entries!!

I knew that Reno had started to understand the entry to the weaves but everything we had done up to today was so much slower then we would be doing in competition. The entries that Susan has achieved with "Trendi" are certainly impressive but not what we are likely to encounter in Grade 3 (hopefully)!!

I also have to apologise to Susan as I was unable to change habitat and, as you can see, Reno's toy :-)

Much like Trendi, Reno tried to put a gap in the middle of the 12 poles when they came together. In fact, looking at his foot work, I think in his mind he was doing two sets of 6 throughout the whole session - double stepping the first, then single stepping and then double stepping - not being sure what to do in the middle!!

The most pleasing thing about today's session was that from the camera angle (which I think was a lot better today) Reno was obviously looking for the poles.

Tomorrow is day 10 which is entitled "Building Drive and Footwork". I'm looking forward to this :-)

Different Perspective

2011-05-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Today I was able to get to the paddock to complete day 8 of Reno's weave training.

I wanted to see how his action was developing through the weaves so I positioned the camera in a different place. As you can see I was obviously no better at getting everything in shot. The bar you can see at the top of the screen is the A-frame......I put the camera behind it as I couldn't be bothered to move anything!!!

As I mentioned in my last post I'm continuing to work on stage 9 but after watching Day 8 of the video I've realised that the exercises continue to use the jump.

Today I was much more confident that Reno was trying to get the harder weave entries, working them out quite easily. To put things in perspective I tried a few of the entries with Kiros and he didn't pick them up without help :-)

We're now building up to 12 weaves so I've introduced the 2nd set of six. You cannot see it very well on the video but I'm using two sets with solid basis. The set nearest to the camera is the channel weaves fully closed. These have the support struts every other pole opposite to where the dog steps. The set furthest from the camera are an "Adams" set with the struts that fold out on both sides.

Looking at Reno's action when he was working solely on the first set he was single stepping nicely but when I introduced the second set things changed. He obviously preferred doing the set closest to the camera and he started double stepping and going a lot slower when he had to do the other set. Lets see how he reacts over the next couple of days as I'll have to use the "Adams" weaves when the 2 x 6 are put together.

Thank you to Katie for your encouraging comments about Reno's weaves. I hope I'm not boring people too much (that's if anyone is reading this!!!) but I'm hoping that documenting Reno's progress will help me in the future :-)

Day 9 tomorrow.................weather permitting!!!!

Day 7

2011-05-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

A bit backwards as Susan Garrett adds the Jump to 4 straight weaves and then uses various combinations of 2 x 2's to get the weaves up to 6.

Again, probably a little impatiently, I knew that Reno could easily weave 6 so straightened the weaves up, put him through them a few times and then added the Jump. Only once did he come out of the weaves and that was when I confused him.

Looking at the video I think the training session went a bit better then it felt. I'm obviously beginning to expect a bit more from Reno but he didn't seem to be trying as hard to get the entry after taking the jump.

Having said that his success rate was still reasonable and I decided to finish the session earlier then I wanted to as the bangs (which you can just hear on the video) were beginning to distract him.

We completed day 7 on Monday and I haven't been able to do anything else with him since then which is a shame because I think he is a bit of a "latent learner". Every time I introduce a new challenge he slows down and thinks about it and then the next day it seems to sink in!!

From what I can see in the work book days 8 and 9 concentrate on taking the number of poles up to 12.

What I'm planning to do is keep repeating day 6 at the same time as this as I need to get Reno thinking a bit more about his entry after an obstacle.

Yesterday we had Ray training us at NADTC. He very kindly worked out separate exercises for me without using the weave and Reno was amazing - naughty but amazing :-)

He jumped the Wall for the first time and didn't bat an eyelid. I'm pretty certain that his contacts are now almost as fast as Kiros's but the naughty bit is that he isn't consistently stopping or not stopping for as long as I want him to. I have always believed that a truly driven dog will know how to do things correctly but want to do them wrong because they know it's quicker.......I guess I've got that with Reno ;-)

A little impatient :-)

2011-05-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

Having a very long Bank Holiday weekend and no Agility Show to go to has certainly given me plenty of time to spend with the Dogs and continue with Reno's weave training.

Since my last post I've been giving a lot of thought to how I can adapt Susan Garrett's method so Reno can understand it better. Maybe I am being a little impatient or maybe I just know what is best for my Dog? ;-)

Throughout the week I've been working with just two poles in my Garden but using the Clicker as I think that it is a marker that Reno understands well.

I have redone Day 5 although I didn't video it as Ann came and watched. I used 4 Channel weaves again, set at about 1"apart, but this time used my Clicker to mark the correct entries. Again Reno was great in the low challenge area but made more mistakes in the essential entry area. Ann pointed out that I was increasing Reno's challenge too quickly so we placed the numbers around the arc so I didn't accidently push him too much.

This is a Video of what we did yesterday. (I obviously didn't set the camera up too well so we are out of shot most of the time and Reno knocked it at the end to make it worse!! My videoing rivals my photography!)

This is where I've been a little impatient as I've increased the poles to 6 already. I felt it would be ok for Reno as I know he can weave 6 poles and he seemed to drive through them better when there were 6.

Although you can't see from the video they were still slightly apart. I had planned to close them later on but Reno was getting tired so I gave it a miss.

Again you can't see very well in the video but Reno has a much better success rate now, only needing to repeat the harder entries and then getting them right quite quickly. The difference I can see is that he's now altering his pace as he enters the weaves rather than blasting into them.

After giving him a bit of a rest I worked on a jumping sequence which finished near the weaves. To my surprise, instead of chasing the ball I'd thrown as his reward, he took himself into the weaves and completed them :-)

I'm really optimistic about today - the plan is to close the 6 poles completely and add a jump to work the arc. Hopefully I'll set the video better so I can see a real change in Reno's approach to the weaves.

On Location...........

2011-04-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

In Dorset!!!

I didn't have as much time to practice Reno's weaves as I'd hoped and it was quite difficult to sneak some practice without having an audience and several Dogs joining in. (As you can tell from the video - the commentary is quite amusing)

I'm working on the assumption that if Reno can train with all that distraction then he must be enjoying it.

As you can see we have now added a 2nd set of poles and decreased the angle to 1 and 7 o'clock.

I'm not sure if I should be worried yet but Reno's success rate is getting worse.

He is 100% successfully in the low challenge area but when I move further down the arc into the essential entry area he starts to go into the first 2 poles the wrong way around or goes into the 2nd set of poles. (I'm not sure he understands that he needs to go ahead of me and turn back into the weaves). With perseverance he does correct himself but he is getting wrong more then right.

I thought that this may improve when the poles were closer together so I decided to try Day 5 last night at NADTC.

The stick in the ground poles won't stay in place in the sand of the Equestrian Centre so instead of moving the poles together bit by bit I decided to just go for it and set up a 4 pole channel.

In my mind I couldn't see the difference between this and 2 sets of 2 x 2 weaves at 1 and 7 o'clock set at competition distance apart - obviously I was wrong as this session was a disaster.

Reno blasted through the weaves when I set him up in the low challenge area but if I took him a little further back on either side he kept just doing the last 2 poles. The poor little lad kept trying and trying but just couldn't work out what I wanted him to do :-(

I've watched and re-watched SG's video of Day 5 and although the Dog isn't getting the entry correct all of the time it is because it is circling the poles rather then going in to soon. Maybe this is a breed thing?

My plan is to repeat Day 5 (correctly this time!!) this weekend at the paddock and video it so I can see what is happening. Wish me luck!

Day 2 - Moving the Poles

2011-04-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

OK, so we did cheat a bit on Day 1 by having the poles on grass but as I don't have access to a proper 2 x 2 set it's the only way I can use stick in the ground poles.

Today we completed Day 2 in my Garden. There isn't a lot of space and I didn't set the video camera up very well but you can see that Reno is beginning to dig in and gain some speed through the poles.

My throwing is getting a bit better and throwing under arm has stopped Reno tracking the toy so much.

Unfortunately our starting position is out of shot most of the time so you can't actually so us working the arc. Generally speaking Reno's success rate was very good and the times that you see him entering the poles the wrong way were when I was really challenging his entry and it didn't take him long to work out the correct entry.

My only concerns with this session were that my Garden is so small I couldn't get that far away from the poles or run very far. Also, when we practiced the challenging left entry Reno didn't turn very tight. Maybe this is something that will improve as we go through the training?

We're spending this weekend in Dorset, travelling down tomorrow evening, so I'm hoping to get Day's 3-5 Done whilst we are there (but may repeat day 2 as well). Especially as there will be loads of room and Wanda (my sister) can help me with the video :-)

Lovely Lincoln

2011-04-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Brown Doggies and Myself have just spent a lovely sunny weekend at Lincoln Agility Enthusiasts Show.

I'd say one of the best things about the show was spending time with my friends, both from NADTC and fellow Kronik Kid owners :-)

Congratulations to everyone that did well at the weekend. Especially Helen and Lily who won into Grade 2 at their 1st KC Show and to Jo and Zippy (Reno's litter brother) who is now Grade 6 and not even 2.5 years old!!

I've bought myself a lovely little (if not a bit pink) video camera to use at shows so managed to capture Reno's first 3 runs and Kiros's Allsorts Agility.

Kiros ran lovely all weekend with 4 clears rounds and 7th place on Sunday.

Unfortunately I didn't get Reno's best two runs of the weekend on video. His best run was his first on Sunday (Hannah Banks's Grade 3 Agility) which he ran fast and clear with great contacts until the 2nd from last obstacle - the weaves!!

He really enjoyed the weekend and had great fun playing with all of his Doggie friends and his Daddy, Ronny, but I think the whole thing was bit to tiring for him. His last three runs blew his brain :-( I may have to think about only competing one day a week in future?

I was really optimistic at the weekend as it is clear that the only real gap in Reno's training is his weaves. I'm reasonably confident that following the 2 x 2 method until he completely understands them will work but have demoralised myself a little when looking back at my blog from 9th August 2010 when I proudly stated that they shouldn't be hard to fix. Now, 8 months on, I've still not been able to sort it so is it overly optimistic to expect Reno to be weaving in 4 weeks?

Reno's 2 x 2 Weaves - Day 1

2011-04-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm really optimistic about how day one has gone.

It's obvious that my throwing is a bit suspect - something I'm going to have to improve :-) - and that Reno enjoyed the training. He was far more enthusiastic during the 3rd Stage which shows his confidence (and speed) is improving.

Sunny Scunnie!!

2011-04-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Reno had four runs on Saturday at Scunnie and Ann kindly videoed three of them. This is his first run of the day, Graded 1-3 Jumping. (The others are a bit dark and difficult to see. I must get myself a video camera)

This is the first time that I have really had an opportunity to see how Reno is running and it has opened my eyes to a few things.

1. Reno is a sensitive boy but is happy when he knows what his criteria is.

2. He has absolutely no idea what I want him to do in the weaves.

With hindsight I should have stuck to one method of training and persevered with it.

I'm very lucky to be able to train with someone who's opinion I rate very highly, Jo Rhodes, and after discussing my fears with her we have decided to re-train Reno purely on 2x2's.

I'm getting a copy of Susan Garrett's video that I'm going to study and video everything I do so that I can make comparisons/alterations.

Obviously this will mean not doing weaves at all for a while but, as luck would have it, I don't have anymore shows booked after Lincoln until High Peak on 14th May. So a good 3 weeks of re-training (and beyond if necessary). Thanks to everyone who has offered me advise as to how to help Reno with his weave problem.

One of the major positives from the show were Reno's contacts. Although a little slow and hesitant his "nose touches" were excellent.

On Sunday I went to Chesterfield for a training afternoon with Nigel Staines. I was a little apprehensive about how Reno would be as he was unfamiliar with the venue and some of the Dogs he'd be training with but had nothing to worry about.

He got more and more confident as the afternoon went on. His contacts got faster and faster whilst still maintaining his criteria (apart from when I was a prat and released him early - being timed makes me do silly things :-) ). Most pleasing of all was that he had absolutely no issue with the See-saw on either days.

I'm looking forward to Lincoln Show mainly because Kiros will have two runs per day. As for Reno...I'm just going to have to decide if I can run each course depending on where the weaves are. Still it will be a great opportunity to meet up with friends :-)

Red for Reno!!!

2011-04-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

I ran out of time to post this on my Blog last night.......but then adding it as a separate post does add to the dramatic effect!!

Last weekend was the first out door Agility Nuts show of the Summer. The entries were quite small but it was nice to see some new faces at the show.

Reno's first run was a bit crazy but he began to calm down and work really well as the day went on. His jumping course was nice and flowing with no weaves so I thought he'd enjoy it and I was right:-) A clear round and he won the class. His first red rosette!!

This was swiftly followed by his second when both Reno and Harley ran clear in the open pairs to win that class as well.

Reno continued to run nicely on Sunday and came 6th in the Jumping Gamble.

Kiros couldn't be out done by Reno of course!!

He was clear in 3 classes on Saturday - 2 x 1st's and a 2nd. On Sunday he ran every course clear and won every class!!

I think the rest of the Veteran's dread seeing him in the queue. One of the competitors said, "Maybe he'll slow down a bit when he gets older? How old is he?" Me, "Almost 11" Other competitor,"Oh, Maybe he won't then :-)"

This Saturday we are off to Scunthorpe. No runs for Kiros but 4 for Reno so I'm hoping for some nice waits and contacts. If he has a go at weaving that will be a bonus.

A stitch in time...............

2011-04-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

saves nine - So my Gran used to say.

If I'd just took a bit of time to update my Blog on a weekly basis I wouldn't have to spend so long updating it now!!

So a quick update from where I left off........

Reno ran OK in Feb Dog of the Month. He used the excuse of visiting the Judge rather then weaving but wasn't eliminated until he backjumped (my bad handling).

The next weekend (5th March) Bob Sharpe came to train us at NADTC. His session concentrated on handling and jumping. It really played to Reno's strengths and my little boy impressed Bob with his skill and confidence.

After that (13th March) came the last Agility Nuts of the Winter Season. I was Judging Gamblers Agility so struggled to concentrate on running Reno. Here is Reno's Agility run.

Thanks to Katie for sending this to me. I'm not sure why he chose to bail out of the Weaves. He looks like he is going to do them and, when he eventually decides to concentrate, completes them easily. The elimination was my fault as I forgot the course. Good criteria on his A-frame the first time but not the second (I think the tunnels confused him) and a nice see-saw:-)

His other runs were similar. Some good bits and some not so good bits.

All in all I was pleased with the way Reno was improving and was optimistically looking forward to Anthony Clarke's training on 19th and BCC of GB Show the next day when disaster struck!!

Reno wasn't himself at all at Anthony Clarke's training......He was really stressy. The See-saw really freaked him out and for a while I couldn't even persuade him to go into a tunnel. It was such a shame as Ant is a great trainer but I didn't get full benefit from his experience as most of the session involved me trying to coax Reno around the course playing tuggy after every other obstacle.

I wasn't sure it was a good idea to go to the Show the next day but it didn't turn out too badly. Reno's waits and contact criteria were excellent. With the exception of a missed weave entry his jumping run was great and the only problems with his Agility was his weaves and see-saw.

The weekend after the Dogs and me took a well earned rest in Dorset.

How could I forget Kiros?

2011-02-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

Can't believe that I haven't posted about Kiros's results at "Nuts"!!!

I was a little worried about how he'd run as he'd decided to pick a fight with Ronnie the week before and came off worse so had been on light exercise.

Bad handling on my part caused him to be eliminated in his Agility (which I played his Joker in!!) and have to finish early in his Snooker. He was clear and won both the Jumping and the Helter Skelter.

What can I say? He's such a Star!!

Training and "Nuts"

2011-02-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

I've just been reading my last blog entry and think it is about time I updated with Reno's progress!!

Alan Bray's training was really interesting because Reno wasn't impeccably behaved at all.

He made me look like I'd never trained his contacts before. He ran across the Dog Walk so fast he lost his legs and had to bail out so I resorted to putting his target out again. At least this has made me realise that he does understand what to do but when he's around different Dogs he gets over excited and becomes a little show off!!

The weekend after we had a bit of time at the Paddock working on weave entries and then a great game of "Belgian Ball" with his Buddies, Brennan and Tiber, afterwards (not sure why Reno looks so fat in this photo? He really isn't!!)

Last Sunday was Agility Nuts and I was a bit apprehensive about running Reno but I had nothing to worry about as he was a really good boy. No clears, but great contacts, handling and waits, and a good attempt at the weaves in a couple of courses.

So onto this week..................We have been really spoilt with some great training!

On Monday night Jo spent quite a bit of time with us tightening up our handling and actually admitted that we are improving.

Lucy Osborne came to train us on Tuesday night and offered a lot of help with getting Reno's weave entries. She advised going back to channels and off setting the 2nd pole a little more. He loves Lucy and I could tell he was trying so hard to get things right for her.

Today we had another training session with Lucy - 3hrs this time. By the end of the session Reno was beginning to look like a professional :-)

No training on Monday (Jo's away) then Dog of the Month on Tuesday to see if the training has paid off.

2011 - The Year Ahead

2011-01-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

OK.....so, again, it has been a horrendously long time since I last posted no my blog!!

Needless to say we had a great Xmas and New Year and are now getting back to normality.

Our first Agility Nuts Show of the year was a couple of weeks ago and Kiros ran his socks of in Veterans, winning 2 classes, 2nd in another and then a big "E" in the one I played his Joker on (why does that always happen?).

Considering Reno's lack of training in December I was quite pleased with most of his work but a little worried about his contacts. Over the last few weeks he has made me think about what he really understands as his contacts are faultless at NADTC but he doesn't seem to think that the criteria applies elsewhere.

So, looking forward to the year ahead......I really want to get his contacts and weaves to the required standard for him to be competing at KC shows by 20th March 2011 - BCC of GB Show.

Here's the plan.........

WEAVES - I'm really proud of the fact that Reno has learned to weave purely by "shaping" using a combination of my interpretation of 2 x 2 and channels.

BUT after having read Susan Garrett's recent blog entry it is clear to me that Reno is a "blaster" caused by the fact that I haven't worked the arc enough. He can complete 12 weaves with a great action and really fast but doesn't pace his approach to them consequently skipping poles or missing the entry.

What I intend to do is to go back to basics (2 poles) and re-introduce the entry over the next few weeks building it up from there. On the plus side he is now really enjoying weaving so I don't think he'll loose any of his speed whilst doing this.

CONTACTS - I'm not so sure how to get around this problem. Reno has been target trained from day one and as I've said seems to have a very strong understanding of his contact criteria at NADTC. I've even been able to take the target away and he reliably stops 2o2o and waits for a release. However in competition (Nuts) he started releasing himself early that has evolved into not stopping at all and recently, at Lucy Osborne's training, he didn't seem to know where to stop at all!! He also did some really naughty A-Frames at Jo Rhodes training on Monday night so I had to resort to putting the target back out.

I'm really not sure if he doesn't understand or if he is being naughty. Naughty I can cope with, seen it all before with Kiros and I like a bit of naughtiness. Doesn't understand? I guess it is just back to basics?

We've got some interesting training sessions coming up so I'm hoping for some ideas. On Sunday we have 3 hrs training with Alan Bray but as it is at NADTC Reno may well behave impeccably.

Time will tell:-)

Higher and Lower

2010-12-18T04:26:00.000-08:00

So last weekend started with a trip to LKA with Lynne and Deco.

Lynne was so excited about Deco's first Champ Show and the prospect of qualifying for Crufts but it became very apparent when we got there that it wasn't going to be easy for her. Minor Puppy Dog had almost 20 entries and we were so surprised how old the Puppies looked. Even Deco's litter brothers had a full adult coat and acted like adults (there's one behind Deco at the end of the Video). Lynne wasn't surprised when Deco didn't make the cut as he was much too excited and wouldn't stand still to be examined.

Maybe Deco would be better suited to Agility? I'm working on persuading Lynne :-)

Sunday was Kiros's first Veteran competition at Nuts and he was amazing. Can’t believe how fast he can go, especially over the lower contacts! He was eliminated in Agility as I didn’t stand a chance keeping up with him, 10f in Speed and Power (can you believe he knocked 2 poles on Medium!) but he won the Jumping and TYOL. Always a star!!

I was a little apprehensive about how Reno would perform at Nuts as he hadn't been to training for a while but actually had nothing to worry about as he was a really good boy.

Agility – Stopped on all of his contacts but kept releasing before I gave command so had to be put back on!!

Speed and Power (timed jumping course then 1 sec deducted from time for each successful contact and weaves) – Nice fast clear in Jumping then good See-Saw and A-Frame, missed weave entry (went to sniff Santa on wall!)and self released Dog Walk so had to be put back on! So 2 seconds off his Jumping time got him 2nd place. His second Trophy and a place higher then the last show. I was amazed and delighted!!
Take your own line – decided he wanted to kiss the Judge (Ann) rather than weaving.

On the whole he is a lot more focused in the Ring. He is still trying to find excuses not to weave but is much more willing to come back and give it another try which is something I can work on when the weather improves.

The next Nuts show is on the 9th of Jan and if he continues to improve I'm considering enter him at Hargate or Dog Vegas in the New Year.

I want to finish this post by wishing all the best of luck to Reno's Auntie Rusty and Dave in the KC Olympia Stakes Final tonight. Whatever happens it is an incredible achievement to qualify an ABC for this final and we are immensely proud of you.

Good luck also to Jo and Keisha on Monday in the KC Olympia ABC Final. I know from personal experience what an amazing day you are going to have. Enjoy every minute of it. We'll be cheering you on. XX

Pain in the Neck

2010-12-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

A week ago last Tuesday Kiros woke me up at about 3am in a lot of pain. Unable to lay down or turn around.

Initially I couldn't work out what was wrong, and started to panic, but after watching him for a while realised that the pain appeared to be in his neck.

The Vet thinks it was either muscular, arthritis, slipped or hardened disc and gave him a dose of pain killers and a weeks worth to come home with.

Now he's finished the dose he is completely back to normal, if not better. So much so that he has been running around like a puppy in the Snow!!

The weather has caused a bit of disruption to my work this week but has given me time to get all of the Xmas decorations up and I think they look lovely with the Snow on the ground.

Unfortunately the Snow has also meant that Ade and my favourite event on our Christmas calender - Lincoln Christmas Market - has had to be cancelled :(

To make up for it we went to Melton today and I managed to pick up three new baubles for the Tree - Isn't it supposed to be bad luck not to get at least one a year?!!

I'm really looking forward to next weekend. Off to LKA with Lynne on Saturday for Deco's first Champ Show and Agility Nuts on Sunday. I'm not Judging so should have time to concentrate on running Kiros and Reno.

Veteran Kiros

2010-11-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

Kiros is now heading towards 11 years old and is still extremely fit for a GSD cross but over the last few weeks I have noticed signs that he isn't jumping and turning as comfortably as he used to.

Last Tuesday at training both Ann and Margaret (a Vet that trains with us) noticed that he was struggling to "power" with his hind legs. For the rest of the class I ran him on medium and he started to "power" again.

I've thought long and hard about this and have decided that the time is right to retire Kiros from full height. It has been a very difficult decision because, as most of you know, although Kiros has slowed from how he used to run he is still a very fast Dog!! I feel I owe it to him to help him keep running in Agility for as long as possible and am hoping that tunnels will become easier for him when he is not jumping as high.

Today, whilst getting the house sorted before the Xmas decs go up :), I sorted Kiros's rosettes and trophies from the last two years and was amazed how much he had won. I've got no idea how many rosettes are there but I know that there are over 30 trophies.

I know that I'm the luckiest person ever to have found a Dog like Kiros. He has achieved more then I could ever have dreamt of and let me experience the thrill of being a winner so many times.

Thanks to Agility Nuts he will still be able to compete on the lower height so I'm sure his winning days aren't yet over.

Enjoy Veterans my special boy.

My Sad, Neglected Blog:(

2010-11-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

As the title suggests I've been a very bad Blogger of late so now it's time for a huge update!!

At the end of October the whole family spent a week at East Rose, nr Bodmin, Cornwall. The farm was a little remote which was a bit of a culture shock for the teenagers but the Dogs all enjoyed being with each other and we were able to take them on loads of walks even though the weather was a bit variable.

Since we've been back I've really been able to focus on putting Reno's weave and contacts into small courses and I'm extremely happy with how they are progressing.

November's Agility Nuts show was last Sunday and my plan was to have a go at his weaves in competition there.

As it happens it didn't quite go according to plan!! I judged the Agility in the morning and, because of there being a full quota of Dogs entered in the show, I didn't have time to run either boys in Agility. (I did attempt to run Reno around my Elementary course before it was walked but the least said about that the better - let's just say it was a bit early for both of us!!)

Here are my courses. They all ran better then I had expected but there were only a few clears in Elementary and Starters due to the amount of Dogs that had to be faulted at the weaves. Comforting for me to know that Reno isn't the only one with a weave problem.

Elementary Agility

Novice + Agility

Starters Agility

Veteran Agility

So both Kiros and Reno ran in the afternoon Jumping classes.

The Elementary Jumping was quite a straight forward class with no weaves in it so I was confident Reno could run it well and he did. Unfortunately his silly Mum didn't run to the last jump resulting in him going around it. I really must learn that he is still a baby. Tunnel Torment didn't go quite as well as the weaves were next to the tunnels and it didn't take a lot of imagination which Reno would prefer. Having said that he did do the weaves after going through the tunnels a few times.

Kiros ran a lovely, tricky Tunnel Torment only having one pole down and coming 2nd in the fastest time.

This is the first winter in ages that I haven't been making regular trips up to Myerscough for Agility shows so I've been making good use of my spare time by reclaiming my back garden with the help of Reno and Ronnie. It tends to go back to nature during the summer months.

But now the Dogs have got plenty of room to play ball and bark at the neighbours:)

Reno's first Trophy

2010-10-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

Since Wigan show my will power has been really good and I haven't run Reno in any classes with weaves or contacts because I'm still not confident with them in Training.

This has been made easier by the fact that I didn't to go to Dog Vegas show at the end of September and have only entered Agility Nuts shows over the winter that normally have at least on jumping class with out weaves on the schedule :)

So what have we been doing instead?

Well a nice weekend in Dorset to finalise plans for our holiday to Cornwall in a couple of weeks and plenty of Training in the Paddock, at NADTC and with Jo Rhodes.

I've really been working on Weaves and can confidently say that Reno can complete 12 weaves now. I'd been falling into the trap of slowing down a bit to help him keep his rhythm but Jo has advised me to keep running past them with him so he develops his rhythm at speed. This sometimes means that he comes out early or misses some in the middle but he understands when he has gone wrong and just tries harder the next time.

He's also finding it easier to adjust his pacing so he can enter them correctly after another obstacle. My aim is to be confident enough to run a jumping course with weaves at the November Nuts show and then go back to KC shows next year.

We attended a Jumping Skills workshop with Gemma Hanekom on Saturday which was very interesting. I had seen the grids that she talked about before but had only practiced them with Kiros. Jo used to set them up once every 5 weeks which I'm hoping she will continue to do as they would be very helpful to encourage Reno to jump a bit lower.

So now onto the title of the post!!

Sunday was Agility Nuts first indoor show of the winter season and I'd volunteered to Judge jumping in the afternoon so I could run Kiros in the Agility classes in the morning. He ran really well as usual - just a pole down in the Power and Speed and clear in Agility to win the class.

The judge allowed me to only run the "Speed" with Reno which he ran clear in a respectable time and Paul allowed me to run him in the "Up and Under" Jumping in the afternoon. I had to fit it in with my classes so didn't have much time to gel with Reno before the run but he still ran excellently going clear and finishing in 3rd place. I really think my little boy is showing signs of what he is going to be capable of.

I tried to take a nice photo of him with his trophy but Kiros was convinced that all "trophy" photo's should include him!!

Here are my courses from Sunday if anyone is interested?

Elementary Jumping

Novice+ Jumping

Starters Jumping

Veteran Jumping

They ran really well and I was pleased to see some lovely handling particularly in the Novice +.

Sun, Sand and Mud!!

2010-09-14T01:41:00.000-07:00

We've just had a very eventful weekend away in Lancashire attending Wigan show!

Ade and I booked a Hotel in Bury close to Ann's parents so we could meet up easily for Dinner each night. The weekend started well as the Bolholt Country Park Hotel was lovely. They promised that they were Dog friendly and proved that they were even letting the Dogs run off the lead in their beautifully manicured gardens and didn't bat an eyelid when Kiros and Reno found the rear entrance to the Kitchens.

We had a lovely meal at the Hotel on Friday night and I even had time to have breakfast before I made my way to the competition the next morning.

I was aware that it had been raining during the night but wasn't quite prepared for what the venue was like. Even at 9am the rings were full of the slipperiest mud I've ever had to run on.

My Asics Enduro's were totally inadequate for the conditions and I did a spot of "knee surfing" whilst attempting to run Reno (Ok I know I said I wasn't going to run him again but what can I say, I must be an addict!). It was obviously a handling move that he wasn't used to so I totally confused him. I also struggled to keep upright whilst running Kiros resulting in me getting him eliminated.

At least the weather treated us to this spectacular horizontal rainbow. I haven't seen anything like it before.

For my last two runs I resorted to borrowing Ann's shoes that were 3 sizes bigger then my feet but at least I managed to stay upright. Reno was a bit distracted so I ended up taking him out of the ring but Kiros his course beautifully only picking up 5f on the second from last pole.

At the beginning of this year I was sure that I would have to be thinking of retiring Kiros before now but he is still running so well, even getting two clears in the ABC Semi Finals the weekend before although not fast enough to qualify. Over the winter I will be limiting his runs to Agility Nuts and other easier runs that I know we will enjoy together.

We decided that evening (over a nice Italian meal that took over 2hrs to get through two courses!) that we wouldn't go back to the competition on Sunday as we didn't want to risk the Dogs. This turned out to be a wise move as the Show Committee took the correct decision to cancel the show. Instead Ann and I took the Dogs for a walk along the Beach at Southport whilst Ade and Mark sampled the towns Pubs:)

Well Mud was obviously the theme for this weekend! In order to actually get to the sand we had to wade through it ankle deep. Still the Dogs had fun and slept well for the journey home.

Ups and Downs

2010-08-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

Shall we start with the ups?

Had a great weekend with Kiros at Agility Nuts. He ran beautifully and managed a 2nd place in Novice + Agility and 1st in Novice + Jumping. Here is a link to the video of his win.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=154964661184927&ref=mf

It's the first time that I've seen him run for a while and I'm quite happy to see that although he isn't as fast as he used to be he doesn't appear to be showing any sign of his age.

This was the last show of the Summer Season and the Agility Nuts of the Season were announced on Sunday. Kiros won the Large Senior award by some margin. I couldn't have hoped for any more from him.

Now the downs :(

At the beginning of June I resolutely told you that I wouldn't start competing with Reno until he could run a course in training. Then after a really promising show at the end of June my resolve wained a little and I started running him at KC shows.

In my heart of hearts I knew he wasn't ready but thought that the ring experience would help him improve.

Unfortunately I was wrong and after this weekend I have decided not to compete with Reno again until he is more confident.

Our main problem is still the weaves. Although he can do them in isolation he finds them very difficult in a course and, as they don't hold such high value to him as other obstacles, he chooses not to attempt them going off to do another obstacle or worse still going for a sniff. In a competition ring I am struggling to control his choices so my only option is to stop competing until he actually wants to do them.

It is a real shame as I have really enjoyed running him and was very much looking forward to the remaining shows that we have entered. I'm worried about allowing the problem to escalate and am hoping that if I take action now I will be able to get him competing again very soon. Hopefully there will be some courses without weaves in them that we can have a go at!!

On a positive note he was excellent at training last night. Although he didn't actually do his weaves in the course he got the entry every time and came straight back to attempt them so hopefully we are getting somewhere? :)

KC International Festival

2010-08-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

What an excellent start to the weekend with Ann and Indi achieving their first ever clear round in Grade 3 Jumping and coming away with 4th place in a class of over 100. Well done both of you. I'm sure there will be a lot more to follow.

Because of the standard of Judges at this show Kiros has been able to do all of his runs. It is so nice to run Grade 6 courses that aren't overly physically demanding on the Dogs.

We have only had one clear round but Kiros as run really well and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Every time I got to the ring to run Reno yesterday the heavens opened but at least he got used to running in the rain. He ran well and very confidently. I made a few mistakes with my handling!!
His best run so far came today in the Grade 3 Jumping. He was clear until the 2nd from last obstacle, weaves, but did get his entry and completed them on the second attempt. Unfortunately after them he spotted his toy and ran around the last jump to get it. Oh well, at least he got rewarded.

Next weekend is Agility Nuts again and I'm judging Agility on Sunday. Good luck everyone:)

Reno's KC Debut

2010-08-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

I've bitten the bullet and started to run Reno at KC shows. I had planned to wait until I was certain that he could run clear in training but I'm obviously not that patient!!

Our first run was at Rugby. I was quite optimistic about this run as he had been so good at Agility Nuts so was a bit disappointed when he lost focus going to see the pole picker and judge.

Since then I have done a couple of runs with him at Adams (were Katie took these photo's - thank you Katie). Both nice confident runs with handling errors on my part. One run at Empingham that was a little disappointing as he seemed very nervous.

He was also very distracted during his first run at Derby but his Mini/Mixi pairs with Indi seemed to change all that as he really enjoyed it, although he thought Ann was trying to steel the baton at the end of Indi's run and wouldn't let her have it!!

After that he has done two lovely runs the next day at Derby and four very promising runs this weekend at Scunny.

At the moment I'm really not handling him very well and he doesn't want to do the weaves at shows so both of these things are stopping his "flow" around the courses and when this happens he allows himself to get distracted.

I'm optimistic that with a bit more practice these can be easily sorted.

Watch this space!!

Kiros continues to run so well for a 10 year old Shepherd.

I'm picking and choosing the courses that he runs now which sometimes means that he doesn't do much in a day but what he does do he thoroughly enjoys - maybe a bit too much as he has started to get a bit naughty!!

Clear runs have been a bit few and far between as he has been missing contacts, breaking waits and knocking poles.

He did do a lovely clear yesterday in the EO qualifier stopping on all of his contacts to prove he can still do it and he's just being cheeky!!

I'm looking forward to next weekend at we are off the KC International Festival. Lots of top class Agility to watch.

I just wanted to finish this post by congratulating Pen and Brennan for not staying in Grade 2 very long!! They won Grade 2 Agility and Jumping at Dog Vegas last weekend so at the next Dog Vegas show at the end of August Brennan and Reno will both be running Grade 3 together. Yippee!!

Happy Birthday Kiros!

2010-07-13T01:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Kiros's 10th Birthday and he celebrated by running in the SupaDarl Finals.

It was a really hot day and I was so glad that I hadn't actually entered him in the show. Ann and I managed to keep him cool with him wearing his cooler coat and keeping in the shade until his runs.

I completely embarrassed myself in the jumping by getting him eliminated with some silly handling but did better in the Agility getting around clear.

We ended up with 14th place in a very competitive final - I've heard the first 11 dogs were separated by less then 1 second - so given his age, the heat and the fact that I was very careful with his contacts I think he did really well.

Sunday was Agility Nuts - I was so looking forward to this show as I decided I'd run Reno (if the courses only had 6 weaves) and Jackie was coming with Speedy (unfortunately he couldn't run as he was injured!).

Reno's first run (jumping) started jump, six weaves which he did beautifully. Unfortunately after that point I forgot I was running a baby and didn't work the next corner getting him eliminated. Alan Boutel took some lovely photo's of him doing this run - http://www.theimagefile.com/?skin=916202&Action=_VC&id=56874450&ppwd=72204wnd page 12- I'm thinking of buying one. Which one to you think is best?

He took a pole down in the speed section of the Speed and Power and then decided that he fancied the Dog Walk more then the Weaves in the Power section so got eliminated.

His Agility was going really well until I miss timed a front cross and didn't work a corner (notice a trend here?!!) and the least said about my handling in Gamblers the better.

I entered Reno in the last class - Open Pay on the Day Steeple Chase. Reno ran excellently and went clear in a very reasonable time finishing 4th (despite a strange moment after the flat tunnel when I realised back cross wasn't going to work and had to pop in a quick front cross!)

Reno is entered in KC shows from this weekend (Rugby on Saturday) and I am so tempted to give him a go. The only thing holding us back at the moment is 12 weaves and my handling :-)

Kiros was his normal cheeky self at Nuts. He broke his wait in the Speed and Power so I took him back and eliminated him (typically after that his run was perfect) and was naughty in the Agility, completely ignoring my handling but excellent contacts. His best run on the weekend was his jumping finishing 3rd.

I must end this post by congratulating Jo on her awesome resent results with her Mali Mob. She now has 3 Dogs in Grade 6 with Keisha quarter way to Grade 7 and Zippy in Grade 4. Such a major achievement and I don't think the wins will end there.

All Change!!

2010-07-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

What a couple of weeks it has been.

Starting with Agility for Britain. It was nice to go to a small show and catch up with a few friends. Jo and Jackie were there with Reno's brothers and Daddy. I only entered Kiros in two classes at this show as he wasn't running well when it closed however at the show he ran lovely getting 8th place in Grade 6 jumping.

He was a very naughty boy in the Agility missing both his A-frame and Dog Walk contacts (by miles!) but "No worries" I thought, "I can correct them at Tuffley". Unfortunately he over stretched himself at training on Tuesday night so now I don't have any opportunity to correct them before the Rescue League Finals next weekend, assuming he is going to be fit to run as he now appears to have stood on something that has stung him and won't stop licking his paw!

On Friday I took Lynne to pick up her new Puppy.

Meet Deco. He's a really cute Rough Collie Dog from excellent show lines (his Mum is a Crufts Best of Breed winner) and full of personality.

I so hope he lives up to his potential as I know how much Lynne wants to get into Showing again.

Either way though, I know he is going to have a very happy life. I'm taking Reno around on Thursday to meet him. That should be fun!

This weekend Ann and I went to Tuffley show. It was our first visit to this show and we only went one day as it was a very long way and we were just sounding it out as a potential "weekend away" show for next year.

I think it is a definite. The venue is spectacular with a large exercise area and a lovely river running through. Although I wasn't running the Doggies they had great fun running around and Reno enjoyed almost going into the river.

He stood on the bank wagging his tail in the mud and then wagged it all over us so Ann and I had to drive home caked it mud. Not sure how we would have explained it away if we had been stopped!!

It was nice to catch up with a few more Mali people. Dave, Candice, Grace and Alex were there with Rusty and Kiah. Hope Kiah enjoyed her first Grade 6 show Grace?

Ann and Harley had a serious "If only" run in the ABC qualifier.

Since we started competing in 2001/2002 Paul and Pen Sensky have been so supportive of Ann and myself as we have won up through the Grades.

My good friends have always gone out of their way to support Kiros and me at big events such as travelling down to London to see us at Olympia and arriving at Crufts at the crack of dawn.

I'm so happy now to be able to congratulate them on their recent successes. Pen and Brenn won their final Grade 1 jumping at Lincoln putting them into Grade 2 and, much to his surprise, Paul and Quincy won 3 Grade 1 jumping classes at Barrow this weekend also putting them into Grade 2. I'm really proud of you guys.

Reno's training is continuing to improve. He can now do 6 weaves in a straight line and is jumping and going on far more confidently. I've started trying to put the weaves into a course but he is struggling with his rhythm if I keep moving so this is proving a bit difficult. I'm hoping to get this sorted by next Sunday so I can do a few more runs with him.

Almost there!!

2010-06-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

The Doggies and I have just had a lovely weekend at Agility Nuts.

I made my mind up to use the Agility classes to reinforce Kiros's wait's and Contacts as they have got a bit naughty lately so got Eliminated in his first run because I replaced him on the Dog Walk. Only one contact the the "Give a Dog a Bone" Agility and, as Kiros never needs much reminding, he stopped and waited to be released. Unfortunately he had a pole down (my fault!) but still managed 6th place as it was a tricky course.

As I was Judging Yesterday it was hard to grab moments to walk and run the other courses but Kiros was on top form and came 2nd in the Jumping (which I hadn't walked!) and 4th in the TFO Jumping.

Ronnie just had fun running around jumps and barking :)

I'd made my mind up to run Reno in any of the classes that didn't have weaves as we've still not got them sorted yet :( . On Saturday he was Eliminated in Clockwork Tunnels because he ran on into the wrong tunnel, Eliminated in Jumping because I forgot the course and took my eye off him!! and just 5f for a refusal in pairs as he took too long a stride and had to go around a jump.

The courses we could run yesterday were TFO jumping and a pay on the day Steeple Chase. At Agility Nuts you are able to run with a silent toy in the Elementary classes (which Reno can enter as he hadn't run at a KC show) so I've been using my ball. This all went wrong in the Steeple Chase as I made a mistake with my handling and Reno got "fixed" on the ball resulting in him being faulted! His TFO Jumping, on the other hand, was brilliant with him completing 23 obs in the 30 sec course time (Kiros completed 26) finishing 6th. The run has been filmed by Jackie so as soon as I've got it I will post it on here.

Here are my Agility courses from yesterday for anyone who is interested

Elementary and Starters + Tunnel Torment Agility ( I had to alter this a little to fit the ring)

Elementary Agility

Starters + Agiltiy

Veteran Agility

What happened to May?!!

2010-06-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Not sure where the time has gone?

I've just spent from Thurday to yesterday working on our show - Nottingham ADTC. It has been a great weekend with the only problem being the weather on Saturday. I've worked on some really exciting rings - Champ on Sat and KC Olympia on Sun - and seen some top class Agility. What a bonus :)

Since my last post I have taken Kiros to the Osteopath. She gave him a good exmination and said that there wasn't anything wrong and his spine was holding up well. Any little aches and pains he gets are down to his age and she has advised I keep running him as long as he wants to.

I've cut down his training a bit and picking the best courses for him to run at shows so he really enjoys his runs. He's doing fine but just a bit slower. I, on the other hand, seem to be totally incapable of handling him correctly now. I even forgot where I was going on a course at the ABC show!!

Reno's brothers and sister have all started to compete and Zippy is doing really well - congrats Jo.

I'm still struggling with Reno's training. I think my biggest problem is that I am so inexperienced at training a young dog I just don't know what to expect and am probably being inconsistent with my training and confusing him. Poor Lad!!

On a positive note I have got his wait back but last Tuesday he started going under jumps. I've decided to try 2 x 2 weaves instead of channels as they are easier for me to practice at home and I was struggling to close the channels up. Unfortunately Reno still cannot understand to go through the gaps when the poles are straight so we need to go back a step with that.

His See Saw was comming along nicely until last Tuesday (you can tell it wasn't a good session for us!) when we got out our RVA See Saw which is lighter then the Adams one. It moved to quickly and freaked him :(

Let's see what happens at training tonight?

Still a long way to go and I've got no idea when he will be ready to compete. I've entered him in a few classes from July but won't run him if he can't run a course in training. Trying to be patient!!

First "Nuts" of the Summer

2010-04-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

The Doggies and me have just spent a lovely, sunny weekend at AgilityNuts.

I was judging all day on Saturday so didn't get much chance to run Kiros although Ann gave him a run around my Novice Agility. He ran clear for her but wasn't very fast as he wanted to get to me all of the time. At the end of the day I ran him in the pairs (1st pole down) and the knockout jumping. He was drawn against Indi in the Knockout and only got through the 1st round as Indi had a pole down. She's soooooo fast!! In the 2nd round he was beaten by another Cocker Spaniel.

Here are my courses.

Veteran Agility

Elementary Agility

Novice + Agility

Starters Agility

I ended up altering my Jumping courses as I didn't get many clears in Elementary Agility so can't post them.

Reno had fun playing with Hazel's puppy Shadow and on Sunday had a really good romp around with another Mali, Barbara's Sam. The problem I have at the moment is he is having so much fun on the excercise area he doesn't want to come back to me to have his lead put on! Work to do I think.

Although Ann was judging yesterday and I was Ring Managing I found time to run both Kiros and Ronnie. Ron was E'd in both his runs. I think he is actually getting worse but he still thinks he is the best Agility dog in the world and I love running him as he has so much fun.

Kiros was a real star. Clear in all of his 5 runs - 3rd in TFO Agility, 2nd in Jumping and 1st in Agility. He started slowing a little in the Steeplechase and Helter-Skelter so was out of the placings but overall wasn't showing much sign of his age.

Reno will be 18 month old on Saturday and so will "legaly" be able to compete. Unfortunately he is nowhere near ready so I'm not planning to enter him in anthing until he can do a clear round in training. The way we are going I can't see him competing this summer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm more then happy with how his training is going. He is so full of drive and enthusiasm it is just that his drive is cannelled into tunnels and contacts with the jumps in between being totally unnecessary! Weaves are ok as long as the channel is far enougth apart for him to whizz through, any closer and my bright boy thinks it is easier to go around them.

Good Luck to Zippy, Speedy and Megan at thier first KC shows at the weekend.

Six go mad in Norfolk........

2010-04-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

We've just come back from a lovely holiday in Norfolk.

The Agility show was on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was very mixed - sunshine, showers, wind and hail!! Indi and Harley both ran well but unfortunately didn't come home with any rosettes. Kiros didn't really understand the point of Anysize jumping and wasn't running at full speed but still managed a 4th and 5th in his two runs. He seemed quite stiff after the show. I'm hoping it was just the cold weather.

On Monday we took the dogs to the beach at Sea Palling for Reno's 1st experience of the Sea. It was still quite cold and threatening rain so the only people on th beach were dog walkers.

The dogs had a great time playing and posing.

We visited Wells-next-to-the-Sea on Tuesday. This walk wasn't quite as exciting as by now the weather had started to get quite warm and the beach was full of families so the dogs had to be on their leads most of the time.

Because of this we decided to stay closer to "home" on Wednesday and spent a few hours walking along the river bank in Coltishall.

Kiros totally refuses to swim in anything other then a heated swimming pool even if a stick is amost within reach. I'm sure Reno wanted to swim in after it but Kiros wouldn't let him!!

Of course there were plenty of posing opportunities along the way.

Back to Nottingham again on Thursday and then Scuthorpe Agility on Saturday. I was a little worried about Kiros running after the weekend before but he seemed ok. Infact he did a lot better then I did so we didn't get any clears! Harley and Ann, on the other hand, worked really well with two clears and a 4th place in Grade 5 Agility.

Kiros has had an excellent training session at NADTC with Jo today. He cope well but was flagging a bit at the end. Reno is back to Jo's puppy class tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it.

End of Term

2010-03-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

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 :(

2010-03-17T03:20:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2010-03-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

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!

Agility full weekend

2010-01-19T02:09:00.000-08:00

Now that the weather has improved I have had time for lots of Agility training with the boys. (unfortunately I didn't take my camera to any of it so you'll have to make do with this lovely photo of Kiros taken by Alan Score at our last show!!)

Friday night was Reno's 1st proper class at NADTC and it was very busy! Jackie set up four jumping exercises and split us into pairs. Reno was paired with Queenie. Both dogs found each other very excitng so it wasn't hard for us to keep their enthusiasm going. By the end of the session they were both front and rear crossing beautifully.

I took Kiros to the Bob Sharpe training session at NADTC on Saturday. I love the way Bob trains as he always knows how to get some real drive out of the Dogs and he handles in a similar way to me. It was lovely to see Kiros shooting across the course picking up tunnels and generally behaving like a pup!! Needless to say he was shattered by Sunday so I decided to give him a day of rest and only take Ronnie and Reno to Paul and Pen's Paddock.

With Pen's help I worked Reno in the weaves and over the A-frame. We've managed to get him down to a 3" channel with a lovely style beginning to develop. He tends to "pop out" a bit when I use a toy as reward but if I use food he's not so motivated. Something to work on!!

I have to say that so far I'm very impressed with the target training of contacts. Only Reno's second introduction to the A-frame and he just took himself over then firmly planted his nose on the target!! He found it difficult to stop when he got over confident and tried to go to fast but immediately corrected himself by jumping back on and planting his nose again. What a good boy!!

Last night we did some "Puppy Circuit Training" at Jo's working on balance and lots of fun play. He loved it and is now a very sleepy Puppy!!

Happy New Year!!!!

2010-01-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ok! Better late then never!!!

We spent a lovely Xmas and New Year with my Family down in Dorset. The dogs all had a great time playing with each other non stop every day.

I even had some time, with Wanda's help to do some serious weave practice with Reno. I bought a set of 12 stick in the ground weaves and set them up in a channel. Keeping it fast and fun, by the end of the holiday he was going through the full set with a channel of about 4" and finding the entry. Unfortunately we haven't been able to practice them since!

Reno started his new class with Jo Rhodes when we came home and thoroughly enjoyed it. He is very focused on his toy - ok probably a little too focused! My homework is to improve his release command. Although we are going back to basics in this class and the one we started at NADTC last Friday I feel that it is really going to benefit us.

The weather has been interesting in Nottingham, as I guess it has everywhere else. It started snowing last Monday and then snowed on and off until Thurday. Then, as it has been so cold the snow hung about over the weekend.

I've really struggled to keep lessons going as I'm so limited to the area's I can take people to. On the plus side I've had lots of nice doggie time.

I have to confess to not being very confident with 3 Dogs on leads with frozen pavements so have been walking them separately and then playing with them in the garden.

Luckily they had a chance for a play in the snow together when I took them swimming on Friday.

Sunday was Agility Nuts show that went ahead despite the weather. Acutually the roads weren't that bad and we had a nice early finish.

I judged Snakes and Ladders. Thank you to everyone for their kind comments about the course. Glad you all enjoyed it. I'm not sure when I will next be judging a Nuts (Paul hasn't asked/told :) me yet) but I'm already looking forward to it.

The weather has been really strange today. When Ade and I went out to the Cars we thought that they were wet but it turned out that they were covered with a really thick layer of ice and the road was completely covered with black ice - even where it had been gritted.

It is now sleeting very heavily on top of the ice. I don't even want to know how slippery it is!! I'm hoping I can get out to my pupils for their lessons this evening!!

A Year Ago Yesterday....

2009-12-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

(both Jo and Katie managed a "year ago today" but I was stuck on the M1 for almost 3hrs yesterday!)...................I picked up our little Reno.

Funny how he still feels small to me even though he is the tallest of all of our dogs but he is very skinny and still so puppyish which I love.

We had an excellent, but short, Xmas break in Dorset and I'm looking forward to going back for the New Year after I've finished work on Wednesday. Christmas was a little strange as Ronnie stayed with Jamie this year and I really missed him but he's comming with us for New Year so I'm really hoping all the dogs get along ok.

Photo's of the Boys.

2009-12-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

As requested here are some long awaited photo's of my boys!

Not much to report since my last update really.

Reno's Agility training has taken a bit of a set-back so I've decided to book him into be neutered and give him a bit of a rest until after Xmas. Apart from that he contiunes to have fun playing with us and other Dogs out on walks.

Ronnie has torn off one of his claws so is bandaged up at the moment and on Antibiotics. Not much fun trying to keep his bandage dry in this weather!!

It was the last Agility Nuts show of the year on Sunday and Kiros ran really well. He won the Agility but was eliminated in all of his other runs due to my poor handling. You've got to feel sorry for the boy?!!

I'm really looking forward to Xmas. We're heading down to Dorset on 23rd and, hopefully, Wanda's new kitchen will be finished by then. Can't wait to cook dinner in her new oven.

Long overdue update!

2009-11-17T00:41:00.000-08:00

I'm just getting worse at this aren't I?................Here is what we've been up to!

I've started swimming Ronnie as well as Kiros and he's loving it. I'm so surprised how well he's doing as I thought it would really worry him. He was a bit uncoordinated at first but has now worked out that he can swim with his front and back legs at the same time! It is the highlight of his week.

Kiros has only had one competition since my last posting which was Nuts on Sunday. I could only do two runs with him as I was judging in the afternoon. I'm kicking myself for the mistakes I made. We were eliminated in the Agility as I let him run his A-frame then didn't have time to command which tunnel enterance I wanted him to take. In the jumping we had one pole down but still managed 4th place with the fastest time by over 4.5 seconds! Ann ran him in my TFO Agility and (much to my surprise) he missed the Dog Walk contact. At least that's this years missed contact out of the way!

Reno and I have done a lot since my last blog entry.

He was entered in an other Breed Show the weekend after and he was even worse that at Midlands Counties. Not only would he not let the Judge go over him but he barked at her. As I'm struggling to know what more I could have done to stop him being like this I've decided to take him to Ringcraft classes. So far we've been to one which was a bit manic! There were Kids running around all over the place that really spooked him but at least people got to see what he could be like rather then seeing the confident, sociable puppy that he is 90% of the time. We've got another class tonight so hopefully he'll be a bit more used to it?

Now he's 12 months old I've started his Agility training and have managed quite a few sessions at Paul and Pen's Paddock. So far we've worked on recalls and send aways over jumps and through tunnels which are working well if he has a toy or treat at the end. We've also started on the basics of front and rear crosses. I'm really pleased at how well he is reading my body language already. The foundation work that I've done with him is paying off.

We've started on channel weave but can't get them much closer then 6" without him comming out. I really need to practice these more often.

I'm looking forward to his training on Thurday and also the Crate Games session that we're doing at Jo's on Monday.

We're off to Wilmslow on Saturday. Our last KC show of the year. It's going to be fun!!!

Midlands Counties.....

2009-10-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

Didn't quite go according to plan!!

The schedule said that the judging of the Malinois wouldn't start before 1.30pm but, as it was our 1st benched show, we got there nice and early to get settled. As it happened we didn't get into the ring until about 3.30pm. Reno was happy and relaxed most of the time. He enjoyed "talking" to the other Mali's, especially Speedy, and wandering around but it was really hot and he wouldn't settle down so I think he got quite tired.

As they were Judging the Gron's Jackie and I took the boys into another ring that had finished to do some practice. All was going well.......................until seconds before we went into our ring!

A little boy was playing on the empty benches, running around and bashing them. This totally spooked Reno - he was barking at the boy and hanging off the end of the lead - but he seemed to settle ok when he was in the ring until the Judge tried to touch him. She was great, trying to persuade him and give him sausage, but he just wouldn't let her touch him and she was in a bit of a hurry so had to give up.

Reno ended up Very Highly Commended - in other words......Last!!

Speedy, on the other hand, was a very good boy. He ran lovely and let the Judge go over him. He came second in the Puppy class and then went onto win Best Dog in Breed and Reserve Best in Breed. Well done Speedy!!

After the Judging had finished the little boys Dad kindly let his Son give Reno some treats and stroke him and he then became Reno's new best friend. So a positive to go away with but a lot of work to do before Crufts!

Happy Birthday Reno!

2009-10-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

How time has flown - can you believe that Reno is a year old today?

He has grown into a very handsome young man. Weighing in at about 26Kg he is tall but a bit slim - a perfect Agility shape, I hope! He has a lovely sweet personality and is never lacking in joy and enthusiasm.

We are celebrating today by going to Midlands Counties Breed Show where he will see Speedy. I'm hoping he will be a good boy as I have to confess to not doing much practice!

Happy Birthday to the rest of the litter - Zippy, Speedy, Megan, Eva and Zippo. Thank you Jo, Jan and Lisa for letting me have my little angel. He is very loved xxx

Lucy Osborne's Puppy Training

2009-10-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Reno and I had a great day at Lucy's training yesterday. I couldn't believe that I knew 4 out of 5 of the other people on the course. I knew that Allison and Sue were going with Faym and Guess (even though we booked it separately without mentioning it to each other) and Kate would be there with Megan but I was really surprised to see Rae there with her new puppy, Obie. It was lovely to catch up as, due to Rae's injury we haven't seen much of each other over the past year.

Reno was probably the least experienced of all the puppies on the course, but what he lacked in experience he made up for in enthusiasm! The sequences that we did were a little more complex then Reno has been used to but Lucy had some great tips for keeping his confidence and speed up which worked really well. It was pleasing that his enthusiasm lasted for the full 2hrs because previously he has seemed to switch off quite quickly. He had a go at doing a full set of channel weaves for the 1st time and really loved them.

After the training Kate and I took Megan and Reno to a local park with Lucy and her puppy. Kate took some lovely photo's. Check out her blog to see a couple more.

October "Nuts"

2009-10-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

Just spent a lovely weekend with the Doggie-boys.

On Saturday afternoon we went to Paul and Pen's paddock for a bit of Agility practice. When we arrived they were busy re-painting the contact equipment. Now our pack can be easily identified by the blue paint blobs on them! I'm hoping Reno's wears of soon as I'm not sure what the judge at Midlands Counties will make of a blue tinted Malinois!!

Yesterday was the first Agility Nuts show of the winter season and Kiros ran really well going clear in 3 out of his 4 runs. Although the classes were small there were three really promising young dogs there that were running really well. I was delighted when Kiros won Ann's Power and Speed shaving a fraction of a second off the youngsters times. He came 4th and 3rd in the other 2 classes.

I'm really looking forward to next weekend as I'm taking Reno to Lucy Osborne's. This will be the first time that he has done something like this so I'm hoping he isn't going to be the disruptive influence! He has enjoyed the foundation training that we have done so far but likes to do a couple of "laps of honour" after every tunnel or line of jumps, bless him.

Speedy and Zippy have started proper Agility training and sound like they are doing very well. I'm taking Re to Pen's class on Thursdays (when I can make it) and we are starting to progress onto small jumping sequences, jumping lanes, target training and channel weaves set at 8" (which Reno fits through easily without wiggling due to him being so skinny!). I'm also hoping that Jo will be starting a Puppy group on Mondays soon so am looking forward to that.

It's been a long time!

2009-09-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

So what have we been up to since 7th Sept?

A visit to Dorset for the 1st weekend. Reno and Ollie still love each other loads. They really aren't aware of the size difference and Ollie has a unique way of getting Reno on the ground - watch him going for the legs!!

Next came Nottingham ADTC Fun Day. A relaxed day with three easy jumping classes. Kiros won two of the classes and had a Judges Special in the third class as he would have won if he hadn't had a pole down.

Hazel attempted to take some photo's of him jumping but he was too fast!!

Then onto Dog Vegas Agility show at Bakewell. Lovely venue, perfect weather and sensible courses. We only managed two clears but came away with respectable placing in each. 7th in Grade 6 Agility on Saturday and 4th in the "Money" class on Sunday winning us £7. Well done Kiros!!

Last weekend we were at Lune, our first indoor show of the winter season. Kiros loves running indoors and again came away with a reasonable place in Grade 6 Agility, 5th.

This weekend coming sees the first of the Agility Nuts winter shows. Ann is Judging in the afternoon so I'll be ring managing for her but will have all morning to concentrate on my Doggies. I'm really looking forward to it.

Reno's training is coming on well. Pen has moved to an indoor venue so he found that very exciting last Thursday, especially as there were different Dogs in the class.

I've been taking him to most shows that I have been to and he is getting very used to them. I was really proud of him on Saturday at Lune as the venue must be strange and very noisy for a puppy. He took it all in his stride apart from being "spooked" when Steve Croxford jumped over the barrier in front of him but Steve, being the experienced Dog person that he is, just ignored it and fed him a few treats. He's now Reno's new best friend!!

Reno is entered in a couple of Breed Shows. Midlands Counties on his Birthday (24th Oct) and then one in Newark the weekend after. Only two weeks to go. I really should be practicing!!

Well done to everyone who has done so well recently particularly Jo for qualifying Keisha for next years ABC semi.

Chatsworth Country Fair and Gedling Show

2009-09-07T10:21:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we went to Chatsworth Country Fair and had a great day. Kiros had 4 runs but two of them were for Grades 1-5 only so he had to run "Not for Competition" in them and, of course was clear in both. In fact he ran the fastest time in the Agility.

Typically I caused some faults in the other two classes.

Reno and Ronnie came along for the experience.

Ade walked Reno around Chatsworth for at least 2hrs and he was fine with the crowds, fairground noises and guns so I decided to take him to our local show yesterday. They had an exemption show on so I thought it would be good practice for him.

I got there to late to enter him in most handsome dog and the other classes weren’t suitable for him. I walked him around for a while. It was very different from Chatsworth – Although not as big there were a lot more Children about, running and screaming. He was doing really well until we were waiting at a stand for a drink to be made and a Child (who had been running around him shooting him with a toy gun which he was fine with) trod on his tail! That didn't really help prove to him that kids are nothing to be scared of.

Then a Wild West Shoot Out started in the main ring. Reno was ok to start with then, as the shots got more frequent, he freaked and slipped his collar – He ran to get under a car(stationary) but half way there decided that it would be better to come back to me, thankfully!

So I’m now worried that all Ade’s hard work on Saturday has been undone and he is traumatised for life. He pulled me home until we got out of earshot of the fair. Poor little boy. Not sure if I should try and do something about it or just ignore it? I’m getting a bit worried about how he will react to fireworks. Suggestions welcome!!

Just what the Doctor ordered............

2009-09-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

.....a second weekend of Kiros friendly courses!!

Not a paw out of line - we had four clear rounds over the weekend and the only mistakes made on the courses were my fault (with the exception of his last jumping run when he broke his wait - but that doesn't excuses me from forgetting the course and having to ask the judge for directions!). We didn't get any placings although some of the runs were tantalizingly close.

I think the time has come for me to have to admit that Kiros has slowed quite a lot since last year and, although I'm convinced that he is still enjoying himself, I have to be careful not to keep him running full height for too long. Having said that his clear in Tom Hadaway's Graded 5-7 Agility (a typical TH course - plenty of running!!) would have won him out of Grade 5.

Ronnie had a couple of nice runs. Particularly on Saturday when he came away with only 5f for a refusal in Anysize Jumping. See, I told you that clear is just around the corner!!

Reno had great fun socialising as always. His sister, Megan, came to the show on Saturday and Sunday and they had great fun playing together with Kiros, Harley and Heidi. (Hope you don't mind me steeling the photo Kate?)

Next weekend is Chatsworth Country Fair. I love this show but never do very well. Perhaps a little too relaxed?!!

Agility Nuts August Show

2009-08-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Kiros is well and truly back on form. Over the weekend he was clear in all but one of his competitive runs and was placed in all of them.

Saturday - 5th place in Agility (with Ann), 2nd place in Snakes, 4th place in Power and Speed and 4th place in Jumping.

Sunday - 1st place in Agility, first pole down so 5f in Jumping and 1st place in Time, Fault and Out Jumping. The rules of Time, Fault and out are that you keep running around the judges course until you make a mistake or the course time expires - in this case 40 seconds. Kiros ran beautifully and completed 37 obstacles in 40 secs but it almost killed me! I decided not to run Gamblers making the excuse that it might be to much for Kiros, but truthfully I think it was to much for me!!

Ronnie had great fun over the weekend. The judge must of had a laugh in Snakes (a jumping course were you have to avoid the tunnels) when Ronnie decided to completely circle the tempting tunnel before coming back to me.

He was almost clear in the Knockout Jumping but was distracted by the Dog running in the next lane and ran slightly past a jump. His best run of the weekend came in Ann's TFO. He completed 12 obstacles before being faulted. I'm sure that clear round is just around the corner!!

Reno had a great time being cuddled and playing with other Dogs.

Here are my courses from Saturday.

Veteran, Starters Plus and Elementary Agility
I thoroughly enjoyed the show, the highlight of which was Pen and Brennan winning my Elementary Agility and Kiros coming 2nd in the Summer Season Senior League. August Nuts August Show is rapidly becoming my favorite of the season. I think because it is a sharp contrast to the Pomp and Ceremony of the KCI Festival the weekend before. I'm looking forward to the Nuts winter season starting in October.

Strange "Agility" Happenings

2009-08-18T04:46:00.000-07:00

We've just spent two very enjoyable Agility-filled weekends at Scunnie and then at the KC Festival but Kiros's runs have been quite out of character.

He obviously loves running at Winterton so was well up for his runs at Scunnie.

No faulted Dog Walk ups but a very bad missed A-frame down contact on Saturday and again on Sunday (strange happening no 1. He honestly hasn't missed an A-frame contact in competition or training since 2005).

He then went onto run clear in Graded 6-7 Jumping on Sunday and got 10th place (strange happening no 2. Our last jumping placing was 5th in Grade 5 Jumping at Newton Heath - June 2007).

Needless to say I practice contacts at training last Tuesday! I tried really hard to push him to miss the A-frame contact but try as I might I couldn't.

So onto the KC Festival. All but one of my Agility courses lent themselves to stopping on the contacts so that's how I handled them. Strange happening no. 3 - Kiros really seemed to loose confidence, possibly because of this, and even almost stopped on a couple of the courses. Even though we had a couple of Agility clears over the weekend he was to slow to be placed.

His jumping rounds, however, were a different story. He really enjoyed them, helped by some fast open courses, and came away with another placing in Grade 6 jumping (strange happening no.4!) - 29th out of 307 so within 10%.

Reno had a great time socialising and being admired by all. He played with his brother, Speedy, and met some friends of Jo's who recognised him as a "Ronny Pup" straight away!

I'm really looking forward to the weekend coming - Agility Nuts. A good chance to catch up with old friends and I'm Judging Agility on Saturday so I hope everyone enjoys the courses.

Reno's going to Crufts!

2009-08-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

I promised Jo that I'd put a post on quickly to let you all know but she's still beaten me to it!!

Firstly, well done Jo for your excellent results with your Doggies and, Of course, to Jan and Lisa.

We had a lovely (but long!) day at the BSD Breed show yesterday. Reno's class was first in the ring. I was really nervous but the Judge was lovely. She helped us with everything when she realised it was our first show and was very kind with Reno. He was a little worried about her going over him but not as bad as I'd thought he'd be and no worse then the other Puppies. Much to my surprise he won his class so he then had to go against the other Dog winners for Best Dog in Breed and the Bitch Puppy for Best Puppy in Breed.

Obviously he was no match for the the other Dogs in Best Dog in Breed but he did win Best Puppy in Breed and then had to wait to go into Best Puppy in Show at the end of the day.

Jan had entered us in a team of four for the Breeders Stakes so after lunch we were back into the ring for that. Reno was a bit unsettled in this class as he was confused running around so close to the other dogs.

Many a time we have sat and watched the Group being judged at Crufts and a dog has bounced into the ring on the end of it's lead, not running properly and not letting the judge look at them and we've asked "How did that Dog even get though?". Well that was Reno in Best Puppy in Show!

It all happened to quickly for me. I couldn't get him settled and the other two Dogs, that were obviously more mature with more experienced handlers, total overshadowed him.

Oh well, still a very good result for our first Breed show and I'm so proud of my little man. Better get some practice done before Crufts!

My Week Off Work....

2009-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

.....started with Agility at Derby. Kiros ran well but I made a few silly mistakes so we only had one clear round all weekend. Surprisingly Kiros got faulted on his Dog Walk up contact in three of his four Agility runs. I don't doubt that he misses some of his up contacts, I've never trained them preferring a natural stride on, but we've never been faulted for so many at one time! Lets see what tomorrow brings?

We've just come back from a few days Holiday in Dorset. Once again the Dogs had lots of fun playing with each other. Dad bought a cheap water sprinkler that Reno had hours of enjoyment with.

Tomorrow we are off to JDA in Lincoln. I'm really looking forward to this show as it has a 4-7 Class. Much as I love being Grade 6 it will be a welcome relief (hopefully!) to run a course that isn't aimed at the highest level.

On Sunday I have entered Reno in the BSDA of GB Champ Show. I've never been to a Breed Show before so have no idea what to expect. I'm really glad Jo will be there to show me the ropes and I'm taking Lynne along for moral support.

Reno is losing his coat like it is going out of fashion at the moment and, despite me grooming him daily, it is still coming out in handfuls. I'm quite confident that he can stand and walk ok but I'm a bit worried that he might bark at the judge as he isn't keen on having his mouth opened.

Wish us luck!!!

Norfolk and Empingham

2009-07-21T10:58:00.001-07:00

I always look forward to our Weekend away in Norfolk mainly because of the hospitality offered to us by Gill, the owner of "The Limes" B&B. We were so lucky to have found this the first time we went to Norfolk and have just visited for the 6th time. Gill loves dogs, she has four of her own, and welcomes us like family.

Most of the pics were taken in the Gardens of her beautiful house. The river runs at the bottom.

Kiros and I had a very successful Norfolk, in fact the best yet! We 3 clears, 2 5f and one elimination because Kiros missed his Dog Walk contact so I put him back over it (he only seems to miss one a year so at least I've got that out of the way!).

Much to our surprise we came 2nd in Graded 6-7 Agility on the Saturday. So near to being half way to Advanced!

I only managed one day at Empingham because I was on a work course in Buxton on Saturday. It was really strange to be missing a days Agility but well worth it as I learned a lot.

We weren't so successful Agility-wise at Empingham but thoroughly enjoyed working on Andrew's ring, watching and running the last ABC qualifier that Kiros is entered in this year.

Ade let me borrow his Canon PowerShot Pro so hopefully you can see a difference in the quality of the photo's posted here. I love the one of Reno and Indi.

A Weekend at Home

2009-07-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Just spent my second Agility free (well almost) weekend and I can't wait to get to Norfolk next weekend and competing again.

I spent Saturday catching up with all of the boring gardening and house work type things leaving yesterday free to spend with the Dogs. As the weather was a bit cooler I decided to take them to Paul and Pen's paddock. I just got out a tunnel and 4 jumps to work Kiros and Ronnie over a few sequences and let Reno have a bit of a play with the tunnel.

Here are some photo's that I took of them enjoying themselves playing ball and, in Reno's case, with the hose pipe!

Friends Reunited

2009-06-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

Kiros, Reno and I went down to Dorset this weekend and Ronnie stayed at home to keep Ade company.

Although we were all looking forward to the weekend we were a little apprehensive of how Reno and Ollie would react to one another as they hadn't met since Easter and Reno is a lot bigger now!!

We needn't have worried as they just started where they left off last time. Re still looks at Ollie as "Boss" even though he is a lot smaller then him.

As the weather has been really hot we spent a lot of time chilling in the garden with the dogs.

Reno would like to inform everyone that he is now officially a Big Boy - He's cocked his leg!! He's only done it a couple of times and only if he really has to but he has done it.

I went back to Agility training last night (I hadn't gone for about three weeks because of my leg). Kiros worked really well, he was so excited to be back, just a couple of knocked poles but we're used to that.

Reno was a very good boy when I look him in before class started. He was really excited to see everyone and was incredibly relaxed with people fussing him. I'm hoping he is beginning to get over his "freakyness" around strangers as I've entered him in a breed show at the beginning of August and it could be really embarrassing if he barks at the Judge.

Kiros and Harley's ABC Semi Runs

2009-06-22T23:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBOBP7ggFMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN98_-ZSfD8

I can see why the judge didn't know Kiros had entered the tunnel. It doesn't look like he did from the angle of the Video, does it? I'm even more gutted now!!

ABC Semi-Final and Newton Heath

2009-06-22T11:06:00.001-07:00

What can I say? - I'm currently feeling really bad as I let my Kiros down in the ABC Semi.

Ann ran him during the day on Saturday to save my leg and, although he ran well for her, it was obvious that he'd rather have been with me. "Great" I thought, "He's really going to go for it in the Semi with me running him".

I had a really good running order, 23, and was confident when I walked the course as there was nothing in it to worry me. It suited our handling system plus I could utilise Kiros's independent contacts to get in front of him when required.

Kiros really attacked the first half of the course but it all started to go wrong when he slipped off the side of the See-Saw. Worried about what had happened I spent to long watching him come down the A-frame and was then out of position to pull him into the wrong end of the tunnel. I screamed at him but clearly saw his nose go into the tunnel before he came towards me and into the correct end. Deflated I just jogged to the end giving Kiros no direction so he went over the wrong obstacle after the tunnel - At which point I saw the Judge signal an Elimination!

Apparently from where he was standing he couldn't see the tunnel so hadn't eliminated us at that point.

I feel so stupid as I'm constantly advising my Pupils not to assume they have failed their test, no matter what they do, as the Examiner may not see things the same way that they do. Seems I'm not very good at following my own advice!

On the plus side - My leg held up well but I'm going to take a rest from Agility for a week or two now to make sure it heals properly. I don't want to end up like Ray who ran an amazing round with Bella in the Semi in absolute agony as he was running on a recurring calf strain. At least they qualified for Olympia.

I have to mention Harley run. He was a really good boy, taking the Dog Walk and the Weaves in his stride and coming away with only 5 faults for a refusal.

The outstanding run of the Semi, in my opinion, was Grace and Kiah's. But for a knocked brick on the Wall they would have qualified in 2nd place. Well done Grace. You'd better get yourselves qualified for next year!!

My plans for the rest of the year? - No more holding contacts! Lets see just how close to Grade 7 we can get - If only I could remember the courses (anyone who saw me run Norman's Crufts Agility yesterday will know what I mean!).

Anyway, less of the Agility! Here are some photo's of the boys playing in the Garden. I've managed to get the three of them posing together.

"Big" Weekend!

2009-06-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

Our Big Weekend has arrived - We're leaving for "The Plough" at about 4pm. It will be Reno's first weekend away so I hope he settles ok.

My Calf isn’t hurting anymore but I can still “feel” it which was what it was like last weekend before it went again. Because of that I’m not running at all until the semi. I’ve had to withdraw from the DARL Final (which is a shame as I was on a high after coming 2nd in that last year) and Ann is running Kiros’s Saturday classes.

I have to say I’m feeling a bit apprehensive about the semi. What do I need to do to give myself confidence? We’re grade 6, we qualified last year and came 4th at Olympia and we’ve already qualified for next year – the opposition should be scared of us!!

Good Luck to Ann and Harley. I really hope they both enjoy the run and Harley gets round the course without getting "spooked" by the Dog Walk or Weaves.

Best Wishes to all the other competitors that I know, to numerous to mention, especially Grace and Kiah and Anne and Kafka, who are competing for the first time.

Otley Show

2009-06-15T11:24:00.001-07:00

Otley's new venue was absolutely beautiful.

Reno had a great time playing with lots of other puppies. He has made firm Friends with Tina's Alfie and Will and between the three of them they managed to destroy his flying ring by playing three way tuggy with it!!

The exercise area was lovely and I managed to spend a fair amount of time with Ronnie on Saturday playing ball away from the other dogs. He loved his unusually twisty Anysize Jumping course and only decided to circle one jump so had 5 faults.

I let Kiros down a couple of times on Saturday causing him to have a refusal in both his Agility and Jumping runs which was a shame as we managed the difficult bits on both courses!

I ran the ABC course on Sunday with mixed feelings as I'm so worried about Kiros's age and his ability to compete with the younger dogs. I needn't have worried as he put everything into running the course and came 3rd, only half a second of the winning time and qualifying for 2010 semi final. I could not have hoped for a better confidence boost with this years semi coming up on Saturday.

Unfortunately it became apparent during the run that my leg had not fully healed so I'm resting it this week in the hope that I will probably be able to get one good run out of it. I think I will probably have to pull out of the Rescue finals on Friday to ensure that I am ok which is a great shame.

Well done to Jo for qualifying for the Adams Derby Final with Ronny and getting a 6th place in the ABC qualifier with Keisha, had it been later in the year I'm sure that would have been a qualifying place.

News from Thames is that Dave and Rusty have won their second CC with only one more to go before she is an Agility Champion - well done both of you and good luck in your next champ class.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

2009-06-07T09:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'll explain in reverse!

Last Saturday we spent a lovely day at Hinckley show. The sun shone down on us, Reno played with Speedy, all the Doggies enjoyed wallowing in a very muddy pond and we got to watch some spectacular Agility in the Champ ring. My courses were challenging but flowing and I managed a clear in the Combined 6-7 Jumping despite forgetting where I was supposed to be going at one point.

Now onto the Ugly...........On Sunday we went to PADS. Equally sunny and equally lovely venue but this time 2 of the courses set by Judges who appeared to want to make Grade 6-7 as hard as possible. I cannot imagine how either of the courses could have been enjoyable for any of the Dogs or Handlers and I'm afraid to say that it has really put me off this show.

The Bad?............I've had to spend today at home because I pulled my calf muscle during my second Agility run yesterday and am really worried that it will not heal in time of the Rescue/ABC Finals in a couple of weeks time.

So I'll finish with the Good.............We had a lovely day at the ABC Show yesterday. Ronnie really enjoyed his All Sorts run and amused Mike (the Judge) by giving a running commentary all of the way around.

My aim with Kiros was to stop him on his contacts. I haven't been stopping him in competition recently, mainly because he was showing signs that it was hurting his back but also because I'd really like to win another Grade 6 class, but I still want to have some control over what he does. I'm pleased to say that after being put back onto the first contact that he released himself from he stopped on all of the rest.

I didn't run the jumping,which was disappointing as it was a lovely course, but ran the pairs with Paul and Brennan. Bren ran first a knocked so many poles it was a real challenge for Kiros and I to workout where we had to go!

The grass in the exercise area had grown so long it almost covered the Dogs. They had great fun running in it, especially Reno who seemed to think he could walk on top of it and was really surprised when he sank!

Nottingham ADTC Champ Show

2009-05-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

The weather has been spectacular over the last couple of days which is so unlike our show! I have to say that it has been very hard work and I'm now totally exhausted but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

On Saturday I worked as time keeper in the Champ ring. I always love that job as it gives me the perfect opportunity to see the best Dogs and Handlers being put through their paces. The Large Champ Final was one of the most exciting and nerve wracking that I have watched as Rusty (Reno's Auntie), running 15th, went into the lead and went on to win her first ticket. Well done Dave!

I managed to get Kiros eliminated in the pairs, which was a shame as Harley went clear, but we did a nice clear in his Agility unfortunately not fast enough to get placed.

Yesterday I managed Andy Widdess's ring. He was a great judge to work with. Kiros was running really well - Eliminated in Andy's Agility but it was tricky and I worked most of it ok, 5th place in the ABC Agility only just behind Mark Douglas and Nigel Stain's two dogs and Clear in the Team. Our Team had our best result yet, both Kiros and Jet were clear and we only had 20 faults. We'd have finished 9th out of 44.

Best Rescue

2009-05-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the RSPCA Dog Walk and Fun Dog Show at Wollaton Hall.

I wanted to find out how Reno would react in the show ring as I'm worried about how "spooky" he is when meeting new people.

The show started at 10am but we didn't get there until 12pm so there were only 3 classes left to enter - Best Rescue, Best Pedigree and Best Mongrel - so I entered Reno in the Pedigree Class and Kiros in the Rescue and Mongrel. I didn't enter Ronnie in anything as he doesn't enjoy being in the ring with other dogs so close to him.

Kiros was in the ring first in Rescue. The class was huge, being judged in two rings by two different judges with the 6 best from each ring going forward to the final. Kiros could see the Agility set up in a ring behind us and thought he was queueing to have a go so he started his queueing routine of performing tricks! To my surprise the judge in our ring picked Kiros in his 6.

As I looked about the ring waiting for the other 6 to join us I saw Dogs that had been scared from terrible abuse and heard horror stories so thought Kiros didn't stand a chance, especially as he is not an RSPCA rescue.

I'm sure you will have worked out from the title of this post that Kiros was picked as the winner! The Judges said he was a terrific example of what could be achieved with a rescue dog.

Reno was next in Pedigree but, as Kiros had already stole his thunder, I didn't expect him to come anywhere in this class. (At Fun Shows Judges try to be "fair" and not place the same person twice) Having said that he did very well. He was happy to have the Judge touch him, not a proper going over but a tickle around the head, but thought he was just there to play with the Chocolate Lab next to him! The Judge must have liked him as he picked him in his first cut but he didn't get any further then that.

Kiros also got picked in the Judges final cut in Best Mongrel and came 3rd in Best in Show so my "Super Star" must have made quite an impression!

This week is going to be a busy one with trying to fit the final preparations for our show around work and training. Still I'm really looking forward to our show next weekend and hope it runs well and all the competitors enjoy themselves.

A Long Silence!!

2009-05-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, I've been so bad at updating my Blog.

I'm not sure if I can remember everything that has happened but I'll give it a go!

Over the last few weeks we've been to Dordale, Agility Nuts, Beacon and I've just got back from Dog Vegas. Kiros and I are averaging about 1 clear per show, either in jumping (outside the placings) or pairs.

Having said that, his results today didn't do his runs justice. He was only fractionally out of the placings in a very fast jumping class and did two lovely rounds in his other jumping and Agility only to go past the last obstacle and have a refusal marked on both of them.

Ronnie is beginning to get a lot better. I know I've said this before but this time he really is! He had a clear round at Nuts although he ran round me a few times and today he ran the Anysize Jumping course with no spinning at all, just knocking one pole.

Reno has had a great time at all the shows he has been to. He's met and played with his brothers, Zippy and Speedy, and made lots of new Friends. He is getting a lot less shy.

Tomorrow we are taking him to the RSPCA Dog Walk at Wollaton Hall as they have a fun Dog Show there that I'm planning on entering him in to see how he gets on. I must remember to take my Camera!!

WBSDS Show

2009-04-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

What a lovely day we had on Sunday!

Firstly the exciting news. Ann didn't have to worry about the ABC qualifier as she got a call from the organiser the week before telling her that Harley had qualified for the semi-final. He was first reserve at Scunthorpe last August and one of the people who qualified had pulled out.

I know Ann would have been happier if Harley had qualified in his own right but, with no pressure on them, they put in an excellent run on Sunday and finished in 12 place in a class of almost 300 proving them to be very worthy of their place in the semi.

Kiros also had a very good run in the ABC. It was a very big course with deceptive angles and jumps slightly out of line that had to be worked. After a slight detour at the beginning he set off at full pelt with me in hot pursuit only just managing to get into position. We finished in a time of 37.459 seconds which I thought really demonstrated the size of the course until Dave and Rusty ran it in just over 33 seconds making it look like a Sunday afternoon stroll in the Park! Still, I was more then happy with our 8th place against very strong competition.

Kiros's other 2 runs were also very good. Clear in his jumping, which required intelligent jumping on his part, but out of the placings and Eliminated in his Agility but very good obstacle discrimination, taking a Dog Walk between two tunnel entrances.

Reno had a great day playing with his Dad, Ronny and his brother and sister, Zippy and Megan. Unfortunately I forgot my camera when we met Megan so have had to seal this photo but I have lots of shots of Reno and Zippy playing.

6 months old today!

2009-04-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Reno is 6 months old today and now weighs 22kg. To celebrate we are going to puppy class this evening to play with his friends!

I've just managed to take my first photo of all three boys together. Not a very good pose and Kiros doesn't look to happy about it but it's a start.

Return to Eden

2009-04-23T01:51:00.000-07:00

Ade and I went to see the Ultravox reunion tour Tuesday night at the Royal Concert Hall.

Although we've seen Midge Ure, the lead singer, a couple of times recently at more "intimate" gigs the last time I saw the band was in 1981. Their last public appearance together was Live Aid and they haven't toured for 23 years.

The audience was full of 40 and 50 somethings reliving their youth so we didn't feel at all out of place!

The set was inspired and the sound awesome. Midge's voice still sounds amazing.

I have even more "admiration" for him now, especially knowing how well he can cook! (he was runner up in Celebrity Masterchef a couple of years ago)

I really hope they continue touring as I'd love to see them again.

Easter Holiday

2009-04-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe but today is the last day of our Easter Holiday. Back to work tomorrow but we've crammed a lot into our break.

Last Friday we went to Dog Vegas. Kiros was Clear in Grade 6 Jumping and Eliminated in his other 2 runs but the results don't really do justice to how well he ran.

He was eliminated the the Grade 6 Agility because I was just too slow to keep up with him, so not his fault at all! I was delighted with his run in the Grade 6 Jumping. Most of the courses I have run over the last couple of weeks have been very spaced out and have required the Dogs to power on past various obstacles. Kiros has lost a bit of confidence in doing this since reaching Grade 6 and having to run numerous tight, twisty courses. He is continually looking to me for a signal to turn. It was obvious from his run in this class that he is regaining his confidence and really loving it. We are normally way off the pace in Jumping classes but were just outside the placings in this one and within a second of 3rd place.

Reno met up with his brother, Speedy, for the first time since his vaccination. I'm not sure if they recognised each other but they are very alike. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera again!

Last Saturday I judged Agility and Snakes and Ladders at Agility Nuts. I think the courses went down well despite us being plagued with technical problems (we ran most of the classes on manual timing) and the weather being a bit dismal.

Ann ran Kiros in both of my classes and came 2nd in each of them. I, on the other hand, wasn't so successful with him. Are you spotting a pattern here? I didn't spot that he was desperate to go to the toilet when I got him out to do his Jumping run and he wee'd in the ring before starting. (He's never done this before, poor lad!) It was a shame because his run was good and would have been placed. In the Up and Under's I managed to run him past the last jump.

On Sunday we left for a few days down in Dorset. The weather wasn't brilliant but we still managed fit in plenty of time playing with the Dog's. Reno especially liked playing in the river. He's a real Water baby. He must get this from his Dad, Ronny?

Back to Nottingham for Kiros's swimming and Reno's Puppy class on Friday.

Yesterday I took the boys to Paul and Pen's so Reno could really get to know their Dog's. The two Belgians got on like a house on fire!!

Next Sunday Ann and I are off to Newbury. Harley is going for the ABC qualifier which I hope he does well in as he is really on form at the moment. Hopefully Reno will meet up with some of his family there? I know Jo is going with Ronny and Zippy and I think their Sister Megan is also going.