Higher and Lower

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

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

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:(

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:)