Monday 23 February 2009

Where has all the time gone?

....I can't quite believe a whole week has just past - it must be, because it's not raining, I've spent most of the time in the garden, weeding (well, getting rid of Ivy off the trees and pulling up brambles) Oh and moving a few extra plants around.

So what has happened apart from that, well, whilst cooking the Sunday roast and watching the rugby, I was trying to multi taste - make the gravy and watch the rugby, I picked up the saucepan and promptly dropped it, with boiling water all over the stove and my foot - ouchhhh, at least I had slippers on, whilst running it (the foot) under cold water in the bath, Ian was giving me updates on the rugby! anyway I now have a nice blister and a soar foot.

So Buzz feeling left out went badly lame on Wednesday - just walking down the garden, I checked his foot, leg and shoulder and couldn't see anything, so decided to wait until Thursday and if he wasn't any better a trip to vet it would have to be, Thursday came and he was still lame so I checked his foot again before phoning the vet and found a half inch blackthorn thorn! ouchh, it took ages of pulling at it, to get it out with tweezers and Buzz getting cross with me, poor man, anyway he was lame for a further few days, luckily the Arnica has helped with the bruising - well I think it did.
Anyway on the road walk this morning he looked good, so fingers crossed.


Whose's got a long tongue? Buzzy Boy


Then I burnt the Korma whilst bidding for a doggy blaster on EBay, but it was worth it, I got it, I had decided on the price including the postage that I was prepared to go to, so it took 3 weeks of bidding and watching, before I got it. It's a large hairdryer-I am getting fed up of all the washing and drying of towels, after long muddy walks with the dogs, hopefully it will help greatly when we loose the two rooms at the back, whilst we rebuild them, as the dogs would then be coming straight into the kitchen, just means they will hopefully dry quicker and the "Smalls" won't have so many knots in them from toweling each day - watch this space.

Agility wise:

Red - She is on full height and I'm just keeping her fit, I will start some turns and pull throughs etc, this week, so hopefully she will be okay for this season on full height. Fingers crossed.




Buzz - Nothing because he was lame, so he did some "nose" work, I hid his toy under a flower pot in various places around the garden and he had to go and find it - worked a treat!

Harry - "crate games" and lots of tugging, I have been taken him down the garden with Mindy or Red and he gets to sit in his cage whilst I work them and then he comes out - Flying, so I rush off and do the weaves, then a game of tug and he goes away again, he is starting to be more excited this way and I can get 20 mins of work out of him! (not just the weaves)

Mindy - She also has been doing crate games, mainly "your in, your out" and reminding her she has to sit when I put my hand on the cage (this all helps me with the Landrover Disco as they are all loose in the back of it and I don't want them all pushing and barging to get out - it works)

Oh yes, I put up some grid exercises, 3,3,4,5,5 paces on small and med, height for the large dogs apart from the 5 pace jump and that was full height, and I managed to find Granddads old tripod camera stand, so used this to video them! It was amazing to watch for me and a little sad, it showed me that Red can no longer bounce a 5 pace, how ever fast she went up the line, that's life, we don't all stay young mad teenager's?
Buzz on the other hand, on one session nearly jumped the 3's as one!

Harry on one of his session bounced the 5!, unfortunately that was the one I didn't get on video as it beeped that it had run out of batteries, his jump height's where on small and very small.
Mindy took a few poles (her poles where all on very small height) until she calmed down and worked it, by the end of her session she was bouncing the 3's and 4 and putting a two strides in for the 5.
The other exercise I put up, where all the same paces. This is from the book, A-Z jumping.

PS. this was over a week mind and not all in one session.
And Buzz only had one go, as he went lame the following day (thorn)

So here's Mindy session, I just sussed out how to make the video go slow, but it took too long to down load and I couldn't work out how to speed up the game playing and my large bum walking past sections, so I'd rather keep that for myself!

I was a bit twitchy with her waits in this video, as the day before she worked with Harry and my waits went out the window, so we have to work on that more.

And here's Harry and his first session, check out how far back he takes off for the 5 pace one.

I varied the heights and the paces for them all and changed which ones where on which height - if you get what I mean, the book did says to always have five jump though, so although you only see 3 in one section there are 5 - Promise.


Oh and we have moved the green house and spent most of this past Sunday putting it back up, unfortuantly we broke a couple of panes, so will have to wait untill we go past somewhere that we can either pick some glass up or replace with perspex, but at least it's out of Buzzy Bear way!

Monday 16 February 2009

....Facebook!

(unfortuantly it's Lisa fault again!) Facebook Seems to be hitting the agility people by storm – personally I don’t know what all the fuss is about! He he
It has been nice to catch up with folks, who I don’t get to see, now that we are down here.
I have been in touch with my Cousins - abroad and they will vouch for me, that I’m a “pile of pants” at keeping in touch, so a quick Hiya has been cool!

But Boy, I do need to re-home “Socks” my Beardie, that I’ve adopted and have to feed and play with everyday, along with my real life ones!
Now I should have thought about this a bit more seriously, if I had really wanted another dog, perhaps I should have pinched Itsy from Bernadette!
So if anyone out there wants an "up and coming champion", who hates cucumbers, I will happily adopt her out to you, or she may need to go on an extended holiday or there's only one other option to delete her!
God did I just write that! I can’t delete her, so it will have to be a permanent holiday – if I can do that?

Project on the go:
I’m making an agility table for the “Smalls” just in case they are good enough to venture up country to some big shows, they seem to put the odd table in here and there, something else to teach them when it’s raining, which as you know has been a lot later, either that or snowing! The base is from an old table which we found here in one of the sheds, so I’ve just cut of the legs and putting a new top on it, well Ian cut the top out of some left over “Outside ply” which just happened to be the right size according to my sources, I managed to do two coats of undercoat on the top, if it’s dry tomorrow I may be able to put the top coat of “emerald” green, then I just got to cut the legs down and fix!

Buzz did his second, totally crazy thing this week, he ran into the green house and went through the glass! He didn’t have a cut on him – Amazing! I cut myself clearing up the glass.
If you watch the "Pit dogs in the snow video", you will see where it is in the first part of the garden, why the people before put it there I don’t know, it doesn’t get all day sun, if they had moved it another 5 foot down the garden it would have had lots of sun.
It was on our list of “things to do” Move the green house, well it’s just moved up to the top of the list now, but at the moment unless I bring all the plant into the kitchen and put them on the work surfaces there is now where else to put them, as it’s still too cold to just leave them out side. The plan was to move it into the second part of the garden, behind the sheds, where the eventual raised veggie beds will be. Just not enough dry hours in the day.

Ps. We moved it tonight before Tea!

I can’t believe Mindy will be 10 month in a few days time - that has flown past.
She is one heck of a fun dog to work and seems to take, all the playing and teaching you can give her, she still follows Red around which she hates, well Red does have Buzz doing the same thing! I caught her snuggled up to Red the other day, but by the time I had got the camera out Red had realised and moved away – My dogs don’t do cuddling except with us.

We have been for some lovely walks with the dogs, this weekend we went to Crantock Beach (left of Newquay) huge sandy car park and as long as you don't have anything taller than a Discovery (with out roof bars) you can get into the car park or you have to park up the road a bit on the grass car park. It is a huge beach, when the tide is out, but I would imagine in the summer it would be a little crazy with all the "Emits"



Pretty isn't it?

Look closely, you can see Buzz too! He tried to swim across to the buoy in the little boat house, on the other side of the estuary, you can just see it! Honest.





Ian clearing the sand out of Harry's eyes - aahhhh















Here is a little, long video of the mornings walk.

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Meet Elvis!



Ha, Ha you thought I’d gone and got another!

Well this is a picture of what Elvis looks like, but it’s not really Elvis as, he is in Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay. http://www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/newquay.htm

We weren’t allowed to take photos, hence this one I copied from somewhere!

You got to go and see him/her – actually he was a she for the first 5 years of her life and now is a “He”.
He is about 3 foot long, bluey green in colour with a large lump (which shows you, he has turned into a boy) on his head and he has, these most amazing eyes, that follow you around. He hangs around the bubble maker in the big tank, I think it massages him!
The species are called Grouper-like the sea bass, this type come from Thailand area and their lips are sought after as a delicacy (spelling)
He is amazing and most of our visit was spent hanging around with him! His eyes- wow

The Aquarium is near this little island, which was recently up for sale, but well out of our price range and anyway the garden wasn’t big enough!

Bet the view is great, but rather windy.

We went for a meal at our friends, Steve and Peta (another couple that have moved from Bristol down to Cornwall) it was Peta's birthday and they had just come back from doing the Blue Reef visit and raved about how much they had enjoyed it, which prompted us to go (thanks guys)
Anyway back to the meal, gosh Steve is really a good cook, yummy. Steve will be 60 this year, sorry Steve everyone now knows, Ian and Steve have the same interests, well one big one actually "Landrovers" and "off-roading", so they both get on well, Steve is on the home stretch having re-built a landrover, one day if he lets me I'll take a picture and pop it on here, for all you off-roading chaps (boys and girls!). It's fire engine red!
I did tell him, he wasn't allowed to put a tarts rope on the front, it seems to be, only the people who think they off-road that do this and you can spot them miles off, with a great big rope on the front of their 4 x 4, draped in a figure of 8 around the bull guard! ummmmm

Monday 9 February 2009

Handstand Harry!

I was given a challenge to teach him this! and here are the results so far! next to teach him - up the wall, then a free one - maybe!

I have so much to write about that I don't know where to start! So I'll think about it for a while and report back.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

..Got to post these two pics....



Mindy's foot balls!
Ha ha












Harry's couldn't be left out of the photo shoot, here are his Foot Balls.

Might I add, I washed them off with warm water and towel'd them down and put the hairdryer on them too - just in case you thought I'd leave them wandering around the house, all cold and wet, No Chance!

A Snowy "Pit" Video


Please excuse the videoing, it's really hard to walk and video at the same time, I thought I could multitask? I think the answer is clear.



Ian this week is working at "Cold Rose" (military base) he called to say he had made it down there, but was now sat in the landrover waiting for an escort on to the base, which could take a while as not a lot of people had made it to the base - yet!

I just love the snow, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Wish Ian was at home, making fun in the snow, with us all!

...Fancy that we got some SNOW!
















Red Looking after Monkey!














Mindy covered in Snowballs!