Tuesday 22 April 2008

OMG - I've got a job! - video

.....It's all been happening here, well sort off. I've gone back to cleaning, ugh but it is money! Cleaning caravans down on the beach. Not much else you can say about it really, cleaning is cleaning, but with the money, well I can go to a couple of extra away shows - so I have entered the Agility Club show in July, whether I can get Ian to come with me - we will see. So my cleaning days are on a Monday and Friday, I can take the dogs with me so I do and then I do a couple more caravans before I've had enough, I don't stop for coffee or lunch so I can be home early afternoon and have time to walk/train my doggies.

We had a weekend show, well it was actually two shows back to back down at the Wadebridge Showground, Saturday - it rained/drizzled most of the day, I really don't enjoy agility in the rain, but I really needed to get back on track with my merry bunch, Harry doesn't seem to mind doing it in the rain, he acts as if he has just come out of a bath and does a few laps of honour, he really is a crowd pleaser and when we get it together I think he will live up to his name "Heads up its Harry" He got a 3rd in a jumping class on the Saturday, it was only my handling that let him down. Bad Boy Buzzy, was just Buzzy, we added a few jumps in most classes and contacts (what contacts!) Red, had clears but no places. ....It was great seeing everyone from Clifton AC and a few friends that we hadn't seen since September last year. Happy New Year to you all!

Thank you, Charlotte for videoing my lot, it is so nice to have these videos, Ian says he doesn't enjoy videoing as he can't see what happens! So now I have to work out again how to, add the videos to the blog in the right size, I do struggle with this sort of thing and running three dogs, especially if there is more than two rings! I'm told it get easier, luckily I have friends saying "have you walked this ring yet" I nearly missed walking one of Harry's. Hey Ho, here goes with the videoing.

I think this will be the last video for a while as Ian will be too busy to come to any of the shows over the next few weeks - we have a mains water leak - we need a digger!!!!!!!

Anyway Here is Buzzy Bears Agility


and Here is Didderly Do, Mrs Woo or Red! Agility.


..and last but not least here is the Puff! Harry Agility.

...I know I let him run his contacts, but if you had seen him the day before when he stood at the top of the "A" frame had a look around then came down slat by slat, and he walked up the dog walk, you would understand!? we are back to 2o2o this week! but I agree I didnt leave him waiting long at the start, so I will have to remember that one!

Thursday 17 April 2008

The Sun has got his HAT on!


…...Not much has happened this week; the weather has been great so agility took a back seat! The garden is growing which means the brambles are too! I hate Brambles.
I have managed a few training sessions with the dogs, I don’t train for long; each dog gets about 10 mins! Yes that is all, Red still wants to come out and do her bit. Buzz struggled this week so after an awful session at the beginning of the week I put his harness and double lead on and off we went down the garden and just did ground work with him, walking nicely and slowly along a ladder and around a labyrinth of poles on the floor, he had a last go at walking across an old door from the house which I placed on uneven ground and added a rock underneath it (before it got burnt!) acting like a wobble board, for Buzz just doing this sort of work for just 10mins is like an hour in the woods - he is shattered….I know I hear you say “Poor Buzz it is such a long way from his brain to his feet” and yes I have to agree with you “it is!” …...You wont be able to say I haven’t tried.

Here's Buzz as 7 week pup - he was small once!

I’m re-reading a book called “on talking terms with dogs:calming signals”. By Turid Rugaas
If you get chance to get this book get it and read it, I had read it about 5/6 years ago and forgotten about it, until I was having a sort out the other day, I have started using a lot of these signals for Buzz mainly, but the others are cottoning on too and life has been a lot easier with his temperament/mood swings.

A Friend came down for the day with lovely Cuba pup, (should have taken an up to date photo of him) she showed me how to do some more ground work exercises with Buzz, well actually she had me walking along the lane with her German Shepherd – Jazzy pants as I call her, teaching me how to stop her pulling, using the ttouch method. So I have lots to practise with the big boy.

Another friend (aren’t I lucky in having so many friends?) has been sending me some agility exercises to do with the dogs and we have progressed from her starter exercises all the way up to her senior ones now, even Harry.

Harry’s training on Saturday was fun he get tired/bored quickly so didn’t make the whole hour so he shared it with Buzz, Harry did his first lot of contacts for 7 months, which was a little scary, he trotted down the dogwalk, not helped by me trotting along beside him wondering whether he would get blown off in this Cornish wind, he stopped at the bottom 2o2o, he ran up the “A” frame, had a look around ran back down the other side 2o2o and then we had lift off on the seesaw, I wasn’t quick enough to see him run fast up the seesaw which didn’t move, he landed on all four legs and seemed okay so we went back and did it again (the seesaw) this time a little more controlled! …. Not sure whether he is ready for contacts this weekend, so we will just have to see what the weather and course is like to see if I will let him run.

We have been buying a few things of eBay Plants mainly and am really pleased with what has arrived, so they have been planted.

We tried to buy a mini digger too, but that’s a whole other story!!!!! Unless of course any of you out there has a real mini digger for sale or one that wants to go to Cornwall for a long holiday! Email me PLEASE

Monday 7 April 2008

Harry's first show - video

What an exciting weekend, we’ve had, Saturday I got to train Harry at Club for the first time in 7 months apart from the week before where Lisa stood at the end of a line of 4 jumps and we sent him up and down that a couple of times! He was having fun and I was puffing like an old train! He doesn’t look like he has forgotten anything all thou his turns are rather wide to say the least! Lisa set a little course for us to do at the end, which if he hadn’t tried jumping a full height fence which just happened to be in his line, he would have got round!

Sunday at Carn Brea Show. We left home in the morning having walked the dog in Snow! We had that much on top of the hill where we live that it was crunching under our feet! It was the first time that Harry had seen snow and he was charging around and rolling in it (with a coat on) we got to the show 40 mins later to sunshine and no snow! This is Cornwall and has always had weird weather from one village to the next! Harry’s class was second in the ring after the medium, it was a 1-7 combined, it wasn’t easy for a first time course, hopefully I will suss out this video lark and be able to load it on later, we managed to get around, with some scary bad handling moments! and rather wide turns, but we where clear and came 6th! his steeple chase was a lovely course and just right, but I made the mistake of letting Harry play with the dogs in the queue, I set him up, he did jumps one and two and then turned round to go play with the dogs! My mistake, so when we eventually got back together he did a fab round. Ian videoed for me as it was Harry’s first show, so I will have something to remember it by - Ian doesn’t come to many of the shows now – car racing on the TV, land rover to weld up and normal stuff like that, so it was great to have his company. Club members did well this weekend too, Spot and Amy got round with just 10 faults, Horris and Petal had 4 clear rounds and places, Harry’s all time girlfriend Jem got a clear in any size (cant wait to see her doing big jumps) and lovely Shannon and naughty Diesel had fun also in the anysize not that Shannon thought so!!! Aly did some nice work with Sweep, Oh and Lisa and Toddy got a 2nd and 3rd, So it was worth getting out of a warm bed to go too after all!

.....and here he is doing the steeplechase, which we both loved as he was able to open up - speed wise!!!

Wednesday 2 April 2008

Puppy Party

- Paddy

Lola -

Harry showing how you "do it" to Paddy!

Harry had friends over for a puppy party at the weekend!
He showed them around the house and the garden – not that they needed encouraging to explore the big wide world ! They are bigger than him now at just over 10 weeks.
and can be seen on my links Nicky's site "Hawksflight"