Christmas Fun.....

Just enough time to post you some photos from Christmas Day, Merry Christmas everyone and have a great fun packed 2009......






Mum bought Ian, a nice new pillow, Harry got to use it first!





Harry and Red, discussing who would get to play with the Christmas Chicken first.........







Mindy thought this was a very strange game, being allowed to tear up paper! She got the hang of it in the end!

Poppy had a sleep over this week!

Poppy is approx 6 weeks younger than Mindy, which makes her 5-6 months old, she is nutty, fun loving, tail wagging dog, she seems fine out walking with other dogs, she barks far too much for my liking and boy my "smalls " can yap!

I road walked them today, all 5 together!
They still came home muddy!
So the next hour was spent washing and drying 5 dogs.

.........Last night a log rolled out of the fire and burnt a hole in the rug - that was the reason for buying a rug to save the flooring! It made us all jump, especially the "Smalls" as they where fast asleep in front of it!
It is quiet scary having a wood burner in a wooden shed/bungalow, but the joys of watching the glow and being all warm and cosy is greater than the "could be" danger.

Anyway, here is Poppy all grown up!

.....Busy, Busy, Busy

Ian has had a couple of days off this past week, so we have been flat out on getting the brick work finished and the roofs on the sheds.
Last December in the storms, the roofs blew up and forward knocking out the top brickwork and causing big structural cracks, they couldn’t just be bodged up! And the barn had so much woodworm, that it fell down one night!
So this years goal where, to get the sheds sorted before winter so we could use them and Ian could have his own workshop that was dry.

Basically what we have done is reduced the number of individual sheds, from six down to three big ones and the barn, reducing the height of one of them so they are all one size, height, depth and width – looks nicer! I’ve been the “workers mate, mixing the cement/concrete with help of the trusty cement mixer, chief tea maker and fetch this and that!”
When it has been dry enough I’ve been doing lots of painting, the walls inside and out, this is the type of painting I can do! Slap it on, doesn’t matter if everything gets covered as long as most of it is on the walls and not my knickers or the dogs!
Unfortunately Harry and Mindy seemed to have changed colour slightly, Harry is now four tone and Mindy well, I’m hoping I can get it off her before any of you guys see her – you should see her ears, she has so much paint on them she looks like she is flat eared!

Agility wise: - haven’t done much at home with my dogs, all the contact equipment is down ready to be painted and to stop Mindy climbing around on it on her own!
I’ve managed to squeeze in a couple of lesson for others, in between the rain.
Still been doing lots of play/tricks with them all, Harry’s “pork” trick is coming on – I couldn’t think of what name to call it and I needed something that was easy to remember, as I need to have another name for the other side too so that side is called “Pie”, so it’s Pork and Pie! He has to lift a back leg in the air, he is doing “Pork” but not “Pie” on Command, Ian said it sounds rude! I think I will teach Mindy this one too, as it is rather funny to watch them do.
Red is learning the Elephant trick – so you can teach an old dog, new tricks.
Buzz is learning to get all four feet in a cardboard box, we are struggling, he is rather large, may be I should have a larger box to start of with! And he is walking backwards up the four steps in to the kitchen from the sunroom, that is the only place we have steps in our bungalow!

It’s that time of year again, the nights are drawing in, and the central heating has been on for a couple of nights now! To think that, this time last year we had just put the central heating in or rather Ian had! The wood burner has also been use for a couple of weeks now, it really isn’t big enough, but takes the chill off and makes you feel “all warm and cosy!” The slow cooker will be out soon! Yes I do occasionally cook, well if you want to call it that, just chuck it in the pot and leave it on all day.

I did manage to drag Ian away from the “sheds” to come for a lovely walk on the beach though, videos below!
And here they are again, this time in amongst the rocks, looking for crabs!

Mum's photos

..............Mindy at nearly 6 months.
...and here is this years Christmas Card!
...and look who Buzz is looking at, fancy that!

another group "Ahhh" photo....

Mindy is now learning to wait!

Gosh Harry's ears do look big!

The Gang together

........ Must practise that wait!

Show cancelled due to weather!

Fancy that! another show is cancelled due to the rain. It is so sad for those having spent most of the year organising it and for those looking forward to a weekend in the Dorset country side! lets hope they will be able to resheduel, not that I think I fancy camping in the Bongo in the middle of October - we will have to just wait and see.

Any way it meant that after driving back home on the Friday, I could spend the weekend with Ian. We went for a lovely walk this morning, in Cardingham woods, this was Mindy's first long walk, it's a nice gentle wood, with large gravelled tracks, we followed the bottom route around (shortest) which followed the river up one side and down the other.
The woods I normally walk in, only has a few "human" tracks, I tend to follow the animal tracks, the Collies love it and I think Harry does too, Mindy has yet to do this walk, she will have to wait until she is 6 months-ish.

Anyway here is a little video from our walk and our first group photo, just shows I need to work on Mindy's wait! Please excuse the videoing I should have given the camera to Ian, he is better than me!




Photo's too follow, after I have sent them to Mum to edit their "Red" eyes, if she can, good old Mum!!!

Nice Moon Boots, Harry!

I just couldn’t get it together with Red at this weekends competition, I’m not sure whether it was me or whether she is starting to struggle, we had poles and pull off from jumps, she look like she is doing slow motion over the jumps,Or maybe it was the courses!

Buzz was Buzz, but we did have a nicely controlled clear round with held contacts in the agility, at last our second clear round of the year!

Harry, well we had a strange week this week, he didn’t want to do agility, he came down the garden to train, but didn’t want to play with me, so I put him back in the house and trained the others in stead. We went to club on Wednesday and he did a couple of runs and started sniffing, so I put him back in the car.
Off to the show we went, having had no training!
He was nuts in the exercise area (good sign)
Agility to start, (it was his first as a grade 4) we had a great 3 jump recall and nice contacts even though the “A” frame and seesaw where done twice! The seesaw didn’t even move, I think that was my fault as I went to do a reverse turn in front of it, which pushed him forward and skyward! The “A” frame, well that was a slight d tour! But he was having fun!

Anyway he made up for in the jumping and won it. After, having to have a re-run as some ones collie left the exercise area to chase him through the ring into the tunnel! Harry didn’t notice until he came out and was on the homeward stretch and turned round to see what was chasing him.

Just so you don’t all laugh at him when you next see him, he has had a major haircut! He now has a set of four moon boots! Some say they like it, others say he looks like a poodle now!

I’ve promised him, I wont do it again and it will grow back by winter!

Maybe that's why he wasn't a happy Harry this week!

Very Early Morning Walk

Help!

Tips wanted:

How do I become more exciting to Harry, than a teenage boy and a bacon bap in the score tent on the side of a ring!?

I know how Andy Hudson feels now (according to the Hudsondogglets blog) when someone throws their treats on the floor outside the ring, for him and his new young small dog, Kizzy.

Harry started the course (Andy Hudson course too!) fantastically, came around the corner to go past the score tent (on the side of the ring) and past the start, to promptly run into the score tent to see his buddy waiting for him with a bacon roll in his hands - I didn't see who was in the tent at the time, but retrieved him and restarted the rest of the course and he did it beautifully of course! I finished gathered him up after playing with his tuggy for then the "Said "person to come and apologise and say it was all his fault, I must admit I nearly clouted him one! (only kidding)
So I asked "said" person, not to talk, touch or look at Harry whilst he stood talking to me, that was very hard for both of them! We met up later in the day so they could have their usually roll in the grass time together!
Yes I've tried rolling in the grass with Harry too and we love it - he is just too happy to see everyone and loves both two and four legged persons!
Maybe it's just time.
any suggestion greatly received.

Having said that, he ran in jumping class in the next ring, the tent wasn't so close to the ring side and with getting stuck in the flat tunnel and rather a wide "QE2" turn came 3rd. So he can stay in the ring and concentrate.

This weekend he worked a dream in both jumping runs and won one and came 3rd in the other one, I think he's started to read the courses now, so when I have to bring him around on his self, we do have a fight, until he realises we have turned back towards the rest of the course, his weaves are starting to get faster, but I'm sure there is more speed there to come (he is faster at home, but still not as fast as he runs) His agility run, I struggled to get him through a tight pull through, so will be practising more tight stuff, just reluctant to stop his speed, if you know what I mean. But I think as long as I finish on a blast, we might be okay.

Red had a couple of places this weekend, Still waiting for Buzz to have his 2nd clear round of the year!!!!

Mindy has been out and about meeting Ducks, chickens and a noisey cockrell, she is still clean in the house! Her sits and recall are coming on nicely, and I've started to get her walking on different surfaces and started on her downs today.

Toilet training!

I have read the books and listened to people’s ideas on how they trained their dogs.
I heard one the other day which I hadn’t heard before; which is daft as I do train this way! was to clicker train it – never thought of that one!

Well this is how mine, have coped with it all!

Cassie our first Collie
She was a star, she took only two weeks to house train; she was nine weeks old when we picked her from a farm near Bristol. I was working part time so that made it nice and easy to be around.

Red, took 9 months, yes, nine months, she suffered from separation anxiety, we tried an indoor kennel, which she hated (yet now she loves being in a confined space) and would destroy everything that was in it, bedding would be shredded and she would poo and pee in it, as soon as you opened the door to the house you could smell the stress from her barking, it was awful, she was a nightmare. Eventually we where able to start to leave her out of the kennel, some days she would be fine and then other days we would come home to find the curtains pulled down from the windows and seat cushions in pieces, she managed to get over the stair gate to get upstairs to the spare bedroom and poo on the beds! She still will now and again have an accident (Poo) usually when she is excited to go out for a walk or into the garden!
I know another Gemthorne that does that too!

Buzz (another Gemthorne) he took about 6 months, not as bad as Red. He “lets off wind” like an old horse! He can walk down the road, or jump of the sofa/bed, making all sorts of noises - I promise it’s not ME!

Harry was another star, he joined us at 13 weeks and I would say that within a month he was sorted, he is now known as Mr Iron Bladder and has been known to last 14 hours without a wee, especially if it’s wet outside!

Now Mindy, well I’m shocked, we have not had an accident in the house or her kennel since she arrived at 8 weeks! And she will have been with us for two weeks on Friday. Whether it was because we picked her up on the Friday and went straight to a camping show (in a tent) so she had no option but to wee/poo on the grass outside, this week I have even left her on her own for 4 hours, I don’t know why, or whether me writing this “is the kiss of death!” She sleeps at night from 10 straight through to 5-6 am, the first week she would cry about 2-3am to go out for a pee, then she would return to her bed until morning time.

The Good, The bad Crestie and the ugly one! (only kidding)

Ian joined me this weekend!

We hadn’t been to an agility show for 2 weeks!
Boy I had missed them!
Anyway the videos will show what we got up too, a couple of clear rounds, but no places.

Red worked well and I had a couple of really good E’s and a clear round.

Harry had 5 faults all weekend and they where entirely my fault!

Buzz was Buzz, his best was a pole, his worst was, lets leave the ring via the nearest exit!

Roll on the weekend, for the next show!

Dog's Update

Well, Red and her Cartrophen! She is so bad tempered!
Maybe she is just feeling “so” good. I have had to restrict part of her exercise at the moment as, usually they can have run of all the gardens, as and when they want, but because she has been guarding all entrances and galloping along the footpath at the side of the property telling people with and without dogs that they are on her land and “get off”, I’ve shut two of the gates so she can only stay up by the house with us, she normally wants to stay with us all, but since Monday well!
I’ve spoken to a few people who’s dogs are on this and they have only noticed that the dogs are feeling more comfortable, getting up easier, want to play more, none have mentioned temperament changes. Red likes to be different.
Well, agility wise I trained her for the first time for over a week yesterday and haven’t noticed any difference yet, she kept all the poles up and grabed her toy at the end, she still has been stiff at night but that might be because she has been more active! So on too her second injection next Monday. She is learning the “Elephant” trick which for her has been more enjoyable than sticking her front feet in the washing up bowl (what is the point of all this - just a different experience for her!)

Buzz, has had his second day of Metacam, as recommended by the vets to see if that helps his blue tongue issue! Tricks wise, He is still struggling at putting his feet in the washing up bowl and there’s no way I’d ever show him how to do the “Elephant” trick, he is too tall, I would need to be stood on a couple of yellow pages, unless of course I’m teaching him the wrong way!
If you aren’t sure what the elephant trick is check out the Obay sheltie blog on my links or go to Utube and put in “elephant trick” I’m sure they will all come up.
He is great at waving thou and can even wave when he is in the down position, Bless him.

Harry can crawl now, but just following a titbit, I’m not going to do too much on that with his shoulder injury – just in case it hurts him, so we a proofing “the Bow” and a small amount of walking around on his hind legs, which he finds easy as that’s how he get to see further! He can put all of himself in the washing up bowl!
He has been a bad boy this week and taught Red how to jump on the dinning room table, I came home today from just being out for 15 mins, walked down to the garage for the paper and loaf of bread, to return to find her stood on the table with Harry! Ummmm Bad dogs.

Time Flies

Buzzy being Buzzy!

Another week has pasted – I’m sure time goes quicker the older you get!

Buzz’s results are back: basically the report says that: He (Vet) can’t really comment on pulmonary infiltrate on these films (x-rays) but there is nothing grossly significant!
Conclusions in association with history supplied:
I recognize a syndrome in Border Collies, which may fit this case. Unfortunately it is not properly documented so the name I give it in my report is “hot border Collies syndrome” affected dogs lie on their fronts and pant excessively, appearing to be week and have difficulty continuing exercise. The mechanism for these presumed hyperthermia cases is not established so management is the only option.
A muscle biopsy may give a definitive answer, but this is a difficult thing to get done on a practical basis.
You should consider other possible causes including intermittent arrhythmias, neurological problems and musculoskeletal pain.
Treatment of these: a short course of NSAIDs

So I can continue for a long as we see that he is not stressed (if we start seeing him stressed then we need to stop doing the things that are stressing him), cooling off before and after exercise might also help, I do already do the after exercise, but hadn’t the before exercise but he is sitting on his cool mat with a cool coat on at shows!
If signs start to get worse and he starts to cough etc. then we need to go back to the vets.

Prognosis – few cases are “cured”

Red started her Cartrophen injections to-day, the information on that said she may be a little quiet for the a day – not a chance she charging around guarding the front gate, but boy is she bad tempered.

Friday was spent mowing all the lawns, clipping the hedges and weeding (well I think they where weeds!) and changing the agility course that had been up for a week.

The weekend was spent being Ian’s Mate! Hold this, pass that etc. The Barn is now finished and has racking shelves, clock and now a dartboard fitted! Next project is the area in front of the sheds/barns, which in the winter becomes a nice mud bath, so we need to put something down, Ian wants to put chippings because it’s cheap, I hate chippings, Cornish chippings are all granite down here and would cost a fortune up country, but its white! You can get the other more colourful stuff but the price difference is silly! One of my friends has just invested in the Grass mat stuff, to do part of her drive. Hope that works, much nicer than looking at chippings!

Sunday – Ian took me too our local Vintage Tractor Rally!!!!!!!
Including, bikes and steam engines, ferret racing, lurcher racing and a dog show!
I should have taken my camera! (May-be not) I get the dreadful feeling Ian wants to change his hobby!
But they did have a little car boot sale and I managed to find some future garden pots, they are old iron drain pipe tops, I thought they may look nice on the end of the only concert stone wall that we have (the other shed) I said I could paint them black, Ian said green! Ummm we will see who wins that one at a later date.

All things beginning with “M” - video

Mosquito, Marmite and Madness!
If you ever want to move to Cornwall, don’t say I never warned you!
.......The Mosquitoes are huge, they must be at least an inch long, they remind me of when I stayed in Sweden for a long holiday (4 weeks), near the lakes. In the evenings the Mosquito would appear and bite us! Unless you where well prepared for them. Any way we aren’t in Sweden! But they are just as big; we certainly didn’t get them this big in Bristol or out in the country where my Mum lives – Dorset. You can hear them a mile off, don’t sit outside in the cool of an evening without long sleeves and trousers, unless you have a bonfire going!

Marmite – Do you like it?? Well I have just seen a jar of champagne Marmite, so of course I had to try some ummmmm I can safely say for all those Marmite lovers out there, don’t bother, it left a horrid taste in my mouth, yuck! The jar went promptly out for recycling.

Madness! When the sun comes out in Cornwall, the roads get very quiet – everyone has a sicky and goes down the beach, honest! Work gets done but around the tide times! Out come the shorts and flip-flops, sunglasses and surfboards - All the lads and lasses go blonde and quickly gain that nice tan! I’m sure all their shorts get shorter and bikinis get minimal. Even my butcher’s boys, (where I get my dog bones) suddenly start working in their shorts and wellies! Summer is here at last.

Wolf whistling! – We have, a wild young male blackbird that must have been a rescue as he sings along with his usual chorus, he adds a wolf whistle to it! Which when we first heard it, at the beginning of the year, made us chuckle and took us ages to work out who and what it was.

Harry is getting back into swimming in his hot tub! Hopefully before the end of the season he will be jumping in on his own after his toy! Red becomes rather wide legged as I lift her up and into it, she won’t walk up the steps yet! And as for Buzz, well Ian has to help me with him! He hasn’t realised he can touch the bottom yet, he tucks all his legs up under himself and swims as if is life depends on it, even if I’m in there with him, he has stopped the splashing now and swims with his front legs under the water, rather than on top! Last week I spent some money on Buzz, as he really suffers with the heat, he already has a cool mat which he lies on in the Bongo, as people where raving about it on the agility forum I thought I would buy and try the K9cool coat, yes it was expensive nearly £40! As he had to have the large one, so we had a dummy run with it over the weekend, I had to do a bit of minor adjustments with the size, so it would stay on, It worked and after two days is still cool, will have to get it ready for the show at the weekend and report back.

Today I took the dogs for a walk in the woods and here's a short video!

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!