All "Puffed" out!

What a pretty picture!
.....room for any more??










We managed to film a couple of agility runs from the weekend, for you all to dissect!

Here's Buzz and Nick having FUN.....

They are getting closer....to that clear round.

The rest I will upload later in the week, so you don't all get overload!

...and for the "Dog Agility" Folks

Harry "v" Mindy in a jump off!
They're so much FUN, these "Small" dogs!

I Love em........

Have a great weekend everyone, the sun is out.............

And, Ian is going to let me on the mower! yippeeee

For all the "Off-Roaders" amongst you.......

It's a long one - Video.

So don't bother watching it......... If your not "into" Off Roading, mud, water, oh and 4 wheel drive vehicle's, although there are a few 2 wheels and the odd three wheel machine!

John and Chris are down for the week on holiday, so Ian took John out for his first experience at "off Roading", Ian was a good boy and kept it gentle!

Mind you the "Disco" isn't kitted out or modified for any serious stuff (Off Roading) YET!

But as Ian said ..."Christmas is coming"

...See what happens when I go away!

Ian buys a sit on mower!

from EBay, thankfully we didn't have to go to far away to pick it up either only Devon!

It needed a bit of welding and a hammer in places and maybe a lick of paint later on, hopefully this should "Cut" down on my weekly mowing time of 3 hours to not long at all! We will see, but as yet Ian hasn't let me even sit on it! .......Boys and their toys!

I can't believe it's September already....where did that Summer go! ...it just mingled in with winter! It's was dark at 8.15 last night .......yes I know it was raining (fancy that!) but it was still dark.

Hopefully I will still be able to get my 7 o'clock lesson people in for another week or so.

Agility wise.

Buzz got a clear round with Aly at the weekend, wasn't smooth but hey they loved it and Aly said Buzz winked at her on the start line, before he broke his wait and was off up the course! Bless Him, I'm more relaxed watching them both now and am laughing along with them both.

Red, I'm still struggling to get our "spot on foot perfect agility partnership" back, I seem to spend the round worrying if she's okay and hoping she isn't going to hit a jump badly....It has made me think long and hard and I think I will be retiring her at the end of September to any size and veterans, I know she still can do the height and when I've seen video clips of her, she still looks good etc. I just don't want her to hurt herself, she has always been a dog that if she get her pacing wrong she will still take it, rather than put a pace in, what ever piece of equipment it is, we have had some really scary moments with tyres and spreads and even doing a loop in the tunnel and coming out with grazed eye brows where she's slid over in it and well the A frame, she has even miss judged that and hit it hard with her chin and cut her tongue!

Then at least I can still work her at home in a safer slower environment and go on long walks with her still fit and on four legs.........We will see.

Harry, well he just gets faster and stronger ever time I run him! He won a jumping class at the weekend 5-7, the medium dogs ran over the same course (higher jump heights of course) and he beat the winning collie's time!.....So I was told by two seconds, I did see her round and she did have a wider turn in one place than Harry, but we both had a long spread out run to the finish.

His agility run was still fast although I struggled to get him through a gap, so we had an "E"

I am now able to get him to play with me most of the time, before we go onto the start line and he get his treats when he has finished (outside of the ring off course!)

This time last year at the same show (a game fair, with lots of GP around, with straw seats and dogs in the ring etc.) he had left the ring to chat up the girls, so for him to stay in the ring with me was fantastic.

Mindy is ready for the ring experience now, I've entered her first KC show and a couple of other fun things, so now we wait and see when she will come into season! .....and whether she will compete this year at a KC show, otherwise it will be 2010 sometime.

Her only worrying issue, which we have been and will be continuing to work on is her "Chase" instinct! yes anything from butterfly's, flys, birds, sheep and cows (if she could) dog's doing agility! poo bags flying across in front of her etc.

So at the moment her exercising is on the long line or extendable until her recall is 100% in those environments....could take a long time, but I think people won't appreciate a small blonde thing hurtling towards them at warp speed whilst they are doing a winning round!

I think Dawn likes her ! We've just had our second lesson with Dawn, I took both the "smalls" and picked Mum up on the way (she's my video mam) cant show you any of the videos as Mum has to learn how to down load them yet! So you may get to see them one day!

we Learnt a lot and came away with lots to work on over the winter months.

Handsome Harry Goes 7!

Poor Harry doesn't look impressed with standing on the bonnet......but it had to be done, as that was the lest muddy place to have his photo taken with his "Door stops!"

We've been to this show for 8 years now and the last two have been really really wet! ....so will we go next year.....off course!
Especially if Titan is there again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0kajow-G-0

We treat Pembroke as a week's holiday (so we have three days of the show and then a rest either side of that!) the weather was great to begin with, lots of beach walks and lying around chilling, answering the Chocoholic quizzes etc. until Wednesday, when it started to rain! the rings weren't as badly affected as last year, but they where in places still very wet.
In between the rings, the mud was like soup, so you can imagine what state the dogs where in by the end of Thursday.

Nick and Aly ran Buzzy over the week, he does enjoy it! a little bit worrying though, as it looks like they are getting closer to that clear round! Aly also ran Red in one jumping class as I didn't have time to walk it and as she had walked it with Nick, it seemed the most logical answer, Red was naughty and broke her wait, which resulted in a dropped pole, but hey they both came out of the ring smiling!
Red and I had some cracking clear rounds, but as the classes where so small they only placed to 1st and sometimes 2nd, so we just came away with lovely memories........She not as fast as these youngsters.

Harry had a fab week, he worked well, I was able to leave him on a few occasions to do the weaves etc, he came away with 2 x 1st and 2 x 2nds and a clear round in the pairs, but my poor pairs partner was having "a Moment". Our best run of the weekend was on the last day in an 1-7 combined agility class, it was a well thought out course considering the conditions and the puddles lying around the course, I ended up doing two blind turns rather than front crosses, so I could avoid the worst of the ground condition and keep moving forward, but I still slipped as Harry was charging up the "A" frame and as I must of "squealed" with the shock of slipping I frightened Harry and he spun around on the top of the A frame, by which time I had regained my feet and ran forward, which helped Harry come down, but I must have dropped my arm to my side and pulled him towards me rather than send him in the tunnel, so as we where still moving I kept going and finished the course, but it was a great round. (apart from that!!)
So now he is Grade 7.


Anyway we have been home almost a day and the washing machine and dryer haven't stopped!
We have to get the caravan cleaned out as we have visitors staying in it in September, otherwise I would have taken my time! we walked the dogs on the beach this morning which washed away all of their "Welsh" mud!
So we are almost Clean and dry.
Except it's raining here now and the grass is far too long and needs cutting ready for lessons next week........ Oh well.

PS. For those friends and family that haven't a clue, what I'm talking about (Harry going G 7) don't worry, it just means he is a fab agility dog and can now compete at championship level if I so wish too! .....but we all know he is a fab chap, doing agility or not.

Cornwall in the sun!

................No agility this weekend, so on Friday, we went to Padstow to watch the sun set and have tea!








...........Then as Ian had spent far to long, sorting the Discovery out ready for our holiday and finishing doing what he had to do with our really old caravan!

We thought we would go to Tregory Heavy horse show!

Where I found, a lovely coloured, Morris Minor, believe it or not this was it's original colour
...made for me! it's a lilicy/pinky/purpley colour!







....Oh and here's one of the Shires getting ready for it's appearance in the main ring.













.......Of course what Heavy Horse show doesn't have a "Sheep Dog demonstration"!

He had brought some of his family with him, couldn't hear what his name was, but he worked two collies together around a ring with some very flighty tall sheep!
"No ducks", I hear you say. That's right No Ducks.

Thought this was a great photo, he had seven in the back of this landrover and at one point they all stood up on the back tail gate....but of course I couldn't get the camera out in time for that shot! The youngest was a 4 month old, up to the oldest a 10 year old.

Made a great picture.

Have a great week, Family and Friends.

Buzz and Ian took us.....

....to their recent walking find....

Looking out over St Austell bay