Great News

Well our great news is that we have got our plot of land to train on, we can move our equipment into the storage on Friday and can use it from then on so we are very excited. It's typical that i'm working this weekend so it will be monday before we get to train so please rain, go away!!!

Yesterday the dogs seemed very full of beans so we took them for a good long walk, they all got covered in mud but it was really great to see Brian back to his cheerful self. There was a massive hay bale that was probably as high as my shoulders, the mali's jumped up onto it with no bother but I didn't think Brian could do it but he proved me wrong and got up there to have his picture taken with the others.

Today Megan has been swimming at the hydro pool, I managed to get her on video today so you can see how much she enjoys her swimming. She is absolutely shattered now and is fast asleep on my bed!

Let Down By The Weather

Our training started off well this week, we have started our 2x2 training and done 2 sessions so far and all 4 dogs are doing it well (I still think Brian is the best at it though!). We have also managed to get in one good session where we worked on waits and recall starts, something which I have not really achieved with Megan this year and Heidi does often break her wait. Brian has really seemed to enjoy doing some training again although the jumps were set at very low height with the poles just resting on the jump feet. Unfortunately though, the weather has made a turn for the worse and we have had some pretty heavy rain so we haven't managed to do any training since!

Last night we went to club but even that was a bit of a disaster. Our main issue at club is that they never peg the weaves in and with some of the slower dogs it doesn't prove to be a problem but when you have a dog that tries to do them as quickly as possible it just doesn't work. Poor Heidi must have had about 15 attempts at the weaves and each time failed because she would do 2 or 3 then the base would move so they were nearly bent back on themselves. There was no way in the world she could possibly complete them and with each failed attempt she became more and more frustrated and wound up so Conor decided not to run her again. Megan had some issues too, mainly the see-saw. It's a much lighter one than we used to have and when the bigger dogs go over it the base moves (needs pegging in really) so she would end up jumping off the side as it moved and missing her contact which isn't great as her see-saw is her only reliable contact!

We have been today to see about hiring a plot of land with storage near to where we live so that we can train on our own with a bit more space than we currently have at York Road and we should know by the end of next week if we can have it so if we do we may stop going to club and just train on our own so fingers crossed.

Brian has been for a check up today with the vet had his booster jab which had been put off due to his illness. Good news is that he has put on 2kg since his last visit so we are really chuffed. He has to go back in another 2 weeks as they were not happy enough yet to wean him off his steroids so he is still on them for the next 2 weeks but they are pleased with his progress.

I'm on lates all weekend so the dogs will be on rest days now with just their daily walks, I'm hoping the weather improves for next week though so we can get on with our training again!

Bromsgrove Video

Bromsgrove Weekend

We have had a really good weekend this weekend and it has been a nice way to end our agility for this year. Me and Conor took all the dogs for a good long walk on Cannock chase on Friday evening so that they settled well for the night. They all really enjoyed themselves and found a water spot to have a swim/paddle in.


On Saturday at the show Natalie (The Lady who massage's Brian) was there with a stand so she gave Brian, Kody and Megan a check over. Brian was over the moon to see her and the good news is even with his head tilt he doesn't have any tight spots on his neck or anywhere else, in fact he is in good shape!

The girls have had some good runs this weekend, today was much better than yesterday for Heidi as she was a little bit mad! No clears but a good run from both girls in the C1-7 jumping today with Heidi just taking 1 pole. A couple of times this weekend Megan has come out of her weaves at the last one and I haven't noticed and so let her carry on so I think it's a good thing we are going to re-do our 2x2 training, starting this week.

Well that's it now for us, we have had a brilliant year and looking back at some of our video's from earlier in the year both Heidi and Megan have come on leaps and bounds and their confidence has grown (Megan so much so that she fell asleep ringside yesterday despite people stepping right by her and dogs passing by, something she would have been to terrified to do earlier this year). We now have a very exciting winter ahead getting ready for next year with just a few small shows thrown in where we can train in the ring and test the things we have learnt.
 
(I'm having some issues uploading our video from the weekend but i'll try again in the week)

One More To Go

Well this weekend is our last KC show this year and we are off to Bromsgrove. As it's a long way from here we are all descending on my mum for 2 nights so we will be heading off there tomorrow afternoon. I'm quite glad this is our last show, not because I haven't enjoyed competing this year but because I'm eager to get our winter training started, which weather permitting will be on Monday morning.

We have had a pretty quiet week this week, Megan went to hydrotherapy yesterday and was even more confident this time, jumping off the ramp and retrieving the ball. Brian has had another check up and is still progressing well although I'm still really struggling to get any weight on him despite a change and increase in food (he has only put on 0.10kg in 2 weeks). He has another 10 days of steroids and had to go back for a check up in 10 days time then all being well he will be weaned off them.

We have club tonight and it's our first one with Jo so we are looking forward to that and as the sun is shining today (well at the moment) we might even go for a run later to start our fitness training. :o)

Brian's Progress

We took Bri back to the vet on Wednesday for a check up and they are happy that he is recovering well. His head is most of the time in a normal position and his balance is considerably better (he even had a go at weaving yesterday and managed well AND enjoyed himself!)

We did a bit of Agility training yesterday at York Road with the dogs but mainly we tidied up all our stuff and moved it off the grass so it wasn't killing it. Last night we made it to club for the first time in ages. I ran Megan and Conor ran his dogs and apart from the Megan deciding she could only do 6 weaves (and at a push 10) she did very well. Heidi had an episode of completely forgetting how to weave at all and pretty much stood barking! She did do some very good contacts and jumping though so all was not lost. Last night was our last lesson with  Lucy as she leaves on Monday so from next week we are training with Jo Chambers.

I have started to put together our winter training plan, I have worked out that after Bromsgrove show (which is our last KC show this year) up until the end of March we have 28 weeks (obviously some will be lost through rain, snow and general bad weather) but I plan to do 3 short sessions a week with each dog and hope to get Brian running in Anysize again next year. We are going to start with weaves and the girls are going to do the 2x2 training again from scratch as I think they'll be much more confident doing it this time round. I want to get Heidi doing a 1 paw push consistently as she does it most of the time but reverts to 2 paws when she doesn't get her rhythm at the start. We have obviously got contacts to work on too but thats another story...

Letchworth Show

Today we have been at Letchworth show. It was a very early start, getting up at 5 to walk the dogs and leaving by 6 so we got there just after 8. I don't think I'd go there for the day again but I would camp as it seemed like a nice show.

The girls both had 2 agility and 1 jumping. Heidi did a really good jumping run first off, getting 10 faults for 2 poles down. Meg had a good run, missed her weave entry but ran nicely until the last jump, which really needed a command as it was slightly offset but naughty mummy didn't give one so she ran passed it and we ended up E'd!

Heidi's second agility was mad and Megan's wasn't much better with not listening or paying attention. Heidi's last agility was better although it still resulted in being E'd but once she had calmed down she ran well. For meg's last run I wanted to give her a good fast smooth run so had picked the bits I was going to do so we could do this, she did the first 3 obstacles really fast, jump, tyre, A-frame...then she ran off as fast as she could to the other side of the ring to see Conor and after that she just wasn't interested. I know why she does it, because she isn't used to him watching and she is worried he'll go away again but I am hoping it's something we can get through,  I don't want to have to say to Conor that he can't watch her run!

Anyway we just want to say a quick Good Luck to everyone we know who is off to the Olympia semi's tomorrow-Good Luck!!!

Weekend Plans

Tomorrow me, Conor and the doggies are heading off to Letchworth show for the day. I had entered Friday and Saturday but I don't have enough holiday left at work to take Saturday off and Conor didn't want to stay on his own so we are just doing the one day now. After tomorrow we only have 1 more show left this season, I really can't believe where the year has gone already!

On Sunday we have a busy day as I have a trade stand at the Lincs wedding show, I'm quite excited but a little nervous as I've not done one before but thankfully Conor is still here to give me a hand and hopefully it will bring in some business.

Megan The Swimmer

Whilst we were away last week Brian became quite poorly. He developed a head tilt and began to lose his balance. On Friday we took him to a vet near to Dog Vegas who said he had a brain infection which could have been caused by absolutely anything. As he had showed no signs of improvement from the medication he was given we took him to our vet yesterday. He spent the whole day at the vets having blood taken and an MRI scan and they confirmed he does infact have a brain! His illness is an infection to his middle ear but one of the membranes in his ear is 5 and a half times the size it should be. Anyway he has got some more tablets but it could take up to 6 weeks for him to be better which means no swimming.

I had already booked Brian a hydrotherapy session for today but as he couldn't go I took Megan instead and she loved it. She was a little unsure at first but did everything she was asked and did a good 5 minutes of swimming. She didn't need to wear a floatation jacket, only a harness and we have booked her in for another session in 2 weeks time. I had meant to take the video or at least my phone to get some footage of her but I forgot to take it so hopefully I will do on her next session.