Merry Christmas!

A Bit Behind With The Blog!

It's been ages since I have updated our blog, I didnt think we had been up to much but thinking back I guess we have done a bit.

We went to Dog Vegas in November as I was judging, It was a very cold and muddy day, I always forget just how muddy Arena UK gets! I was judging in the afternoon. I hadn't really realised where the classes were being held but the rings were much smaller and my courses didn't fit in so had to improvise! It went well though. We took Chaos with us for a day of socialising, he was a very good boy, just walking around, he didn't want to say hello to people just quite happy minding his own business which I certainly don't mind.

On the Sunday we went over to Jo's for some training and lunch. It was a really nice day, we did jumping Grids in the morning, something Heidi needs to work on and then some courses in the afternoon. Lots to train over the winter with her! Chaos and Brenda came along too for some socailising, think they both enjoyed themselves :)

We haven't managed a great deal of agility training since then, It has been so wet here and the river got very full outside the house, we did get a little bit worried! We have managed a little bit of grid work as it only takes a few mins and Heidi has already improved. I have been doing it with Brenda as well although her training seems to have ground to a halt as well! Last week I caught the virus that has been going around so was home ill for a good few days, hopefully after Christmas we will get back into it.

We have an extra dog staying here at the moment, she is another Mali named Shelly. She is staying here until the end of January while she gets trained as a working dog, then she will go off with her new handler. Chaos loves her, they play constantly if they are together. Seems we have a house full at the moment!

Also a massive well done has to go to Chaos' littermates. 2 brothers Basil and Cypher and 2 sisters Cedar (not sure of the other ones name) all qualified for Crufts at the weekend at LKA so well done!

Poorly Van :(

We have been a bit limited as to our activities this past week as we have got no van. Somebody drove into it on the car park at my work so it has been away getting fixed. I have had a courtesy car for the past 10 days which doesnt take dogs! Chaos has had to miss his training classes on a Saturday morning.

We have had good weather this week though so we have done some training at home. I've stopped the trick training with Chaos for a while as his general behaviour training was lacking, he wasnt coming when called, if he thinks he has to have a collar and lead on he runs a mile and he is just being a monkey! So we have done lots of work on recalls and it seems to be working, he is sprinting in from the garden now and comes back when he is alone, just not so well if there is another dog with him. We will keep working on it though. We are also focusing on getting him to play. He liked a game of tuggy when we first had him, then his teeth started to come out and he wouldnt play at all but they are all gone now and the new ones are coming through nicely so he is enjoying playing again which is good and I have got him playing tug now out in the field (he wouldnt before) so we are now going to build on playing in different locations.

With Kody I am mainly focusing on getting him to run on ahead of me, so far we have just done straight lines but he is really driving forward to his toy so I am pleased with how well he is doing.

Heidi has this week been working on calmness and focus before being allowed to do anything. She gets so over excited and I think a lot of that causes her to knock poles for we will continue with being clam at the start line for the rest of the winter.

Brenda had been learning some basic jumping sequences and is doing very nicely, she has only had about 3 sessions at home but im so pleased with how she is coming along.

Brian has been doing the same as Brenda but with no poles and seems to be enjoying himself too.

 

This weekend is the busiest one we have had in a while, on Saturday I'm judging at Dog Vegas and Conor is bringing Chaos to socialise him and then on Sunday we are off to a Mali Training day at Jo's with Natalie and Jackie, will be good to have a catch up, ill try and remember a camera :)

Swimming

The weather has let us down so far this week so no training at home. Chaos went for a trip to Pets at Home earlier in the week for the first time, he was happy enough to explore and see what was going on. He wasn't bothered by any of the animals, he just had a good sniff. We bought the dogs a knuckle bone each, they spent ages munching on them and then were all very sick for 24 hours! The bones are now in the bin and everyone is back to normal thankfully.

We have been to hydro today with them all. Chaos is so confident, he just strolls in wagging his tail, a real happy little man! He had a swim again and I photographed and videoed him, the photos didn't come out too great, more like happy snaps so I guess ill have to wait a while for my giant swimming one for the office wall.

Starting Training

We have started some training this week, we have only managed one session though and it was quite windy so Kody and Heidi did a session on contacts and weave entries. I took Kody to training last night and apart from a naughty barking moment at the start which resulted in him going back in the van he was a good boy after that.

Chaos has been out and about too. I took him yesterday on a walk that neither of us had ever been on, it was really nice and starts just to the left of our house, I can't believe in the year we have lived here we have never been down that way!

I have been teaching Brenda some jumping too, I don't plan to do agility with her, we really don't need another agility dog but she is used to working and seems to be getting bored so I thought I'd teach her some basics, if anything it will be good practice for teaching Chaos when the time comes. She is such a sweet dog, very affectionate and very keen to work. When we first got her she couldn't jump over a small height jump, she put her paws on the bar but now she can jump a full height jump perfectly although she will continue to learn at a low height.

Catch Up

We haven't actually done a lot of dog related stuff but we do seem to still be very busy! Last Thursday we had a power cut from 2am in the morning until 11pm that eveing, somebody had stolen the electric cables and they had to be replaced, until you have no electric you really dont realise what you use it for!!!

Heidi is in season at the moment (finally) so I took Kody training on Thursday instead. I have had to give up his Wednesday class at the moment as I've been working and have just been missing loads. Hopefully after Christmas I might be able to get back there. He was a good boy on Thursday though, we havent done any agility together since August so I did struggle a bit but I will take him again this week, hopefully we will be better.

Chaos is still doing well, he has now moved up to Advanced Puppy at his obedience class meaning training is now going to be on a Saturday morning. It will be a mad rush for me as his class is 10-11am  and I start work at 1pm (takes me 30 mins to get there) but hopefully it will work out.

Busy Boy Chaos

Chaos is coming along nicely, I am so pleased with him, he has got bags of character and isn't phased by anything and is proving to be quite easy to train (so far) although he certainy does have stubborn moments too!

He is still loving puppy class on a Sunday morning and is a very good boy. We took him to a horse show last weekend which had a fun dog show and a birds of prey display. He trotted around quite happily, said hello to people and took treats from them, he seems to attract a lot of attention! He has his first experience of horses, he wasn't sure at first but after seeing 2 or 3 they were not something to be scared of any more.

This week he had his very first hydro session. I don't think I could have been any more proud of him, he had his harness put on when we got there and had a shower and was then allowed to explore while Brian was swimming. He ran straight up the ramp and into the water! We kept him out until Brian had finished then he had his first real go, he had a couple of goes where Anne lifted him off the ramp and he swam straight back so he knew where to put his feet down and then he had a couple of goes swimming all the way up the pool and back down, he did it perfectly, as though it was totally natural for him :) We got him out and dry and Brenda had a go and again he ran back up the ramp and tried to get in so he certainly hadn't been put off!! Hopefully ill get some pics next time he goes.

Yesterday Kody went to the Chiropractor as his back has seemed very twitchy, he was a bit out of line and had a lot of muscle tension so hopefully he feels better now. After that we headed down to Jans  for a visit. Chaos got to play with his brothers and sister and we took Chaos and one of his brothers for a walk which  they seemed to enjoy. Somehow though, stupid me didn't take my camera!!! I have attached a short video clip of them all playing though.

There are still two boys from his litter looking for a home, they are lovely puppies, very confident and outgoing.

Oh we have also had Chaos' KC name confirmed and we got our first choice which I love, Bonvivant Gonna Be Chaos :)

A Break From The Rain

 The dogs have been pretty much stuck indoors for the last couple of days as we have had loads of rain. Today is a bit brighter so I took the opportunity to get them out for a good long walk. Brian and Chaos went first, it's the first time I have taken the two of them together but it seems like a good pairing as Chaos cant go that far yet and although Brian can walk for miles he suffers for it afterwards so shorter walks are best for him. I still can't let Chaos off the lead if he is with another dog as he just wont come back close enough to get his lead on, on his own though it's not a problem. He still enjoyed his walk anyway.

Heidi, Kody and Brenda went a nice long walk all the way to Brandy Wharf, Brenda got her legs wet in the river and they spent plenty of time running around. I'm hoping I should now be in for a quiet afternoon so I can get some jobs done indoors although I suspect as soon as Chaos wakes from his nap he will be full of beans and ready to do something else :)

Chaos Video

We haven't really done much this week, I have been at work lots meaning Kody didn't get to go training on Wednesday. Hopefully this week we will actually make it! Heidi went on Thursday and was a bit calmer this week, I think once she realises we are going regularly again she will calm down, its all a bit too exciting at the moment though!

Chaos went to puppy class again yesterday, we worked on recalls and 'watch'. He can do watch me with no problems, his recall however is something that needs work. He was as good as gold in class, came straight back but when he is out on a walk he would much rather play the 'catch me if you can' game! Little monkey.

I have attached a video of the little man showing off his tricks so far. He is a very fast leaner and seems to be very accurate, I'm really enjoying training him :-)

 

Good news is Kody has finally started to play with Chaos, only a little bit now and then but it's a start, until now he was the only one who wouldn't go near him, probably sensible as he will have seen Chaos hanging off everyone else!

(Brenda and Chaos wrestling)

Puppy School!

On Thursday last week the dogs went to hydro for the first time in ages! I managed to set some photos of Brenda swimming, she absolutely loves it, she gets so excited and swims so fast :) She really makes me laugh, she is such a loving dog with so much character.

Chaos came too and watched his brothers and sisters swim, he wasn't phased at all, he sat on the ramp, had treats from Rod and Anne and was a very good boy. Wont be long until he is old enough to get his paws wet too!

On Saturday afternoon we decided to take Chaos down to the Agility Nuts KC show. We didn't have any dogs entered but we knew Jackie and Natalie would be there. Again Chaos wasn't really bothered about being there. He met a couple of puppies, lots of friendly big dogs and lots of people and the tannoy didn't bother him either.  He is really coming out of his shell now and Jackie and Anne gave him his first taste of Ice Cream, he loved that!!


Sunday morning was our first session at puppy school. Chaos is going to the puppy good citizen class in Scunthorpe. He is in a group with 2 collies, 2 greyhounds, an Akita and a Jack Russel. His favorite puppy was the Akita who was 3 weeks younger than Chaos but already bigger than him. They played wrestling for most of the lesson! He really liked our teacher too and as she has got Tervs she took a shine to him too (he is a charmer that's for sure!), she ended up using him to demonstrate sit and recalls and he was the model student, lets hope he continues to be a brainy boy :

They are all so different!

I'm having loads of fun teaching Chaos things, he learns really quickly and just has bags of character. I decided long before I got him that I wanted to do shaping with him, I have done little bits of it with the others but it wasn't their main method of training. I read loads of books, watched DVDs etc and then he arrived, I shaped a sit and a down and then that was it. For a few weeks we only really worked on those things and I did think about not continuing with it but we got back on track and we now have a nose touch on the floor when lying down (not on command) we are working on left and right and over the past two days we have been working on going around a cone. I'm glad I decided to pick it up again with him, he does seem to learn things quicker that way.

Anyway yesterday he had 2 short sessions with the cone, today was session 3 and he is now going round the cone and coming back, im so pleased with the clever little man. He is quite sensitive and really thinks things through before doing them and he has to make sure he has eaten all crumbs before trying again! The clip below is from our session today, its not great but its hard to watch the puppy, hold the phone, click and reward but you get the idea!

After training Chaos so successfully I thought id give it a go with the others, it never hurts them to learn new things. They are all so different though in how they learn and things they offer. Brenda has done no shaping at all, she didn't even acknowledge that there was a cone in front of her she just sat and stared at me, I then tried releasing her from the sit with an OK and she then went over and sniffed the cone. Obviously she got a click but we have yet to progress from a nose touch on it.

Heidi as you can imagine is wild when she does any sort of training, she sprinted out to it laid down next to it at first but within less than 20 seconds she was running out and around it and back to me.

Kody at first tried his routine of lie down, nose touch the floor, cross his legs and sit but then did sniff and paw at it, again no further than that.

Brian...he has never got the idea of shaping, he thinks he has to knock over any object we use so he ran out knocked over the cone and ran back.

Probably not the most interesting post really but im really enjoying learning a new training method and hopefully Chaos will continue to as well so just thought id share our training :)

Bank Holiday Beach Fun

We decided we would take the dogs to the beach over the weekend, we didnt think Brenda had been before and obviously Chaos hadn't either. After checking the weather forcast it looked like Friday was going to be the better day so off we went.

Brian, Heidi and Kody get so excited when you pull up on the car park and if someone else is getting excited about something Brenda gets excited too as it must be good! So 4 very excited big dogs and Chaos who thinks life is great anyway were a bit of a handful to walk from the car park to the beach, even with two of us!

Brian did his usual bomburst to the sea, he was just like a black dot in the distance. Heidi, Kody and Brenda had a good sprint around on the sand and I had Chaos on a flexi lead (didn't want him floating away to sea!)

Well Brenda and Chaos loved the beach, the both got straight in the sea with the other 3. I was amazed at how Heidi and Kody are so much more confident in water now, they were both at times as far out as Brian. Brenda loves a swim, so she joined Brian in the deeper bits quite a lot. Chaos just got straight in there, hoping over the little waves and sitting down in the water (no problems for hydro there then!)

We had a good walk along the edge of the water and headed back to the van, all 5 were shattered on the way back and walked really nicely! It has taken pretty much until today for Brian to recover, where he has absolutely no self control he just runs until he is shattered but his legs cant cope with it so he has been a bit stiff, he has just had a few short trips around the paddock to keep him mobile. He seems back to normal today though.

Back to work tomorrow :( ...

Time Flies

Chaos is 12 weeks old today, I can't believe where the time has gone! He is such a good puppy, (although he does have an obsession with my shoes!), he sleeps through the night now without any fuss, his toilet training has been going very well and he has mastered sit and down. We are working on a few other bits too. He had has his second injection now so can go out and about and I weighed him this morning and he is 7.30kg. Chaos and Brenda are the best of friends, they just want to play all of the time. It is like having 2 puppies in the house, they are very entertaining and have certainly livened things up around here!

Brian and Heidi seem ok with Chaos now, in small doses anyway, Kody is getting a bit better, Chaos really want to play with Kody, he does a little bark and runs away but Kody isn't quite sure yet. Im sure he will get used to him.

I have got 2 weeks off work at the moment, well Im coming to the end of it now, I go back on Tuesday. We were meant to be off to TAG followed by Adams show but had to change our plans. My car has been broken for a good few weeks now and we had hoped it would be fixed this week so we stayed home (it's not). I did go to TAG on Saturday though last week and the plan was for us to still go to Adams this weekend. It looks like Heidi is going to come into season any day now and id rather not get all the way there and it then to happen so we have decided to just spend the bank holiday here.

Last saturday at TAG Chaos got to meet up with his brother Basil. They had a good play and they were really funny, Basil is a confident little man too, it was nice to see them together. Chaos met quite a few dogs and was more than happy to say hello and took treats off loads of strangers, including 2 little girls whose knees he ended up sitting on!

Heidi had 2 very wild runs and one very good 'nearly' run, her naughty mummy told her right not left so she went in the wrong end of the tunnel!!! Kody only ran in 1 class, all 3 he was entered in were very difficult, lots of crazy sharp entries to contacts and lots of people complaining so we just picked the best of the 3 and did that, it didn't go great!

We don't have any more shows booked now, I had taken September off as I knew Heidi was due in season then but we plan this year to keep doing shows over the winter rather than take a total break, it will be good to keep Chaos used to a show environment.

Ive added a few new photos at the bottom of the doggies, taken over the last couple of weeks.

Adams Agility Show

We arrived late on Thursday afternoon at the show, was given our pitch number and then  we got stuck and had to be towed on as the ground was very wet underneath. Not a great start. We did have a very good ringside pitch though.

The show was a lovely relaxed show, the dogs only ran on Friday and Sunday as I was judging on Saturday.

Heidi has been terrible all weekend, not sure what has got into her,  especially as she ran so well the week before at Scunthorpe. I don't actually think she got to complete a course all weekend!

After last weekends madness, Kody was a very good boy this weekend with only the odd mistake here and there. He had a pole in jumping on Friday and in his agility class took the DW not the tunnel (lots of dogs had done that) and yesterday just a refusal in jumping.

Why is it one week one is good and one mad and the next week they swap over! Cant they both be good at the same time?! (Not mad at the same time though please!)

On saturday I shared my judging with Jackie. I had veteran jumping and Medium and Large 1-4 jumping. It was an interesting experience, the veteran class ran very well and it was so nice to see the older dogs having a great time. I set the same course for the Med and Large dogs but spread the jumps out a little more for the large ones so that they could have a really good run. I didn't think I had set a particularly difficult course and I thought Id have had more clears than there were, it was also interesting to see that the bulk of the clears that I did get that were in the placings were ABC dogs. I guess that when you plan a course you think of what you would like to do and set something that suits your own dogs, in my case Mali's. I enjoyed watching Natalie and Reno run my course as they ran it how I imagined it in my head!

After lunch Jackie took over judging but the show was so short of helpers me and Conor went back over to the ring and helped for the afternoon along with a few people who had helped all morning. We were very grateful to those that helped on our ring.

Below are my two courses:

Chaos is growing rapidly and really coming out of his shell, he is so much more confident and is starting to recognise people now, he gets very excited to see Jackie! Yesterday he got to play with a little Bulldog puppy and they really seemed to like each other, playing chase and wrestling, they were very entertaining to watch!

Happy 5th Birthday Kody Bear!!!!

Scunthorpe Show

Even though it is only about 16 miles from home we decided to camp at Scunthorpe show, mainly to give Chaos a better socialising experience.  He was a very good boy, he is quite confident. He remembered Jackie and met lots of other new people and dogs and was more than happy to say hello which was good.

Kody was very naughty this weekend with his runs, he was back to the crazy barking. In 2 classes yesterday he didn't even get past the 3rd obstacle before having to be taken out as he just kept barking. Today he was a little better but did start barking, we managed to compete the run but he really wasn't concentrating at all on what he was meant to be doing. I really don't know what to do with him as he has been so good for the past few shows.

Heidi was a very good girl this weekend. It was the first time her and Conor had run together since March, they haven't really done done any training either. There were hardly any poles down all in any of her classes. Today she had a really good run in Lucy Osborne's Comb 3-5 agility class, just coming out of her weaves (which is becoming an issue that needs some work) and having a naughty DW contact but all the poles were UP! She did well in the Adams Derby too but naughty daddy got lost and got her eliminated. Lots of positives to bring away from the weekend and things to work on this week as we actually plan to do some training!

We also want to say well done to Lucy and Stig who won G3 Agility yesterday! Well done!!!

Dog Vegas

Last week ended up being a busy week, Chaos arrived on Monday and was a little horror. He screamed at night and terrorised the others through the day! Heidi and Brenda both really like him, Brian isn't bothered about him and Kody runs a mile! Heidi has been so good with him though and very patient, she lets him climb on her, hang off her tail and ears and they play really nicely together.

On Tuesday last week they all went to hydro (not Chaos). It was Brenda's first session but she was a natural, she is probably the best swimmer out of them all! Ill try and get some pictures of her when we go again.

On Thursday I set off to Dog Vegas with Heidi, Kody and Chaos. Chaos seemed to enjoy the experience of camping, he slept well in the van every night, no screaming which was brilliant. We had lots of people come to see him and give him cuddles and treats and he seemed to take it all in his stride. He will do anything for a treat, little piggy!

Anyway onto the Agility, Heidi was just wild all weekend. She did do some nice parts but then go wrong in style.  She just seems to be getting faster and faster at the moment but it results in poles on the floor an awful lot. She did a few 4-7 classes and seemed to cope well with them, we managed to get round those with less faults than the 3-5 courses anyway!

Kody has been a good boy, he only had 4 runs over the weekend but he is really listening and working well. He did a nice run in the 4-7 Agility on Saturday just coming out of his weaves but yesterday was his best run in 4-7 jumping going clear and getting 6th place! It was our first ever placing in G6 so i'm so pleased, clever boy.

A big congratulations this weekend goes to Jo and Zippy who won into G7 and had a lot of 1st places! Well done to you both, you make it look so easy!

Happy 7th Birthday Brian!!!

Empingham Show

I was so pleased when Empingham decided to change their venue to Lincoln show ground as its only 20 mins from home! Heidi couldn't run this weekend, she has scratched her eye and needs to keep it clean so we decided to leave her at home. We took Kody and Brenda and left Brian home with Heidi. Kody only had 1 run each day yesterday was comb 5-7 agility where he did very well, just ran past a jump as I was late with a command and missed his weave entry as I gave him a rubbish line. Today he ran in Comb 4-7 jumping and again was brilliant just knocking the first pole but then a faultless run. Im so pleased with him and how we have worked through the issues he was having as I really had thought about giving up running him all together.

Brenda enjoyed her two days out, she met Reno yesterday and they had a good play together and then she met Speedy today and I think she is in love! They couldn't get enough of each other!

Tomorrow is the big day, we get to bring Chaos home and I can't wait. His crate is up and ready, his puppy run in the garden is built and we are fitting his cage into the van after tea so then we are good to go. I pinched these two pictures from Jan on Facebook today of the puppies, (hope she doesn't mind!) Chaos is the second one in.

We also need to say well done to Natalie and Reno who won out of Grade 3 a couple of weeks ago, Well done!!!

Meet Chaos

We have decided to call the puppy Chaos, just hope in this case he doesn't take after his name! He will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, time seems to be going soooo slowly, we just want to get him home :)

Brenda's First River Walk

Brian, Heidi and Kody all went to hydro this morning. Kody is really doing well at the moment, I'd say now he actually enjoys going, he wags his tail and swims so much better and is more confident than ever. We took Brenda in too and she met Anne and had a walk around and up the ramp. She wasn't bothered at all so we have booked her in for next time.

This afternoon Brenda was full of beans and the others just wanted to sleep so I took her for a walk along the river. She was a really good girl, enjoyed having a sniff and exploring. She took herself down the riverbank, got in the river and had a swim all by herself! She took me by surprise although I'm not sure why, nothing else bothers her. She had a second dip and I managed to get her on video which is posted below.

This weekend is our last weekend of no shows, we really need to get some training in but the weather is just terrible here so every time we have chance we can't as it's raining!

Photo Update-Puppy

Photo Update-Brenda