In Dreamy Dream Land

...Kiah was snoozing - see picture of miss sleepy head chilling on the sofa! Today I've taken the day off work for a bit of a rest and to take Kiah to her 'Bowen' therapist Zoe over in Kent for some adjusting and a general all over check up to loosen her muscles. Bowen is an un-invasive and relaxing treatment, which involves lots of little specific adjustments and massage, nothing harsh at all and you can plainly see the advantages. I think its important to find a good practitioner as much as the treatment itself - and Zoe handles and gets to know the dogs brilliantly, Kiah loves being massaged anyway, and the extra bouncy spring in her step at the end of it, is clear to see! When we're back home too, Kiah always has a good deep sleep for a couple of hours, another surefire way of telling she's enjoyed herself.

So on this visit, Zoe found that Kiah was favouring one of her front legs slightly, and as usual a slightly tight neck and spine - its great to see the change in Kiah afterwards, but I'm certain this is down to her crazy agility attitude!! But as much treatment as I can get in for her, is a tiny price to pay to keep my champ in the best condition she can be for what she does for me every week! So for now, lots of rest, and lead walks for Kiah til agility at the weekend :))))

Wounded Soldiers!

For the last few weeks we haven't really been up to much agility wise though generally quite busy doing fun stuff; we celebrated our two year anniversary about a month ago and Alex bought me the most amazing canvas picture of Kiah (see below) which has taken pride of place in the front room, I love it! We also went to a car boot sale, so filling up the van with bits and bobs to clear out and sell took a while - and making £100 in the process was just a bonus. The doggies taking a trip to the vet for general check up and boosters - with a fab 'school report' on their behaviour and looks from the vet making it even better, and us having a major clear up, resulting in the forest actually looking like a garden again!! Then last weekend we were down helping my mum at a barbeque for some friends through a hobby of hers, a very long day but I think mum appreciated it, especially as she's hurt her foot! Oh and not forgetting my car which has had two shiny new front tyres and a service, I used to get a really good miles per gallon out of the car - now its even BETTER!!

Some of the not so exciting stuff; Kiah came into season not long after the last show, so no shows for us (soooo not fair, on the continent they cope), the boys have both been very good neither of them show much interest in her and they are castrated, despite her flirting - they're supervised at all times at the moment! Kiah just recently also seems to not be quite stretching out when at walking pace, which I think may have been partly due to her season giving her cramps etc, so were off to see her Bowen therapist tomorrow to loosen her up and then more rest, Kiah isn't showing any pain or injury, just slightly awkward movement. We will see how she is for the agility club show at the weekend, would love to go, but only if she's 100% fit.

The most wounded soldier however is poor Alex - though partly his own fault for not getting it sorted sooner - who has had serious back ache for the past few months and only because he was in so much pain, finally decided that he needed to get it sorted. The doctors quickly realised that he has got a slipped disc down near to his pelvis, no wonder he has been struggling so much to walk, let alone sit down for more than a few minutes!! So after a few 'told you so's' and a lot of heat and ice, so many pills he is almost rattling, visits to chiropractors, acupuncturists and physiotherapists - no thanks to the NHS - he is finally starting to feel a little bit more mobile.

So as these things are supposed to come in threes - with Kiah, mum and Alex hopefully things should start to get a bit better now, I'd like to say it can't get much worse but I don't want to tempt fate! Anyway with the Dogs in Need show coming up fast, coupled with the week off work its something to really look forward to, for all of us it will be a lovely break away. I'm also planning more of the shows into September - I've still got 14 days holiday to take before the end of November so I hope there will be lots more time for agility!!

Wordless Wednesday!

Tuffley Show

Wow, I think Tuffley might have just taken over as one of the best and nicest shows I've ever been to, just stunning setting in the grounds of the castle, beautiful countryside, lovely places for all three dogs to walk, and even a river for Yahoo to swim in - his favourite thing EVER! He even got a new Hurtta harness which he loves, and will also be used as his water roller pulling harness too, he loves having a job. Davy also enjoyed his trip, with lots of extra fussing as we combined the weekend with a visit to Alex's mum and Colin, and brought my mum down for the trip too, I think we all had a lovely time, with nice warm weather - always helps!! Alex is getting loads better at taking photos with my camera too, consistently getting a good few decent in focus shots per show - its lovely to see Kiah in action!!

So back to Kiah's first G6 show, which was full of really interesting courses - challenging and in some cases a real step up from anything I'd come across before, one thing i noticed particularly was the obstacle discrimination, especially as Kiah has favourite pieces of equipment - weaves and contacts - that she will happily dart towards if there's a choice!

But overall some positive work, a few 'if only' rounds - marked on her dog walk UP contact in one, a brilliant weave entry so stupid me praises her and she comes out the second weave (d'oh), and a lazy mistake by me getting us E'd on the second obstacle!!! I was pleased with how we handled the courses, and even more pleased by the two clears we then achieved at such a big champ show! Our first was on a course I hadn't walked (where you really needed to!) but after going over and over it, we made it around - just, wasting loads of time - and though we were just out the places there were only 18 clear rounds so quite an achievement! The second was even better, our last run of the weekend a combined 6-7 agility, a lovely course but seriously spread out so though good for Kiah, not so good for me when there are over 220 dogs in the class, plus I have to keep up - and direct her - and with the big guns in g7. So when we went clear I never thought we would get 16th at her first G6, just under 3 seconds behind the winner, clever Kiah!!