Learning to Swim!

At our most recent agility show there is a local river bank that a lot of the agility dogs go into to cool off and have fun in - I don't think that Kiah, Davy or Risk would go in through choice even if they wanted to, but obviously retrievers are born to go in water - the filthier the better in Yahoo's case!! As Evan doesn't get to do a lot at agility shows apart from walk around, we took him to have a play down there on the hot days so he had a chance to dry out without getting cold - and we could barely keep him out once we got nearby we were dragged towards the edge!! There were lots of dogs playing most of the time, at one point about 5 retrievers, and Evan chose to fetch anyone's ball rather than just his own - at least he brought them all back!!

I'm sure that retrievers - and most dogs really - should naturally know how to swim... not quite so much in Evan's case!! The river was of differing depths, mainly shallow enough to paddle and splash about but deeper in other places, forcing brain power to be used to go and collect his tennis ball - or anyone's.  He enjoyed himself very much and did bring back his ball so keenly, but did look like he was drowning at times, poor boy did get laughed at a little bit. I think he forgot that he was supposed to know what to do naturally, and that he has two back legs as well, as only his front were the ones desperately doggy paddling - it kind of works, but its not very effective, bless him he did get better near the end of his swimming lesson!!

Busy Busy Summer

Its been so long since I last wrote, that I can't actually quite remember what we have done since, apart from agility, and working on the house, oh and going to work that's pretty dull but constantly on the go!!  I must write some kind of mission statement to update at least two weekly if not more!!

In old news that never got its own post but I think deserves to, my 'in laws' (Alex's mum and partner) decided to get married at the beginning of April, so we were invited to and attended  that - with the dogs invited too!! It took me a while to find my outfit - not wearing dresses often it had to be a specific choice, but once found we managed to buy bow ties for the dogs to wear too they looked very smart!! It was a lovely day - very lucky with the weather that was remarkably pleasant and more importantly 99% dry, and we managed to get lots of pictures of the bride and groom and wedding party. The dogs were super well behaved on the day, and in the evenings staying in the dog friendly b&b too, so I was very pleased with them.  We always like to ensure that the dogs are on their best behaviour, so that we get invited back and so that by word of mouth, more and more places become dog friendly!  Funnily enough it seems to be a year for weddings, we have since been invited to two more, one in July and another in September.

Looking back over old posts I also can't recall whether I mentioned that we have changed our caravan again, we have the space now to store a bigger one, so thought we would treat ourselves, and this one will be staying for a fair while yet. It is a twin axle, with a bench seat at the front, separate shower and toilet, and with a fixed bed at the end, which is so much easier than having to put the bed up every evening, plus with the extra space the dogs can be in with us, which is so much nicer. So far we have used it 3-4 times mainly no more than a couple of hours journey... all bar one 'little' mishap where we had a blow out of one of the tyres!! Thankfully it happened on slower roads and we were only about 5-10 miles from home, so we limped home with the spare, so lucky it being on a twin axle as the other wheel can take some of the load.  Alex tows as he has passed his towing test and always says it is very easy, though next week it has a longer trek of a few hours to make so everything crossed - plus we have four brand new tyres now.

Going back to agility and the dogs, Davy dog (and Alex) have been the superstars, getting loads of places in grade 1, mainly second places in both agility and jumping, and then... at one of the biggest shows of the year in the summer, FINALLY winning out!!!!!! He ran quite early on and so we had to wait a while and check the results a couple of times, to see if he would stay in first - which he did!!! Not content with just that, he then won a jumping too, and got a place in another combined jumping class, just showing off but very well deserved!!!

Other agility results wise but not quite as spectacular - Kiah has been doing well in her classes, in one of the shows a few weeks ago where we had an unfortunate slow messy bit in an agility run, she even ended up with 7th place, which is great but I just think how brill would she have done without that little hiccup!!  Most recently we even managed a clear in her agility run last weekend, held contacts, wide turns and not really our kind of course so no placing, but so pleased with her listening and picking up her feet as she has never been very careful.

Risky roo is getting SO much more confident, I really feel like we have much more of a partnership now and though he loves to bark (read as yap and squeal!), I am reluctant to stop him as he enjoys it and it hypes him up so much - he does get his toy too to rag around to prevent too much annoying noise as it does go through you. He has had some great places though - another third and a few lower places in jumping, usually around 6-8th, usually me that messes up his agility runs as he is running very well!! Even young Evan is starting a little more with his agility now, just the basics of straight lines, getting the hang of working together with me, doing tunnels and enjoying himself.


Over the next few weeks we have one show - one of our favourites and the first ever show that Evan came to last year, so he has been with us a year already.  But mainly we need to concentrate a little more on the house, so we have a bit of a break throughout most of July and even most of August to spend at home. Unfortunately it is boring but necessary things with a larger house and a bit more ground, like painting decking, sanding windows, housework, cutting the grass, keeping the evil weeds under control, and then some.  As I have said before - hard work but very enjoyable for us all... back to the grindstone!

Agility - Fun but Frustrating!!

I can't believe how many 'unforced errors' I have made over the last few shows and it has really got my goat, so much more because it has been happening so often!!  Obviously I need to be able to work through it with Kiah, and I wonder if it has been happening more because I am running Risk more now too, its not an excuse as I need to sort it out, but I wonder if that is part of the reason.

Anyway starting from furthest show back... we had a lovely flowing g6 agility course, which involved tunnel under dog walk which we managed to avoid, thankfully Kiah turned the correct way when I said 'left' when I meant 'right' - the first of many errors! After a few jumps, instead of a simple turn right we managed to - instead of a straight on then pull in - do a go round!! Obviously that was a big fat E and the rest of the course Kiah did well, including a hard weave entry so I was pleased with her as we had been messing up a few entries recently.  So to the positives - we did have one clear round at that show, our last run which was a helter-skelter, Kiah did well to pick up her feet on that one as its only jumps and there was some tight spacing, there were a couple of wide turns but she ended up 7th, clever bean.

At our next show that I went to alone to spend some time with my princess, just a single day show and we again had a miscommunication - thanks to me, this time over two of our runs instead of just one! We did get a generous clear round in a qualifier and ended up 11th (top four qualify) even though I think it should have been two refusals, one because I said 'right' too early and we had a spin, and similar near the end I forgot to create any movement, and so we had a bit of a delay in the turn. The second run later in the day, after a bit of lunch, well it was the kind of course that could really suit us... yet again the left/right curse struck again, left would have involved a tight turn and the perfect quick entry onto the dog walk, right would have meant an awkward slower dog walk entry that I had to wait for to make sure Kiah didn't fall off. Guess which we ended up with!! Then we got a fault on a rushed dog walk exit. So again to the positives - our third run involved some very tight turns and go rounds (another qualifier) and though we didn't go clear I was pleased with Kiah's turns and commitment and some really good layering!

So at our final show this weekend just gone, there was one run each day that I could just kick myself on, the worst of the lot!! The first of the two on Saturday was going so well (Kim Taylor was the judge), we managed the tightest go round ever, and I just needed to cross behind to get the wrong end of tunnel... FAIL. The bit I thought would be tough, getting a dog walk entry ahead of two tunnel entrances - worked perfectly, just too late.  Sunday's run was even more soul destroying as the run was going even better than I thought it would have (Fran Walton judging), good commitment to the tunnel and jumps, then just as I was going to turn left and steady for a turn... a spin and a refusal!! Its not often there are two graded agility courses over a weekend that flow so nicely and suit us perfectly, and yet such silly things that I can improve on, causing our issues. Hopefully this weekend will be better.


Despite the annoyances, I am however exceptionally grateful that Kiah and I are still able to do and enjoy our agility together, there are plenty of precious dogs and their owners that have to retire their dogs earlier than Kiah's 8 years young, or worse but we don't think about that... So all the time we are more than enjoying ourselves, even if it goes a bit wrong more often than not - and only very occasionally we get a pretty rosette - we are thankful for the fun, and the friends that comes with agility too.

May... Already!?

I keep reading other people's blogs but I just never seem to get around to updating mine!! Its only when I seem to switch the laptop on to download pictures of our last adventure that I remember!! First of all I must mention that from my most recent (!!) last post, about miss Kiah, I am pleased to say that we haven't had any reoccurrence which I am so pleased about.  Obviously anything could happen in the future, no one knows, but I'm just so happy that she is fine for now.

So an update on the dogs first of all - and one at a time, as they are what this blog is all about!!

Kiah-pie is good, she is looking really grey now partly through age and partly through a follicle infection on her face that made some of the fur grow back white/grey instead of black like their muzzle is, my distinguished little girl going grey!!  She is enjoying the new 'country' life in our new house and she doesn't stress quite so much because we don't have so much passing traffic, but she enjoys her walks in the forest and the fields.  Kiah is very unsociable in the evenings, she likes to go upstairs on her own after having her dinner, but is very much a creature of habit (and always has been) at bed time! After going to the toilet, she races upstairs, gets in her bed and waits for her evening 'fresh' bowl of water and biscuit, before settling down for sleepies!! When she feels like it she still makes the time to play with her brothers, but is still very much in charge if they step out of line!! We have done a few shows this year and a couple of camping ones, so apart from the stressing in the car she is fine when we are there.  Frustratingly there have been some super courses this year so far - some real fantastically thought about, flowing but still needing handling, but that seems to be where I let her down! Kiah has been super and though there has been the odd course that we have had to be calmed down and taken out through being an idiot, there has also been some great things too.  Always my special girl, superstar princess.

Davy dog next, the most chilled out dog ever and I don't think he will ever really be any different, apart from the few things that stress him out!  He has settled into the house well and hasn't been too stressed by many of the noises or changes that normally phase him.  Quite often the three boys are left in our utility room during the day, with toys, chews and beds, which seems to have helped him relax more as well.  Since the new year he has started playing more with the others too, especially Risk which is great to see, he takes a while to 'get used' to them so it shows us he is happy.  Alex and Davy have entered a few more shows (or I have for them!) and have had some great results, and are getting so much more confident and consistent with everything - but especially weaves and contacts, and actually enjoying it together.  Most recently they have had a couple of low places, but have also had two second places in agility and jumping so really getting really close to winning out now!!



Risky-roo is doing really well and has been getting more confident still, he still takes a lot of his traits from the other dogs - so copies them quite a lot - its funny to see but he picks up good and bad habits. He will always be a needy little dog, he likes to be touching you on the sofa or up on the bed, and is really not very trusting on some things, but very trusting on others - I have taught him to jump into my arms or Alex's from the ground or from a wall, obviously we always catch him but it is very trusting of him to do that, odd dog!  Generally though Risk is a happy little soul and loves most people and dogs so that's the important thing. In agility he is now mainly successfully doing running contacts on the a frame and dog walk and understands the see saw waiting to drop - they are all mainly for confidence as it keeps him flowing across a course.  He is usually entered in two runs a day and he has been getting some low places too, most recently a 4th, 11th and 13th, I just need him to speed up now but I think that will come with age and confidence.

What can I say about Evan puppy, he is a bit more grown up now, and is just so much fun, he makes
us laugh endlessly.  In fact in exactly two weeks he will turn a year old, can't believe how quickly that has gone!!  He loves the big garden at our house, and is quite independent so loves to spend time 'surveying his kingdom' and seeing what he can find to eat! I'm not sure that we realised how special this little boy was going to be, with the perfect working attitude, sound temperament and lovely dark gold retriever colour, with a broad head and expressive eyes.  Evan has started with his agility training recently, and loves to work either for food or a toy, so hopefully he will enjoy it properly when he is a bit older.  We think Evan is fully grown but at the moment he is still very puppy like with his legs and paws all over the place when he runs around, so I think it will be a while before he matures!!  He is a little bit handsome too, but I think he knows it.

In other news, the house is taking up a lot of our time, its quite fun but hard work looking after the land that we have, proper 'farmer' style!  It did take quite a while for it to even start to dry out after the grim wet weather we had, but now that it has finally started to, we have been harrowing and rolling to flatten it and get the grass growing... And that it has!! Alex has his new toy the tractor and mowing deck, which is going to come in handy very soon!  We hand cut the garden area - what I mean is with a push mower rather than a ride on - its hard work but it is going along with my new fitness regime / lifestyle changes, to lose weight. So far I have lost 5kg, and counting, aiming for around 20kg eventually but doing it seriously, so it will take me a while.

In terms of the house obviously it is the first time we have seen a springtime (and will be summer) and it is really starting to come into bloom, the main border in the back garden is full of lots of unusual plants - quite likely planted from the previous owner who was a landscaper.  There are ornamental poppies, some kind of tall 'stalk' poppy, apple mint, lemon balm, geraniums and lots more - I'd like to say its me that knows that but its other people's knowledge helping me out there!! We also have two bird feeders in a hawthorn tree (so the squirrels cant get it!) in near sight of the house, that we have to fill up twice a week with peanuts. We don't mind though as there is so much natural wildlife around - woodpeckers, sparrows, yellowhammers, great and blue tits, pheasant and more.

Most recently we have just come back from a week's holiday, down in beautiful Cornwall that we adore and the dogs do too, and combined with a short agility show too.  We were pretty lucky with the weather too and had a good few sunny days, only a little rain when the dogs were happy to sleep and rest on those days too. They were pretty patient on the photo taking opportunities as well, lots of biscuits given out that week!!  We ate far too much good food - cream teas, Cornish pasties, gastro pub food, ice cream (shared with the dogs of course!), Cornish cider and rick stein fish and chips but also spent lots of time on the beach with the dogs - what could be better!!

Kiah's Funny Turn

On the 16th January at about 3.30 in the morning (not quite sure why I noticed the time!), Kiah gave us all a bit of a scare - especially when you're not really with it in the dark.  She had what we think was some kind of seizure, it only lasted a couple of minutes - though felt like hours, and caused by what we don't know but hope to hell it never ever happens again.  It was so frightening - mainly for me as I hadn't ever seen anything like it before, and to watch her in a 'spaced out' kind of place probably scared us more than her, she was really good and quite brave too (and the boys stayed calm and in their beds too, good boys!), and very calm as she came back to normal so I'm pretty proud of her for that.

Of course we were straight to the vet in the morning, found out that these funny moments really can just happen once and never again, or could be epilepsy, or somewhere in between.  We have no idea what caused it, but I have made a few minor changes with Kiah's diet and lifestyle, probably more for my own peace of mind but again they could or could not be related.  We are also currently awaiting the final results of some blood tests, as her thyroid seemed a little bit low - it could be something or it could be nothing to do with it, but we will see, hopefully just one of those 'one off' sort of things.

After word got around, I received literally hundreds of messages of support and offering experience and help, understanding and advice, it is so nice to have such a huge agility community and it makes you realise how many people care and have been in similar situations and are happy to share and help where they can.

I do truly hope that anything like this doesn't happen again, but if it does we are a lot more educated now about what to do.  Thankfully she has been absolutely fine since that morning, and hasn't shown any form of relapse, bright as a button and very much her usual self being as naughty and funny as normal, so keeping fingers and toes crossed for my very special girl!!

Evan the Natural

We knew that both of Evan's parents are working gundogs, but we didn't expect him to so naturally pick it up - without any direction or training from us...  Just for fun when he was a youngster we bought him a puppy dummy and the minute that comes out the pocket, he knows exactly what his job is!  From an early age he has always watched birds and other animals' movement, but at 4 months old whilst out on a morning walk in a dewy field, he obviously got a fantastic scent of something, dashed off across the field, retrieved ever so carefully and dropped to hand on command perfectly - a cold dead whole rabbit, clever boy.

Also - just a week ago while Evan and 9 of his friends (Belgians, Shelties, Collies!) were playing and on toilet break in a friend's garden, somehow a dopey dazed wood pigeon got into the garden - the next thing we knew is that Evan had collected the pigeon carefully and was holding it by its wing, and again dropped it perfectly to hand with no damage done, ready for it to be put out of harm's way.

As much as you have the urge to tell them off for bringing back something cold, rigarmortised, flea ridden and nasty, its in his genes and he is doing exactly what he is bred to do, is exceptionally careful and soft mouthed - and Evan is very proud of his 'prizes' that he returns to us so he gets lots of praise and reward for his collections!!  We are planning to hopefully attend some gundog classes and do some training with our gundog friends - GSPs and working cockers, as with a bit of instruction (mainly for us humans!!) he could be a real star, he clearly is a natural, clever puppy!!

Happy New Year - 2014

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!!  Our year has been quite eventful - but fortunately for us all, containing nothing too worrying, however various groups of our friends have had some serious ups and downs, so we wish everyone a peaceful and happy new year.

Since my last blog post almost three months ago, we don't seem to have stopped, but mainly in a good way; Risk, Davy and Kiah have all had their birthdays, turning 2, 5 and 8 respectively and are all very well; Evan puppy has been socialised lots, and has turned 7 months; Alex and I have both had flu, we've been to a few winter agility shows; attended discover dogs with Kiah and Evan, had some fantastic professional photos taken, caught up with lots of great friends, and finally, the impending move that I spoke about, finally happened in December after a lot of form filling and paperwork!!

A quick recap of some of what we have been up to - there has been a little bit of success at some of the shows we have been to, from Kiah of all dogs - miss inconsistency has been doing great!!  At Norfolk at the beginning of October she got two clear rounds, one brilliant one ending in a 2nd place in grade 6 agility!! The other one was a frustrating clear - there was a scrappy dog walk entry so ending in a 5th - pleased, but annoyed with myself at the same time as I could have done better - and the top four qualify for the ABC semi final.  Later in the year we went to Downland show, where we got another clear round in grade 6 agility, and got a 6th place!!  The final show was North Downs, the final run of the day - again grade 6 - we had a couple of wide turns but still got an 8th place!  The surprising thing about all three of these shows is that they are all indoors which sends Kiah as high as a kite and she struggles to control her excitement, so even more pleased with her, my nutty girl.

Davy and Risk have been fairly uneventful over the last few months, Davy (and Alex) can really take or leave agility so haven't been competing over the winter, I don't think that he minds that choice!! Risk I have decided will be slightly re-trained over the winter to complete running contacts, he already runs the a frame and see saw well, but just to put no further pressure on him - he does sometimes not stop - but we even keep that positive as anything else would knock his confidence further - so I think adding a running dog walk will really help him.

The professional photos we had done were by friends of ours Sue and Chris Armstrong, who gave up their entire afternoon to ensure our four were settled and comfortable before clicking the camera - we know how Davy helpfully scrunches his face up usually when he looks at a camera so him being relaxed (more than normal!!) was so important.  They took photos with different backgrounds, various poses, us with the dogs, groups, individual ones - every single shot was fantastic, personalities perfectly captured and exactly what we were after, its difficult to choose a favourite, there are a few really special ones.

Evan puppy has been growing up too, he is the same height as the other three and about the same build, were not sure if he will get any taller at 7 months old, but he is a good size.  From the moment he joined our family he really is a gem to live with, almost immediately house trained, and makes us laugh all the time with his puppy antics.  As much as we miss our old man Yahoo, Evan has quite a few similarities and is such a lovely little dog.  He has been up to a few things too, the most fun was at a puppy foundation skills day run by our good friend Lisa, he was a little star taking everything in his stride, stepping over, under, through, on wobble boards, learning things so quickly, enjoying getting things right for his treat, not phased by anything and he is just so funny, constantly makes us laugh.  Looking back at the photos he was so long leggy at that age, he has filled out a bit now.  He loves playing with his fluffy and tuggy toys, and we did another slightly different puppy session learning recalls and chasing toys, following hand movements working around cones, all put him in good stead for the future.

We have almost been in the new house a month now - we chose to move ourselves rather than use a moving company - and to be honest once we had packed, the moving week was thankfully quite uneventful and the weather was kind, quite mild and even sunny which made it easier.  In that time we managed to start and complete the fencing on one side within a couple of days so it is secure for the dogs, and they adored (and still do love it) running about in the attached paddock of about 1.5 acres.

I can't quite say the same for the 3 weeks following  - it has rained almost solidly so everywhere is sodden, we have been in the centre of a power cut lasting 67 hours across Christmas and Boxing day, we have had strong winds that has brought down two large trees - but we were lucky in the circumstances really, as thankfully we didn't flood, and I feel for those who have suffered because of this freak weather.

So, the new year for us is a real new start in our lovely new home, plenty of work to keep us busy in maintaining the house and improving it; looking after and keeping control of our associated land, and of course trying my best to keep my blog updated!!  Somewhere around that we also need to work annoyingly - Alex has started another new job but hopefully seems a little more settled and happy there, and though I work at the same place I now do four days a week - its nice to have that day off to spend with the dogs.  Most importantly however - the dogs absolutely love it here and have really settled in so well which is just the best thing; it is quiet and slightly rural too, a different way of life really, but an enjoyable one for us all!!

And Part Two!!

It wasn't long before the end of August came along and the bank holiday weekend, we had signed up for the agricultural show demo - agility was enjoyable for the big dogs, shopping opportunities for the humans and the perfect socialisation for Evan puppy - guns, children, adults, loud noises, vehicles, smells, other dogs, and all taken in his stride yet again, really pleased with how he was the whole weekend.  The dogs were on a bit of a roll especially on the first day when we had a full agility course to muster - Kiah did well just having a refusal but still came 7th, and Risky Roodles star of the show, won the morning event!!  It is only a bit of fun, and he may get the speed one day when he is older, but what a super boy, if you're the only one to get it 100% right on that day!!

Another big decision we have made over the summer is that we are going to move house!!  We are going to keep our current house and rent it out, bringing in an income but we have decided that as we are lucky enough to have the opportunity; to move slightly further out, find a house with a bit more land for the dogs to enjoy, and who knows in the future.  Fingers crossed it is all moving forward at the moment, and there isn't really much of a chain, so am feeling hopeful...

Moving into September, can't really believe its a year since we lost our old man Yahoo, it has gone so quickly and as much as I don't miss his 'wet retriever' smell, we do still miss him he was a big character and had such a huge personality.  Little Evan does make us laugh constantly though, it is lovely that we are lucky enough to have all our dogs around and puppies are so much fun, if tiring!!  We went to Burnham with all four dogs - Yahoo's last show last year - very enjoyable and though the drive up was grim, obviously this corner of the world missed it as the entire weekend was pleasant and fairly non-eventful!  All three dogs were working, and all frustrating in different ways!! Kiah wasn't too nuts but had a pole in one, and a missed weave entry in the other, and a missed go round on a hard course, Risk was a bit in 'riskland' away with the fairies in some and too over-responsive to me (not a bad thing) in others!! Davy (with help from Alex I think) was the most unlucky perhaps, he had two near-perfect runs but naughty see-saw in one and naughty a-frame in the other, which would have otherwise resulted in some very good results...

I don't seem to have many photos of the demo, or of the inevitable house move, or of Burnham, I think we have some videos somewhere which I must download!  This picture I took just yesterday of all the dogs, its a little dark but I like it - in fact sitting in age order from left to right 4 months, 2 years, 5 years, 7 years, waiting for their morning toast and peanut butter - a balanced breakfast is necessary for busy pooches!!

Laziness!! Three Months Catch-up... Part One!!

OMG even longer than normal, rubbish, where does the time go when you're having fun!! I'm just going to have to re-cap over the hundreds of things we have been doing - in tiny little morsels to even think about catching up on where we are today!!

PART ONE - Firstly was the single day of Axstane - normally we do the weekend but I had a surprise booked for Alex on the Sunday - sometimes its nice to do just a single day as it means the whole weekend isn't taken up with agility.  Anyway as far as I can remember we didn't have any rosettes or results at Axstane; though we did meet Davy's doppelganger - also has a very similar name to our rat boy.  If you look closely they are quite different in build and eyes, but just on first glance it is quite easy to think they are twins.

So on the Sunday - something a little bit different altogether!! Unfortunately we couldn't take the dogs but it wasn't going to be an all day event and wasn't hundreds of miles from home, so I knew they would be ok at home for a little while, and shattered from the agility the day before.  I knew that Alex had always wanted to go up in a helicopter and had seen on the internet through pure chance that there was a 'supercar event' on all for charity, and that you could buy VIP tickets for, so I thought I would treat him!!  So a helicopter ride across Surrey and (due to it being a VIP) the pick of about 50 or so cars to have a ride in - hard choices...  He eventually picked a MacLaren something, specifically picked by its owner for the Gumball rally and had hardly any miles on the clock - its not every day you see something like that!!  So I think he had a good time :D

Exciting news next - that most of our friends will already know about already, but its got to go on the blog of course too, to let every one know and make it official!! A few weeks beforehand we had decided that a new arrival would be potentially joining the family... small, ginger, furry, four legged, floppy eared, golden retriever shaped puppy!!  We miss Yahoo so much, and even though he is irreplaceable - Alex decided that he would really like another one to join our family.  We researched working line retrievers - in the hope they would have a nice working attitude, temperament, looks and potentially one day do agility if he/she wanted to.  So a trip up to Northampton and meeting some 5 week old working puppies, completely gorgeous and decided that we would like to bring one of the boys home!!  To cut a long story short, we visited them twice more, and we had second pick of 5 boys, and at 7 weeks just before the weekend, we brought the little dude home!!

It took us AGES to come up with a name for puppy, we thought we had decided but it just didn't suit him, so we forgot about it for a while.  One evening we were watching one of our favourite films - and the name came to us - EVAN Almighty, and it just stuck and really suits him. While writing, Evan has reached 4 months and is a complete nut case, but has settled in really well, quite confident, very independent, and nothing phases him, lots of fun but very tiring!!

It has been a really good summer this year - or should I say its been a proper summer and how it should be - we have been to a few shows that were just a wash out last year - Tuffley over in Berkeley Castle - beautiful venue and exceptionally hot, Newlands and Agility Club both quite local and reasonably nice weather - and then on to Dogs in Need, our relaxing week away.

Dogs in Need we just enjoy relaxing at, it is a little set in its ways so we are thinking of doing alternative shows next year instead, but as we take it as our holiday we don't mind too much.  Risky Roodles was the star of the show at DIN, achieving a 4th, 10th and 13th and qualifying for the finals, what a clever boy!!  Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for the finals as we are having building works done at home, but so proud of him, he really is starting to show a bit more confidence.   Davy has managed to accrue a few places and rosettes along the way, 2nd, a couple of 3rds, 7th, clever boy, and even Kiah - who is working SO well at the moment, I just can't get it together - got a clear round and a 10th place, in two really messy clear rounds, clever girlie.  Puppy dog came with us of course too to all the shows, getting used to tannoy announcements, loads of barking, different people, lots of dogs, weather, noises, and took it all in his stride, clever puppy too!!

Thames

Thames followed straight on from boot camp, I wasn't sure we would be at our best after a week away and sleeping somewhere not in our normal bed, but we weren't TOO bad... could have been worse I think the weather helped, as though it wasn't so beautifully hot at least it was dry!!  We had a great camping spot thanks to one of our friends getting there, and it was nice to be able to get to a show on a Friday for once, odd being set up while everyone else was still arriving, usually its the other way around.

Kiah and I were working really well together (mainly) which was lovely to feel - I think I had taken on board some of the boot camp comments and tips, and there was one 6-7 agility course that loads of people were going wrong on as the weave entry was right next to a tunnel entrance, I knew we had a chance as Kiah loves weaves (normally over tunnels) and yep we got the weave entry, but then I said good girl and she came out at pole two looking at me!! Idiot handler should have stayed quiet...

The other one was a 6-7 Olympia course that I had my hopes set on, and really set off well.  I know that sometimes there are courses that I'm not going to be able to do justice to as much, either because they are skills we have less of, or I know I can't get as many places as a lot of people, or I can't run as fast, but this was a good mix of all. So... we got most of the way around, to about obstacle 14 and I knew I had to run to help out at the other end of a tunnel under a-frame combination, I've seen the video and Kiah was even looking at the tunnel... but she went up the a-frame instead, noooo!! Never mind I was so pleased with her as I should have cued the tunnel more, just a shame.  I have a fantastic picture from Alan Score of Kiah in the weaves on this course, he takes fab photos and always sends them across, this is one of my favourites.

The boys were working at Thames too and entered both days, unfortunately Davy wasn't at his best - he has been working well recently but he was having a few poles, I think its just grid work learning that Davy needs now, plus a bit more practise on weaves, they aren't his strong point its a shame as quite often that is the only thing that lets him down in courses.  He is lots better and it does seem to be 'hit and miss' whether he gets them sometimes, which frustrates Alex a lot!

Risk had a bit of a hit and miss weekend, we seem to have mainly mastered the art of all the obstacles, not being weird at walls, or long jumps, or see saws or flat tunnels, and a couple of good runs on the Saturday, just a bit of lack of concentration causing easy distractions!! On the Sunday we did go back to square one a little bit, and couldn't possibly go near the judge, over a jump or up the a frame or across the dog walk as 'the judge was looking', quite disappointing but we did work through it, and did some good contacts so slightly redeemed.  However - we had one much more positive run, where his concentration was a little better, tried hard on his weaves and was listening mostly - and we managed a slow but clear round, clever little dude, positive steps forward!!

Boot Camp Agility Week

As the show ended on Sunday afternoon it was nice to know that we didn't have to rush home, and so dismantled the show set up and took a leisurely drive across the country, to set up on the campsite for the week's boot camp near Stratford upon Avon.  We were some of the first to arrive and so after picking a good spot it was the simple things like the electric hook up, water nearby and proper toilet/shower block for the week - simple pleasures and quite different to agility shows!!

We had a fantastic week away with old friends who were on the same camp, and made some fantastic new friends along the way too.  I hate to keep mentioning it but especially as last year's weather was SO rubbish this year is worth mentioning - we picked the absolutely perfect week, not a drop of rain and blue skies and hot sunshine all week was just what we needed!!  Lots and LOTS of fruity cider consumed across the week, very tasty and ideal in the sun.

There were four awesome trainers - Laura Chudleigh, Natasha Wise, Lauren Langman, and Martin Reid, who provided 12 hours of training - tiring but great!! They all helped to make the week absolutely fantastic - I would recommend any and all of them to anyone who wants a motivational, fully filled, personalised lesson on how to think, how to improve yourself, and your dog's skills, fun and enthusiasm!!  The camp was mainly for Risk, but it was such a good set up that Kiah got some turns at playing agility too, they were both fantastic and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it too!!  Even Davy got a few practises on the equipment, and was a star in the team games of stays and recall.  It was such a fab week from start to finish - I am so grateful to Alex for booking it as a present, and it was such a shame when it was over... maybe next year, not much could beat that week though!!

Hinckley Show

We haven't done this show in years and definitely not since it has been at its new (ish) venue for the last few years, but we had the following week off work as one of our holidays, which was up near to Stratford upon Avon, and so this agility show beforehand was only about an hour away.

Thanks to the crappy motorways showing traffic red spots - typical on a Friday evening, we decided to get an early night, and leave stupidly early on the Saturday morning - which was the perfect solution as we had a clear journey up.  It also helped that camping is allocated which is a great idea and I think more shows should take it on, you can still camp with friends as long as you book that when you enter the show, but it means people who have to work or travel further, still have the same opportunity as early birds to get a sensible camping spot!!

Hinckley is quitet a small show, it is only five rings and mainly for grades 3 and above, but has lots of qualifiers and championship classes so most rings are exciting to watch.  Even better the champ final isn't held until all the rings are finished so it makes it more of an event - which it should be.

It was only Kiah running at the show - good for Alex as it meant he could get a nap in on Saturday after towing up that morning - better for Davy as he really is the sort of dog that doesn't mind if he misses the shows and just gets the odd walk here and there!!  I was so SO pleased with Kiah, she barely had any poles down, wasn't too loopy, and there were a couple of really spread out but challenging courses that my handling just let us down on, typical.

I really liked the courses that were set - clever, tricky and requiring enough handling to be clever, some slightly european style sections, so the dog still gets to enjoy themselves, but not so nasty that they end up turning you round and round never to be seen again!!  I think it takes a good judge to set courses like that, well thought out and very enjoyable.  The Olympia qualifier course set by Simon Peachey was just like that, and the grade 6 agility set by Nic Jones both of which I highly enjoyed running.  There was one course on the Sunday, a 6-7 jumping set by Stuart Harmes that was going really well, no poles, Kiah really powering out and me attacking the course... until I got lost!!! Sometimes I just struggle to keep a course in my head and in this case I added an extra jump into the course and obviously got eliminated, damn!!  A highly enjoyable show though, and dry and hot and sunny, will definitely consider it again.

In Other News...

One good thing to have come out of Kiah being injured, is time.  Its not often we have much time to do things, especially with the advent of the last couple of years, so on a bank holiday weekend it was the ideal time to finally sort out the last of my parents' house once and for all - as it has now sold, and the new buyers wanted to have a quick exchange/completion which was fine by me, especially as we were running out of weekends to go down there.

Alex was fantastic helping shift everything, and his good friend came down to help us with his van; it took us all three days to ensure everything was removed, binned, sorted, burned, tipped, kept and/or put into storage temporarily, but it was a bit of a relief when it was done, somehow a weight lifted to not be constantly thinking about it.  Strange and some how guilty kind of feeling to feel 'relieved' for it to have gone when I have so many happy memories, but that is exactly what they are and I shall never forget anything about my childhood home, or everything that goes with it.

When we got back home and unpacked all of the keeping stuff for the final time, it was lovely just to have a relaxing sunny walk with the dogs over the park in the afternoon/early evening, and visiting Yahoo bridge - where we scattered his ashes - as the picture, lots of lovely memories.

Whoops - 6 Weeks Goes By!!

After one of Kiah's check ups with her physio, she stupidly overdid it on a walk where she was supposed to be taking it easy, and so had been on rest for a few weeks, plus additional physiotherapy visits to get back on track.  We ended up missing two or three shows annoyingly, but i'd rather she was 100% better before risking anything, there's no point and she gives it everything she can at agility for me so I do the same for her - even though she doesn't think so!!  There was only so much that mental stimulation will give her, she adores her 'Nina Ottosson' treat/thinking games, but was rather bored by the time we started to bring a little bit of agility back in.

So when we did get back to agility, it was a bit of a shock to the system as we had all three dogs running, Kiah entered as usual but also Risk in g3 and Davy in g1 - at the moment.  Our first show back we were doing some ring party and the weather was typically frustrating - torrential rain one minute (on our walk!), gusty and sunny the next, so it confirmed that I would be taking it easy with Kiah especially, as I didn't want her getting hurt again. She was suitably loopy in the runs we did do, not entirely surprising, good contacts but completely off her rocker!!

Davy was entered on the first day of the show only - the second day didn't have g1 classes but Alex doesn't mind it means he can take it easy and not have to worry about walking courses!!  Davy did well in quite a hard agility course, involving a pull in around a jump that could easily have been taken - and ended up in 2nd place, a fantastic result!!  I forgot to mention that we had another show before Kiah was injured, I didn't get any clear rounds with Kiah (though some lovely courses there) but Alex and Davy got a well earned 3rd place in a jumping course.

It was Risk's first show as well, and I was surprisingly nervous!! He was very good in his first jumping round, really focused (for him) only losing it a little bit in the weaves - about the 14th obstacle - which we hadn't long completely mastered, but we got through all twelve and finished the jumping course positively which I was pleased with.  I only entered him in two classes per day to stop him from losing interest, and he was really good in his agility too.  It was a slightly challenging weave entry - not difficult just a little for us and our first show, but we got it second time around and did all 12 which was great!!  We had a bit of drama at the long jump, odd as it has been practised many times in training without a second thought, but worked through it and again another positive finish with only a slight loss of concentration - very pleased with him, clever boy!!

Fantastic Present

Just recently we have been redecorating some of the inside of the house, so moving some of the pictures around, and I realised I have never posted on here about one of the best presents I ever received from Alex last year.  Back in a post I wrote on 29th August, when we were away and had the dogs pictures taken by Chris Jones (www.pet-ography.com) I received a 'product' of his work. Chris is fantastic with the dogs, takes loads of photos in a sitting until you are happy with them, then you can pick any combination of the ones you like the best, and turn them into a montage.  So as a surprise a couple of months later, I received three pictures of Kiah in a beautiful large frame which I adore - the picture of it here doesn't really do it justice.  After I received mine, and then later in the year we sadly lost Yahoo, we now have a similar one of him which is equally cherished!

Going Walkies

We haven't entered too many shows this year, partly because of cost and partly as we are just enjoying doing things with the dogs, and have more than enough stuff to do on the vehicles, at home, in the garden, with friends, crammed into a two day weekend that always seems to fly by!  We still enjoy doing the shows but lots of other stuff to do as well.  A couple of weekends ago, it was finally warm and dry after yet more rain, so we spent a long morning out walking, and remembered to take the camera for once!!

The most frustrating thing when taking photos is Davy - you point a camera and he instantly puts his ears down and squints. very patience testing, every single time!  Kiah has been subjected to a camera from young so is used to it as long as she gets her reward after, and Risk is pretty good as long as he doesnt have to hang around too long!  This time however, I was quite pleased with how some of the photos came out - but this one was one of my favourites, the background is a bit 'busy' and the colours aren't quite right but theres something about it - the Davy and Risk in their usual relaxed poses, Kiah looking elegant in her usual pose, the dogs cuddling up together - as they are all very close to each other in life too, I just love it.

Early Easter

This year Easter and the very welcomed four day bank holiday was quite early, the the major first show of the season that we do - nice and local again, and a real danger that the show could be called off, a complete repeat of last year and the threat of rain and cold weather ruining agility - one show at a time!!  Thankfully the week before the show managed to stay mainly dry which really helped, even though the show had to cancel most of the camping, and move a couple of rings around to accommodate the suffering soft ground, but it was great that the show could still go ahead.

We were doing a bit of ring party, mainly on the Saturday and a little on the Sunday, bad show to pick helping out at as it was bitterly cold and windy especially the first day!!  The dogs were in the best place in the van with their jumpers on.  But it has to be done, I have nothing against helping a little as long as everyone does their bit - which never happens - I can understand that some people can't help due to personal reasons but a large percentage of people can and won't.

Just a quick mention for my little dude Risk, he is still doing ok in his training, seems to have mastered the aframe properly now, and hs happy to run down it 9.9 times out of 10, he gets what I mean and is also doing well with his going over jumps rather than under, similar success rate so am pleased with him there.  We are still mastering the weaves, or trying to (!) a little tiny bit of practise every day and he is getting better... most of the time.  His confidence is very low at agility and especially new or difficult things like the weaves, so we keep it positive - but sometimes especially if he is tired or hasn't eaten (typical boy!) there's no point in trying more than even one or two jumps as it is very unproductive!!  But very little and often seems to be a good way for him to learn.

So Kiah and Davy were both running this weekend, Davy had some fantastic agility rounds and has really turned a corner, he has toned up (Davy!) and is doing agility because he enjoys working with Alex rather than just 'because he has to' and is putting the effort in.  There were some real if only runs and a couple of silly moments from Alex - like running past the last jump!!  It was a great helter skelter course where Davy was running fantastically well, and Alex had to speed up and lost track of where his dog went - around rather than over the last jump!!  But also there were a couple of times where Davy got his weaves first time, instead of going in pole two, and was good on most of his contacts - as long as Alex keeps practising them, and a real increase in speed, so there is real promise there.

Kiah was my little star this weekend, our very first run of the day was grade 6 agility, a bit of an unusual class - I mean something that we don't always see week in week out, quite often there are similarities in courses and they can get a bit samey but just sometimes you get very 'different' skillsets required, and they seem to be the courses we do better on.  Anyway we ran reasonably early in the class, and it was messy in places, especially the weaves as Kiah wasn't listening and shot out the tunnel looking for me rather than listening to my weave command - but the good bits were fast, and we went into 2nd place - I can't quite believe it but we stayed there.  We even managed to get it on video, which is rare - its lovely to see what good things happened and still places where we can improve. We got a lovely trophy and the other benefit of the 'easter' show is the easter egg too (for me, bought pigs ears for them!) - clever girlie!!

Visit to Crufts

We weren't going to go up to Crufts this year but Alex as a surprise booked tickets, this year for the Saturday and 'gundog' day - partly as it was the weekend so easier for us than a short notice day off work, and also we wanted to take a look at the golden retrievers in the working classes and continue our investigations into a possible future addition... and watch a few classes, and do a little bit of shopping.  Normally we go up on the 'working and pastoral' day (the day that Kiah would be in classes for) so it was nice to see and meet a different set of dogs.  We also got to see a good friend of ours - and Risk's bestest friend, get a well deserved placing in a junior Vizsla class qualifying for Crufts next year!!

Knowing what crufts is like, we got up there relatively early to have a quick scan around the halls and then go back for a further look later on if it gets crazy busy - I always find it best to have a shopping list prepared before we get there!!  There are a few deals that we found including lots of stinky dried tripe sticks for a bargain price, a couple of new treat toys for Kiah, and new classic kongs for the boys, a new back on track coat for Risk, new fleece coats by 'Snugglepets' (see pic, of course in their respective colours!), and naughty... three new beds for them all, made and personalised for us by 'Lucky Pet' which I adore!!  More importantly both those companies are based in, and manufacture completely in the UK, which I think is so important to support.  It was a long day but enjoyable, and the dogs had a lovely time being spoiled with some good friends that kindly looked after them :)))

Mid Downs

Oh! I don't know where the time has gone - I just haven't had time to do an update in an age so there may be a few at once now I'm on a roll!!  So back to March - I'm still never quite sure why i do Mid Downs, we are usually rubbish and completely out of time, and poor coordination, and completely mad as some of the show is inside, lots of people lots of noise.  But still every year we go, as its good fun, the first time to catch up with people that we haven't really seen much over the winter, its a local show to us, and has absolutely fantastic walking - probably one of the best in all the shows we do.

Only Kiah was entered in this show, as Risk wasn't quite ready, and sadly this show only goes from grade 3 up and Davy is grade 1 at the moment.  The boys still had a good time, Risk had a fab time playing with his friends (and anyone who got mobbed by the waggy tail!) and Davy was as chilled as ever, but they all enjoyed the morning and afternoon walks and pig ears when we got home.

So true to form we were a bit rubbish - I can't remember most of it but Alex kindly videoed all of our runs with my shiny new video camera that he bought me as our anniversary present. It is so useful to have it on video as you can see where we were good/bad and bits to improve on etc.  The other thing I wanted on a video camera was a slow motion short clip function - which this one has.

So the first run wasn't too bad watching it back - Kiah was a bit naughty and semi broke her wait where I should have put her back, and we had a failed pull in resulting in a big fat E, I have to have my timing spot on with steady and pull in commands, but there were some good bits.  One thing we need to improve on is Kiah's commitment to tunnels, because she is SO responsive to me just a small movement will pull her off a tunnel, or sometimes I have to over commit to directing her to a tunnel where I need to be somewhere else - but not all the time, again perfect timing required, funny girlie.

The second run was an outside jumping run - going really well until Kiah came out the last weave pole - my fault says the video (!) as much as she should have stayed in, I turned away so she came with me.  The third run was back to agility indoors, and was going really well, until something I was really annoyed about - Kiah went in the tunnel and came out the same end... three times we tried.  So frustrating as I later found out a large number of other dogs did the same and we never found out why, but there was obviously something up with it.  Anyway thats how it goes, but I was pleased with Kiah in that run, and we were finished with the show by early afternoon, so lots of time for walkies!!

Toasty Warm

Last time we were down having a sort out of my parents house, after a long play in the garden - which the dogs love doing - we had a chance to take them out for a walk down on the beach again - it hasn't been as nice as previous times but at least it wasn't raining, it was just cold and windy, the dogs don't mind too much.

 

I had lots of layers on, and so did Alex, with our wind stopper jackets on the top doing a pretty good job, the dogs also had their coats on - I know they have fur coats but I'd still rather they didn't get cold! Our jackets and their jackets actually match - they are all "Hurtta" brand, which I adore for the dogs, especially the 'winter pro' coats; they are quite expensive, but they are well made, hardwearing, smart looking, waterproof, fleece lined and a great fit - and the dogs don't seem to mind wearing them either.