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!!