In the bleak midwinter

The last few days have brought the first snow of winter - very brrrrrrrrr but also very pretty!
Saturday was an unusual day - had just got back from a lovely romp with the dogs and we'd got cozy and settled in for the rest of the day when there was a knock at the door. I opened it to the lovely surprise of my mate Steph who I've not seen for about 3 years. Only Steph could open conversation after all that time with a bizarre question like: "Want to come skiing?"!!! "Errr, OK!" I said ... So she has all this gear loaded up and off we set - I got to drive her brand-new Landy TDi - verrrry sexy (& also comfortably scruffy inside aleady, lol!) The skiing was quite mad but fab fun - I'm fairly bad at downhill skiing but at telemark (cross-country) well ... I didn't quite spend all of the time on my backside! Boots three sizes too big didn't exactly help either, lol! Someone told us it was -8c out - thought it felt a bit nippy!! Anyway, that was Saturday's adventure! :o)
Then on Sunday we had NAWS. Set off on sheet ice and arrived on the venue on sheet ice. Really didn't think many would be nuts anough to go but actually there was quite a respectable turnout! Car parking duty involved finding a flattish bit on the approach road and waving people to slow down and wind their windows down, then yelling as they passed that they had to keep going once they got into the yard or they'd not get up the slope! Meanwhile a lovely couple were bashing their way through frozen grit to try to defrost the yard a little. We only had one car get 'stuck' - pretty good really! The judges put up some nice courses. Tim did some lovely bits in both - he did superb waits (good boy!) and in the agility he did an amazing confident send to the finish both runs - wow!! Unfortunately on his second run I backed off a bit too soon when sending him to a tunnel - was trying to get ahead to pick him up after - and he came with (at!) me - I tried to block him but the boy was shifting ... we ended up in a heap! Damn muscle strain wrecked again. Owwww. Still had Maisie to run but just couldn't run so had to take it steady and used the opportunity to reinforce her contacts - she did lovely 2o20 on the A-scale for the first time at a show in yonks. Anyway she still finished 7th and 8th in her classes, good Mouse :o)
I was quite lucky on the journey home - very glad to be in the Landy though, but poor Jules (who'd been judging) had a nightmare journey on the frozen motorway. I do hope everyone else got home safe and sound.
Here are obligatory happy dogs in snow piccies :o)

Stop Shouting!!

Why do so many competitors SHOUT at their dogs? Stoooopid too-late things like "I TOLD YOU TO GO RIGHT", "NO!/BAD!" to a dog that's missed its contact, etc, or "I SAID 'TUNNEL!' and how often do these people praise or encourage? Saw one recently where a lady was yelling at an inexperienced dog to go through the cloth tunnel, but then when it eventually did, with the aid of the Judge, not a word of praise, she just finished the round and stomped out. & why have these things gone wrong in the first place - is it ever the dog's fault? No, of course it's not! The dog that didn't turn right, or ran past a jump, or took an off-course jump - didn't do it to be "naughty" - it did it because the handler either didn't communicate what they wanted clearly enough - they made the error in the timing of their command, or the clarity of their body language, or they haven't trained the manouevre well enough. & we all do these things, some of us pretty often LOL! But if we have any decency we tell the dog how fabulous it's been anyway for trying to follow our bumbling directions. And these same handlers come out and tell their friends how the dog did this and that, and what a numpty the dog is - sorry, YOU are the numpty, dear handler!!!
Is it ever OK to shout? Well in some situations I'd say yes - e.g. sometimes to quickly interrupt something like a dangerous behaviour, or raising your voice in a positive way e.g. to really reinforce your body language when you're trying to pull the dog off an obstacle? But the instant they respond you make sure you praise them to the skies!
Sorry, not sure where that rant came from but it's just something I've been noticing a lot lately - not just observations from a particular show at all.

The show we went to this weekend was Agility Nuts - one we've not been to before and perhaps a bit far to go very often (Notts). It was a good day out though, and though I went alone, met up with a few familar faces and got chatting with nice new people too. In the Agility class there was a bit of a problem in that there was obviously the most fabulous smell ever on the arena floor - right next to the (12) weave entry. Dog after dog set off well, turned the corner, nose down, stuck!!! Never seen anything like it. Having watched all this happening I went in with Maisie determined to really drive her past but the same thing happened ... Shame really as she ran the rest of the course beautifully, but we finished on 5R (weaves) plus time faults(!) as it took yonks to unglue her nose from the ground without handling!! The scarey thing was that over halfway through the class she was actually in the lead even on that bad score! (They have these ace computerised live scoreboards, really good fun.) Loads of other dogs stopped and then were either bodily removed from the ring, or eventually carried on but later in the course gnashed off back for another sniff, or got E'd/faulted in other ways as it was quite a tricky course too. Very surreal carry-on! In the end Miss Mouse finished 6th.
I'd also entered Tim 'NFC' just in the Agility (and it was his 18-month "birthday" ahhhh) but I didn't want him to have the negative experience of going into the ring and sniffing, so I asked the Judge whether it would be OK to start him after the weaves (which were near the start and I was going to just by-pass them anyway as he's not weaving yet) - and so did and he ran ever so well and even managed quite a tricky turn left across a box, which many dogs had missed. I thought "pre-curving" and it worked! :o)
In the Jumping Maisie did another smashing run but her inept handler pulled her into a backjump from a pull-through. Sorry, Mouse - I AM THE NUMPTY!! ;o) (& Maisie loves me anyway coz she's a very generous girl, LOL!)
& then there was a take-your-own-line class right at the end of the day, which I almost didn't stay for but then did, and spent most of the afternoon scribing in a freezing draught. It was dark when the class came around and though I walked Maisie round for ages before going in, she wouldn't poo .......... till she got just before the second-last jump and just decided she had gotta go!! Ooooops!!!!!!!!! So then we came home :o)

Wyre

Miss Mouse relaxing after a hard day's agility-ing

Another muddy day at Myerscough! We had some super courses. First up was the 1-2 Starter's Challenge thingy - great course, very Maisie, some tricky angles and traps. Maisie absolutely flew - fantastic time - think she'd have been third ... except she flew not only round the course but off both the dogwalk and A-scale contacts, ooops!!! She was a total wildchild - looked me in the eyes and launched, I had to giggle :o) Next up was 1-3 comb jumping which I'd not really planned to run but as she was so giddy, for once I thought it might be good to work some steam off her and the course was weird enough that we might do OK! Sadly we were E'd at the fourth obstance - a reeeeally tricky wrong end of the tunnel thing, oooops. I retired us gracefully as my torn thigh muscle suggested that it was on borrowed time, so saved it for the last agility class. Another super course. To my surprise, Maisie even boogied round a pinwheel at a reasonable rate and she absolutely attacked the rest of the course! I did work the contacts very slowly and carefully though and in the event we went clear but just out of the places. On the last line of the course it went jump - long jump - jump - and gosh did she take off - I glanced back and saw her just put in one stride after the long jump (on some days she could've put 3+ strides in there) and take off for the final jump miles ahead, and I totally thought she couldn't make it and would crash through, but she sailed over it!!! Gosh, I've never ever seen her throw her heart over something so mightily. What an amazing little Mouse :o)

NAWS Nov

It was a VERY soggy day & the ginger thingy got his first rosettes!!! First a errrrmm clear-ish round in the jumping, then a sooooper one in the agility - actually we did throw in a bit of a twirl before the last jump, but the rest of it was very fluent. His contacts were brill!!! I left him on them, went off for a stroll around, then went back and told him how marvellous he was before releasing, so wasn't at all going for time, but taking that into account his time did look very respectable. What an exciting boy!! And his new fellow ginger baby buddy, Mac, came second in the class, awww!
Maisie had a good day too - clears in both classes, though there seemed to be an outbreak of clearrounditis, so not in the places this time. Her agility runs were funny - did a safe-ish clear first run and made sure she got her contacts, but there was a bit where you were on a fast run down a straight line of jumps to the finish, but had to pull them off and left over a jump at 90-degrees, pull round the wing, and then back into the run for the finish. First run I signalled the left and she just stopped dead (from a fair pace) and gave me a Paddington-hard-stare! Bless her, she then hopped over the jump from her standstill and so wasn't faulted. I was debating whether to do her second run but really wanted to try again to handle that bit better for her, so she was flying down the line again and I made a huge exaggerated left-turn and kept running myself around the corner to try to drive her on into a wide turn, but she stopped dead again!! It could've been because they were jumping towards the side of the dogwalk? But really I think she'd just so locked onto the straight line she couldn't quite believe I was pulling her off it. The look on her face really made me chortle, LOL! Being a dreadful handler I gave her her own way and spun her round and just did the fly down the straight line to a happy eliminated finish :o)

Billy was disgusted at the weather and wouldn't get out of the car till lunchtime and even then tippytoed carefully around the puddles down the lane then got back in the car and hrrrmpphed. Such a delicate little flower but he's my hero anyway.

Culture Clash

Very amusing few minutes this aft: Billy's ball went missing in action and so he went into gundog mode - nose down, methodically quartering the ground. He was closely followed by Tim in full herding mode - Billy is such an uncooperative sheep but Tim never gives up on him. And then we have Maisie laid down looking pretty and watching the daft boys charging around doing their stuff. Oh but then she calmly gets up and strolls across, immediately locates and picks up the ball and bogs off with it at 200mph - two boys in hot pursuit. She then lays down and has a good leisurely chew of the ball till she gets bored and wanders off letting them have their toy back. LOL!!! :o)

Wilmslow & Weaves

Wilmslow at Myerscough on Saturday. Maisie got very mucky and also got 6th in Doc's grade 1 agility and a jumping clear, and she ran really nicely and speedily in all her classes with some very respectable times. She's so much more zoomy in the colder weather - really makes a big difference to her.
Read an article somewhere recently arguing that the number of weave poles used in "the lower grades" may have a long-term effect on the dog's expectations. Just realised we've not had 12 weaves for yonks and hardly ever do at the winter indoor shows (yet the higher grades do, so it's not just a space issue!) Anyway, we had a big problem with weaves this spring/summer with Maisie quite consistently wandering out somewhere in the second half, and I think this was largely because she'd got so used to only doing six almost all last winter - and we've only just nicely got over this problem! So though I do get slightly more nervous on seeing twelve weaves in a course, looking at the bigger picture ... bring them on!

HATS

This was a fab show again - good fun and nice to see several people and dogs enjoying the magic of their first ever show.

Some brill results from "our gang" - specially Jules and Jette getting a well-deserved 5th in 1-2 agility!!!!! & Helen & Skip 1st in jumping and 4th in agility - yay!!!!! Maisie & I managed 3 E's - ooops! But also got 8th in the jumping, good Mouse :o) & Tim got to play in the pre-comp classes, thanks to them kindly taking a late entry on the day. The boy done good. The jumping was a good learning thing for both of us, though a bit weird having not walked the course!! Then in the agility our first run was a bit chaotic but we settled by the second one and had a super run - unfortunately some muppet had dropped something near the startline so he bogged off to sniff after the first jump and before the last, but then again it just shows he's not yet quite obsessed enough with focusing on working, though he was pretty keen! Apart from the start and finish, the rest of the round felt wonderful - what a buzz!!

It's a new experience running two dogs - and such different ones at that.

Things to remember when running Tim:

1) Don't try to race him - I won't win!! 2) Use my inside arm to push him out and on, especially on long straight bits - keeps my shoulders pointing the right way too 3) Breathing during the run might come in handy too.

Things to remember when running Maisie:

1) She's cleverer than me and sometimes gets things right when I try to go wrong LOL! 2) She doesn't pick up on such subtle body cues as Tim and I have to be clearer for her - when she engages mousey turbo boost I have to watch her and make sure I signal clearly so she turns when I do. I let her down twice on her agility runs - didn't matter though coz she had an ace time and great to see her running on confidently. 3) I do have to race her, and from her POV it's better if I cover at least twice the ground that she does and do plenty of foolish pirouetting (AKA front crosses).

And I just have to mention Jules' sloe gin/vodka ... heehee, 'nuff said!!!

Billy Woof FDG

Billy Woof has earned his Flyball Dog Graduate award - over 3000 points! (Actually he earned it in September but the BFA points system has a bit of a timelag.) Anyway that's a nice landmark and it's his third level award. To be honest, they're sort of awarded for turning up, though they accrue more points when the team runs faster, and they have done pretty well. What a good boy he is!!! Not looking good for training for him tomorrow as it's bucketing it down and forecast gales ... the poor lad is most unimpressed with the weather.

We survived the Bonfire Night(s) celebrations last week - mostly by avoidance. Managed to get both Billy & Maisie through it without lasting trauma this time. We went to a Dog Vegas indoor show (Grantham) last Saturday and it gave us a busy day out. The exercise field was huuuge so spent much of the day playing out with all three and trying to tire them - good fun. Maisie managed a couple of unplaced clears but we were both quite distracted - partly due to a nearby shoot, and partly due to a bonkers calling-in system which meant daft queuing, rudeness and rush. Oh well. Nice to spend the day with great company anyway - human and doggy, including the delicious scrummy baby Beardie, Pickle, she is just soooooooo beautiful!!! & Tim's girlyfriend Belle who chases his ball for him whilst he chases her adoringly :o)

Training Tim was good again this week, he's so willing. He did all jumps at the height below large for the first time and didn't seem to really notice a change from medium. Though speedy, he seems to be jumping quite accurately which is good. His wait's gone a bit squiffy but think that's coz he's twigged how exciting this agility lark is and he's struggling to contain himself heehee!

The ground's really swampy everywhere just now so The Swamp Monster is taking every opportunity to wallow - she's also "done" both cow and fox poo this week, in large amounts, what a lovely girly!!

Happy Hallowe’en

Tim’s been such a good agility lad this week. On Wednesday he did 12 v-weaves on his own - without Uncle Mike and his sausage LOL! and some other nice things. Then today we went training at a nice venue at Sicklinghall near Wetherby. I expected to not know anyone but walked in and knew almost everybody! Lots of friends from the grade 1/2 queues and mostly their baby dogs :o) We had a great morning’s training and the group was very supportive and a good fit for Tim and he did very well again. We’ve not done much turning him away yet, but once we’d made the turn once and thrown his ball and knew what I was trying to ask of him, he was really eager to do it again and made a lovely tight turn, he picks things up incredibly quickly. His contacts are coming along great, sooo fast and his 2o2o position is the bestest place in the world – he fair screeches into it and hangs there with a big daft grin and shiny eyes, ah bless him.
Maisie made lots of new best mates as usual and had a 5-minute play at the end of the class and the jumps were still at medium which she absolutely loved flying round! Really must Do Something about her contacts though … our winter project.
The venue is in a super location and straight onto a bridlepath, so took the whole gang for a crazy romp afterwards – good fun.
Now we’re all knackered and tucked up at home with a roaring fire, hiding from witches and ghouls. Wooooooo.

‘Control Unleashed’

Just read this book (by Leslie McDevitt, Clean Run Productions). Thanks for the recommendation fellow bloggers :o) (and Jan for the loan.) I thought the book contained some very interesting ideas that are quite different to a lot of conventional dog training wisdom.
The most important idea I think is that behind the “Look At That ... (Dog/Person/Whatever)” game, in which the dog is positively reinforced for glancing at something that scares/stresses/distracts him, but when he then looks quickly back to his handler he is rewarded and builds a positive association. The exposure is managed so that the dog notices the thing but doesn't go bonkers (ie. he's exposed 'below threshold'.) I was pleased to read the theory behind this idea as it’s something I’ve already been kind of using without fully thinking about how/why it works. e.g. at a show during the summer Maisie was really frightened by a low-flying noisy ’plane. After this, even around home, she became totally over-anxious about any plane, even though she’d been fine before with ones going over at a ‘normal’ height. She was even uneasy about birds overhead, and other engine noises that hadn’t bothered her before. I’m always worried by Maisie getting anxious about things out on walks as she has a tendency to bolt when she freaks, and that is worrying. So instead of using the usual casual ignoring approach to things dogs are scared of, I decided to actively try make planes a positive thing, and as soon as we heard one approaching and she looked up and looked to me, I told her what fun it was and gave her a treat. If the plane was too low/loud Maisie went into shutdown (‘over threshold’) and in this case I just kept her safe and then rewarded when she started to relax again. To cut the story short, when she hears a plane at all now she comes straight to me into ‘heel’ looking for her treat, so she is a) safe and b) happy. This even worked with quite a low helicopter the other day. Not sure we’re quite ready for low-flying tornados yet but she is able to cope with the things we come across daily in her normal environment. Would love to use this approach for the firework thing for Maisie and Billy, but the trouble is that when they happen they are so waaaay over threshold – though may try working on it again for next year with a scarey sound CD, etc.
Another way I’ve used the theory without realising(!) is handling the dogs around livestock – “Ooo look at those nice sheep”, come here, treat, no problem. I think it’s quite good that I can walk three herdy type dogs through fields/moors within feet of sheep, and feel totally sure none of them will do any more than glance at them and stay close to me.

I guess different people will get different things from the book – a lot of it seems geared towards dogs that are ‘reactive’ in an aggressive (usually really nervous-defensive) way, especially to other dogs, but the same principles apply to dogs that over-react to stimuli/shut down in other ways – sniffing, running away, barking, etc. and the whole idea is that the dogs are taught to relax and manage their own response to their trigger stimuli by a combination of the handler helping them to make positive (rewarding) associations with their stimuli, relax e.g. using T-Touch/massage, and using gradual desensitisation exercises.

The author describes some dogs as being “hair trigger dogs” and this describes my Billy boy perfectly!!! He’s very easily over-stimulated by a number of triggers and quickly goes over his low threshold into manic barking and total loss of focus/self-control. In Maisie’s case she either goes into shut-down/panic or displacement activities like sniffing; and Tim – though generally very well-balanced, if over-faced can go into wandering off and sniffing or clinging to other people/dogs, though he’s got much better very quickly. Another of the ideas in the book works well for him – using short bursts of intense play and then releasing him for a break and ignoring him – the idea is that you release the dog before he’s had enough so he wants your attention, and you reward him for himself choosing to turn back to you even though he’s been released – working up to the dog wanting continuous interaction e.g. through a training session.

So this has turned into a jumbled essay!.. Just good to 'talk' through the ideas. There’s lots more to think about, digest and try to apply too. In fact it is a very thought-provoking read, and because it's all about helping dogs to be happier, more confident dogs it's all good.

Humping

Tim decided to push his luck and tried to hump Maisie. Maisie was not very pleased about this, nor was Billy. Tim now realises the error of his ways. Sometimes it can be tough being a cheeky youth. (No damage was inflicted in the teaching of this lesson.)

NAWS October

Winter may be grim in many ways but at least we have a fab Winter Series of shows to cheer us up. Maisie enjoyed playing last year and now she's joined by Tim! The pre-comp class is just perfect for youngsters - proper competition and atmosphere but courses without weaves and seesaw, and you can carry a toy. I looked at the jumping course and thought it was going to be a non-starter for Tim as the first bit was a straight line of four jumps into another line across the top of the arena. I thought he'd run out after the second jump but actually he amazed me when I recalled him from near the second jump and he did make it to the top of the first line and the jump after the turn before going slightly off-course - no doubt my fault, lol! The rest of the course was a little hit-and miss. but just kept him moving on and he finished thinking he'd won!!

Maisie's jumping was similar, not particularly a Maisie course but she was up for it and went clear and as fast as she could so we didn't do her second run, to save her legs for the agility. Well, in the agility she was ace!!! Ran clear with a good time for her on the first run and then on the second we both just legged it and had a great laugh! She got her contacts more by luck than judgement, but unfortunately just rolled a pole towards the finish - really good time though, not far off the winners, and anyway she got 4th :o) from her first run, albeit 4 secs slower. There are plenty of things I'd like to keep working on improving with Maisie but have to note that one thing she is fab at is the seesaw - loves it and does it very efficiently with no hesitation. I'm not sure why this speedy dog turned up in Maisie's fluffy clothes yesterday but do know the cooler weather suits her much better. She's a star.
& then Tim's agility ... blimey, he was fab!! He spotted the tunnel from a couple of jumps away and really drove towards it. There was a right turn to the dogwalk and he ran past it, but there were other nice bits and the only part that really tripped us up was a long straight run to the finish. Second run was great!! I was quite gobsmacked to realise he was going clear up till the last turn for home - I knew he wouldn't send all the way down there again so I massively cut the corner to try to get ahead but pulled him past the jump before the turn - only just though and it was good to test how far away he's working already. Anyway I stopped him and set him up for the last line and he finished on just 5R which I was delighted with, what a clever baby! I think it'll be a fair while before the clear rounds start to happen, but such a pleasing start - if nothing else I can now stop worrying he's going to bog off and mug the judge/ring party/queue as he was very focused and in his element. He gave plenty of snogs and muddy hugs out of the ring though, bless him.
Helen and big Skip had a superb day - first in the jumping and second in the agility. Their winning jumping run especially was just brilliant and a total joy to watch them both being so confident.

Ups and Downs

Blogging is cool, innit! I’ve made loads of attempts to keep some sort of diary over the years and always got too lazy to bother carrying on. But I find it easy to keep up with a blog – dunno why but it must be because it’s kind of in the public domain? Anyone else found similar? Maybe it's just because it's good to share, though I guess the main function of your own blog is quite selfish – to have something that records (in this case dogs’) events, achievements, changes, goals, etc. to look back over time and remember and smile or cry and maybe learn from? One thing I’ve noticed is that I tend to record the positive things more – not sure whether that’s necessarily bad, and I do try to be a glass-half-full kinda gal.
Anyway just thought I'd do a grumpy blog for a change and note that: after that brill training session on Monday, we were totally cr*p at training last night!! And the kitchen sink drain has gone stinky again. And I've lost Billy's favourite lead. Boo hoo.

Training Tim

Had a BRILLIANT training session last night with Dawn Long who had come to teach us for the evening. She started off by saying that the main ‘rule’ was that the dog is never wrong, it’s always us, and we shouldn’t ever use a negative tone or words like ‘No’, but rather just tell them how wonderful they are when things go as we want, and, if they don’t then to ask them to try again, but in a positive way. I loved this approach and so did Tim.
Some bits stood out:
Startline wait – setting up the dog and walking down a line a jumps but not always releasing towards you but instead sometimes to a toy thrown behind, so the wait itself becomes a fun and dynamic thing, anticipating a reward – whether that be the forward release or back to the toy.
We also worked up to some exercises which were challenging for the stage we’re at, by breaking them down into sections and rewarding, so e.g. first sending on down a straight line and throwing the toy to the end, then adding in a 180-turn into a tunnel and throwing the toy after the tunnel, then adding on the next bit, etc. Tim really responded to this as he picks things up so quickly and he was desperate to try to get each next bit right. & when we (I!) didn’t get it quite right we just had to carry on and work through it and reward him for trying. He believed he was a superstar! Some things we achieved included working diagonally across a grid from one side, then sending on and away with the opposite arm, to a thrown toy, and then repeating but this time sending on further to the next obstacle. And Tim does now seem to be really picking up his lefts and rights, and he’s sending on ahead at speed but still picking up directions from right behind – gosh, I can’t believe how well he’s doing :o) Another bit I was amazed at was setting him up in a wait and me moving out several yards sideways and releasing him forwards over a jump to a tunnel. I couldn’t believe his confidence in driving forward and out.
Another point that was made was that when waiting for our turn we should constantly be interacting with the dog so that they become totally fixated on us and that attention is there when we ask them to work. This seems obvious in a way but it is easy to slip into sitting having a chat with your mates, rather than keeping on chatting and having a laugh with the most important ‘person’ there – the dog.
And I’m feeling a little less overwhelmed by Tim’s natural drive and starting to just enjoy the thrill as much as he does. Don’t know what I did to deserve such an ace little dog but feel very lucky to have him to play with – so completely different to Maisie as an agility partner, but equally perfect.
I hope everyone else got as much out of the session as we did – guess so as there were smiley faces and lots of tired doggies at the end. Bloomin’ suffering with my neck today but never mind.
And club training is tomorrow already, yippee!! OK, I’ll stop gushing now.

Not So Delinquent

Delinquent Dogz today. Sunny day and nice company, including Helen's new baby Belle with the big long legs - what a sweetheart she is.
Maisie ran a nice clear in the agility and did well in her other runs to say I was pretty crippled with a bad neck - eased a little by a massage which was lovely but left the world seeming rather surreal!! She's obviously more relaxed than at big shows as she tackled the A-scale with much less worry and hesitation.
& Tim had a little run in the baby class - we're sooo not ready for public appearances yet but hoped it would be a positive bit of training, and it was! The boy is so confident in himself and wasn't fazed in the slightest by being in a different environment. He did his startline wait, his contacts were rock-solid perfect and he did some really good bits of jumping. I reckon it was the worst sort of course for a speedy inexperienced baby - big straight lines, but actually he did really well and sent on beautifully in bits. & when it started to go a little pear-shaped I just looped him round and made up a bit of course that we could succeed at, and so kept it really positive and happy. And the thing that I was concerned about didn't happen - he really kept his focus on me (apart from a very minor bum waggle at the judge) and didn't bog of to say HELLOOOOO, I LOVE YOU!!! to anyone at all. What a super-good puppy!!! :o) So now I'm slightly less nervous about his first 'official' outing at NAWS next week ...
& Billy spent a lot of time looking handsome and bumming treats.

Artwork by Tim

Lakeland Adventure

The dark hours yesterday morning saw us setting off to Wigton. I was a bit dazed and confused at getting up so early and made a coffee for the journey and promptly poured it into the sink ... We chased a zillion cat's eyes along the foggy Dales road and then up the M6 where this eery light started to appear in the sky - turned out it was the sun coming up.

The show itself was good, the courses were great and the atmosphere really nice. Maisie got a 7th in the agility over a pretty tricky course - I was a little surprised how many clears there were in grade 1 - the standard was good. We flunked out in the other two classes but never mind :o)

Finished early and so made an impromptu detour on the way home - to Ullswater which I think is possibly the most stunning of The Lakes. We ended up having a brill walk, and stopped for a bit on the lakeshore, where strange things happened ...

At first it was pretty normal - Maisie going splooshing and the boys dithering at the water's edge:

But then something strange happened. I threw the ball in for Maisie, but it went a little beyond her deep-paddling comfort zone and so it stayed there bobbing on the surface. Billy started getting a bit hysterical coz the bally was lost, then all of a sudden he waded right in and threw himself into a swim!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it - would've been less surpised if Maisie had signed a pledge of cleanliness, or Tim sat down and done a crossword puzzle.

Sadly for Billy, the tidal waves generated by his powerful paddling sent the ball bobbing further away from shore and he never actually retrieved it, but he went back in a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed himself!!! A water baby is launched?!

Umm, Billy, you look kinda different since you went in the water:

Hey Tim, look, Billy's gone all ... small ... and white??!?!

Duh, that's strange Maisie, but I'm a little worried - look, I got my freaky feet wet:
Heeheehee:

& then a spaceboat appeared and took away the alien swimming Billydog:

Posing and scenery:
& later, back home, Maisie having sweet dreams with her pink princess rosette:

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Pals

Maisie & Tim really do enjoy each other's company.

Playthings:

Drying off after a soggy walk: Awwww:
& Billy - being himself :0)

(& he's still Maisie's main man really but schhh don't tell Tim - there's enough lovin' to go round)

xxx

v.e.t. ...

Billy & Maisie’s vaccinations and ‘MOT’ today. Both have been lucky and not been to see the vet for ages so it was good to have them checked out and we needed to go anyway to get armed up with anti-scarey stuff for the firework season. Both were declared fine in every way and Billy’s heart still great, yay! I know he’s fine and he’s kept fit and we manage it well, but it’s always there as a background worry. Other vaccinations went in easily but then it was time for the dreaded kennel cough vaccine up their nostrils. Well, Billy loves going to see the vet and revels in every bit of tending and fuss, but he HATES this bit with an absolute passion and it’s not nice. And poor Maisie’s even more disturbed by it. We managed it in the end but I was left wondering whether it’s really worth the trauma … & I don’t say that lightly because Billy’s heart thing was probably started by a bad dose of KC – it can be very serious indeed. If it wasn’t for us getting around so much and mixing with so many dogs at shows, etc. I would opt to not have it, almost definitely. Didn’t think of this till afterwards but I wonder if we can use their firework anxiety meds in future to get them through it, as it’s got worse for both each time as they know what’s coming. :o(
Another thing we talked about was Lungworm – a growing problem in the UK. Advice ‘on the street’ is to use Panacur granules alternating with your normal wormer. Well, apparently you would have to give them this every day for several days for it to kill off the lungworms. The only really effective treatment is Advocate spot-on. Trouble with this is that it’s noted that collies/crosses can have serious adverse reactions. Tests suggest though that they would have to eat about 4 times the recommended dose for it to have a serious effect. Seems it really is quite safe. However she is going to double-check the recommended dose for them – I was particularly concerned about the Tim-thing as Welsh Sheepdogs have a common ancestor with Rough Collies and they are particularly noted as susceptible - due to a gene thing - will stop there before getting boringly scientific ... Billy & Maisie have had it before anyway and been fine. She recommended using it every month – especially in the spring/summer when there are more slugs & snails which carry it. Oh joy, another regular expense! & also to keep using a round/tapeworm one (Drontal) approx quarterly too.
& Tim had some antibiotics and we got some other bits and bats and I got a big fat bill. Will have to send them out with begging bowls and sad eyes soon. Good job they’re worth it.

Squeaky Mice

Yes, Mice - plural.

The first one is in the loft and is tapdancing on the rafters and squeaking in the wee small hours. Traps have been laid before the rest of the family moves in ... :o(

And the other one is Miss Maisie Mouse. I just got thinking today about how yappy she is! (OK, so it's yappy, not squeaky, but it is a very squeaky sort of yap.) Anyway, she does this yapping whenever Something Is Going To Happen. e.g. I'm going to open the door to let them into the garden; or going to take them out for a walk - this is accompanied by hysterical bouncing; going to make their dinner; being let off lead - and this is usually yapping at and chewing the boys' ears. But the strangest excited yapping of all comes at bedtime: I get up and turn the downstairs lights off, etc. and she leaps up, usually from a deep sleep, and bounces around yapping, apparently overcome with utter joy, then she gallops full-pelt upstairs and - here's the strange bit - is usually in bed upstairs, totally chilled, almost asleep again in the few seconds it takes me to go up the stairs!!
I know I should probably train this away - not do anything till she doesn't yap and is calm, but life's too short, it really is quite cute to see her so highly delighted at such small things, doesn't last long, and is not nattering in advance but only reactive to when I decide Something Is Going To Happen, and thankfully the boys are both very stoical about it and don't join in or share any of her hysteria - they're just happy at a more "normal" level.

Lune

Well, no green dog but a sludgey coloured one instead ...

& she smelt far worse than she looked!!
But she was forgiven coz she went on to take 7th in the Agility (goodness knows how - it was an awful run and on 5F!!) and a nicer run in the jumping to take 8th - that was more pleasing as it was quite a big, open, un-Maisie course and she actually beat several dogs on time - often we are, or nearly, the slowest clear round. And the day had started really badly when she was freaked by the arena - I'd forgotten how noisy and frantic it was in there too - and then before her first run she was nobbled by another dog, no harm done thankfully though. We had a longish break before the last class of the day and I hadn't really intended running that one - no point overfacing her and she hadn't seemed 100% herself earlier somehow, but I walked the course and it was a straightforward one I thought she might enjoy so decided to give it a go. I planned and expected to pull her out if she didn't seem up for it over the first couple of jumps, and even warned the lady behind us in the queue to get ready to be on the line early, but Maisie really took off and thoroughly enjoyed the run!! She took me by surprise but I decided to just leg it with her, resulting in a couple of poles down and I barrelled her into the weaves in a way that doesn't work so she missed the entry LOL! Really good fun run though :o)
Then the highlight of the day came in Helen running big Jock in the anysize class. We managed to get him to the arena nice and calmly and off he went ........ brilliant!!!...... He worked so well and almost ran clear, but for just adding an extra jump to the course. & he was happy and relaxed, no suggestion of charging off and woofing at anyone. What a good lad!!
Again I wondered why those shows at Myerscough are so good - the arena is noisy and can get crowded, the tannoy is beyond crap, the exercise field not great, the location nothing to write home about, but they're always really good shows?! And another strange thing - I saw several people there I've not seen since there last year - where do they all go for the summer?..

Camouflage

When it's dark Billy disappears apart from the whites of his eyes and teeth. When it's snowy Maisie disappears. Now it's Tim's turn in the autumn leaves! Think I might be adopted by a green dog next so I can have that frission of lost dog panic walking over the green fields too. ;o)

I'm addicted to avocados.

Lune Valley tomorrow at Myerscough, yippee!!!...

Have lit the fire for the first time of the 'winter' today - brrrr.

Dog Vegas at Bakewell

Hot chocolate with cream and sprinkles, yummy coffee cake, hot air balloons, 6th in Agility, cold nights and perfect days, huge fish in the river, scenery on tap. Another good 'un!

Here's a nice balloon:

Wibble

This weekend was agility at Ribble - nice indoor venue and the closest show to home we've ever been to - only 48 minutes away! (I'm not a journey time nerd, just happened to notice we set off bang on 7am ... ) I love having an excuse to go that way as it's a nice drive over t'Tops. On the way there there was mist in the dips:

.............................. .. Near Wycoller

The show itself was good - small and friendly and the venue in a nice spot. But it was our first indoor show for ages and Maisie was not her usual self, spooked by the environment, and I clumsily misjudged a couple of bits with the courses being more squished together (really they should suit us better) so in both graded classes we got big fat E's!!! Oooops. She also went back a step in confidence over the contacts - getting "stuck" on top of the A-scale both times. She was quite zoomy overall though, and I learnt something when she popped out of the weaves and I put her back through, more relaxed as we were out of the running, and she sped up and did all 12 nicely and happily ... Managed a scrappy clear in the last class but it was 1-3 combined so no place (though not far off one, as it happened - maybe everyone else was having a bad day too?!) So it was a bit of a wibble in the season, but never mind coz it was fun :0)

........................Maisie and her entourage on the exercise field

.......The Boyz!! That Tim thing is turning into a right little beefcake ;o)

Then it was pretty again on the way home. (Pics near Stanbury)

Winning but not winning

Weekend before last we flyballed at Sutton Fields (Cheshire). Same team as the week before but we didn't have our height dog so had to run over full height jumps. So did we do well? Well, we didn't have much hope as our seed time was set with the height dog and we also lost the lovely Flynny as he doesn't do full height. Also, Billy has nearly always run with a height dog before, and when he hasn't he has run out - not that he's physically incapable of full height, and he does it fine in training, but at comps he sussed that he doesn't need to slow hinself down on his way to his precious bally by going over those big jumps, and the box loader is not allowed to nick it out anyway, so has run out up the side instead. He would go back down over the jumps though when the bally was safely in his gob, LOL! Soooo we didn't actually expect to get our four dogs up and down ... but we did!!! Billy never missed a beat all day and he ran so well, as did the rest of the team. However we didn't get into the rosettes :o( Why? Well, even with all the dogs running thier socks off, working well as a team, we were simply up against teams who were physically faster!!.. We did happen to be bottom seed in our division anyway, but this was also based on our faster times set with the height dog, so unless the other teams went into meltdown we just couldn't win. Hmmm, strange sport sometimes! In these circumstances there's kind of nothing to aim for - we couldn't have done any better. So we just had a nice day out with our dogs. Felt a bit flat though.
(Thanks to Iain for the pics)

..............................................What a good boy!

...................................Maisie just goes for the paddling :o)

Go Grasshoppers!

We should've been at High Peak show today but the weather cancelled it as the showground was flooded. Disappointing for us but must be even more so for the organisers who put so much effort into these things. Damn British weather! Actually I think we've been pretty lucky so far this year.

Yesterday Billy was flyballing anyway - at a nice venue (Norfolk Park) in Sheffield. Our team - Greeny Grasshoppers: Dancer, Flynny, Dylan, Billy Woof and Jess, ran really well together and we won our division!! First time we've had a 'first' - a few 'seconds' before but this time we did it :o) & we even got individual trophies as well as rosettes - presented in memory of a dog called Mist - don't know who Mist was but will find out, and I thought sponsoring the trophies was such a nice way to pay tribute to a departed doggy. The park was super and we had some fun walks through the day too.

-

At home last night some fireworks were going off in the distance. Billy and Maisie went straight into panic mode, but then something ace happened. Tim went to the door and woofed at the noise and then came back and started some distraction therapy. He chewed Maisie's ankles and prodded her till she gave in and actually played with him and forgot about the noise! & Billy was distracted too as he had to busy himself grumbling at the pups for playing (bless him) and everyone calmed down very quickly. I'm not sure whether this will work when the real firework season comes at full volume but I'm really hopeful that Tim might be a brave and calming influence?? He's also woofed at thunder. Very strange that a boy with such bat ears should be less noise phobic than the others ;o)

Viva Dog Vegas!

Tried to take a pic of Maisie with her pretty rosettes but she shoved her bum into the frame, leaving Tim to blunder in and pose winningly instead :o)

What a great weekend! Maisie had some really nice runs at Dog Vegas (Winterton) and brought home a lovely haul of rosettes - 3rd, 4th, 9th & 2 other clears - she's ever such a clever Mouse! We had a really nice variety of courses, some big gallopy round ones, and the more twisty-turny ones that Maisie does well on results-wise. Her weaves were sooo much better - think she did 12 correctly three times, not always very speedily but more focused than she was and I tried to give her a bit more space and trust she'd do them without me bugging her too much. And then once she popped out at number 11 but that was just because the judge happened to step towards her at that moment and she had a bit of a wibble. Contacts seem better than they were but still not great. I couldn't quite bring myself to just run her down them "sod it" style, but she didn't dither as much as she was doing and seems to be gradually gaining confidence. In one round (the one where she got 3rd) she really thundered up and across the dogwalk like a good 'un! She also got so speedy she surprised me into rear crosses twice!! And I surprised myself with an unplanned bionic sprint round the top end of a flat tunnel - thanks Brenda for planting the daft idea ;o)

It was super watching the Finals in the evenings - very exciting, especially watching our clever clubmates - Go White Rose! Also there was a divine Welsh Sheepdog called Cai who it was great to watch and later meet.

On Sunday Billy had his turn and flyballed at Drax. Had to leave early so don't actually know yet what place our team got but anyway he ran well and enthusiastically as ever. We had a new Starter team with us too and they did ever so well.

Tim had a nice time socialising and being fussed by humans and humped by male dogs - must get him a less pink lead?! ;o) He was sooo cute with one little dog we met - a tiny 15-year old Papillion, not in the best of health. I thought he might be too big and rough but the Pap's mum said she'd be fine and could stand up for herself, so I carefully let him meet her and he laid himself down flat with his chin on a paw, and then just nosed her very gently and she snuggled up to him. I wish I'd had a camera. So maybe he's not a complete oaf after all!

& elsewhere ... at 'Northern Week' Helen and Skip got that second, closely followed by a third, Jumping win, so it's bye-bye from grade one to them. Big congratulations you two, now go get grade two!!!!!

West Lakes

What a spiffing weekend! The West Lakes venue (at Haverigg) is just superb - right on the edge of the dunes/beach and backed by stunning mountaineous scenery.

The weather was warm and sunny on Saturday and we drank Pimm's and sat on the grass and ring partying was a pleasure. Maisie did two runs and got 2 places! 15th in gr1 Jumping and 11th in gr1 Agility. The agility course was nice and involved some twiddly bits. Had it not being for Maisie trying to break the land un-speed record for the slowest weaves ever (I'm not complaining too much - at least she did 12!!) we might've even had a higher place.

Saturday evening involved a lovely walk on the beach with Jules and the girlies, and then unwinding over the show quiz with brandy and Bailey's - well, you have to keep warm when camping :o) Through the night the rain started and never really stopped all day on Sunday - and it was that particularly WET type of rain. Luckily Maisie is not fazed in the slightest by rain and she ran better for it being a bit cooler, and she got 7th in the Jumping!! It was such a Maisie-course - packed full of potential for front crosses, so I probably covered twice the distance she did LOL, she likes to make me run. It's really fun doing more "handling" courses with her when the weather's cooler and she's motivated. Loved it!
We hung around and squelched some more and then ran the Agility in the afternoon - well, Maisie was really giddy!! That is so unusual for the last run of the weekend and, though we made a hash of the course, it was great!
Both of the boys were less than chuffed at the weather. Even Tim's enthusiasm was dampened, and in the afternoon I got Billy out of the car and he just stood there, head down, a picture of abject misery, and he would not budge. I carried him to the long grass for a wee and then he stomped huffily straight back to the car and was going nowhere else, thank you very much.
The we came home and got dry and everyone had their fave things for dinner :o)
What a lovely show, can't wait till next year ...