Different Achievements

(pic taken at Barrow by Laura Sivell)

Saturday we were at Delinquent Dogz. I've decided we need a radical change to speed Maisie over those pesky contacts so have decided to forget about whether she actually hits the down contact for now and just race her over them and make it huuuuge fun. So I did and she did and it was!!! It means effectively throwing runs for now but so be it. She does seem to mostly hit the down of the A-frame in her stride pattern anyway though she tends to bound over it on the dogwalk. We'll worry about how to put it back together in a bit :o) It was so super to see her barely dithering at all on the A-frame even thought the judge was close by and she galloped on laughing her head off as I ran on making silly noises.

On Sunday we went to a lovely fun dog show at Ogden. It raised loads of money for the Dog's Trust - good stuff. All three of the hairy gang got some very good placings. The judge said young Tim has superb structure, movement and temperament, and he even knew what a Welsh Sheepdog was :o) He even beat some proper posh pedigree doggies (from a Skye Terrier to an Italian Spinone) to come second in the 'breed' class, bless him! And to my amazement he went on to take Best In Show!!!! So in one afternoon he got his first ever rosette and then some more then probably the biggest meringue-iest rosette he'll ever earn in his life, plus a smashing big trophy to keep! Might be a wee while before he gets any for agility ...

Here he is looking all posh and proud:

& here he is looking more like Tim :o) & coz they're proper gorgeous too:

Billy won the Obedience - hahahahaha! I shouldn't laugh, he is such a Good Boy.

A Billy Woof Drama

“THERE WAS A SPIDER IN MY BED!!!”
“But Billy, that was almost a week ago now, sweetheart”
“DON’T CARE, IT MIGHT STILL BE THERE, I AM NOT GETTING IN THAT BED!!!”
“OK Billy, you just lay down on the rug there then.”
“OH NOOOO, I SAW IT AGAIN, IT MOVED!!!!!!! I HAVE TO GET ON THE SOFA OUT OF THE WAY, IT’S DDDDANGEROUS!!!”
*Billy reclines on sofa, Tim spots an opportunity and snuggles into Billy’s bed*
“WOOFWOOFWOOF, GRRRR, GERROUT OF MY BED TIM, HOW DARE YOU!!!”
*I give up … *
:o)

Weardale

Last Friday the weather was horrific! Never stopped raining heavily for a second all day. The Weardale show organisers bravely went ahead with the weekend though and, despite the minor flooding in the gateway to the camping field, the show was great!!
Maisie went through the 75 KC points mark which means we could go up to grade 2 on points, though not doing, so it doesn't actually mean anything really but it was a nice milestone to aim for and reach.
She ran really well, probably because the weather was a bit cooler than of late, and she got an 8th in the agility on Saturday.
The venue was lovely - really scenic. I believe there would've been a nice walk along the riverbank, had it not been in high flood ... maybe next time! There were Champ classes on the Sunday - just awesome to watch, wow!!! & Helen brought her yummy birthday cheesecake which we ate till we felt sick :o)

Soggy weather

Last weekend we were at Wirral. The venue was lovely - a country park with woodland walks. Maisie managed two clears, but her best moment - inventing the plastic chair jump - earned her a "judge's special" rosette. Teehee!

Today the boys properly played together for the first time!! They had a mad old chase around in the long wet grass. Billy is very tolerant but he doesn't actively give his friendship very easily, so Tim must now be firmly accepted. Billy had flyball training tonight and he loved it but unfortunately we were rained off halfway through. Hope the rain backs off for the weekend ...

Tim had another good session at training last night - we sort of managed a flick-flack and a star and some other little sequences and he went over the dogwalk for the first time and he was even anticipating his check on the down contact, good ginger thing! He is sooo different to handle to Maisie - feels not so much like a different breed as a different species. Help!!!

Barrow

The carefully made plans of this weekend went wonky when the car broke down in a major way meaning poor Billy missed his flyball on Sunday :o(

Maisie had her agility at Barrow though and was mostly a good girly as usual. She did what felt like a nice fast agility run for her though it was an unplaced clear, then later got a 12th place on what was a much slower run with a long pause for admiring the scenery from the top of the A-frame. Hey ho! Mostly good I say because she was really out for the laughs - flinging herself down for a mad roll on the grass in the middle of one run, having a footspa on the startline in another, and then - well, err, this one was my fault - mis-timing a front cross and flapping my hand into a wing knocking it over, doh! She's doing really well though and I think we're becoming a more confident, if sometimes chaotic, partnership :o)

Really nice time overall and some fab performances from Sara and Tilly - 3rd in grade 1 jumping!! & another good place in a 1-3 class, and Helen & Lucy had some brilliant bits including one fantastic sooooo nearly clear, till the last pole came down - arrrrg!