Waldridge Fell - Maisie Mouse wins!!!

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! Amazing Maisie Mouse only went and did it!!!!!! Not only winning one agility class, but also 3rd and 4th in others (as well as best rescue in the charity fun day on Friday :o) ) She was ace!!! It was such a hot and sunny weekend but she actually coped pretty well with the heat, with careful management. Can't believe she won out on a "fast" course, beating the second dog by over 2 seconds, gosh! I tried out blind-crossing after her contacts and it worked a treat!!! Really speeded her up. She worked her weaves and seesaw beautifully and got a right fluffy wiggle on along the straight jumping stretches. Still can't quite believe it though!! And how awful is this: I missed the presentation!! Heard the announcement they were starting and did think we might've got into the lower places (in itself fairly rare on a fast course) but as helping with a course change I couldn't get there in time. They went further up the places then and I half stopped listening, then got such a shock!!!!!!!!!!! Sprinted down to the sec's tent and it was really true!! The judge (Ann Jones) must be our lucky judge as it was on one of her courses Maisie got  the last few points she needed for her AW(B) earlier in the year :o)
So it's an unexpected bye-bye to grade 1! Delighted and very proud of the win but slightly mixed feelings about actually moving up a grade as I'm not sure how often Maisie will make the placings in grade 2 ...
Doesn't make much difference to Tim - he's fast enough for whatever grade if/when it all comes together. He had a less than brill w/e but with the promise he showed last weekend I'm not that worried, he's still going to be fab too.
Actually I'm just utterly chuffed for Maisie, whatever the future brings. If Tim reaches half of his potential he will go further up the grades, so it's perfect that Maisie got to make this move on her very own merit. She totally deserves it and I love her soooo much! xxxxxx

Dog Vegas (Winterton)

We've been to quite a few DV shows and they're always nice but this weekend turned out to be a really super one. The weather was perfect - sunny but just the right temperature, and everyone seemed relaxed and happy :o)
Maisie did some super runs and she is loving her agility at the moment. On Saturday she got 16th in the First Contact 1&2, earning yet another one of those cool rosettes with a spaceship on! Then on Sunday she came 3rd!!!! in a 1-4 graded agility. We had some brill courses all weekend, really enjoyed every one. Her other run on Sunday was round a big galloping course - though still with handling bits. I always walk courses like that and think it looks a long way round for a little fluffy one, but actually she loves them when she's in the mood to fly. We were a bit unlucky there as there was obviously a sniff of some sort in the tunnel and she stopped to investigate then reversed back out, lol! Even on 5R she was 6th, though rosettes only to 5th, but no matter, the fluffy one was sooooo fab.
Oh Tim! Well I ran him with the modest aims of him staying in the ring and, hopefully, going over more jumps than under! His first run was OK - stayed with me though did run under loads of jumps - he did though do 12 super weaves and fast, solid contacts. I was then really undecided whether to do any of his other runs as I don't want to spoil the good bits by re-inforcing the idea that he can run under jumps in the ring. Anyway, decided to try one more run and this time he was much better, and then he got better with each succesive run, to the point when he was only ducking under the odd jump here & there, result! Apart from one 1-2 all the rest of the classes were 1-4 graded and so we faced some fairly challenging handling sections and he responded well to those. In fact he jumps much better on the trickier handling bits and he really listened and worked well - when it goes right it feels amazing! A non-straight-line start really helps to grab his focus. I was super pleased to be able to cross sharply behind him in his weaves, and run past his contacts, and he did some lovely confident send-ons to do bits of the course on his own. Really, really encouraging bits, and I'm now pretty sure it is the right thing to keep taking him into classes - the ducking under seems to be largely a confidence thing, apart from odd times when inexperience means he just doesn't quite get his stride right when spacing is tight - but he tries so hard and is realising what an amazing game it all is!! Clear rounds (or even not getting E'd) are a distant dream yet but we're defo making progress. Of course he had to have a clown moment - was a bit unsure of the Scottish judge and had to go and check what Scots keep up their kilts, teehee :o)
And Jules and Jette had some really fab runs and a lovely time. Sara & Tilly qualified in 5th for the FC final! Helen & Skip survived their move into grade 3 and I'm sure are going to do really very well there. Tim's ginger 'big bro' Bailey ran sooo well too :) And up at Hare & Hounds, Wendy and Kyle won into grade 6!!
And next weekend we're off to the seaside, yay!!!!

Fire

Saturday 11th May 1985, twenty-five years ago today, at Valley Parade, Bradford City were presented with the Division Three Champions' Trophy before kick-off of the last match of the season v Lincoln City. It should have formed one of those golden sporting memories. Just before half-time though, celebration turned to disaster when raging fire took hold of the Main Stand. Hundreds were physically injured, thousands traumatised, and fifty-six people never made it home. We'll always remember the victims and their loved ones and the lessons learnt.

Training day

Went on a training day today with Tim today and he was megasuperfabby!!!!! As the weather was so nice we did half of the session outside and half indoors, and that was fun. Tim worked so well - he was really quite focused and mature (for him!) The bits of jumping work we've done alone seems to be paying off as he jumped really well and confidently over mixed heights. His distance work is coming on a treat and whilst powering on over what's in front of him, he's really listening and responding to directional changes too. He even managed, at second attempt, a pull off a tunnel which was very close ahead - really good for such a tunnel-crazy beast! He also cleverly got a weave entry which I'd set him up quite badly for. He did some nice stuff wrapping in round wings over a jump - should probably practice this more so that I can send him to wrap round himself from further away. We still struggle a little with the pushing out part of a flick-flack - I need to keep thinking about my positioning, but he seems to be picking it up the concept better. He turns away from more straight behind really confidently - definately got eyes in back of his head. His seesaw's great and he's got back his 2o2o on the A-frame which was slipping a bit, even when he doesn't quite manage to stop his front end in time he's hanging on there with his back tippy-toes and grinning with his beautiful big brown eyes shining!
And now he's knackered and snoring like a fat bloke :o)

Goat and Slugs

There is a large, hairy, unusual breed of goat marauding around the neighbourhood.
This morning I went into the kitchen to find that four huge slugs had spontaneouly generated themselves in the sink - YUKKKKK. (A political omen?)
We have a Hung Parliament.

So here's a pretty picture. Work that camera, baby :)

Birds

I'm not a twitcher at all but there's loads of bird activity at the moment. Just seen a sparrowhawk!!! in the garden behind the house. We also have robins nesting somewhere, amd bluetits. And there's an owl twit-twoo-ing away on a night - probably in the barn opposite (maybe a barn owl then?!) No sign of the swallows yet but they should be back soon ...

Billy Woof's day in the sun ...

... with sleety haily stuff, yuk! Though it was a little cool for human comfort it was perfect for the boy. We ran at Drax in the Multibreed tournament, along with Charlie Brown, Dylan and Shadow. Really enjoyable day and not even too much hanging around! And we WON our Division!!! Billy Woof was an absolute superstar. He ran last dog and, as usual, consistently ran his socks off, never putting a paw wrong or giving less than 110%. It was close racing all day and several times he set off neck & neck with the other team's last dog, and he brought it home every single time!
So lovely for him to have his chance to shine. He's a wonderful and happy agility groupie, but flyball is so his grand passion and his commitment is something to behold.
The others had a nice day out too, of course. At one point Tim was playing with a pack of at least ten dogs, and his behaviour was so lovely, though it was hard work herding them all at once! haha. He'd only been with us for a few weeks when we went to that tournament last year and then, though he wasn't awful, his manners and boundaries left a lot to be desired, so it was a good reminder of how far he's come. Oh & it was there that Maisie broke my nose last year and happily that wasn't repeated.
Happy days. 

Weeeeeavies!

I'm determined that Tim is going to have superb independent weaves! I've made some stick-in poles and keep taking them out on walks with us! Just had a brilliant 5 minutes playing with them on the park. He's super at finding his entries from all different angles - I think starting with the channels was really good for that. He's also sending in from waaaay behind and at speed - always gets the entry, sometimes pops back out, but mostly succeeds. In fact, I can stay so far behind or wide of him I think I'll take a "wanger" next time as it's too far to throw his ball ahead by hand to reward! He's doing both sides well, is good with me crossing behind, or being ahead. The thing we need to work on some more is me running fast past him whilst he's in the weaves - he tends to then rush and pop out early - only when I'm close to him though, so he's doing pretty well :o) I think he's a bit more speed to give yet too though he is getting quite swift already.
Billy's flyballing at Drax tomorrow. Nice cool, dry-ish day forecast, should be a good day ...