Maisie arrives in grade 2 ...

... at Lune with a load of E's!!! heehee. But today she pulled one off on an Agility run and got a 4th!! So maybe G2 isn't such a bad place after all :o) She also did her only Jumping run of the w/e today and did a really nice one, shame she just tipped the first pole but she attacked the course really well, especially considering it was hot and at the end of a long weekend.
Tim ... oh Tim!! Some nice bits again, a minor snog with a polepicker, some crap bits, lots of ginger grins. Love that baby dog!
On Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting Ruger pup - oh he's lovely!  http://agilityshepherds.blogspot.com/
The show at Lune was a lot different to last year due to some roads being laid through the showground. The (nine) rings were much more spread out and quite a long trek from camping; also it didn't seem to have quite the same atmosphere. Still nice though and the walk along the canal is ace. I was a reluctant bingo virgin at Saturday night's entertainment but then won £25 so bingo rocks!!! Had hoped to stay up for the week but sometimes life gets in the way of agiity. Hoping to get back up later in the week anyway for Barrow show.

Good vs evil!

Maisie Mouse with her prizes from last week:

Ahhh, look at me, what a clever and cute 'ickle girly I am!

GEROFF MY TROPHY GINGERPIG!!!

 & back to angelic pwetty pwincess mode :) 

Weekend off this week! Vicarious victory though as Jules and Jette got a 5th at Newton Heath yesterday, yippee! ETA: & then a 2nd on Sunday!!! Coooool! :o)

We're all ready(ish) for the great Lune/Barrow expedition next week :-)

A bit of fun

Cartmel

We arrived late on Friday eve into Cartmel village which is small and pretty, lots of cottage garden flowers, and the priory bells were ringing. Wyre members met us in the square and pointed us to our camping, the racecourse venue is literally in the village. Our plot was idyllic, right on the bank of the stream! Even more perfect, the stream ran down to the ring area and so Maisie was able to sploosh her way to her runs :)

Saturday was hot and sunny. Maisie and I were e’d both runs – the second one because, just in time, Maisie spotted a dangerous monster lurking in the tunnel and anchored on, narrowly avoided being eaten by it (that’s what she told me so it must be true!) On Sunday, a cooler, wetter day and our last in grade 1 (boohoo) we fared better with a 2nd (another trophy, what is going on?!) in g1 agility, and 9th in 1-2 agility :) Then she did more splooshing and playing.

Tim had a couple of runs each day and a go in the practice ring. He seems to be getting over his stagefright and did some nice stuff, in one only ducking under 1 jump!! He was more confident and happeee, good lad. We met a lady with Welsh sheepdogs. Tim had a mad play with her 10 m.o. boy – interesting how in tune their body language was. He was short-coated and so you could clearly see the difference in structure from BCs. They all seem to have the funny skunky tail! She said how late they are to mature and I agree! It was Tim’s ‘official’ 2nd birthday on Sunday, but he’s still a baby pupster. He had nice playtimes with other dogs too and a walk with fave girlfriend Belle and her bally.

Even Billy Woof got to participate as there was a fun scurry. He had a few goes and it was ace! He also came to the pub on Saturday night to watch England – the pub had a world cup marquee in their pretty beer garden – real ale, Pimm’s, great atmosphere, bliss! Billy bummed crisps and was fussed and happy in his role as guide dog for the drunk :)

The primary school had a yummy cake stall at the show, and there was a charity plant sale, tombola, a cricket match, and wonderful hot showers. We never did find out why there are multi-coloured sheep lurking all over Cartmel village but they are very nice anyway!……

Exciting stuff

Just had this comment from the BFA webboard emailed to me, re: Monday's racing. It really was thrilling!!!

OMG - I have to say - Div 1 multi-breed was not only my first experience of MB racing (and I loved it, and so did ---!) but it was some of the very BEST racing I have seen in the 4 years I've been involved in this sport. Close just doesn't do it justice - you couldn't get a hair between them in many cases. The crosses were the type that make you draw breath in expectation of someone getting a light, and as for the very last race of the division - went to 5 legs and I don't mind admitting there was a lump in my throat and a tear in my eyes as I was watching this. Wasn't even my team but my GOD it was amazing.

Ah, summer evenings ............ 

 

 

People said nice things

Ths weekend we were at DV at Bakewell. Great venue, so nice to have wonderful walks, river paddling for doggies, an interesting town and even a farmer's market with oodles of yummy free samples, all right next to the showground! The weather wasn't kind though - rainy one day, cold and windy the other! Hungover from last weekend's dream results, Miss Mouse and I were very average! Just one rosette for a jumping clear. She did some lovely bits nonetheless and had a good time.
Tim was back on much better form on Saturday - did a couple of runs and they were respectable - no off-bogging and he worked happily and went over a lot of jumps. He was especially good on a very tight 1-4 jumping course that I was really unsure about running him round - really focused in that one. By Sunday he went off into Timland again, should've really quit whilst we were ahead! Probably no more runs for the next month now so back to concentrating on happy training. It's all there with him, he's so able, we just need to bring it out fully in the rings and that'll take as long as it takes :o) 
On Monday Billy flyballed at Ryecroft Farm (Cheshire) in the Multibreed comp. I must say it was a great day's racing and we were just pipped into 2nd in the last leg of the last race of the day. Very, very exciting and the whole team did so well. We got our fastest time down to 19.15.


The nice things people said ... Well each dog had something nice said about them that made me go awwww!...
Maisie: A lady came to give her a cuddle whilst we were queuing for a run and said she'd seen her earlier and wasn't she pretty and that she looked like "an explosion in a fur factory!" Such a delightfully apt description! :o) And she's had so many lovely congrats and kind words about winning out last week.
Tim: Well, perhaps not so complimentary but very funny ... On his last run he'd lost the plot and ran under two jumps and bogged off on a mad gallop, then plopped himself down for a good old ear scratch right in the middle of the ring! The judge just laughed and said something to the effect of: Not only is he bonkers, he's also got fleas!! Bless him for not being snotty and making us feel worse than we already did!
Billy: Our div judge gave him a lovely compliement and said that she thought we were going to pull it back in the last race. Very kind again.


This aft Tim had his boosters and was a good lad. Compared to the annual horror of Billy & Maisie having their kennel cough drops up their noses, he just stood there waggily and tried to lick the vet whilst she did it, then went in for a full-on snogfest afterwards! He's a little challenging in some ways, but in others he's so sweet and easy.

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!!!!