Quiet Week

Well this week has been pretty quiet Agility-wise. I did however get some training done with hoaxey at the beginning of the week. Monday evening, Yvette kindly let me work Hoaxey with Skate on her one2one with Nic. We worked weave entries and double box which was great for Hoaxey. Hoax' weave entries are coming on, she is still unconfident with them but Nic pointed out a few places that I was making things more difficult for her and we worked some tough angles. Nic doesn't really like the bars (weave guides) I use for Hoax but I used them for Boo and they improved his entries a million times so I am sticking with em! Her box work was lovely when I was with it. We did a nice excersise with lots of pull throughs and Hoax worked them perfectly! Usually Nic takes the mickey out of my 'Steeeady' cue but even he had to admit it worked perfectly with Hoaxey on this excersise.

Tuesday we did a course at MAD with Heather training. Hoax worked well but I got frustrated with a section where I needed to pull her off a jump after a pipe tunnel. She just fired out that tunnel time after time and didnt look to me just too the jump. She just wouldn't believe we didn't do it! It seems to be a weakness in my training as I have the same issue with pulling Boo past obstacles. I guess I have to say that if I picked a dog who looks for a line or a dog that looks back to me always I would choose the former... maybe this is where I have gone wrong as I allow them to take their line too often? Ah well, plenty of time to work on that stuff with the merlie girl.

The other thing I always find hard is mixing speed work with accuracy. I constantly worry whether I am doing too much of either. If I do a few weeks work on speed with hoaxey she does get faster and more and more confident, she also gets wider and less controllable! I also find if I do too much technial stuff with her she begins to loose some speed and gets very neat but questions too much. I really find it hard deciding what to do as I want to keep her quick but also need those neat turns! Ahhh well, I guess I just keep working her over both and hope that with time and experience, comes the confidence to execute both with gusto.

I also think I worry way too much and expect rather a lot from myself and my woofs :)

Oh and I am never happy until it is totally perfect! LOL

Hoaxeys half sister

Well Nik (Rajjinka) has bred from Hoaxeys mum again, this time to the handsome Sh Ch Goytres Prince of Dreams. She has one pup who is beautiful but a total handful! She needs a strong and thoughtful home. Anyone tempted...

mailto:rajjinka@talktalk.net

Toni D & BATS Show

Well, we had training again on Friday with Toni again. I feel that these regular sessions are really good for me, and Toni comes up with something helpful every time we see her. Since I last saw Toni I have been working a lot on Hoaxeys weaves and her start lines. Toni suggested to give Hoax something else to do on the start line, and suggested Minx' chin touch to the floor. I went away and started training this to Hoaxey and it has helped with her starts a lot! We worked some sequences, some entries and some independant contacts. Hoaxeys entries from the left still need work (e.g. going in between poles 1-2 rather than wrapping the first weave). Overall I was pleased with her. She is a little hesitant with her speed sometimes and doesnt attack everything at 100 mph. I hope this will come with confidence on the harder sequences we are trying now.

BATS on Saturday and the weather started ok- yay it meant I could run. Hoax 3-4 Med jumping was up first. She did a really neat little run with speed where it was needed and some nice turns, we still had one wide turn and she could have given more speed through her weaves and some of the lines but it was probably her best competition run so far. Clear again and she went into the lead. Another quick G4 BC was queing just behind her. It put a fantastic run in right up till the last jump where it twiddled which gave Hoaxey 1st place again! Boo ran very well in his Agility which I did as a training run, he was a little wild but very quick, he is such fun! Finally Hoaxey ran the 1-7 Agility. I was extremely pleased with her in here, she is trying so hard for me. We had another clear round with me training all her contacts! Two clears in two runs- my goodness are we starting to get a little consistency?!?

G4 Merlie Girlie!

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, the weather was to hold all weekend this way and Linxy made good use of his doggy paddling pool that we take along!

No runs for Hoax today but Boo worked well. We navigated our way round an intesting G6- 7 Olympia Qualifier. Personally I quite liked it from the moment I walked it. I changed my mind about how to handle 13-17 quite a few times but went with the plan of working the whole combination with Boo on my left side, pulling him off the wrong tunnel entrance, flicking him into the correct side then getting ahead to recall 15 and push round the back of 17. I hardly saw anyone else walk it this way but ah well. I usually know my Mr Boo. He ran this course almost foot perfect until we got to the push round at the end of the DW. He got to the end SO much faster than me, by the time I reached him I lost my balance and tripped over my own feet. I managed to stay upright by which time Boo had come off his contact and looked to me for a cue, I finished my ungainly piroette and twiddled him round the back of the jump for a clear round! I assumed I would be way out with this as Olympia qualifiers are so strongly fought for. I was lucky- only a second off the eventual winner put Boo in 8th! As the top ten qualify this put him firmly in! Sooo, the semis are the 2nd July... how am I going to stay upright for that one??? Boo also went clear in the G7 Jumping- very twisty yuck course and clear in the Power and Speed, we were only a second off the winner but this still put him out the places!

Sunday and my handling wasn't so great, Boo still worked well but lady luck wasn't smiling on us today. Hoaxey was called up in a reserve for a Crufts Team qualifier, as the other three dogs/ handlers were the Crufts Team Winners of 2008 (Toni & Minx, Jo & Jinny and Steve & Billy) I was just a little nervous! There were only five teams in the medium qualifier so you never know what will be good enough to qualify. Hoaxey went first and we managed to get round with just 5 on the seesaw! Yay! Poor Billy set off and crashed through the second jump, he injured himself so had to be pulled out. We do hope he is ok. Hoax then ran 1-7 Med Agility. It all went badly wrong here, I think she was hot and bothered and wasnt at all focused. I have learnt from this that I cannot run her back to back on such a hot day yet, she just isnt ready. Finally, and after a nice rest, Hoax ran her G1-3 Jumping, it was a really nice, simple course. She got her weaves again and finished the rest of the course neatly and clear. She wasn't anywhere near her usual speed as I think was still lacking confidence after her last run but she still wasn't a plod. It was good enough anyway to give her first place taking her out of G3 and into the dizzy heights of G4!

So all in all not a bad weekend. We have BATS next which we are going to for Nics sake as there is a Novice Olympia Qualifier there.

Shrewsbury and Vyne!

Well Friday evening we made the long trip upto Shrewsbury show. I do LOVE this show and always enjoy our time there! We setup in good weather and Nic cooked a yummy dinner. Had a lovely evening :) Saturday morning was fine and I liked all my courses. Started with a tricky G1-3 Agility for Hoax, she flew round and my fault for not directing her over a jump, she jumped long and then coz I just stood and gawped at her she came back and backjumped! Doh! The other run was an agility, she flew round, and I stopped her contacts properly, she just doubled up on her weaves. Nic thinks it is lucky she did that or would have won which I don't really want quite yet! We finished with another jumping course. I stood in the wrong place to release her and got her Ed. She worked well otherwise. Boo was fab. Three runs and three clears! Good boy Boo!!! Sunday dawned to rain, rain and more rain! This meant I didnt get to run either of my dogs and we left the show early boohoo :(


Monday was Vyne, and despite some drizzle the weather started ok and got better and better! First up was Boos Champ class. He ran well in the agility and listened and was clear! Jumping not so lucky, he missed a weave entry!?! Odd for him! Then got himself Ed in the wrong end of the tunnel- ah well- I havent really got the focus for a champ final right now. Boo also did a nice Olympia run, only for me to miss out a jump after the tunnel on the straight home run! Silly me! Hoax first run was 1-7 Olympia qualifier. I was not focused for this at all and it showed. My timing was way off with her! Ah well, still more runs left. Finally I ran Hoax in her 2/3 jumping. It was a nice course with a few bits that caught people out, she had a turn off a jump at the 3rd obstacle and also after the first long run into the snake- dogs were pulling off the top jump. I knew I had to work her first turn then start running to push out before the snake. Anyway little Hoaxey flew round, a few wide turns again but quite quick. She got the weaves right at the end and we were home and clear! Whoohoo!!! She went into the lead again and thats where she stayed! Little Hoax had her second clear round and second win! Yay! I also ran Nics dog Linx in G5 jumping, I hadnt walked it so things were slightly out of place when I ran him but Linx worked well, coming 10th in the end. I was V pleased with all my runs today! Very happy (and fat) me!!! x