Toni D again!

Well last Friday I did my final proper session of Agility with little Hoaxey, at Scrambles, on a Toni Dawkins day.

Neither myself or Hoaxey were on form but that was expected I spose. However I was still pleased with my princess. She did some nice bits and her weaves were much better. Contacts were a little slow but we did do them right at the end so I think we were both tired.

We did some work on pull throughs which I so needed- Toni gave me some wonderful tips- thanks T you are a star! We also worked on snakes which Hoaxey executed quite nicely and some speed work.

I still feel Hoaxey is holding back and has more speed there. I know this will come with confidence and it will help when I am back to being able to run and turn again! I hope my madam is going to love it when I can race her again!

Monday we joined in a session with Yvette and Skate with Nic teaching, we worked some pull throughs again and I still need more work on them! LOL also we did a few weave entries which Hoaxey did quite well. I cant run now really so didnt do anything much else.

Well that is my last Agility session now as I feel the strain a lot! I am hoping to take Boo and maybe Hoax into the ring at UKA this weekend, just to do some training rounds with them both- I will see how I feel!

Choices and the Weekend...

Well Sunday we went upto UKA show in Oxford. I declined running in most things but did work Boo in the Champ SChase as I knew I could just send and collect him with no running, he did fab and won the class which made me smile :)

Hoaxey has a chunk out her foot so couldnt even run for Nic and Linx isnt moving properly so he is off to the vets this evening. :(

Yesterday we went off to an NCT class, it was fun and scary at the same time- I have written on my baby blog about it!

Today I made a very hard desision and withdrew Boo from the Olympia Semis on the 4th July. I am gutted as he is working so well right now but I just know it isnt worth it. Even if I feel up to giving it a shot, semi days take a huge amount of energy and commitment. Not only that but day 2 is pretty prestigous this year. With the likes of Toni & Kite, Tash and Maddie, Greg and GT, Dave & Dobby, Nic and Caleb, Leah and Herbie and Lee and Shy to name just a few! In fact every dog on that day is pretty fantastic. Anyway I have no doubt that on a good day with myself and Boo on top form that we could qualify. But I just cant be! I cant run Boo at his best or anywhere near it, just way too slow, it just isnt worth risking myself and Baby for anything. I also don't want to wake up on the day and either feel that I cant run or that it is raining etc and then deprive someone else of the spot. Therefore I finally pushed myself and e-mailed Dave this morning to withdraw Mr Boo.. :(

Boohooohoo :(

Admitting Defeat..

Well I think the end of the road has come on this Agility season for me. Boohoo :(

This weekend at Thames wasn't great and I missed an awful lot of runs with both the woofs.

Tuesday I went along to training but just managed two excersises before admitting defeat. The muscles around my bump are aching a lot as they are so stretched, I am slow with the extra weight anyway but adding this to it just makes it even harder. I am not doing either dog any favours by jogging along after them and trying to handle.

I am hoping to still do the odd training session with them, maybe just being selective about what I do and don't run. We also have a UKA show this weekend and I am hoping to do the odd NFC agility run coz then I can just pick and choose what I do.

Feeling quite down about it really as I will miss seeing all my friends each weekend as I know Nic won't want to go along to all the shows. I feel like Hoaxey is just coming good and she is now going to have a big break until at least mid sept (realistically prob much later) which means I am missing a huge amount of her first season out. I was hoping to make her G6 by the end of this year which would mean I could begin collecting Crufts points in 2009 but best laid plans n all!

Nic doesn't want to run Boo as he finds him really difficult so that idea is out the window. I think he is quite keen to run Hoaxey but I am not sure she is ready for other people to start working her, I don't feel she is confident enough yet...

Ah well, I guess that is just the way life goes- and it IS only a few months after all.

So apologies IF my blog goes quiet- I may not have much to mention!

I have however begun planning our winter training schedule. I have booked Natasha Wise and Toni Dawkins to come over and do some training days for us. We have mostly filled the spaces up with Thatcham DTC members and a few friends. But if any of you lot, (my blog buddies) on here are intrested, pop me an email and I will see if we have a suitable group for you http://www.thatcham-dtc.co.uk/october_training_weekend.htm I can't wait and think this will be a really fantastic weekend! I am hoping to do a session each day with Hoaxey but have JUST remembered she is due in season around that time and if she does come in.... BOO BABY TIME!

Also I had to share this photo of Boo taken this weekend at Thames by Lynn at Doggypaddle. I love it and my super, handsome, wonderful lad looks so happy!

A little Agility last night! Yay!

Well after teaching last night I ran Hoaxey in Nics class. We worked pull throughs which I am really weak on but Hoaxey did them very nicely! What a good girl! We finished off with some contact work and sequences.

I am very pleased with how her contacts are coming on. I have dropped her target behavior at the end. A desision I didn't make lightly but I felt that she was feeling pressurised in FP. I know that it isn't her it is me being a poor trainer somewhere, but seeing as I wasn't so sure how to change that, I decided the best plan of action is to drop her target behaviour and make sure her end position in sound. I also have decided to have her stopping a little 'longer' off the plank (rather than front legs tight to the contact). It is due to a discussion I had with Toni about Hoax and Minx and we found that both dogs stride better through the contact, faster and more confident with a longer position. Since making the above decisions Hoaxey has got faster and much more accurate aswell. I think a dogs conformation can make a difference to how the stop. Hoax has quite straight shoulders and she was slowing down with her weight over them which isn't healthy for her. Asking her to stop longer allows seems a physically easier task for her. The target originally built up all the understanding and value I wanted for her FP so did it's job well. She is happy to complete the equipment with my lagging behind or running past. I have now started throwing her toy and 'teasing' her off the contact a little and she seems to really understand all this and performs well still. I have to be cautious not to throw the toy to early otherwise her focus seems to shift from her job and she stops early on the contact!?!? Odd but just something I have to deal with.

Hoax weave entries are coming on well now and her confidence has improved 100 times as has mine. Now we need to work on me leaving her in the weaves which she is still very weak on. We did all the independance stuff in channels but somewhere along the transistion to straights I lost it. We are lucky to have a big enough garden to fit weaves in with space around so I can practise this,... but dont tell Nic as he doesnt want us ruining his lovely grass :)

No Agility.. Boohoo!

Well, after the two hour drive to Hinckley on Fri evening, then a few hours to setup I felt ok. Tired but ok. Then Friday night was not so much fun. I was really unwell :(

I promised myself that I would slow things down if my body told me to and I think that was a pretty definate sign. Saturday morning I was still feeling yuk so we decided the best thing to do is to head home and for me just to get a rest over the weekend. I feel so depressed that my preg body won't allow me to keep doing all I want to! LOL

I slept pretty much all Saturday and had an easy Sunday and am feeling much better now, hopefully raring to go for this weeks training and then Thames! As Thames is just 10 mins away I think it should be perfectly ok :)

Well hope to do some training with both Boo and Hoax this week. I have just begun teaching Hoaxey quick release on her contacts so will continue with this as my timing is so poor with her. I am also finding it tougher as I am further off my dogs than I would usually be. It means that where I could usually 'baby' Hoax a little, I cant get there! Ah well, more work on independancy I spose! :)

BFN x