Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Ajaxs
Saw Ajaxs the other night at Agility, he is mad as ever but was so welcoming and wriggly to say Hi to me, he was very noisy watching the big dogs work... lol sorry Trace, think he got that from Daddy Boo...
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Snowy Days
Well as difficult as it makes daily life the show is beautiful. I love walking the dogs through drfits and Ethans been enjoying it aswell.
The dogs are all well and fighting for the warm spots in the house.
Hoax is working really well in training. I dont have any delusions of grandeur for my dogs nowdays and am pleased with small amounts of progress. She seems to be picking her weaves up much better now getting some tricky entries and checking stride for the simple ones. I have also been working on her contacts which seem to be much improved so far. She can be a really good girl with jumping and will turn tight when my timing is good but we can struggle with some handly bits. I also noticed some situations in which she should be bouncing and isnt. It is usually on angled sections (slicing, curves or zigzags) so we will need to do some grids to help with that. Sadly in this weather I just dont have anywhere to do them, let alone any spare time!
Talking of time poor D isnt getting the time he should. Shaping helps as at least when I do train something get the finished behaviour in a few sessions, we have finally got round to shaping a right turn LOL we are so far behind! I hope in the summer we can get more done in the garden. D is so sweet, a really cuddly man but definatly has a naughty streak in him too.
Boo is on rest at the moment. I have been a bit worried as he didnt feel right for his last month or so of competing and has had a few moments he looked lame. He went to the chiro who clicked him back but I still am not sure he is 100%. I rest my dogs every year anyway so he will have Dec/ Jan off and start back on grids in February sometime after another chiro check.
The puppies seem to be doing well passing Good Citizen tests and learning lot of new tricks. I must get off my butt and do more with D but I am so proud the babies are doing well. Keep the updates coming puppy owners! x
The dogs are all well and fighting for the warm spots in the house.
Hoax is working really well in training. I dont have any delusions of grandeur for my dogs nowdays and am pleased with small amounts of progress. She seems to be picking her weaves up much better now getting some tricky entries and checking stride for the simple ones. I have also been working on her contacts which seem to be much improved so far. She can be a really good girl with jumping and will turn tight when my timing is good but we can struggle with some handly bits. I also noticed some situations in which she should be bouncing and isnt. It is usually on angled sections (slicing, curves or zigzags) so we will need to do some grids to help with that. Sadly in this weather I just dont have anywhere to do them, let alone any spare time!
Talking of time poor D isnt getting the time he should. Shaping helps as at least when I do train something get the finished behaviour in a few sessions, we have finally got round to shaping a right turn LOL we are so far behind! I hope in the summer we can get more done in the garden. D is so sweet, a really cuddly man but definatly has a naughty streak in him too.
Boo is on rest at the moment. I have been a bit worried as he didnt feel right for his last month or so of competing and has had a few moments he looked lame. He went to the chiro who clicked him back but I still am not sure he is 100%. I rest my dogs every year anyway so he will have Dec/ Jan off and start back on grids in February sometime after another chiro check.
The puppies seem to be doing well passing Good Citizen tests and learning lot of new tricks. I must get off my butt and do more with D but I am so proud the babies are doing well. Keep the updates coming puppy owners! x
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Lots to say
Well it's been a very, very long time since my last post and I have lots to say but not so much time to write it all!
PUPS
Firstly the pups are all doing well and are loved and adored in their homes. We went to a 'balance and co- ordination workshop' run by Hannah Banks. Also in attendance were Yvette with Munch and Tracy/ Sue with Ajaxs. The puppies were so good, all very confident and focused. None of them worried at all about the ladders/ wobble boards and such like. With the shaping stuff I have done with D, he really gets that whole value transfer thing and was pulling to over to the wobble boards and ladders after a very short time.
DETOUR
I cant belive he is five months old already! He is such a sweet boy. We have had a few little issues with him nervous woofing when we are on a walk but some recall tug games seem to be fixing that. He has done very little training really since the last post but has concentrated on being a pup.
HOAX
We are finally getting back into the swing of training and I am revisiting a few things. Contacts have been a difficult thing with deciding what action to take with training for more independance and speed and she felt like she was lacking the confidence she should have. I have brought her target back in for a bit to help her focus on her position but changed her criteria to the most simple thing I can think of which I think will counteract any confusion she had. Weaves are slowly improving, I need to keep challenging her but she is feeling much sounder in them now. Pull throughs are still cr*p- must practise them!!! I am very aware of Cruft looming at the beginning of 2010 and really dont want to let my team down. I know that Hoaxey is the weakest link, not only is she the only non G7 dog (two of which are AGs) but we have way less experince than the others. Chances are it will be us that messes up but as long as we put some training in and do our best I will feel ok about it. My team mates are lovely so I know they will all be nice to us... except maybe that Toni.. (only joking before long discussions about 'over competitive' top handlers start on the forum)!
GOLDEN BALLS
Boo is always lovely, he seems sometimes to be struggling a bit more with turns and things so I am keeping an eye on him. I have done so little with him some of our basics are weak right now. I like to try and give my dogs a good rest each year. Hoax had had plenty of time off with puppies and seasons etc so I will keep her going the whole winter bar her season. Boo however hasnt had a good rest for a while so he will get the whole of December and January off.
PUPS
Firstly the pups are all doing well and are loved and adored in their homes. We went to a 'balance and co- ordination workshop' run by Hannah Banks. Also in attendance were Yvette with Munch and Tracy/ Sue with Ajaxs. The puppies were so good, all very confident and focused. None of them worried at all about the ladders/ wobble boards and such like. With the shaping stuff I have done with D, he really gets that whole value transfer thing and was pulling to over to the wobble boards and ladders after a very short time.
DETOUR
I cant belive he is five months old already! He is such a sweet boy. We have had a few little issues with him nervous woofing when we are on a walk but some recall tug games seem to be fixing that. He has done very little training really since the last post but has concentrated on being a pup.
HOAX
We are finally getting back into the swing of training and I am revisiting a few things. Contacts have been a difficult thing with deciding what action to take with training for more independance and speed and she felt like she was lacking the confidence she should have. I have brought her target back in for a bit to help her focus on her position but changed her criteria to the most simple thing I can think of which I think will counteract any confusion she had. Weaves are slowly improving, I need to keep challenging her but she is feeling much sounder in them now. Pull throughs are still cr*p- must practise them!!! I am very aware of Cruft looming at the beginning of 2010 and really dont want to let my team down. I know that Hoaxey is the weakest link, not only is she the only non G7 dog (two of which are AGs) but we have way less experince than the others. Chances are it will be us that messes up but as long as we put some training in and do our best I will feel ok about it. My team mates are lovely so I know they will all be nice to us... except maybe that Toni.. (only joking before long discussions about 'over competitive' top handlers start on the forum)!
GOLDEN BALLS
Boo is always lovely, he seems sometimes to be struggling a bit more with turns and things so I am keeping an eye on him. I have done so little with him some of our basics are weak right now. I like to try and give my dogs a good rest each year. Hoax had had plenty of time off with puppies and seasons etc so I will keep her going the whole winter bar her season. Boo however hasnt had a good rest for a while so he will get the whole of December and January off.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Thatcham UKA
I was helping at this show so didnt get many runs done.
Detour and Ajaxs were both at the show and we setup the puppy pen in the secretarys tent, the pups had some initial disagreements but soon settled and played mad, crazy play games until they got grumpy and tired and we seperated them to sleep :) The show did BabyD the world of good, he has really started to come out of his shell and has loved the people, cuddes, attention and been confident meeting other dogs aswell.
I also managed to get a chance to rehearse some of his training in the mad enviroment of an Agility show, we played the 123 game and despite a few failure he held his sit while I moved away so I was really pleased with him.
Ajaxs is very well and is such a happy little man. He is looking really good and has batfink (A Riley quote)! ears and a huge coat! I have also had good reports from the other puppy owners and an update from Kim and Dan that Buzzy is doing great and Munch is naughty as ever!
Hoaxey worked well at the show, she still isnt up to full speed despite being measured into Midi there now. She bunny hops some jumps and I know when she does this that she isnt jumping at speed and is unsure. I know she jumps pretty well, fast and flat at training so I am hoping with more time in the ring, and the consistency she will get now she jumps 17"everywhere, that she will improve. She still feels like a different dog in training and in competition, my timings vary as she doesnt have the same speed in the ring but I am sure it will come without pressure. She was a good girl though winning Novice Steeplechase and moving upto Senior Steeplechase and winning that too but I know she has a lot more in her tank than she is giving.
Boo is broken a bit and will be visiting our wonderful Mctimoney Chiro: Melanie D'Avignor Hamilton tomorrow :)
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Weaving on the road
Not Literally!
Hoax has been working her weave entries pretty much without faliure in the garden so I decided to take it on the road.
We went to the local park and I worked entries from both sides with the guides for a few attempts. I took the guides off and she still got fab entries whoohoo!
By no means are they fixed. Different sets of weaves affect her a lot. A small bitch without a long reach that single paces her poles is affected by the distance between each pole a lot. Her stride gets thrown out easily.
I am hoping to borrow someone elses weaves so she can practise on different gaps. We have a uka show this weekend so I am looking forward to seeing how she performs in the ring.
Hoax has been working her weave entries pretty much without faliure in the garden so I decided to take it on the road.
We went to the local park and I worked entries from both sides with the guides for a few attempts. I took the guides off and she still got fab entries whoohoo!
By no means are they fixed. Different sets of weaves affect her a lot. A small bitch without a long reach that single paces her poles is affected by the distance between each pole a lot. Her stride gets thrown out easily.
I am hoping to borrow someone elses weaves so she can practise on different gaps. We have a uka show this weekend so I am looking forward to seeing how she performs in the ring.
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