Castles in the air...

Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau

Each season I try to rest my dogs for a short time, they have eight weeks or so off to mentally and physically recoup from the strains a working dog can be under. Hoax is now nearing the end of her rest period and is preperation I have been looking at my foundations with her. Boy, how much I have learned since I trained her! Sadly I cant go back in time and fix the bits I did wrong, but I can build on what we have and strengthen our weaknesses. Focus will be on getting back to working flatwork drills, contact final position and weave entries as part of my Olympia prep. She has been to the vets due to a hind lameness but it seemed like a strain, so she is now on rest and anti immflamatories. This will be followed by a visit to my awesome physio on thursday to get some massage and a full check before I start to work here again.

Detour is naughty! Yes I never thought he would be but he is having some wild and crazy moments and I love it! For a dog that worried about so much he has really come out of his shell. Agility wise he really is a pleasure to work, trying so hard to get things right for me but still working with joy and gusto- fab boy! He has made me think so hard over the time since he was born about training and I love what i have learned. While I am getting Hoax Olympia ready, D will soon go on his winter rest. He loves his agility and as we will continue to work to our goal for next season. during rest period we will go back to more flatwork, forward focus and startline games etc.

Boo is still the solid, sweet, driven dog he always has been and I just cant fault him. He is just awesome to live with, work and just be involved with. He really is just the most special boy and I am blessed to own him.

I have finally started training again, no regular classes just private lessons and training days: mostly for other clubs and I am so enjoying it. I love to help if i can, and with jump work, and all the things I have learned about play from the likes of Lauren L and Susan G, I really feel that we can create happier, safer dogs nowdays. I love to learn and teach, trying to make it to others training days and inviting guest instructors. For myself broadening my knowledge about jumping is also paramount. When I started riding again I didnt realise how much it would help my understanding of jumping, physical ability and mental confidence etc. Anyone who has ridden and jumped knows how much easier the whole thing is when the horse meets the jump on the correct stride, tucks front legs neatly under and leads with his head low. Equally how much harder to sit, is that early takeoff and subsequent launch over the jump? We can learn so much through other sporting disciplines: showjumping, obedience, schutzhund and even football etc have things to offer us. Broaden our horizons, forget prejudices and preconceptions, we just might learn something brilliant!

Open your eyes...

Recently we had a few training days that I attended with Hoax & Detour. Both worked well for me and I came away with a ton of tips. One really gave me a kick up the a#se with Detour though.

He was working well and plays ok, tugs when I ask him to and really tugs well after each exercise. Could he tug better? Yes most certainly but I had kind of just let it be thinking this was the best I was gonna get from him. Lauren got on my case a bit about it and I realised how much I was reoffering the tug which encouraged the rebite behaviour instead of a good strong tug. I was trying to encourage- almost beg him to grab and keep the tug. He also wasnt putting his ALL into running, he was going well but he CAN go even faster. My focus for the next few weeks was to up his tug drive and performance and see what happened from there.

So I worked, within a week he had gone from a good tug to a pretty great tug! I had to work damn hard from that point on to win most of the tug games. I did a few different things to get this: A/ actually TRY to win the game! B/ Dont re offer as such. If he lets go: either win the toy and keep it or let him try to get it again but HE has to move into the toy and I make it hard for him to actually grab it. C/ if he lets go, let another dog tug with me instead. D/ do it rough! He loves being ruffed up and smacked as he plays now. There is a notable difference in his agility performance from when he plays ok tug to when he plays GREAT tug, the higher the desire for the toy, the higher the drive for agility... seeemples!

long time no see- Baby D!

Ooops has it been that long???

My dogs are just fab and am loving having my time back to work on them. Detour had his first show (Ajaxs UKA) we did all but one run NFC and that run was a steeplechase that he won! Lovely boy. I also worked his at Thatcham UKA and ran a lot NFC but also did some 'proper' ones and he had another steeplechase win and a jumping win too. Mostly I was proud of other bits though. He managed to queue (albeit slightly out of the line) without stressing too much. He hit 100% of his weave entries which really made me smile- LOVE 2x2s! Startlines were good, I didnt push them too much but did lots of rewarding for them. What I was most delighted about was his jumping. I don't think D is a naturally gifted jumper, I still don't claim he is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but for a young immature boy he is so fab! He chooses his bounce strides really well and will also select when to add a stride. Compression for a turn is harder for him so needs more work. He had some poles down at the lower UKA heights (none when I moved him to Maxi). But overall he is a pretty good proof  that jump training can help. I know it's unessasary, but just had to share this lovely comment from our training forum... "Detour is definitely a credit to you, I was queueing during one of his steeplechase runs and he is stunning to watch, there were actually gasps in the queue as he bounce jumped the straights where every other dog put in at least 2 strides! I can't believe he's so young still"! Well how chuffed am I with that! By no means am I trying to say D is perfect or going to go out and win, but I am totally over the moon with him. I have no lofty aspirations for my little dog, but I do love to see him confident and happy. I am so proud of how far he has come and what a lovely, willing dog he is to work with.

Bye Bye Babies!

All my puppies have flown the nest and are doing well. I was really sad to see them all go but am incredibly proud of them. They are happy, confident, noisy little girls and I think they will make their new families very happy :)

Here is a stacked photo of Quiz- think she is pretty perfect actually!

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On the upside I am now emotionally and physically present for my dogs training again. I just couldnt find the energy or drive to train that much when the pups were here and it's great to be back on form.

Detour is working really well, learning so fast and does things sometimes that make me go 'wow, how did you know that'! He is just an angel and I adore working him.

Miss Hoaxey is back whoohoo! I love having my angel back at agility after having the pups, she is really fit and well and as fast as ever I think. She is hard to work as always, such an eye for where she thinks the course goes, but so much fun- I am looking forward to this season with her.

Boo is my angel as ever, he has been working as a schoolmaster for a friend of mine Jules who he loves. It's great for him as he gets to do agility and great for Jules as he is such a nice dog to work. I am still training him too and he is working as well as ever. His physio stuff with Donna Wills is paying off and eve more excitingly I have won him a new coat!

I entered a draw at Crufts and actually won! It is awesome new technology called the Springs Things Canine Massage Rug and does all sorts of nifty things to help warm your dog up. I will hopefully use on Boo mostly but will use it on Hoax too although it might be a bit big! I am so excited to have won something so awesome!

Puppy Progression

The pups continue to thrive. They have had a trip to the stables and seen horses and other dogs and have each been working on individual sessions too. They have all been off to the park with me and Hoax but without siblings for a short time and then brought back to their 'comfort' at home with siblings etc. They all coped absolutely fine with it and I hope this will make their transition to new homes easier for them and new moms!

They have also each done more lead work and are picking up that they need to follow with leads on. If they get static and dont want to move into the tension on lead I just wait keeping gentle tension until they decide to move into it then they get stuffed with treats! They LOVE food so I am just using a good quality kibble for treats etc.

Only three sleeps left before first ones go! :-(