Happy new year

Happy new year everyone and good luck in 2009

I think this is an appropriate time to reflect back on the year and enjoy the moments my dogs achieved. I have been very lucky this year and have had two great dogs competing in agility and flyball.

I would like to start with Ronny, I know he is not the easiest dog and is very head strong, but he always gives his all and is never tired of working. We have had an amazing year, he won into grade 4 at Dashin Dogs in August, made the Dog Vegas Novice final, he won the title of British singles Champion (ABC) at flyball and he is also the British flyball pairs Champion (ABC) with Maisy which was hosted on the 1st day of the championships earlier this year.
He had his first litter with Chamonix back in October, producing 6 lovely puppies including Zippy, a mini Ronny in the making !!!!
So thankyou Ronny, although you are hard work, you are worth every moment of it.

Keisha, she is my little star, I never expected much from her this year but she has just proven me wrong, she has been competing for just over a year now and she is just the most easiest, always wanting to please dog.
Emma and me put our own flyball team together after the Leamington Royals split, thanks to Keisha and Dylan this was made possible. Our flyball team has had a great start and our fastest time of 19.93 is a fantastic achievement with two young dogs in the team.
Keisha topped my year in November by winning into grade 4 at Newton Heath agility Show. Keisha has given me the confidence and I have decided I will be trying out for the Belgian Shepherd Team next year for the world champs.

As most of you know, I have ended up with two dogs to run that I never accounted for due to unforeseen circumstances. I admit myself that this is going to be a challenge, but a great one at that, Kody is 18 months in February and his flyball training has gone incredibly well, infact so well he will be joining the Brickyard Bandits team straight away and will be running as first dog crossing with Ronny, this I cant wait for !!!!
I'm going to take extra time with him in his agility as he needs to get used to me running him, I plan to bring Kody and Pudsey out together in 2010.

Next year I can't wait for, if it is half as good as this year im going to be a very happy person.

Christmas spirit

Now christmas is finished and the new year is in sight, it was very kind of Zippy to help clean up all the empty rolls of wrapping paper.

I guess over the next few days I should do some cleaning up!!!

Today im on lates so the dogs and me are having a nice relaxing morning, the dogs are playing in the garden with a rope toy, it seems to be amusing Pudsey and Zippy, they have been out there for a while now.

This weekend we are off to Wimbledon for a flyball competition we are currently seeded second in the division, if we run well then who knows what could happen. Kody will be joining in for a few practice runs, his first starters competition is on January 17th. His training is going well and he is already doing great cross overs with Ronny. Kody is more than ready, he has got to that age where he needs to be working now so I cant wait until he starts.

Agility Show

Day two update ....

Today was another brilliant day for my two dogs. The classes were combined grades 1-7 today so it was going to be tough competition. Ronny had a fantastic clear round in his jumping, he didn't see the weaves to start with as the light was so poor inside the venue, but I lined him up and then he went on to do a lovely round finishing 5th. Keisha was in the same class and did a cracking run with no mistakes, it helped running Ronny first so I was aware of the weave issue, Keisha did a lovely round and finished 4th, just in front of Ronny.

My little star was Keisha, today she had five runs and all of them were excellent clear rounds, her agility was lovely and she finished 5th, her jumping POTD class was brilliant, it might of helped if I knew where I was going in this one though, Keisha thankfully ignored me and kept on going, after winning a run off she finally finished 4th. She does help me out sometimes !!!!

A special mention must go to our flyball team mate, Maisy. Today she had her first clear round and it was brilliant. Its a shame it was a combined 1-7 class, in her own grade she would have won by miles. Maisy is incredibly fast and has the makings of a great agility dog, I don't doubt for one minute she will be winning out very soon.

Well done to Kathryn and her Boxer Diesel and Jess the Spaniel today, it's a hard show to compete at as the dogs have all the distractions of the horses and what comes out the other end aswell. Considering you only started in July I think your dogs are great. Thanks for entertaining Zippy too, he has had a lovely day, I think he was probably held by most people at the show today, he certainly took it all in his stride.

Christmas agility show

Day one update ....

I was slightly nervous today going to the agility show, we haven't been training for a while so I wasn't expecting too much. Ronny was excited from the moment we set off in the van and I thought he would be far too hyper today to listen.......

Well it just goes to show that dogs are not predictable. Ronny had a lovely clear in his jumping, we wasted a bit of time on the course when Ronny was adamant the tunnel was the next obstacle but I stood my ground and insisted it was the jump, thankfully Ronny decided I was right and we ended up with a great clear round.

Keisha had a fantastic day, she started with an 8th in her jumping and then won her agility round with a brilliant run, she is such a good technical dog and I cant wait until we get those more trickier courses in grade 4, the clip below is her 2nd jumping round but unfortunately she knocked the last but one pole.



Zippy enjoyed his first outing, although it was cold, he was soon wrapped up and brought out for ten minutes, he had lots of fuss and enjoyed all the cuddles and goodies he was given.

Emma and Maisy were there too, she had a great day and Maisy finished 5th in her agility, Maisy is so fast and I don't think it will be long until she wins out.

I heard from Natalie earlier, today she picked up Reno and he has settled in very well, I think Reno looks like Ronny the most out of all the puppies, it's going to be exciting watching the puppies grow up.

Kate and Conor have also sent me some pictures of Megan,(originally known as Sweep) Megan has settled in very well too and has made great friends with Heidi their older dog. Megan will eventually compete in agility, if Richard competes with Eva, his puppy, then four mini Ronny's are going to be out on the circuit !!!

Merry Christmas

Congratulations to Dave and Rusty for winning the ABC Olympia final and to Natalie and Kiros for finishing 4th, well done to both of you.

Thankfully it is nearly over, I decided not to put my christmas tree up this year, with three puppies in the house, Zippy, Pudsey and Ronny, yes Ronny !!!!! I thought it would only be a matter of seconds before all the decorations would become new toys, the tree would look more like a bald stick and no doubt Ronny would be the angel sitting on top.

Zippy has been wonderful, he settles in his crate straight away and then sleeps all through the night, i think Ive been very lucky.
He has made great friends with Pudsey and they play together all the time, he is toy mad and is already retrieving his ball and teddy, he is just like his dad, its brilliant.

This weekend we are at a christmas agility show, this will be Keisha's last Grade 3 show before she moves up, it seems ages since we last competed so I cant wait.

Anyway, I hope santa brings you everything you want, have a good christmas and DON'T drink too much alcohol !!!!!!

Cheeky Chappy

I cant believe how cold it is today, dad and me have been out in the garden for a few hours, Zippy's cage now takes up the middle compartment of the van so we made a shelf for the back to allow the other dogs to jump out.

Whilst dad and me were freezing to death outside working, I happened to look into the front room and could see mum sitting next to the fire watching the tv, Zippy was fast asleep on her lap, some people have all the luxury !!!

This morning Zippy and Keisha were at the vets, Zippy had his first jab and Keisha has started the first stage of her pet passport. Both were brilliantly behaved and loved the free goodies that were being dished out.

I'm feeling quite refreshed at the minute, Zippy has been a very good boy and slept all through the night, I heard him stir at 6.00am but he must of fell back off to sleep, he was just sitting in his crate when I went to get him up at 7.00am. He is a proper cheeky character, I think this picture shows that well !!!!

Good luck to everyone at Olympia

Good luck to everyone who is competing at Olympia, especially Dave and Rusty and Natalie and Kiros, come on the Belgian's!

Well so far so good, Zippy slept most of the way through with just waking up two or three times, he had a quick whinge but nothing drastic and then went back off to sleep, I woke him up this morning at 7.00am and he was more than ready to start his day. I managed to do some christmas shopping today and Zippy and the rest of the mob waited patiently in the van, he actually really likes it so he had a good hour's sleep whilst mum and me hit the shops.
I did try and download the video footage of the puppies again but I'm just a complete computer biff and cant get the dam thing to work.



Anyway as you can see Zippy has settled in very well, he loves playing with the rest of the mob but I have to be careful the other's don't get carried away, I can just see Zippy being flung across the room by Ronny, luckily dad was on hand to play referee and hold the rope. He's a proper little mad thing, he loves playing with his toys and laying next to his dad and Pudsey eating goodies !!!!

Don't be fooled by the look on Pudsey's face, he had one too but he gobbled his up super quick.

Zippy arrives home

Today has been great, Zippy has been a very good boy and travelled brilliantly, he has not been fazed one bit, he is very confident and loved meeting his dad and the rest of the mob. Pudsey and Zippy have made great friends and he has settled in just fine, as I type this blog I have just put him in his crate and he is already fast asleep next to his dad.
I did take some great footage on my video camera today but for some reason I cant get it to download on my computer, I will try again tomorrow though.

All the other puppies look great, Reno looks like his dad the most and all the puppies are toy mad and are not shy about jumping on you, I cant believe how active they are at this young age !



Anyway, im going to take the opportunity in getting off to bed whilst the house is quiet, I will try and get the video footage sorted and post it very soon.

Two days to go

Two more lovely nights of sleep and then Zippy arrives!!!
I have dusted off the puppy crate and I've decided I'm going to put him next to Ronny in the hope that he will feel safe and in good company. Ronny absolutely adores puppies and has the patience of a saint, even when they do hang off his body parts.
Im going to secure a crate in the middle section of my van tomorrow, I only ever intended on having a maximum of four dogs so hence I only got four fitted cages to reflect that.

If anyone see's me with another dog after Zippy please shoot me!!!

Sweep the girl has been sold and is going to live with Conor and Kate in Lincolnshire, she has the potential name of Fiona, named after the princess in Shrek, although they are going to wait until they get her home to decide. She will be joining Brian and Heidi their other two dogs and will be competing in agility.

It looks like there may be a home for either Hippo or Speedy too, Jan has had an enquiry for a boy to goto an obedience home. I will update you when I have heard back from Jan.

LKA Show update

What weather to wake up to this morning. By the time Pudsey and me got inside the NEC we were thoroughly soaked through, luckily I had packed Pudsey a towel so he was soon dry and warm, I was warm too as the distance from the car park to the final destination where Pudsey was benched was miles!!!!!!

Unfortunately Pudsey didn't qualify today, the judge was a proper old grumpy man and I thought he was very rough with the puppies. Pudsey showed his teeth and head well but then decided the man was far to over powering and started to back off, I did tell the judge it was his first show but he didn't even batter an eye lid. Thankfully three of the puppies have qualified for crufts, Jan showed Vogue and Bristle who both qualified and Solli qualified too, 3 out of 7 isn't bad at all.

Although the judge was obviously having a bad day, it didn't stop Pudsey and Teasel enjoying them selves, they made great friends and played for most of the day. Pudsey even took a shine to Geri, Teasel's owner, at one point I looked around and he was trying to climb on her and nestle in her lap.



I managed to finish showing in time to be able to go and watch Amy work Summer in obedience, considering this was their first show I thought she was brilliant, apparently she didn't have a retrieve but take a look at the clip, no problem there!!!!
Sorry about the poor quality of video but it was recorded on my phone.





Amy and Summer finally finished 4th which was fantastic. We were all very impressed.

Pudsey's first breed show

Pudsey and me are attending his first breed show at the LKA show on saturday, he is going to be joined by his other six litter brothers and sisters in the hope that some of them will qualify for crufts. It will be great to see them all and hopefully we will be able to get some good photos of them all together.

This week has not been the best, I've had to come home sick from work as Ive badly sprained my thumb and pulled all my ligaments in my right hand. Mum is kindly dropping me off at the NEC for the breed show on saturday as I'm currently unable to drive. Thankfully Pudsey is a very good boy and hopefully we wont have any problems in the show ring.

Our flyball team mate, Amy, is going to be at the LKA show on friday and saturday, she has entered Summer her young dog into the obedience competition. Good luck Amy, me and the mali mob are all wishing you the best of luck.

Puppy pics final round

This will be the last lot of photos I will publish this week of them being 6.5 weeks old. The time is flying by and tomorrow they reach their 7 weeks.

The top pic is Zippy, looking all sweet and innocent, wait until you read further down, infact not that innocent !!!!!!!

I'm going to collect Zippy on wednesday and mum is coming along so that she can see all the puppies before they go off to their new homes. I have prepared myself for some sleepless nights and lots of house training again.

I spoke with Lisa this morning who told me that there was only three criminals that jumped that wood and caused havoc, it wasn't hard to guess that Zippy was one of those, backed up by Hippo and Speedy the other two boys waiting to be rehomed. It's too early for agility yet boys, your only 6 weeks old !!!!


After a hard day of entertaining us it was only fair they had a comfy leg to lie on.

If only they were this well behaved all the time, butter wouldn't melt in their mouths !!!!!!!

More puppy pics

I had a text from Lisa last night saying that the puppies had jumped the wood that was keeping them in their room and were running free in the lounge, we both agreed that they will have no problem in jumping, that piece of wood was not low!!!!!!!!!!

Little escape artists, they definitely take after Ronny, when I stayed at Jans back in August, Ronny managed to escape from three different paddocks, breaking each door !!!!!
Sorry about that Jan.

Anyway back to the puppies. The top one is of Zippy.



This is the girl needing a home, Lisa has given her the name Sweep until her new owners come along.


This is one of the boys needing a home, Lisa has named this one Hippo as he is the biggest boy in the litter.


All the puppies minus Reno who was getting cuddled by his new mum Natalie.


Three way tuggie, it looks like Hippo has the edge.


Richard's puppy, she is Zippy's twin, they are both as mad as each other, proper little mini Ronny's


Reno looking adorable, he loved getting cuddled by Natalie and in fact picked her for his mum, I cant wait to see him do agility.

Puppies at 6.5 weeks old

As promised more puppy pics added.

This top one is of Zippy.




Zippy is on the left, Reno on the right.



Two girl's playing tuggie.


The boy on the left (Hippo) and girl on the right (Sweep) both needing a home.



That's it im all done for today.

Meet Zippy

As you can guess I have been up to visit Jan and Lisa today and of course see the puppies.

The top three pics are of Zippy.

He is a very confident puppy and he loved playing with the toys, I originally picked him a few weeks back and I was more than pleased that he was still my favourite one, he ended up falling asleep in my lap after he climbed up for a cuddle which just confirmed he was the best puppy for me.

All the puppies are looking great, they are so cute and they were all up for playing with the toys that Natalie had brought along for them. Natalie has picked her boy Reno, I don't think it took her long, she liked Reno from the very start and I think he is going to have a very happy agility home. Richard visited on saturday and has already picked his girl, I don't think he has named her yet. Unfortunately the other girl and two boys have lost their homes and are now back up for sale which is a great shame. If anyone is interested please contact myself or Jan. On a brighter note we managed to take lots of pictures, so that I don't overload you, I will post a few every night this week.

Meet the puppies:

Reno, Natalie's puppy

Richard's puppy

Girl looking for home.

Two boys looking for a home, they have currently adopted the names of Hippo and Speedy.