Jaws strikes again

For the last two days I have been on a course in the centre of Birmingham, today we finished at 1pm so I was able to get home and take the dogs on a very long walk up at kenilworth castle. The dogs darted out of the van and did a massive sprint all around the first field, to my surprise Zippy was not far behind.
It appears the dogs have got all of their silly billy's out now and after a fun couple of hours at the castle playing in the long grass and swimming in the water stops the dogs were more than ready to come home. Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera but I did manage to get a quick video on my mobile phone, the quality is not very good so I apologise for that.



This week we are at Godmanchester agility Show down in Cambridgeshire, Keisha's training has been going really well and the little rat hasn't broke that A-Frame contact once, I think we might be in for a few weeks of training in the ring until she gets it into her head that she must do contacts in competition too. Ronny was a bit manic at training last night, I had to tell him off on a few occasions for knocking poles due to him rushing, on the plus side he did some really hard weave entries and jumping sequences and his contacts were very solid.

Jackie has emailed me in the week to say she is thinking about changing Speedy's name to JAW'S, apparently the little monster has eaten the tv line/ariel and could of only found it by actually searching for it.

Run Ronny Run

Ronny and me have had the best day ever. We arrived at Newbury just after 8.00am this morning and I rushed out of the van to walk Ronny's and Keisha's agility course. I really liked the course and I thought it would suit Ronny down to the ground. Keisha ran first and I must admit I used this as a training run ready for the qualifier later in the day, it was a good job as she jumped that dam A-Frame again, I have no idea what is going through her head. Ronny ran next and it was just such a joy to work with him, he was really fast and listened like a hawk, he planted his paws on every contact and flew around the course with no faults whatsoever. It was going to have to be a very quick collie to beat him but unfortunately that was the case, 2nd place we finished, I couldn't be disappointed at all as Ronny had run the perfect round and I guess on this occasion the smaller dog had the edge to turn the corners slightly faster. On the plus side, Ronny beat the dog that had knocked Keisha to second place in her agility and had also beat the two dogs that beat him in his jumping class on the saturday at Dordale too.

The qualifier was next and Ronny ran first, I feel that the luck was slightly against us today, he had got most of the way round when he approached the weaves and slipped and banged his head on the weave pole, it was then followed by me slipping over and making a right comedy sketch, nothing like providing entertainment for the crowd !!!
Keisha set off well in this class but although she did get all her contacts including that A-Frame they were rather slow, we also wasted a second trying to get the line right for the tunnel, she finished clear but it wasn't good enough to qualify.

Looking back I have had such a successful weekend, im really pleased with how Ronny is running and Keisha is slowly but surely getting back to her best, im looking forward to next week already.

No joy today

No rosettes to show for today but it has still been a successful day. Keisha started well with a lovely jumping round to finish just out of the placings, unfortunately they only placed to 6th and she finished 7th. Ronny's jumping didn't go so well, in fact I think he had about 5 poles down and that was a reminder to me, if he has to wait a couple of hours when we arrive to get a run then he seems to wind himself up in the van and then burst into the ring in manic mode.

Agility was next up, Ronny went first and we just seemed to click, he went most of the way round and did the same thing as yesterday, popped out of the last two weaves, I couldn't believe it as he was going so well. Keisha followed and was running really well until she decided she would jump off that bloody A-Frame again, thankfully the judge let me do it again and this time I made her do it.

We had to wait until the afternoon to run our last agility class, Keisha was first in and looked really good, stupid me pulled her off the jump and we ended up getting a refusal, in fact in some ways it was quite good as she did her best A-Frame contact this year and I was so happy with her I went back and praised her up, obviously this eliminated us but I think it was definitely worth doing.
Ronny followed and yet again he was flying, got all his contacts and right near the end I panicked and timed my left command a little early which pulled him off the jump, my dogs listen far too much !!!

I am really pleased with the doggies today and there were lots of positives to bring away, hopefully tomorrow we can get it together.

Jackie and Speedy were at the show today, he is such a lovely boy with a very gentle character, in fact he reminds me very much of Reno. Speedy has got similar colouring to Zippy but is slightly taller, he absolutely adores his mum which I think wins Jackie over, its a good job as from what I hear he is a very mischievous little man. The picture above is Zippy and Speedy playing together and the one to the right is Speedy chilling out watching his mum.

Final word must go to Anne and Crafty the boxer, they had their first ever clear round today so well done, keep up the good work.

Saturday Success

Well what a great day we have had. Ronny started off this morning with a lovely jumping round, he was knocking the poles slightly but they all managed to stay up, I did shout steady a few times to try and steady him up, which he did, a fantastic 3rd place, Keisha also went well in this class but sadly did knock a pole down, it was a shame as she would have finished 4th behind Ronny.
The next jumping round she did go clear in, it was more of a sprinters course rather than a technical course but she held her own against all the Linford Christies and finished a fantastic 6th. Ronny came out of his last two weaves in this round, he was definitely pushing himself and just missed timed the last but one weave and came out, he was super quick in this but as I said before it was a sprinters course and that Ronny is !!!

So agility was the last class of the day, the course again was a sprinters course but did has some very tricky angles that caught alot of dogs out, one being Ronny. Keisha set off, passed the technical part with no problems and was running incredibly quick, she got the dog walk contact and just had the A-Frame to go ..... She did it, she got that dam contact, she ran her little socks off and finished in 2nd place, yippee.

Kody didn't have any clears today but lots of positives to bring away, he got both of his weave entries and he did master some of the more technical work, he is just looking for confirmation on what to do from me and sometimes misses the jump, as soon as he gets more experience his confidence will grow and it wont be long until we get that first clear.

Zippy and Pudsey had a good day out, its quite hard walking Zippy around the rings, he is already wanting to take part in the classes and my arm can vouch for that, he is definitely keen I will give him that. Reno was there today so both the puppies had chance to play on the exercise area together, they even made a friend with a terrier who was rather adorable. Sadly no Speedy today so hopefully he will be there tomorrow. Anyway I best get off and go and feed the athletes, lets hope tomorrow will be as good as today.

Happy Birthday Pudsey

Pudsey's first birthday today, happy birthday to all his other brothers and sisters, far too many to name !!!

Ive had a very productive day today, all five dogs have had a good grooming session, reminded by my poor back that is now aching. Kody practiced his weaves in the garden ready for the competition at the weekend and Keisha polished up on the A-Frame contact which im feeling very confident about.

Its not too much of an early start tomorrow, we are off to Bromsgrove which is about a 30 minute drive, im picking mum up about 7am.

Jackie and Speedy (Zippy's brother) will be at the show this weekend, I cant wait to see him, in fact I think Natalie and Reno are coming tomorrow too so should be good fun. I will update you tomorrow with the days events.