Wow, wow, wow, WOW. And did I mention wow?!

Elton and I had the most incredible weekend ever. The kind I'll remember for the rest of my life :D

On Sunday, Elton was entered in Okehampton & District Canine Society's open show. We had two breed classes, and I'd put Elton in both. I wasn't overly optimistic, there was one dog I thought would definitely win the first class. No - Elton won it! Just one Junior Warrant point to go. Back in we went for the second class, this time I was hoping against hope he would win this one too and slightly regretting putting him in both classes! I needn't have, because little rocket man only went and won that one too!! Last point he needed for his Junior Warrant :D and also Best of Breed because he'd already beaten everything.

However....Elton being Elton....that wasn't good enough...he then won the large (13ish dogs) and very strong toy group!!! He went beautifully actually, best behaviour :lol:

Not content even with that, he decided he would really finish off in style and ended up RESERVE BEST IN SHOW and Best Opposite Sex in Show!!

Especially in this area, the toy group is brutal both in terms of quality and numerically. They'd put us on after the utility group, which although a small group...it's not a good idea to have toys sharing a ring with anything else :lol: So we'd taken ages, and all the other groups had long finished. Which although was good in one way in that it meant no waiting, meant Elton had to go straight from group to BIS. We'd been there since 8am, and it was now gone 6pm, so we were both getting tired!

So into the BIS ring, and Elton was an absolute nightmare....there was food all over the floor, and all he wanted to do was get his head down and hoover! I eventually got his attention (aragh free standing breeds!) and he was more or less ok most of the time when it mattered. He didn't move as well as in the group (kept trying to pull his head down to eat!), but he was much better once I got him on the mat and it was passable - well, it must have been given the result!

Major fail on the posting front :-P I've been doing bits and pieces, but posting is evidently another matter!

Solei is still Solei...I've now got him retrieving a dumbbell again indoors at home, but not yet in other environments or outdoors. Screwball :-P
I took him to a companion show with obedience last weekend - it was a very basic round (heel on lead, recall, stay) but I thought it would be just what he needed to build his confidence up and he was actually pretty good. Came 3rd, but I was pleased with his performance - definitely progress!

Elton is coming along nicely, he's maturing and thus getting better about holding his stays. His heelwork is coming along well, though halts are still weak - he's so enthusiastic he's not very good about stopping in time, sitting straight and close beside me! I love the fact the only problems I'm having with him are due to overenthusiasm :-) The other heeling problem is him swinging his bum out and occasionally working too forward - again, both overenthusiasm!

Although again his sits aren't always the straightest/closest, he also knows both a left and right finish, which he manages to look adorable whilst doing them XD

Recall is quite nice, he's getting better about consistantly coming in straight.

His attention still wanders, concentration needs to improve and although he's pretty good at home now he is terrible with distractions! I've only ever taken him to one obedience class, so I need to get him back there and do some work on that! I've hardly been to obedience over the last three months, so I really need to get Solei back there as well - I'm intending to start again in October, and then possibly alternate - take Solei one week, and Elton the next.

As far as showing goes, Elton is wonderful <3 He still needs to settle on the table - he's a real fidget, especially when they're "restraining" his head (though funnily enough fine with his teeth!) - but once he's settled (sometimes when the whole class is moved together he's a bit all over the place) he's so much better on the move now.

Yesterday we went to a championship show where Elton won both Junior Dog and Yearling Dog :-D So he is now just 2pts off his Junior Warrant!!

Wow...it's been the most incredible time with my little rocket man!

The weekend before last was just incredible....on Saturday we went to a companion obedience show and Elton was entered in the baby class - his very first obedience show. It was a very basic round, but my little boy only went and won it!! During the heelwork the judge was walking behind us saying things like "wow, that is lovely" - whilst judging!! - so I think she was impressed lol All he lost was a ½ on heelwork and a ½ on recall. He won a (non-perpetual) trophy!
Sunday was a breed club (specialty) championship show. Elton won two of his three classes (I was kicking myself because I'd managed to put him in Yearling instead of Junior, I knew I'd made a mistake a couple of weeks after I'd entered but it was too late to change it by then) and Best Phalene Dog. He then went up against the Best Phalene Bitch - who is a Champion with 5 CCs and had in turn beaten an Int Ch - and my little boy was declared Best Phalene in Show!!!

Last Wednesday we went to an all breed championship show (never a dull moment at this time of year ;-)) where Elton was entered in two breed classes. In to the first one we went, and he absolutely showed his socks off! At the Pap Club in his first two breed classes (one straight after the other) he didn't feel right, and although halfway through I had a pretty good idea why - he needed to go out - but I couldn't do a lot about it! I'd taken him out to pee before I groomed him up, but evidently he'd also needed to poo and hadn't. Took him outside straight after his class and sure enough he did, smearing it all down his trousers in the process...joy!

As I was grooming him up on Wednesday I thought he didn't seem quite right...stopped grooming and took him out, he went - and thankfully kept his trousers clean this time! - I'd already taken him out before I started grooming him and I really didn't have the time to take him out again, so I'd have been in trouble if he'd needed major grooming after! From this we've learnt I seem to be able to read my puppy quite well lol which is nice.

Anyway, then it was a bit of a rush to finish grooming him up and get him into the ring on time, but I managed it; and as I say he showed SO well. I was a bit concerned because he used to be a bit dodgy on the table (would go all rocking horse and then lie down) and watching some of the earlier judging I didn't think he would like the way this judge was handling them, but he surprised me and was actually a lot better than I thought he'd be. He really took to the judge actually - when she came down the line he started wagging his tail, and by the time she took her last look at the end he was wagging so hard his whole body was moving! He used to be like that as a puppy, but he appeared to have outgrown it, and I don't remember him ever doing it that enthusiastically! Elton won the class!

My day just got better and better, as we then went back in for his second class and he won that one as well! He couldn't quite contain himself at the end of that class - until that point he'd been keeping his stand and just wagging, at the end he started off wagging and then got up and stood balanced on his hind legs. Vicious ugly creature ;-)

Yesterday we attended yet another championship show. Elton was just in the one class - Junior Dog - this time....which yet again he won!! For me he didn't show as well as Paignton, but he still went well...there just wasn't that extra sparkle. Though it was incredibly hot, so that could be why!

In the UK there is an award called a Junior Warrant (JW). Between the ages of 6-18 months if you win a breed class with 3 or more dogs in you get 1 (open show) or 3 (champ show) points. You need 25 of these points (inc. at least 3 champ pts and at least 3 open pts) and then you can put the letters JW after your dogs name.

Ordinarily I wouldn't bother - if it happens it happens and if it doesn't it doesn't. However....there has only ever been one Phalene to get their JW, and that was a bitch. So, if Elton can do it, he will have his little spot in history as the first male Phalene to achieve it (and indeed, only the second Phalene ever!)

When Elton was doing so well as a baby I thought he could do it...then we just didn't have the numbers, or else he'd be 2nd - he got his first point aged 8 months 2 days, didn't get anymore until almost 12 months (another 3). However, in the last month he has done absolutely phenomenally and I'd started to hope again.

Now he has just under 3 months left, and is up to 17 points! So he needs 8, which sounds easy (he's got 12 in the last 29 days lol)....but all depends on if the judges are good or not!

He's actually won a lot more than many dogs that *do* get their Junior Warrant, but he's doing it the hard way :-P Most dogs get a large amount of their points from open shows....he's only got two of his points from open shows. The judges are less experienced and a lot of them just don't know what he is, or don't like Phalenes and let their judging be biased by that. Which means he need the champ show wins, which (even though you get 3pts instead of 1) is a lot harder, because of the bigger classes and considerably better competition...and we're now running out of time, with just five champ shows left (plus some open shows, so I'm hoping he can break this open show jinx - we really need at least two more points from open shows!)

If he doesn’t get it he’s been incredibly unlucky; he’s won so many variety classes (don’t count) or breed classes with just 2 dogs in, and got so many 2nds in classes that would have given him points. He has until the 14th November, so please keep your fingers crossed that we can get the remaining 8 points!

So I will leave you with this - Elton and his Best Phalene in Show rosette and trophy :-)

I utterly despair of Solei. I have other news, but I didn't want to detract from the good with the bad - so we'll save that for my next post!

Last Saturday we went to a companion show and Solei did two obedience classes. He wasn't particularly happy, his heelwork was laggy/wide - though interestingly in the harder class he did we had heelwork with a change of pace, we did slow and his slow heelwork was lovely for most of the time we were in slow! Ground wasn't very good, so that could well account for that - he felt safer at a slower (less bumpy!) pace.

In the easier class I had to call him twice in the recall (unusual) because he wasn't paying attention....though to be fair behind him was a ring full of dogs doing fun classes, and behind that was a kennel full of barking dogs!

Harder class he decided he wouldn't retrieve, so that blew that! We've been having a few problems with retrieve since his meltdown a few weeks ago :-P It took such a long time to build his confidence up with the dumbbell, and he hadn't been retrieving it that long.

Stays were fine in both classes, but the whole thing just left me rather depressed really!

To cap it all I have now been waiting for a puppy for more than two and a half years - I've already been through numerous matings/litters - from bitches being mated and then having to be spayed due to pyometra, to litters of the wrong sex, mismarked...etc.

There were two litters due around a month apart. The first was born at the very end of June, only two of the right sex - one mismarked, the other the breeder is keeping. Ok, no big deal I think....second litter is coming up. They were born on August 1st....only one of the right sex, dodgy markings and she's spoken for anyway. Oh yay.

I'm seriously questioning myself at the moment....I'm so emotionally drained by it all. There's only so many times you can find out a bitch is pregnant, and however hard you try not to you get excited and start making plans....only for the puppies to be born and all your hopes to be dashed again. And again. And again.

So much to write, so little time....

I didn't really do anything with Solei the weekend before last in the end...did a small amount of heelwork and tried a retrieve or two, but the environment didn't really lend its self to it.

The Sunday before last I went to a Papillon Club Championship Show with Elton and Darwin. Under an American judge, so didn't really know what to expect. It was Darwin's first time at a champ show for almost a year, he was so excited to be there! Showed pretty well and came out with a 5th in Post Grad Dog, which was a good result (I was hoping to qualify him for Crufts - 1st-3rd - but never mind, still good to be placed!)
Elton was an absolute star...he was 2nd in Yearling Dog (12-24mths, so at 14 months he was one of the younger), behind a dog who was at the top end of the age spectrum. He then went back in for Graduate Dog, which he won!! Finally also being declared Best Phalene Dog. He's such a star <3

Solei continued to improve throughout the week....I had him out in the garden every day at least once, often twice, practicing heelwork in the correct chair on bumpy grass. Rewarding very frequently! The slight problem being when I discovered on Wednesday that we no longer had a retrieve!! He's back to being not very happy about picking up the dumbbell, but I can no longer use the toys I was using before - now he's used to the dumbbell he mouths them too badly and messes around. His heelwork did steadily improve as the week went on, though I wasn't sure if his confidence was building in general or just in the garden...figured I'd find out at the weekend LOL

So, Saturday dawned and off we went to Solei's second ever open obedience show. Arrived nice and early so I could calm myself and him down, as we had a running order (RO) - in UK obedience you turn up to work your dog whenever you like, but they always randomly draw the first 10 dogs, to avoid the situation where nobody wants to be first!!.

He was entered in two classes - the first class (drawn 5th) was Pre-Beginners Dog or Bitch (HOL, HF, Recall, Sit Stay, Down Stay), and the second class (drawn 10th) was YKC Graduate (same as above + retrieve).

The first class Solei worked probably better than ever. Certainly as good as his best ever....I came out with a stupid big grin on my face! Didn't matter how he'd scored, I was over the moon with his performance...especially off the back of the issues we've been having the last few weeks.

Then when I went to get him out for the stays he was let out before I was ready and he hurt himself jumping up on me. Not sure if that was what started it or whether he'd had enough anyway, but he went really stupid again - "world is out to get me". He did stays (clear) and then I put him away for as long as possible, hoping he'd recover. Problem with that was I then had to take him in for classs #2 without warming up (didn't like to warm him up either cos he was being stupid) and he wasn't as bad as I'd thought, but he was still pretty horrendous...his attention wasn't with me, but it's so hard to find the balance with Solei - if he's too focused on me he's too aware of the chair and every bump, if he's not focused enough on me he's better about the chair and bumps but his attention drifts and he doesn't concentrate properly, especially on turns.

Oh and retrieve, in case you're wondering - he didn't run off lol but he dropped it halfway back, half lay down and mouthed it badly before bringing it the rest of the way back. I've now ordered him a custom made smaller, lighter one so hopefully that'll help - I know he does find the existing one a bit heavy.


He almost got us into big trouble as well....in the first class his marks reflected the performance I felt he'd given :-D and he went into the lead, he lead the class almost all day...and it was the class I reeaaaally didn't want him to win XD Thankfully the fourth dog from the end beat him, so he ended up 2nd which was a superb result. Round one over!
 
On to Sunday, and round two. I really didn't know what to expect...I had a feeling Solei would be much more aware of bumps and much jumpier, which he was. Much less confident...and he had a lousy handler!

Once again he was in two classes, Pre-Beginners again the same as Saturday, and also the Pre-Beginner Stakes. Once again he had a RO - 6th in the Stakes, thankfully not drawn in the other.

Which is where the lousy handling came in! Solei usually has clear recalls. On Saturday he lost 1 on his recall, which is unusual for him (but for which I was very grateful as it put him 2nd rather than joint 1st!). I put it down to one of those things.....until he did exactly the same on his recall in the Stakes, which put him out of the running - he wouldn't have won, but with a clear recall he'd have placed. It took it happening both days for me to realise it was me, so then I paid particular attention to where I had my hands and feet when he did his recall in the second class!! Which was subsequently clear, which proves it was me...just a shame I didn't realise before I ruined his chances :-(

In the second class he was ok, lost almost all of the marks he lost on lagging and working wide (chair complex strikes again!)...I say almost because midway through heel free he suddenly had a massive itch which he had to stop dead, spin round and attend to!! LOL He finished 8th and they were placing to 6th, but he got the judge's special award which the judge is given to award to whomever they wish.

So overall we had some lovely results :-) and I'm still flying from seeing him do what I know he's capable of. There should be some video to come, I haven't sorted it out yet.

Back on the up :-) I hope.

Since my last post there have been no major setbacks, I'm reluctant to go as far as to say that Solei is totally over it - as I'm being careful - but he's been fine with everything I've done since he appeared to turn the corner on Tuesday!

I'm still keeping all toys away from him, not worth the risk of going backwards! Later today or tomorrow I'll probably reintroduce the dumbbell as I don't think he's ever really had a problem with that. This silliness started a week last Sunday, I tried to do some holding practice on the Monday at obedience and he wouldn't, but he didn't seem scared of it (it was more the behaviour he was displaying before I got him comfortable picking it up) and that was the last time he saw the dumbbell so I'm hopeful it'll be ok. No tuggy toys or anything remotely similar are allowed to go near him yet!! I'm probably being overcautious, but I really don't want to go through all this again just because I've shown him a toy too soon.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow - I'm going to a companion show so will be trying a little bit of obedience practice with him and see what he's like in a more show like environment. His heelwork and recall is once again fine at home, we don't practice stays at home once they're solid, but I have no reason to think they should be a problem. Eight days to go until day #1 of the show! I'm going to keep him away from obedience on Monday, so tomorrow will be the only chance he gets to practice except for warming him up prior to competition the following weekend.

Today is also a special day....Solei turns six years old! Can't believe it, even though I haven't had him since a puppy time really does fly.

Next chapter of the Solei saga :-P

On Sunday evening he was eager for food as usual….so I got their food ready and I did a couple of steps of heelwork, good…a recall, fine, couple more steps of heelwork…no problem! Called it a day on a good note, and started hand feeding him. He took 5 or 6 mouthfuls perfectly happily, no problems at all and I thought he’d turned the corner….then totally out of the blue the next mouthful he started flinching again, even though it was exactly like the previous mouthfuls…and then we were no better off than we were the day before.

I hoped it was just a little blip, but yesterday he was back to how he was; flinching and reluctant…absolutely no progress made at all :-( I carried on doing what I’d been doing; what feels right for Solei. There’s a very fine line to tread with him, and what would be right for another dog isn’t right for him…I know he’s being silly, but for him it really is best to pander to him for now and try and avoid things which cause him stress, rather than “make” him confront it.

Today I’ve been really careful with him, but I’m ecstatic to say that he’s seemed normal :-D He’s been taking food from my hand without flinching, and I’ve been able to interact with him in a more normal (if very limited) way….so fingers crossed he’s over “it” now and it’s onwards and upwards :-D Still early days….not going to count my chickens before they’re hatched….

I’ll be keeping all toys away from him for at least the next few days! As well as continuing what I’m doing slowly slowly, and be very careful about how I interact with him. We still have 10 days to go, so hopefully he’ll be raring to go and put in a good performance then :-D

Why does a high always have to be followed with a low?!

I’m about ready to rehome Solei….except before you all panic I could never do that :-P but he seems to be almost permanently stressing me so much. I honestly do sometimes wonder whether he’d be happier as an only dog – or with just one other older/calmer/quieter dog – with an older or disabled person who just wants a lap dog…


As I mentioned in my last post I did some practice with him at the show last weekend and he worked absolutely superbly. Sunday (I think) he was acting a little “the world is out to get me”, can’t even remember now (it’s so not unusual for Solei I don’t even take it in as being odd :-P), later in the day I called him over and went to stroke him a little more enthusiastically than usual (Solei HATES any kind of rough praise or OTTnes) and he screamed at me….now I haven’t been convinced that he’s 100% ok for some time so I went to do it again to see if I could figure out where/what was wrong, and he screamed again….but nothing seemed particularly odd so moved on (the screaming isn’t unusual for Solei, if you do anything remotely rough with him or even try and pick him up in the wrong way he screams at you – he’s a very unconfident, sensitive and dramatic dog!)


I took him to obedience Monday night and he was being really stupid, his heelwork was awful (laggyand very much keeping his distance from the chair) and when I waved the toy gently near him (a long thin tuggy toy) he was backing away actually SCARED of it.


Tuesday night he came to ringcraft to watch and he was perfectly normal, but he’s in one of this “omg the world is out to get me” modes and I can’t remember him ever being this bad before….he actually won’t come to me if I call him, if I insist he kinda inches nearer slowly and then stops a couple feet away.


I have no idea what’s up with him….if he goes out he seems normal, when it comes to food time he seems normal (unless I get the toy out or put my hands near him :P), though I’ve pretty much been giving him a break from any training so that is to say he barks when he knows I’m getting up to feed, then bounces round me whilst I go over to the kitchen and then eats enthusiastically


I have no idea whether it’s physical, mental or a combination….he even spooks/flinches at the lead when I hold it in a certain way, which is definitely mental because it’s not putting any pressure on him in any way….he’s seeing it out of the corner of his eye and flinching at it. Eye sight is fine – he was eye tested by an ophthalmologist last November, and he’s been doing that since before then.


It’s always upsetting/frustrating but this time the fact he won’t even happily come up to me is horrid :-( And I haven’t got a clue what to do with him.

I wrote that three days ago….I think things may be improving slightly. I usually do a training session with half his meal before feeding him, I haven’t done that for a few weeks (thought he’d been doing quite a lot and there wasn’t anything specific we needed to work on, so was giving him a break), and after he started this behaviour I was intending to just leave him alone totally for a few weeks and hope he’d “get over it”.

But then he seemed so normal when it came to food time, I tried doing a couple of things with him – a bit of heelwork, a couple of spins…and he actually worked almost as normal. He’ll even recall pretty well. So I decided it might actually be more theraputic for him to do some obedience, thus we’ve been doing a *very* small amount before meals – possibly just a few steps of heelwork up the room. I’ve also been handfeeding him some of his food, to try and break the association that my hands = BAD!

I have him entered in an obedience show on the 24th and 25th of this month, and three of the four classes aren’t too bad (one is a special class that shouldn’t be too difficult, two are heel on lead, heel free, recall with finish, sit stay and down stay, the third is the same as the two but slightly longer stays and with a retrieve), so although initially I thought I wouldn’t take him, I’ll see what he’s like nearer the time, and as he seems to be ok doing the obedience at home I think I’ll take him and see what he’s like once he’s there - luckily it’s only approx half an hour, so I can afford to do that!

Obviously I only want what’s best for him, it’s just often so difficult to know what that is :-( I really hope he gets over this soon :-(

All is good at the moment :-)

We went to a companion show today; I just showed Elton & Vale (and a friends Clumber). Vale had a 2nd in Best Veteran, and my little boy absolutely showed his socks off, won his class and then went on to BEST IN SHOW!! So, so proud of him

Afterwards I got my bag out to do some work with Solei. I kept him on a long line cos I didn't want to risk anything (there were ponies about), but he did some nice heelwork (on lead, not on the line), and two perfect retrieves :) Didn't mess about once! Then I tried a couple of sendaways. First one he went just past the target but I happened to have the line at that length so he got to the end and then realised what he was meant to be doing, then he did a couple of beautiful ones after that. I stopped there....I thought 3/4 sendaways and 2/2 retrieves + 100% nice heelwork was an excellent place to stop :-D

So yes, super day!

On Saturday we went to a companion show that usually has obedience...travelled all the way to find they didn't this year. In fact we'll gloss over the whole thing, it was too hot and just not a good day :lol:

On Sunday I had found out about a companion show which definitely did have obedience! If it had been anywhere in land I wouldn't have gone - too hot for the dogs - but it was right on the coast, so off we went. Arrived (with full compliment of dogs - Vale, Solei, Darwin and Elton) and it was gorgeous - perfect temperature with fantastic views over the sea. I'd decided to just put Darwin in the pedigree classes, Vale in the Veteran novelty class and then do the obedience with Solei and Elton. There were only two obedience classes, the first one I couldn't do (won too much) and there was no way Elton was ready for the second one, so I entered Solei in that class and then put Elton in the first class Not For Competition, to do a training round.

Darwin was 2nd in his AV Toy class - because "we must encourage the children"!! I kid you not - the judge actually SAID that to me, as she placed a young girl of around eight 1st and Darwin 2nd. Vale won AV Veteran, and then at the last minute I decided to put Solei & Elton in the Brace - which they also won!

In the obedience, as it was a relatively basic class (heel on lead, heel free, recall with finish and sit and down stays - ie nothing that requires him to work away from me and then get the opportunity to run off) and it was fairly hot, I decided I would take Solei in without warming him up at all. We paid the price for that on his first stretch of heelwork, he was working a little further forward than he should which then led to a crooked sit when we did the first halt (very unusual for Solei), but after that he settled and his heelwork was brilliant....recall was perfect, as were stays :-) He ended up 2nd, behind a Border Collie!

When I (eventually) managed to take Elton in for his turn I was very excited about having him at a show to see what he'd do. He did a few puppy classes (mainly socialisation) when he was little, other than that he's never been to an obedience class and I've done very little work with him outside. We've done a lot of practice, but 99% of it has been at home inside! I think I worked with him in the garden once...and this show was on grass.

He was a star! I was absolutely amazed. We went in the ring and the first exercise was heelwork (only on lead). We've been practicing, but I couldn't believe how incredible he was! It was quite basic heelwork with just a couple of turns, but his position was almost perfect and the judge said (and it was the end of the day, he was the last dog to work) that his heelwork was the best she'd seen all day :-D After that he was very distracted by everything that was going on around him, which caused a lot of problems with his stay for the recall - funnily enough it wasn't the stay that was the problem, it was getting him to sit! Eventually I left him in a stand stay, which worked much better. The sit stay wasn't nearly so much of a problem, he was concentrating a little better by then.

There is so much potential there, I'm very excited for the future <3

Ok, as I was saying!

I entered Solei for his very first big obedience show, over two days. On Saturday he was in Pre-Beginners (bottom class) and on Sunday I put him in both Pre-Beginners and Beginners (next class up). Pre-Beg is the only class that doesn’t involve a retrieve, and his retrieve is *very* dodgy (as I seem to mention in every post...) – put it this way, in an unfamiliar environment he had yet to bring it back first time :lol:

On Saturday it poured with rain the whole time I was there…I got soaked to the skin, very cold and came home early :lol: Solei did a lovely round, and only lost 4 marks…he was lying joint 8th when I left and ended up just out of the top 10 – not bad in a class of 47 dogs! Though because he lost less than 10 marks he still got his first Certificate of Merit :-D

On Sunday I wanted to work him in Pre-Beg early but the stays were at 11am and of course sod’s law, they stopped as he was the next dog to work! He was really fired up and focused, by the time we’d done the stays I’d lost him so put him away for a bit…then they stopped for lunch and it was a two hour break because of a meeting. Long story short I ended up having to work his rounds straight after each other, which does not sit well with Solei at all. He isn’t very confident anyway, and finds the chair bumping over grass quite scary so tends to jump out to the side and/or lag behind…he’s getting better, but he gets worse as the round goes on, so if I go straight from one to another the previous will be fresh in his mind and he’ll tend to lag from the start.

Anyway, we worked Beginners first and he did the retrieve!! He wasn’t in the least bit interested in retrieving (or even holding it) outside the ring, so I really didn’t think he was going to fetch it. It wasn’t desperately clean, but he did it! That was the highlight of my weekend :lol: He’s come such a long way – this was a dog with zero toy drive that wouldn’t hold anything in his mouth and had zero interest in play.

Pre-Beginners his heelwork was as expected – laggy! Heel Free in particular was very expensive – he lost 11 in total and I think 7½ was on that – he ended up ages behind me at one point! Though the judge marked very strictly, and so even with that he was still 13th out of 47.

In Beginners, he was 7th out of 49!! Losing 6¼, so got a Certificate of Merit there too :-D Very proud of him for his first weekend of big shows!

I came away from the show freshly inspired and with a couple of new ideas. Having put them into practice, just a week later Solei was doing this...

Wow. I really never thought I'd see Solei with a dumbbell! That video shows the sit & hold as well ;)

The next weekend Elton attended a championship show and was placed 4th in Junior Dog, the dog that won the class going on to get the CC. Oh, and at the same show Solei passed his Bronze Good Citizen Award.

Just 6 days later it was off to another champ show! Elton was once again in the cards, getting a 5th in Junior Dog and then to my delight coming 3rd in a very large and diverse Junior Dog Stakes! The Stakes also had prize money and he won £10!!

Next up was a companion show, where the judge was a bit of a surprise – having judged the same show the year before! I’m not showing Solei this summer (bar obedience & maybe the odd brace!) and I didn’t want to put Elton in, so that left Darwin and Vale. I knew she wasn’t overly keen on Darwin - having had him under her last summer – but he has matured and as we were there I thought he could go in anyway. He suffered his first ever defeat in AV Non-Sporting :lol: coming 2nd.

Vale did AV Sporting pedigree class for fun (not being the right “type” I don’t usually do the pedigree classes with her) and was thrown out, so we returned to our usual favourite of novelty AV Veteran! Which she promptly won :-D She’s such a lot of fun to show and I’ll be very sad when she can’t do it anymore (this could well be the last summer I’ll be able to take her round the shows, she’ll be 11 in September)

Today we went to an open show, for a change! My first general open show since Elton won the Puppy Group at the beginning of May. A friend had been under this judge with her Phalene, in an Any Variety Not Separately Classified class, and she’d called her a Japanese Chin. So I’d thought very hard and debated much about whether to enter or not! Eventually decided I would, because I wanted to go to a show and we had Papillon classes this time, so at least she couldn’t mistake Elton for a Chin!

Sorry to say I was proven correct! She didn’t look at Elton, he was on the end of the line and slightly round the corner, and when she came down the line she didn’t even bother to walk all the way to him(!) He was placed last. I’d also entered Darwin, who fared slightly better – he was 2nd in Open, but behaved ABOMINABLY! I think he may well have been in with a chance at winning it, but he wouldn’t move properly and was obsessing with getting his head down on the mat. Dogs :rolleyes:

On the 3rd May we went to an open show, just Elton showing – his last open show in puppy! He decided to go out with a bang, as he was Best Puppy in Breed and then PUPPY GROUP ONE! Both mum and I were in tears…Elton is very special anyway as I bought him with money from granny after she died, but having just lost grandad as well…I expect you can imagine. He went beautifully in the Best Puppy in Show ring, but she wasn’t interested in the little dogs. I liked the fact he ended his puppy career with two puppy group 1s – his first open show, and his last (in puppy) open show!

Three days later we went up to Stafford for Birmingham National Championship Show. Elton was 2nd in a very nice Puppy Dog class, and then won Novice Dog! He was meant to be in the Puppy Stakes as well (this being his last ever show as a puppy), but upon looking at the catalogue I discovered I’d mucked up the entry and put him in the Special Beginner Stakes instead! As it happened it was irrelevant because when I put him down outside the ring he totally freaked – no idea why, but it wasn’t worth risking just for a stakes class. So I didn’t take him in.

I think it was just after that (possibly before – but it certainly lasted up until the 19th May or so) that he started going all peculiar anyway. I put it down to teenagehood and new fear phases and hormones! He was spooking and being scared at things that I didn’t think he was….and I have my kitchen fenced off as a large puppy pen. Elton goes in there when not supervised, because he and Darwin get carried away and wind each other up. In the mornings I feed the older two, then put them outside and get Elton out of the pen to feed/train him. For about a week he wouldn’t come out of the pen, he wouldn’t even come up to me and if he did he’d cower and try to roll over like I was going to beat him! If I offered him food he’d take it and just drop it. Then he snapped out of it as suddenly as it’d come on! All very odd.

The 14th May was Elton’s first birthday I bought a balloon, mainly for photographic purposes – I’m really impressed! The guy in the shop said it should last a week or two (inflated on the 14th)…it looked really good for a month, and although looking a little deflated now it’s still attached to Elton’s bed happily floating! I made a birthday cake, which went down well with all three boys!

The next day I went to a breed club show – taking Elton, Jason and Tosca. My little boy, on his very first day out of puppy, was in his first Junior Dog class! Also in Yearling Dog (12-24mths) and Phalene Dog. He was 2nd in Junior, 1st in Yearling, 1st in Phalene and Reserve Best Phalene in Show! Not bad for 12 months and 1 day :-D Jason was 2nd in Open Dog and Reserve Best Dog – second year running I’ve handled him to that placing! Tosca won Limit Bitch, Best Bitch and then Reserve Best in Show! Which made her Best Phalene in Show automatically. What an incredible day.

Oh and somewhere in the middle of that I had Pippin, Elton’s brother, to stay. Must’ve been end of April because I had him for that companion show on 25th…he was meant to be coming to live for a while, but in the end I only had him three weeks because Solei would NOT settle down with him – he was constantly tried to mount him, and it wasn’t fair on all concerned…so he went back to T.

22nd May it was off to another companion show – no obedience this time. Vale (our 10yo Lab) came :-) I love it when she comes along, showing her is so much fun. Elton did his first “big boys” AV Non-Sporting class and came 3rd – very respectable, considering he still hadn’t got the hang of behaving on grass! Darwin won AV Open and was Reserve Best in Show! I didn’t show Solei at all. Vale did three classes – she was 2nd in Waggiest Tail, 3rd in Best Veteran and 1st in Best Condition! It was a lovely day, really nice show – though a bit too hot!

The next Friday was Bath Champ Show. Elton didn’t go badly at all and was 4th in his Junior Dog class, and then 5th in the Junior Dog Stakes!

I think that’s enough for now, because the next day Solei and I embarked on our first open obedience show which’ll be quite longwinded - so that’s for the next post!

Happy First Birthday to my gorgeous little boy!

Well, we made it to the show on 25th April. Solei did his obedience, and I also put all 3 boys in the pedigree classes for a bit of fun…Elton (who behaved horrendously! It was only the 2nd time he’d ever shown on grass, which was also rather long for his little legs – so movement was barely assessable!) was 3rd in Any Variety Puppy, Solei 3rd in Any Variety Open and Darwin won Any Variety Non-Sporting.

Solei did two obedience classes. The easier class he did very well, the harder class was fine except the retrieve! As I mentioned last time, retrieve and Solei aren’t a match made in heaven at the best of times. On this occasion he wasn’t paying attention to where I threw it, so I sent him out to fetch it, he sniffed about for a while looking for it and then decided he’d give up and run in very fast enormous circles round the field(!!!) When he gets like that there’s no calling him back, so I waited for him to do a few laps and get it out of his system and then called him back – he came and the judge asked if I’d like to do that again! We did, and actually he did it very nicely the second time – shame it didn’t count!

I also did the bottom class with Darwin, for a bit of fun. He wasn’t very good but he did it! His major failing was the down stay – I haven’t done any practice on grass (I never thought I'd have him this long, so he was never intended for obedience - just conformation) and he broke it because the smells were too much and he felt the need to get up and sniff them properly. Needless to say he didn’t place, neither did Solei in the harder class – but my little star won the easier class! Really pleased with him, especially given that was his first obedience in show environment since last September.

Oops. I haven’t had the urge to write and haven’t had the inclination to force myself! End result…no blogging for almost three months. Eep. Though I can’t believe I didn’t even post about Crufts!

Obviously I can’t analyse the last three months in detail so brief summary – here goes nothing!

Crufts…wow, what can I see. I booked a travelodge in Coventry and we stayed a night away from home for the first time in years. We went up on the Saturday, with Solei; who I’d entered in Limit Dog for the second year running. I wasn’t expecting anything, just a nice day out! Anyway, Solei totally surpassed my expectations by getting fourth in a large and very strong class! Absolutely over the moon.

At the end of the day S&T took Solei home, and off we went to our travelodge! Woke up bright and early on Sunday and arrived at Crufts with just about perfect timing. What a fantastic day! Spent much of it with friends and their Golden Retrievers, one of whom’s birthday it happened to be – cake all round! Human birthday that is, not dog…

I did lots of shopping, spent far too much money and it was the most fantastic weekend!

Elton has grown up enormously! He’s 11 months old now, and fast approaching his first birthday. I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of him…we’ve had our ups and downs, but for a Phalene he’s done so well. He had a couple of iffy shows shortly after my last post, but the tide turned and things picked up again!

Best Puppy in Breed & Puppy Group 4 at Bristol on 20th March, plus 2nd in the Novice Stakes.
Best Puppy in Breed at Okehampton on 28th March
Best Puppy in Breed & Puppy Group 3 in a superb puppy group at Exonian on 3rd April
1st Novice Dog at the Papillon (Butterfly Dog) Club Champ Show on 11th April

annnd yesterday we went to WELKS (big all breed championship show) and Elton was 3rd in Puppy Dog, so has qualified for Crufts 2011 too :D

The last few months have been such a rollercoaster…he’s been up and down and really stressing me as to whether he’d come right! Especially when he got to ten months old and his legs still needed to grow (a lot of toy breeds will have stopped growing by that point) but thankfully my instinct that he was going to be a slower maturer was right and he kept growing and has ended up back in proportion (phew!) He’s got a beautiful coat now, too. I’ve tried to take photos every month and it’s fascinating to see how it’s grown, even when I didn’t think it had!

Here's a video of him practicing in the ring at 10 months old
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cH7FjP0fDs
Starting to get the idea of behaving on the move! And a georgeous free stack at the end.

He’s a very sweet little boy. More submissive than I’d like, but he’s cute and showy and seems to be intelligent! Though having said that, despite the fact we’ve been practicing obedience at home since he was very small, he’s just FINALLY got the hang of the word “stay”! He's getting much better about people going over him on the table, though still hasn't properly settled on the move.

Other than that I’m not sure there’s a lot to report. Oh! Darwin came to Okehampton and was Best of Breed and 2nd in the Toy Group :D Which was very exciting – that’s my highest (non-puppy) group placing to date. He’s only shown 4 times so far this year, so hasn’t had much opportunity to do well!

Solei is pottering along. He finished 2009 as the 3rd Top Obedience Papillon! We’re dealing with each problem a step at a time, and are slowly getting there...then something else comes up :P Ah well, we'll keep on keeping on. He's slotted right in to the higher obedience class, after a rather embarrassing first week!

Retrieve and Solei are somewhat...dodgy. Given I'd asked to move him up rather than being told I could (despite the fact in every other area he was working way above the level of the class he was in), I felt we had more to prove. So along we went, everything was going beautifully....until it came to time for the retrieve.

I sat him beside me, told him to stay, threw it. Gave the command to go fetch it, he charged off after it, picked it up....and then decided this was so much fun he'd have to start running in circles. He went absolutely crazy XD he wasn't trying to dodge me or keep it away from me or anything, he just went completely crazy running in circles. I was a flustered mix of hilarity and embarrassment, everybody else was just amused! Then once he'd finished his circles he brought it back! Except....we were doing the retrieves in pairs amd I'd gone first. The instructor forgot to tell me to "hold" (not necessarily literally) my dog when he asked the next person to go, and I was still a bit all over the place from that....so I wasn't paying attention properly, didn't tell him to stay, she threw her toy....and Solei went to go fetch it!

It was one of those relatively big kong (tennis ball type) dumbbells....and Solei hates that material so he went over, put his mouth round it (which he could barely manage) and then decided he wasn't gonna pick that up....so he starts his circles again. By this time everyone is laughing their heads off :-X I get him back beside me, this time tell him to stay and there's no problem whilst she does her retrieve

So after that the instructor says ok, that's good....go back to your seats...and Solei decided that means retrieve again! So he charges off to where I'd thrown it the last couple of times only of course there's nothing there....so he looks at me like "where the hell is it then?!" and then does another couple of circles. A memorable first class?!

Ever since Solei started retrieving we've been using a sock...the only thing he'd pick up. Recently we actually managed to progress to a small rubber bone, but still he wouldn't sit and hold anything in his mouth - he'd either bring it back and stand in front of me, or bring it back and sit, dropping it in the process.

BREAKTHROUGH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCVFTNGcH2M
Terrible mouthing, and only on the bed...but here was Solei actually holding something and sitting!

and then....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lTaAqAMYx0
So proud of him - not the best angle (only place I could put the camera) but Solei retrieving complete with a sit & hold at the end! Still mouthing quite badly but wow, we've had SO much trouble with the retrieve I honestly doubted we'd ever get this far. He still won't have anything to do with a dumbbell, but one step at a time.

Tomorrow we’re off to a companion show, so that Solei can do his first obedience of the year! Wish us luck...

Elton graduated from his puppy class last night...knowing less than when he started lol. He appears to have forgotten what down means....he knew it and was doing it really well, then this last week or two I really am not sure he knows what it means....I don't know what the matter with him is! Must be adolescence...

So next week Solei moves up to the next class, and Elton will be taking a break for a while...at the moment I don't feel he'd gain enough from going on to the next class, I need to work with him at home a bit longer and refine a few things...his stay is still incredibly ropy and as I say, his knowledge of the word down has left him! Once he is doing reliable 10 second (at least) stays and responds to 99% of requests to lie down as he does to sit, then I'll be happy to take him back! Might take him to the odd class in the mean time, if I feel like it. Hopefully it won't take too long anyway!

Then this morning Elton and I had our first session of box play! "The box" is something I gave up with with Solei - he's such a sensitive dog, which extends to anything which he feels might hurt him...I wouldn't call him nervous, more wary? He's so sensitive to any kind of sudden noise..etc. So when Solei and I tried to play with the box I put a piece of high value food in the middle of the box....Solei would go right up to it, lean his head as far forward as possible and stick his tongue out to try and grab it...but there's absolutely NO WAY he's even going to think about putting a paw on it :-P

I've been wanting a wobble board for ages, but haven't yet found one I'm happy with...I think I'm going to end up making my own, but I need to work out how would be best!

Yes, anyway. So then I put Solei away and got Elton out...wow, he's everything his dad isn't lol. Though I do wonder; I think if I'd been able to put into Solei what I have into Elton (Solei was 3 days off 3 years old when I got him) he'd be quite different...though I don't think he'd ever have been quite like Elton! So there's Elton on the floor with this fairly large cardboard box, with very little encouragement he puts his front paws on it :-) Gets suitably rewarded, thinks this is good so stays there...I get him off, he puts paws back up - excellent! Then I turned it upside down and he was jumping in and out of it, turned it back the other way and he was jumping on and off it and doing sits and downs on the box :-D Couldn't ask for more! He was confident, enthuasiastic and it was just a very positive session. Now I just need to find a small basket or bucket of a suitable height because I want to teach him to walk round it with his back legs, whilst keeping his front legs on it....this box is too big really, but it was the only thing I had of a suitable height.

I think that's about all...we've still been working on trotting nicely in the ring, but last weekend we had a show and he actually felt like his daddy (Solei outmoves just about every Pap around atm and feels incredible on the move) when I moved him, so that was very positive! He's a lot more settled on the move at the moment, but we're now having issues with tablework! Elton is quite a submissive dog and he's not keen on anyone picking him up, nor is he keen on people putting their hands round him in a certain way. I realised part of the problem was he didn't like judges approaching him from the front, so I started standing in front of him instead of to the side (he backs away, was even doing it with me to start with) and now the problem is hands coming towards his front....so that's what we're working on now! When I feed him I usually give him half as a training session on the floor (sits, downs, targeting, spins...etc) and then half on the table, so I'm still doing that but instead of just making him stand on the table and then giving him the bowl I'm handfeeding some of it whilst my hands come at him from the front and touch him. We seem to be making progress :-) There's a full month between his last show and his next, so plenty of time to work on it.

There was a bit of a blow yesterday when I found out there's no chance of any agility before May. I miss it so much and I've been dying to get back. I was hopeful that as soon as the weather cleared up we'd be able to start again, so to find I'm looking at at least three more months is just...meh.

Our garden is completely unsuitable, but I reckon my grandfather's is big enough and flat enough to set up a few jumps...so I'm going to buy a few cones & poles and a rigid tunnel and see if I can set something up there so at least I'm doing something.

Well this is good - we haven't even started and I've already failed! Though in part that's due to major connection problems which is resulting in very brief and sporadic internet access - and sad to say, when I am online I have rather more urgent things to do. Typing this, the thought just occurred to me that I can write the entries offline and then it'll only take a couple of minutes to post it - so that's that excuse gone now :lol:

Elton has just two weeks of puppy classes left. We're looking forward to our last class, when we get to forget about sits and stays and play around with the FUN stuff :lol: I tend to weave some into our sessions anyway....he knows spin both left and right, and we're working on this really cute slide backwards - which is probably ruining any attempts at stay :lol: but I'm not too fussed about that...his stay is more or less non-existant (for other reasons) and yes he's 9 months old (today! Happy 9 month birthday Elton!) and really should have some kind of stay, but we are working on it and he'll get there in his own time...he's still a very bouncy immature puppy with the concentration span of a flea! He's the eldest in our puppy class by quite some way, yet last week towards the end he had totally lost concentration and was ignoring my commands, whilst these 4 month old puppies were still going :lol: I also have a 17-month-old Papillon called Darwin - who wasn't mentioned in my previous post because he belongs to friends and could be going at any time now, but I've had him since March 09 - and he took forever to get any kind of concentration span. Even now it needs a lot of work; it's still not brilliant!

Elton and I have had one breakthrough. At shows we've had big problems walking on a lead - I can practice all I like, but once he gets into that ring instead of a nice controlled trot he goes bounce jump skip hop gallop wheeee! :lol: I don't want to spoil his fun, because he's obviously enjoying it and the last thing I want is a robotic dog that's lost all enthusiasm by the age of 12 months...but now he's 9 months and no longer considered a "minor puppy" I thought it was about time we got on top of it! I'm not going to count my chickens before they're hatched, because at 7 months he had a couple of shows where he went much better, but at ringcraft last Tuesday he went better than ever :-D and then yesterday I took him to a show and he moved really well there too! So hopefully now it'll be onwards and upwards.

As for Solei...well, he's Solei lol. I haven't done a whole lot with him over the last week or two, I've been so tired. Last Wednesday I started a cleaning spree which was rather an undertaking! It took me the best part of two hours just to scrub down the (not large) puppy pen, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately I've still got rather a long way to go.

The good news is that we're finally allowed to progress to the next class! Our club has 5 classes - the 8 week puppy intake, then four levels of constant "turn up as often as you like" type classes. Solei has been in the bottom of these since I started attending last May. Ever since then he's been more or less "too good" - our one sticking point is the retrieve. His stays are lovely, he has a good recall, he walks nicely on a lead..etc. The classes are done on a badge type system where there's a list of exercises you must complete, each of which must be done correctly twice...and then you move up. Though that in its self can take a while - you don't get a chance at everything each week, and it can take weeks from passing the first time to being able to attempt it a second time. Solei has all of them except his second retrieve, and has done for months! I went through a period at the end of last year where I only went once or twice over the space of a couple of months, cos I'd just lost the enthusiasm! Because you choose when you attend, the class sizes can vary enormously - I've been there on weeks where there have been just 4 or 5 dogs, but our record is 20(!). The week after the puppy classes finishes is generally busy as a lot of the puppies come up to the second class, then after a couple of weeks the numbers tend to drop back again...Average for a long time was probably 7 or so dogs, then in the latter half of last year it suddenly went up.

Anyway, I digress! Last September our regular tutor went on a break, and although the "replacement" was very good, he was much less focussed on individual dogs and progressing up into the next class. Two weeks ago our regular tutor came back...week #1 she was obviously watching Solei, week #2 she asked if I wanted to move up :lol: So when Elton finishes his puppy class (the classes are concurrent, so if Solei moves up now I can't work them both), Solei will be going up! It's rather nervewracking, but I'm also excited to finally be pushing him more. The current class is basic pet obedience - walking nicely on a lead, up to 1 minute stays in any position, waiting for food until they're told..etc. and working towards the Good Citizen Scheme Bronze. At home Solei and I are doing competition heelwork (on & off lead), 5 minute sit stays and semi-out of sight and have started out of sight down stays :lol: This class takes you through Good Citizen Scheme Silver, all of which he *should* already be capable of (we have issues with control when we're any where dogs have peed...:P), so we'll see how it goes...I don't think he'll be out of his depth (touch wood!).

So yes, that's that!

A friend and I recently made an agreement that we'd both make an attempt to blog about our dogs on a regular (at least weekly) basis. So, here we are! I'm anticipating I will be posting videos of training & possibly shows, plus photos and information about what the dogs have been up to both in the ring and at home.

My dogs are Solei, who is a 5½ year old Phalene and his son Elton, an 8½ month old Phalene. At some point this year I also hope to (finally) be joined by the dog I've waited more than two years for - fingers crossed!

Solei was shown in conformation up until 2009, but then lost a tooth and after an encounter with the vet, culminating in the loss of a few more(!) is now retired until Veteran (July 2011). Though he'll be coming out to play at Crufts this year, just for the hell of it! (he's qualified for life). Last year we were also finally able to start some agility lessons, but just as Solei was starting to grasp the idea we had to stop. Hopefully soon the weather will improve and we'll be able to get back into it! I'd love to be able to take him to a show and have a go at a couple of jumping courses without weaves before the year is out. Our other occupation is obedience! I started competing with him last summer, at small companion shows...very proud to say that he was never unplaced :) This year we hope to continue that, and maybe try a couple of open shows. A big thing for Solei is the surface - for him to perform decently the ground has to be level and preferably hard. Inside is perfect, but 99% of our shows are outside!

Elton made his conformation debut in November 2009, with a bang! His very first show out he won Best AV Toy Puppy (out of 15) and then went on to top a very strong (numerically & quality) puppy group :D Since then he's also taken his very first BOB - at the age of just 8 months and 2 days - over an entry of 15, including dogs doing consistantly well at champ shows and a CC winner, and we hope for a bright future :)

Eventually I hope to do some obedience and agility with him too, but for now I'm content to concentrate on Elton's show career and concentrate on bringing Solei up to where I want him in the other two disciplines. Though having said that, at the moment Elton is doing some puppy classes, and I will continue to work on some basic obedience and a few extras with the future in mind (targeting and such).