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).