Ringcraft on Tuesday evening was pretty good :-) Ria was very unsure about all the other dogs, but I took things slowly with her, and the actual showing bit wasn't bad at all - she was ok with being gone over, albeit moving was...interesting :-D Very much a puppy! We didn't have all four feet on the floor very much, she jumped and bounced down the mats and if I didn't have her attention so much on me she pulled like a train. But I was pleased with her confidence in that respect, and she seemed to enjoy herself!

After she'd been 3 times I decided she'd done enough and went and sat with her on my lap amongst all the big dogs. She wasn't happy to start with (the tail down trying to climb over my shoulder to get away reaction - without sound!), but by the time I left she was relaxed and even hit one of my friends Golden Retrievers on the head with her paw! I didn't try her on the ground in the vicinity, because she was doing so well I wanted to make sure we ended on a good note and didn't want to push it. She was very jumpy every time another dog barked/whined/howled (there was a Malamute who was employing all 3 which really didn't help...)

So all in all, quite positive for her first experience.

On Wednesday we had our first venture back into town since the motorbike incident. As we walked down near the road (her in my arms) she started panicking - not in a major screaming kind of way, but tail pinned down, struggling to get away. There had been a motorbike in the distance, so that may well have done it (timing!). I sat there for a bit trying to get control and calm her down, but she wasn't going to be so I started walking back up away from the road. Once she'd calmed down I gave her to mum (who was with me) to hold and started feeding her as we walked back down...she was so focused on the food she was fine, and as time went on I gradually extended the time between pieces. Thankfully we didn't encounter any motorbikes!

Once we got to the park I put her down and she saw gulls, pigeons and a duck or two....she wasn't very sure, ironically especially of the ducks! But it was quite an angry duck :-P But the most extreme reaction was tail clamped down (but not right between her legs), backing away barking - which is a definite improvement on tail between legs running away screaming! - and I just waited it out.

A much more positive experience than last time :-) Slowly but surely....

On Thursday I left her crated during the day for the first time....was a bit aprehensive as it was the first time she'd been left with no-one around at all (she's been left alone, but where someone could hear her if something happened) but she seemed ok - everything was in one piece when I came home, anyway!

In the evening she came to agility again. She's definitely much warier/jumpier about sudden/loud noises now, but the previous week she'd met a young Beardie and wasn't too sure....so I was very happy to see upon encountering the same dog this week she was much more confident right from the start :-)

On Friday she had her first bath! I've been meaning to do it for a couple of weeks, but she's a poo eater and I've been giving her pineapple to see if it works on her....now she ADORES pineapple. And I had a glass of pineapple on Friday morning....and she thought it was for her :-P The end result was pineapple juice everywhere and a sticky puppy! She was actually very good in the bath, much better than I was expecting....and ok under the dryer as well, albeit I used a low power hair dryer. She certainly wasn't scared - the biggest problem was stopping her getting too wound up!

Took her for another outing to town earlier, though still jumpy she was better than the previous occasion! A motorbike passed us this time...poor girl jumped 6 feet.

I'm so done for lol...can't keep up with her! She's getting her first "show" experience tomorrow - a companion show with obedience.

Arggggh.

I took Ria into town on Saturday afternoon. It was all going really well - except slight "moment" with a man playing a guitar! I carried her some of the way (including past the man - she still wasn't at all happy so I stood there until she'd relaxed - and then put her down once we got to a slightly less busy part. She was watching everybody going about their business, and we did a bit of focusing on me and walking nicely on a lead (this is great, but only for very short periods - and absolutely diabolical the rest of the time!). She was happy and relaxed, focusing well (for a 12 week old puppy!) and happy to say hello to people (she hasn't had that much experience of meeting people in unfamiliar environments from the ground).

Then as we were going back I wanted to take her to see the man again, as she'd reacted the previous time. I stopped some metres away - with her in my arms - and she was fine. So I put her down on the floor...erm, no thank you! Tail went between her legs, and she started pulling in the opposite direction making small cries. I have no idea what it was about it that upset her so much, but she really was not a happy girl.

And then it got worse. As I started walking back to go home, what should come along the road but a parade of motorbikes....literally hundreds, complete with police escort. All this was ok, except just as we reached the road some absolute PRAT decided to show off and start revving his engine over and over again - very loudly - complete with air horns. Well Ria just totally FREAKED. I have never seen a dog so scared, she totally lost it. Thankfully I had her in my arms at this point, but even then I could hardly hold her. She was trying to get away, screaming and crying. As soon as I had enough control of her I had to walk away, she was just in a blind panic. Even as I was walking away she was still screaming, and once she'd calmed down slightly I discovered she'd pooed on me....so she really was genuinely frightened. Though she does do drama queen well - once after she'd pooped she was swivelling round and crying - she had a bit stuck to her :-P Ok, fair enough....but the same reaction was provoked a few days later when she stood in the water bowl and got her bum wet!! *rolls eyes*

I could happily have throttled whoever thought it "cool" to show off like that. So I've been doing traffic exposure in my arms, and I've now got a sound CD (fireworks, gun shots & thunder/lightning) to see what she thinks of that. If she's ok I'm going to try and get hold of a CD with motorbike engines on. My biggest fear is that she'll tranpose the fear and be scared of things like doors banging, crates being collapsed..etc

The good news is she was ok with traffic before, so hopefully she'll recover. She's a little jumpy with other (non-motorbike) traffic now, but that seems to be getting better already so fingers crossed....


Then yesterday we had to be all dramatic again *sigh*

I'd asked a friend if she would bring her Golden Retriever (Freyja) to meet Ria, cos I know she's very good with puppies and smaller dogs, and I knew Ria needed as much as exposure as possible. Well, she arrived in rather excited style....and Ria ran across the room with her tail between her legs screaming :-P (not at the level of the motorbikes though!). She put herself in the corner and there she stayed!

The good news is by the time they went (after about two hours) she'd come out, she was happily moving around the room and she even had some nose to nose contact with Freyja :-) So with some work I hope she'll be ok....she hasn't had that much outside dog contact - only been allowed down on the floor to meet other dogs properly for just over a week - and we haven't encountered too many "suitable" dogs. She's met a couple of puppies (a 12 month old Bearded Collie and a 6 month old Poodle) on lead and she hasn't been extreme - nervy, but no crying or screaming and although she'd back off she'd then go forward, back off, go forward..etc.

I'm still really irritated that I missed ringcraft last week, because that would have done us both the world of good. However, she's going for the first time tonight! So that'll be interesting....first time being gone over by a stranger, and there'll be plenty of dogs for her to interact with.

She had a trip in the car to see Solei's chiropractor today (just for a visit - Solei's appointment!). As I suspected he's put his pelvis out badly again, but his chiro said it went back more easily and the muscles feel more supple, so at least we do seem to be making some progress. I just hope maybe we can go longer than two weeks without him damaging himself this time :-P Maybe even two months?!

Solei was good at agility last week, though we've had a trainer change and merged the two groups which is  irritating. We had two groups to start with because there were so many people, and they split them into more able (obedient!) and less able. Solei was in the more able group, which makes it more frustrating because we're the ones that have had to compromise. Last week was more basic than we have been doing, which felt a bit like we were going backwards. Did have one hair raising moment, entirely my fault. I sent Solei through a tunnel, he then decided to take the jump that was in front of the tunnel exit and then the seesaw was in front of that......
Luckily because he's a light dog it doesn't tip easily, so he jumped off the end before it had really moved and seemed to land ok....so hopefully no harm done! He's already put himself off the seesaw once a couple years ago when I think he thought it was the dog walk and took it too confidently.

I also took him to obedience on Monday. I haven't been for months - I'd basically given up on it. Almost ever since I've been going Solei has been working at a class below his level, and nobody seemed in any hurry to do anything about it and it wasn't any fun. So at the Christmas party (3 weeks ago!) I asked if he could go up to the next class. Which is where he should've been for months IMO. Anyway, she asked if he had a retrieve (yes) and then said if I'm competing with him definitely move him up. So (having accidentally attended at the wrong time last week!) on Monday he had his first go in the top class. Totally the right decision! I had more fun there than I have done for so long. Despite missing the beginning of the class cos I broke down (oops). We did a retrieve, which was a messy pick up, but other than that ok. I know the object he's retrieving is causing most of the problems (it's rubber, so it bounces uncontrollably and gets "slimy" and it's small so not the best to pick up, But it's all he will retrieve atm. I keep meaning to see about putting some fleece round the middle to see if that'll help). Then they did scent, which I haven't taught Solei yet so we watched...I've now been told how to start him off, so that's something new to work on! And send away - which Solei did very nicely :-) We have two weeks off now, and then Solei's group go out to the polo field whilst the other groups stay at the hall (but move outside).

I've been struggling as to what to do with Ria and Elton....I really want to do something with them, Elton in particular because I want to give him so more focused "Elton time" beyond the show ring, especially now our sessions at home are almost non-existent. Solei has obedience on a Monday and agility on a Thursday, as of next week Ria has ringcraft on a Tuesday and Elton only has shows at the weekend...I haven't been doing obedience with Elton because he really didn't seem to like the hall, and there is no new puppy class (for Ria) until June.

Lying in bed this morning I suddenly had a thought....as the hall classes are moving outside as long as it's dry it would definitely be worth trying Elton there again (only on weeks they will be outside!) and I reckon if I speak nicely to them it would be worth trying Ria in the next class up (they have 4 classes, puppy, bottom, middle, top). Elton is currently in this class, but I think he's probably capable of the third class, and a friend is currently taking that class anyway....so I think maybe it's time for musical dogs! I remember when I had Solei in the first non-puppy class it's quite basic - loose lead walking, sit/down/stand stays for 1 minute only a few paces away, waiting to eat, play retrieve, recall. And that's what you're working towards by the end of the class, not what you're expected to do to be able to do to join it!

It's impossible to do the polo field and the hall because the classes run concurrently in the summer. So I'm going to speak to them about Elton & Ria (and get Elton to one of the bottom classes as a quick refresher course!) and if they're happy I'll alternate...some weeks take Solei up to the polo field, some weeks take Elton & Ria to the hall. Hopefully everyone'll be happy, dogs included :-)

I took all three to be microchipped yesterday. I've been meaning to get Solei and Elton done for ages (Solei's chip has gone walkabout, Elton I was waiting until he was an adult and hadn't got around to it) but I found a good deal and with Ria arriving as well I figured I'd get on and get it done. They all cried, but poor Elton has a big bloody spot on his neck and he's the one that made the least fuss! The other two you can't even see where they had it done.

Oh yet more fun with puppies!

Having decided I really ought to do something with Ria on Saturday but not having the energy, I ended up taking her up to the top of the drive in the dark :-P I wanted her to see some cars with their lights on, and also thought it would be good for her to do some of the stuff we've been doing (sit, nose to hand touch) in a different environment, plus some more work at walking on the lead! It wasn't too bad, until she totally freaked at a jogger and was then rather jumpy. So I stayed out just long enough for her to settle as much as she was going to and get her working with me again, then called it a night. She needs sooo much work at walking on a lead, she's a nightmare. Once again it's the chair making things much more awkward.

I've had her sleeping in a puppy pen since I brought her home (she was used to being loose in her breeder's kitchen), I crated her at night for the first time the night (9th/10th) before she was so poorly - so that was the first and last time, as I didn't want to have her crated whilst she had diarrhoea.

On Saturday night I decided she was definitely ok, and crated her again. She went right from 10pm to 5am! Given I had to be up at 5am to go to the show, that was all night :-D

Sunday night she only went from 12am to 5:30am, then 7:30am, and that's now more typical - going 3-5 hours and then waking. But I'm more relaxed at night, so sleeping better - when she's loose I'm awake at every sound because if I hear her get out of the crate I want to get her outside, but crated I know (hope!) she'll cry or make a more obvious noise if she does need to go out. She's really good whilst she's in it....when I crated her on the night of the 9th she cried initially, this time she hasn't made a sound, even the first night. Early days yet, but hopefully we'll both be sleeping through the night before too long!

On Monday she came to obedience. Thanks to the fact we were running late I hardly got to have her out at all, but she met a couple more people and one or two dogs. The dogs are very difficult - she isn't good (nervous), so it's so important that I get her socialised with other dogs....but equally that means I've got to be especially careful about the dogs she mixes with. The last thing I need is a dog to snarl or snap at her.

I'd intended to take her to ringcraft for the first time on Tuesday, but I was feeling so terrible that I wasn't able to get there. So frustrating, thanks to one thing or another she still hasn't been except for that match night when she wasn't allowed off my lap. We were meant to be attending a puppy party next Tuesday, but I think I may give it a miss to get her to ringcraft instead - I can't go the week after, so if I don't go that would mean she won't get there til the 10th, which I'm not very happy about.

Yesterday Ria had her first trip to the "toy shop"; aka the large pet superstore. She thought it was great! Bits of food to try and pick up off the floor :-P (if I was quicker than her I made her wait before she was allowed to get it) and lots of people to say hello to. She was really good, even with children. When she encountered her first screaming baby she looked a bit perplexed, but didn't seem bothered. She spotted the rabbits which she thought were very interesting - never seen a rabbit before! We did a little bit of training; her focus was really good for a 12 week old baby. Then we walked back along the toy isle....oh now that was fun! Most of the plushies were in basket things at the bottom of the shelves....just about reachable for a Ria :-P She went along helping herself! Just remove one from her mouth, and she'd help herself to the next one! It was very funny, but she came home without any as they were all just so expensive.

Today is yet another gorgeous day :-) So Ria went for her second walk this morning. I carried her to where it was safe to let her off lead, and had a lovely short walk in the sunshine with her :-D Sooo nice to have a dog that's good off lead (touch wood! For now..)

A friend and her two children (13 & 11) came to meet Ria this afternoon. I was interested to see what her reaction would be, because I've done a lot of socialising and she's great with people outside, but I've only ever had visitors to the house once since I've had her (which was only a few days after I brought her home) and she was rather nervy. I needn't have been concerned, cos she was absolutely fine :-) Very much enjoyed herself!

We've started discrimination between the front and back of my hand to try and get her into a better position for walking. She's getting the idea :-) Other than that much the same! I've now moved from the nail clippers on to the grinder for the front paws, because she prefers it and it's safe enough now (back paws are dodgier cos she tries to put her nose on it!)

Oh and we had weigh day....Elton 2.7kg (just under 6lb), Solei 3.4kg (7.5lb), Ria 3.5kg (7.7lb) :-P Oh well, that didn't take long! (For Ria to outgrow the boys)

Wow, what a weekend!

Took Elton to the Papillon (Butterfly Dog) Club's Championship Show yesterday. Solei came as well, but he wasn't showing.

There was something very odd going on....I have no idea what, but a number of the dogs were being really freaky, even some that are usually bombproof. Some of the others were just being really awkward.

Elton was in Post Graduate Dog, and he was being a real pest! But he moved well, and stood decently...just under some duress, and thus without his usual spark - though thankfully it had just about been there when the judge came for her initial look, so at least her initial impression was ok! He won the class :-D I'm absolutely over the moon with him. This was only Elton's second time in a Post Graduate class, and it'll be his last as from his next champ show (27th May) he's going up into Limit. One of his breeders has said to me that if she was showing him she'd be expecting CCs this year, and she's wanted him up in Limit since he came out of Junior in November. I've held back a bit because although physically he's mature (good coat, nice fringing - good "finish" in general) mentally he isn't, and his movement has often been somewhat erratic and "babyish". However, I did say to her I would once he's two....and he'll be two on the 14th May, so that time has now come! Although yesterday he wasn't right, he has actually been showing better in general (as long as dogs are in the ring before bitches - which they are at champ shows) so fingers crossed he does well once he's in Limit Dog and hopefully we might have a green and white card (CC or RCC) or two coming our way this year :-)

He was also in the Phalene Dog class, but by that point he REALLY didn't want to know. He stood there looking (to me - don't think it was obvious unless you got up close - but of course the judge does!) as if the world was ending, and he REALLY didn't want to be there. I think what the problem was was that he'd found a smell, and all he wanted to do was sniff it. He wasn't amused at being "made" to stand - so he was being obedient, whilst letting me know exactly what he thought! :-P I have to be careful with him anyway, he's not the sort of dog you can pull about or tell off. He had a 2nd in that class, which was all he deserved given how he showed - though I'm not sure if he'd have won or not anyway, but it would have been interesting to see! I was disappointed because that made him a beaten dog and I so wanted him in the challenge for the CC.

I hate seeing him like that in the ring, and it worries me that he'll be the same next time....I think he's done it once before and then was fine (as I say, it does seem to be linked to him obsessing with a particular dog or smell and wanting to get to it), but it still worries me! Especially given how difficult things have been over the last couple of months; I desperately want the Elton I had a few months ago back.

They do the annual awards at this show (Top Dog, Top Bitch, Top Puppy, Top Breeder...etc) and I am absolutely delighted to announce that Solei is Top Obedience Papillon 2010!

So both boys came home with trophies, and I came home so proud of both my boys.

I've entered nothing else this month, so it's back to concentrating on Ria and baby steps with both boys...Elton I do the very occasional bit with when he's in the mood (not often - thus very occasional!) and Solei and I are still working on the dumbbell....we get it out for a couple of weeks, then put it away because he's making no progress and I don't want to keep on. However, this time I think we may be making tiny baby steps...he actually lifted it half a mm off the bed! So we'll keep on a bit longer, and see if we can get more progress :-)

I forgot to mention Solei's agility class last Thursday....someone brought a bitch in season. To a class of beginner dogs off lead. And didn't tell anyone. Yeah, smart. She got blood on the weave poles, at which point all was revealed! Luckily we got away with it....we were in two groups and she and Solei were in different ones, coupled with the fact he ought to know what he's doing and she obviously (by his reaction) wasn't ready....once he got over his love affair with the weave poles and checked out a few dogs to make sure it wasn't them I was really surprised at how he recomposed himself! Most unlike Solei :-)

It's so nice to be able to put Ria on the floor! I was able to put her on the floor for the first time on Thursday, so her first experience on the floor was at agility. I was quite pleased with her....walking on a lead is another matter (she's all over the place) but she seemed to deal with the environment quite well. She met a few of the other dogs (not too sure) and I did some "stuff" with her, her focus was quite good and she was quite confident when experimenting with a large plastic block!

Yesterday she went for her first walk. Though as she can only have about 10 minutes at the moment it was a half walk half carry! I took her over to an area that's quite quiet, but it is popular with other dog walkers at certain times - and I managed to catch some! (Unintentional) So she met a friend and her Golden Retriever (he totally ignored her - not impressed!), a couple I don't know with a 13 week old Akita puppy (omg, so CUTE! Fluffy bear cub), a couple with a GSD and a Rough Collie and a man with a crossbreed. All the people talked to her (fine - she's much more confident with people now...in fact if someone stops and gives her attention she then pulls over to the next person we meet to try and get more :-P Which I will do something about, but it's good to see her that keen on people!) and she said a brief hello to most of the dogs. She's not so sure at the moment, but I've I've had to keep her away from other dogs because of not being vaccinated, so Thursday is the first time she's met dogs - other than mine/her breeder's - from the floor. Planning to do lots of work on that now, because I want to make sure she's good with other dogs (as a breed they're not always).

After we were on our own I put her on a long line, and after she got herself totally wrapped around me I decided long lines + puppies + wheelchairs do not mix! So I got brave and let her completely off lead. I was so impressed. The main reason I decided to let her off was because I thought as she'd never been for a walk before and it was an area she'd never been to before she'd hopefully be more dependant on me and not want to go far. That wasn't quite true, but her recall was AMAZING. I know it probably won't last :-P I only had her off lead for a couple of minutes, but every time I called her she came back first time....even when she was trotting in the opposite direction and she got too far ahead for my comfort so I called her back - she turned around immediately and came back to me. <3

In other news she's still growing, and I still need to get some new photos! She's taking a backseat this weekend as I have a Pap Club (specialty) show tomorrow, so today is being spent trimming/bathing dogs and then I won't be home until late tomorrow. If I have any energy left I want to try and get her out later, but given it's now gone 6pm...

More positive update today :-) (Excuse poo analysis lol)

On Sunday when Ria was so poorly I'd planned to take her to see the sea...obviously all plans were abandoned! As she'd been so well over Monday I decided she would be ok to go on Tuesday - I would have liked to have seen her poo, but she wasn't showing any signs (had gone more than 24hrs by this point - I was starting to wonder if I'd constipated her!) so at least I figured at least she probably didn't have diarrhoea :-P

She had a great time :-) I still wanted to keep her off the floor, so I carried her along the sea front, and then we went round the town. She saw trams for the first time, which she thought was quite interesting! And we met lots of people - children, adults, pensioners....saw wheelchairs, sticks, frames, pushchairs...I was hoping she'd see more hats/sunglasses, but we didn't really encounter any. She's so friendly with people now....not that she ever wasn't, but she was rather stand offish (as the breed is actually meant to be :-P) and now I've kinda turned her into a dog that'll mug the nearest person for attention...oops!

When we got home she had her lunch, and then went out and did a near normal poo! She did another that evening which was rather soft but still formed, then this morning she did a 99% normal one....so we definitely seem to be over the worst of it :-) I just need to start getting her back onto her regular food now, and hope she deals ok with that.

In other news, she turned 11 weeks old today...time is going so fast! This is what we are or are planning to work on over the next few weeks -

Food manners
Doors manners
Positions (sit, down, stand) - sit is coming along well, down is coming along well on my bed and nowhere else! And stand needs a lot of work. Nothing is on verbal cue yet.
101 things to do with a box
Hand to nose touch, inc when hand is moving
Play retrieve
Hold a dumbbell
Recall
Building tug drive
Going in crate
Quiet
Leave
Watch
Walking on a lead
Grooming
Having teeth looked at & cleaned
Having paws picked up, examined, trimmed and nails cut. Using clippers atm, just starting to introduce the grinder.
General examination - checking ears, feeling all over...etc

Have I forgotten anything really obvious/basic/essential?

Ria and I almost got to try out the emergency vets yesterday. Why always out of hours?!

I woke up at 2:30am and Ria went out for a wee, all fine....heard someone being sick in the night, thought it was her but didn't think much of it as she went out again then, and seemed absolutely fine. Did another wee and a normal poo. That was about half 4 so it was some time within those two hours, I would guess it was what woke me at 4:30 but couldn't swear I hadn't gone back to sleep in between! By 9am she was being sick, had projectile diarrhoea and was totally lifeless. I had a quick "omg what do I do before 9am on a Sunday morning" panic :-P Then decided as she'd only had diarrhoea the once and she wasn't dehydrated I'd leave her for an hour or so and see if she was sick again/had any more diarrhoea. Ever mindful of how quickly puppies can go downhill, but it was a calculated decision...they couldn't really do anything I wasn't doing, and she'd have been down there so quickly if she'd shown any sign of going downhill.

So I gave her a tiny bit of sugared water via syringe, some pro-kolin and offered her some egg which she thought she ought to eat but didn't want to - ie she licked at it, took some in her mouth and then spat it out! She wasn't sick again and didn't have any more diarrhoea, so decided I was ok to leave it a bit longer - after all we were already in out of hours! - gave her some more water a couple of hours later. She went about 6 hours before she was sick again, but she wasn't any worse and possibly fractionally better....so I gave her some more pro-kolin, and she started drinking on her own. She was sick again an hour or so later...then all of a sudden - just like small children! - just before 9pm she tottered up and went out for a wee, came back in and had a drink....then ate the tiny amount of egg that'd been sitting in her crate most of the day (& tried to eat the pot!) and then started charging around and playing with her bottle!!

She fell on chicken & rice with usual enthusiasm last night and she's been fine today...including attacking every meal (either chicken/rice or egg) with gusto! I'm watching her closely because she produced two liquid poos overnight, but she's behaving normally, eating normally and hasn't been sick since yesterday. She actually hasn't pooed at all today, so whatever is happening what she's eating obviously isn't going straight through her. Watching her now (killing vet bed, throwing toys about, charging from one end to the other!) you'd never think she'd been almost at death's door yesterday.

She was so poorly, she really scared me. So lifeless.

Life is chaotic at the moment. The joys of a young puppy! I'm so very tired all the time, it's just all go and without enough sleep at night! I've had Ria 3 weeks as of yesterday - it feels like forever, yet no time at all.

On Tuesday I took her to ringcraft for the first time. It was match night, so she sat on my lap and watched - not that she could have participated anyway, she's still not allowed on the floor. She met my friends Golden Retrievers, and it was very interesting to watch her reactions....up til now she's only had nose to nose contact with Kooikers and my boys. She took a bit to warm up, then was barking wanting to play! There were 3 other Papillons there, and the moment she saw them she was pulling and barking....you could see the recognition "hey, you're like those things at home! I like those - play with me!"

So now she's seen a snapshot of my social life lol - obedience, ringcraft & agility!

I took Elton to compete, he got through the first round and then in the second suddenly saw the other Papillons on the other side of the hall and would he move properly? Like hell he would! He just wanted to pull over to them and play. As I was saying....mature appearance, immature brain :-P He turns two next month, and although there are a lot of the immature aspects of him I love, time and a place comes to mind...

Took Ria into town on Wednesday, that's the first time she's been into town. Once again she seemed to take it all in her stride....she's definitely a dog that can be nervy to start with and needs to "warm up". An ambulance went by with siren blazing which made her jump! She met lots and lots more people, good for her but I'm getting very fed up with answering "what is she" "a Kooikerhondje" "a what?". I'm seriously considering turning her into a Collie in those situations for ease of not having to repeat long explanations 30x a day!

Her second visit to agility on Thursday. I did the same as last week...she was more interested in the horses this time, but wasn't sure what to make of them to start with!

Yesterday we went to the vets for her second vaccination. She obviously remembered the place and held no hard feelings! She greeted them like a long lost friend. After she was such a drama queen last time I occupied the head end with food whilst the thermometer went in, and again with the needle - she was so engrossed in the food she didn't even notice!

She's still meant to stay off the ground for another week :-( I just want to get her down and out and about and stuff now. The world is going to seem a very different place from the floor....

In other very exciting news, last night she was dry overnight for the first time since I've had her :-D I can't say clean as she did poop, but it's a start. As I sit here typing this it's almost 5pm and she has yet to pee in the house today.....maybe she's finally starting to get this house training thing?

Last weekend was busy. Dad Ria sat, whilst I was showing Elton in breed on Saturday and then again on Sunday, plus Solei in obedience that day.

Saturday was a disaster....the judge was clearly anti-Elton, and despite the fact he showed well and looked good he was beaten by dogs that really shouldn't have beaten him, and only beat a large puppy (the only dog he did beat) with it's tail down by the skin of his teeth (ie the judge actually had to think about it). It did mean I left early, so was home by lunchtime!

Sunday was more...interesting. Though it just was not Elton's weekend! I had entered Fern, so "borrowed" her back for the day. All fun - Fern & Elton in breed, Elton & Solei in obedience.

There were 5 dogs entered in Fern's class and 5 dogs entered in Elton's, though only belonging to two other people (they both had two dogs in each class). Fern actually showed much better than I was expecting, Elton wasn't so good but was passable...physically he's mature, mentally he still has a very long way to go! I thought we'd sorted this problem out, as he's showed well for the last few weeks - but upon thinking about it for the last 6 shows he's done we've either had separate dog/bitch rings, dogs in before bitches or Papillons in the ring very early. At this show, where we'd had most of the terrier group in before us - as well as three toy breeds - it all went slightly out of the window!

So they both won their classes by default (& Fern Best Puppy in Breed), and then they had to go against each other for Best of Breed....and then the fun started :-P Elton saw Fern, and omg he went crazy. Of course the last time he saw her she was a week in season, and Elton needs no encouragement in that department anyway. He's bitch obsessed at the moment - I'm sure that's the problem in the ring.

Anyway, he had moments of being ok and I did get him to stand quite well (when the chair is an advantage...easier to block his view lol), but Fern beat him!! She's not the best bitch, and that just should not have happened - even the way he was showing, he wasn't absolutely atrocious and unassessable.

Later Fern was slung out of the group but had Puppy Group 3 :-) They were doing a best Reserve Best of Breed so Elton went into that and showed much better, but the judge plainly didn't like him (think I'd worked that one out after the breed!)

There was a limited obedience show being held alongside, but this time it was limited by radius - you had to live within 80 miles (I scraped in being about 77 miles away!) - so we were up against the Border Collies, Working Sheepdogs and the like.

There was no Pre-Beginners class, so I'd put Solei in Beginners & Novice, and Elton in Beginners. I was fully expecting to have to train all but Solei's Beginners round!

As was demonstrated by UK Toy it always gets a bit hectic when I'm trying to balance breed + obedience! So I took Solei up to work Beginners early. He was better than I thought he was going to be, and the surface was quite a good half way house - a weird rubber/fabric/sand type stuff (outdoor equestrian arena) that was bumpier than a hall, but not quite as bumpy as some grass.

The judge commented that he lost position in the heelwork by drifting - typical Solei, this is his "oo er, I'd better go a bit wider because that bump was scary and the chair might get me!" "Oh, ok it must be safe - I'll come back into position." "Ack, there it goes again" "Oh, ok it's gone again"...etc! But on the whole he was very good. His recall was the best it's been for months - he used to have a superb recall, but had started not coming in straight.

I so nearly missed stays - I was busy chatting, looked at the clock and it was 11:46am - stays were 11:45!! I grabbed Solei out of his crate, couldn't find the lead so put him on my lap and charged up to the ring - luckily they weren't running quite to time and I got there with seconds to spare!

I didn't bother doing stays with Elton as A) I didn't have time to grab him as well (plus I discovered once outside it was raining and he hadn't yet shown!) and B) his chance of doing the retrieve was low, his chance of not losing so many points on the retrieve he'd be totally out the placings was almost nil!

Solei needs a good rest in between his rounds, so I was planning to do Novice in the afternoon. Being pleased with his morning performance I was in two minds about whether to do it or not, then the Novice stays clashed perfectly with the Papillon breed classes so I decided to abandon the whole idea and quit whilst I was ahead!

Once the breed classes were finished I took Elton up to train his Beginners round, only to discovered they'd finished and wouldn't let him. I was not very pleased, given I'd paid to enter him. The communication was crap all day - there was a tannoy system which they could have used (as they later used it to call for a dog for the run off!) but chose not to. They knew he was here cos I'd "booked him in" so it wouldn't have taken much effort to just give a last call for the class.

Anyway, that aside Solei ended having a run off for 3rd & 4th. The exercise chosen was a recall, and he did the most GORGEOUS recall....I honestly couldn't fault it, and I'm as critical of my dogs as you can get. Then he buggered up the finish!! He found an interesting spot on the floor (and there really must have been something there as the other dog did exactly the same thing, just not as badly) and got distracted, then finished crookedly.

Still, I'm very pleased with a 4th - he's started off this year so well, I just hope it doesn't do a sudden nose dive like last year! He started off really well, then it couldn't have gone anymore downhill.

A quiet April on the show front now....a breed club championship show with Elton on the 17th, and that's all I have booked for this month - though I'm hoping to find a fun show or two later in the month to take Ria along to for experience :-)

I don't know where this week has gone....it's just, well, gone!

Monday was my obedience club's long delayed rescheduled Christmas Party (now turned into an Easter Party!). It was cancelled back in mid-December when we had extreme snow! I had to smile - usually it's the Monday as I've been to LKA Champ Show on either Saturday or Sunday, so I'm usually tired. This/last year they'd managed to make it the next weekend, so I would've had energy! Of course the rescheduled date was the Monday after I'd been to UK Toy on the Saturday - which is even further than LKA! I don't do many shows that are that far away, so it's sod's law.

Anyway, I arrived a good half an hour early because mum drops me, and I'd decided to take Ria to observe whilst it was quieter and then she'd bring her home for me. She seemed to take it all in her stride! Happily saying hello to everybody, and trying to get down on the floor - I have a feeling once she *is* allowed down the floor won't be quite so appealing....

As more dogs and people arrived it didn't seem to phase her, but I decided enough was enough (apart from anything else, a lot of dogs in a fairly small area with a not fully vaccinated puppy...) and mum took her home. Apparently she slept all evening!

It was a nice evening, amazing food buffet...just not quite the same atmosphere as when held just before Christmas! Solei won Musical Sits, and was 2nd in Dog Crochet (recall between two chairs getting closer & closer together - in the final round only one dog went through (had to jump them!) but Solei went under one chair which was deemed closer than the others, who went round it!). Elton was doing well until he broke his stay to say hello to another Papillon :-P (making a habit of this....I know what I need to work on! Though to be fair on this occasion it was right behind and may well have gone up to him - had my back to him again!)

Tuesday I don't even remember, but I didn't leave the house!

On Wednesday afternoon I took Ria for a quick visit to Tescos (supermarket). It has a nice covered lobby, so it's warmer than standing outside - and more importantly as it had been wet, was dry! Once again she seemed to take it in her stride, though only a couple of minutes after I arrived a woman came up to me who I think had mild learning difficulties, and insisted on standing there talking to me for ages - I wouldn't have minded, but she was one of those that thought she "knew" dogs and couldn't be told, and insisted on trying to gently cup her hand around Ria's muzzle or tap her, which understandably she didn't like. She did eventually go, and Ria met a few other people. Although only a couple of children came up to say hello, she saw lots and didn't seem bothered - though she has yet to encounter the screaming shouting ones! This is something I know I've got to watch, because her breeder has no children and she won't come into contact with any children in my day to day life unless I go out of my way to make sure she does (which I intend to).

Yesterday I decided she could come to agility, which was another new experience! She saw horses for the first time (not impressed - far more interested in the other cars arriving!) and met yet more people. Then she went in her crate in the back of the car for an hour (with mum sitting in the front) whilst I did the class (more about that another day) and then I had her out for about 25 minutes after class was over, and she met more people and saw a little bit of agility. I met a puppy belonging to the lady that taught me a couple of years ago, and Ria and I have a lot of work to do lol...but her puppy is more than 2 weeks older, and a lot can happen in two weeks.

I'm trying to find the energy to wander down the road with her this afternoon, but Elton needs bathing later and I'm not sure I have the energy for both!