Went to an open show on the 15th. I'd borrowed a puppy for the day, so I had Bobby in the first Pap class and Elton in Open, then Ria in AVNSC Gundog Open (just the one AVNSC class today).

Both boys won their classes, but the judge absolutely fell in love with Bobby, thought he was stunning - so he had BP, BOB, Group 4 and won the Puppy Group! Meanwhile, Ria beat a mature English Setter and won Best AVNSC & BPAVNSC!

So it was a successful day, though rather stressful when Ria's class missed clashing with the toy group by a whisker - to the point I actually came out of the group to show Ria, then had to leave her with mum to dash back when it took slightly longer than anticipated! To mum's relief I got back just in time!

Nothing in either group for Ria, and nothing in BPIS for Bobby - but all in all not a bad day!

Went to agility on the 19th which was fun, did some shaping with cones and stools, some waits and releases and some one jump work.

Last weekend was South Western Gundog - Kooiker classes! Ria had 2nd of 3 - beaten by her big brother (older litter) and beating a nice, mature (if out of coat!) bitch - and BP. Judge gave her a good look in BPIS but nothing, and then she came 2nd in the Puppy Stakes :-) (same judge) That was her last show as a minor puppy - she was 9 months on Wednesday, where has that gone!

Took her to obedience on Monday for the first time in a while - a friends girl hadn't been happy the previous week but there was no-one there she could play with, so we wondered if having Ria there may help. I was actually very pleased with Ria, she was much better than last time - albeit it was hard work for me, as I had to keep her focus on me almost all the time. She did some lovely heelwork with food in my hand, despite having the big GSD behind her! It was all going so well...and then a whippet went for her :-( which ruined that! Compounded when we went out to find the Spinone that chased her in the summer! Arrrgh, always happens to her.

Agility on Wednesday was fun - besides the fact when the lurcher (who looks just a whippet) walked in she went into meltdown! We moved between various stations - rocker board, ladder, cones, jump bumps, part of the dog walk etc - and on the whole she was fab :-) Except she was a bit jumpy and reactive in certain areas, and when we were doing jump bumps and another dog suddenly erupted barking - she jumped out of her skin and lost the plot for a bit! At the end we did both tunnels, rigid one was fine, but as I thought she may she wasn't keen on the collapsible. When I take Solei back to agility in November (different club) I'm going to see if I can borrow it because he also finds it scary, and neither of them see it enough to really get used to it - so hopefully an intense week crash course will make progress!

Elton is having a dental today, so I hardly had any sleep last night and I can't wait for it to be over!

Had my first judging experience on Sunday! At the South Wales Papillon Club, judging Junior Handling. I was asked 4 months ago and said I'd think about it (cos I have trouble with the word no...), the next thing I knew I seemed to have agreed to it!

In the end it was ok, and I actually enjoyed myself. Most of the decisions were fairly obvious which was good, the thing that gave me the most trouble was splitting them for BJH.

I was also showing - and Solei got to come and play! Elton was chucked out of Limit Dog, which had 17 dogs entered...though I'd attended to his nails again on Saturday to see if I could get him more comfortable, and he was definitely standing better on that foot. Solei got a 3rd in Veteran Dog which was was delighted with, and a 4th in Phalene Dog - and more to the point, omg he enjoyed himself! He did not really show well, but who cares :-) He took off with me around the ring at 180mph with me trailing behind him going "slow dowwwwn...!" and he could hardly stand still in the line, I've never seen him like that before....was extra awesome <3

Then in the afternoon I showed the same little girl I'd shown on Friday - and this time won a large Minor Puppy Bitch class of 13, Reserve Best Puppy Bitch, Best Minor Puppy Bitch and Best Minor Puppy in Show! So it was rather a weird day really; that's the first time I've done really well with a dog of someone elses that hasn't been like mine - ie living with me and being treated as "mine"!

Wednesday was an interesting day....show I didn't really want to go to, but a load of friends were going who I haven't seen for ages and really wanted to see, so decided to go - even though I was fairly confident Ria would do absolutely nothing. I was right - 3rd of 3 :-P Her lowest place to date, yay.

However, it was worth it to see everyone and unbeknown to me a friend took some awesome photos of her in the ring!

On from there to week 3 of Foundation Agility - had a fab week this week, they were missing a trainer so put a load of stations (ladder, boxes, wobble boards, pole on floor...etc) and we moved from one to the other - but what was totally awesome was I got my own private trainer ;-) All went well til we started on one jump exercises, when I totally forgot what happens if you wind Ria up and then send her out for a toy.....and yeah, 5 minutes later she was done running around with her "prize" and came back to me. Oops. But this is the first time she's been comfortable enough to play there, so :-D

Tuesday was match night and I decided to take Ria. Am not taking Elton for the foreseeable future because he was so amazing last time (apart from the fact he won Best in Match - he just showed so well) that I want to remember that and not ruin it! It was Ria's first match as a "proper" (6-12mths) puppy - and she won Best Puppy! Very pleased with her, she's on a roll at the moment :-D Long may it continue!

Wednesday was her second foundation agility class. She coped much better than the previous week, wasn't nearly as jumpy and reactive. We did some circle work, walking along one part if the dog walk on the floor, and sending them to a cone - the latter everyone was amazed at, cos of course I've already taught Ria! So she was going to it at great distance - though I did have to refresh her memory cos it was a new venue with a very different cone. I really love this club, it's so depressing it's so difficult to get to :-( I like the people, from what I've seen so far I like the methods, and the trainer talks a heck of a lot of sense! My kind of person.

Common sense prevailed and I didn't book agility for Solei this month - I had a Friday show this week, and next week I have a Wednesday one after which I'm hoping to come home via Ria's class!

I need to get back to obedience, I have done nothing with Ria for around two months (been concentrating on other things!) and I gave up on the classes because it was doing neither of us any good - too many dogs in too small a space. As it gets colder and the nights draw in people tend to give up and start staying at home, so I'm hoping to get back to it soon when it'll be more constructive.

So now I'm typing this in the car on the way home from South Wales Kennel Association Championship Show. Elton had 3rds in both stakes and breed - in the breed he decided to jump over all the cracks in the floor :-P which meant half his movement was not good as everytime he did it it then took a couple of paces to get back into his stride - and it wasn't the largest of rings. Ah well, didn't expect much today. Ria won Junior Bitch & Best Puppy, so we had the absolutely terrifying experience of going into a championship show (puppy) group! The ringside was absolutely packed. The puppies had been pre-judged and then made to wait in the collecting ring for ages whilst they finished the group, so although she went well then (already knew she didn't stand a chance, he was too disinterested in going over her!) she was tired by the time we all went in to the main ring. Still, apart from the fact she kept trying to get her head down to start with, once I got her going she went well - fingers crossed she looked good!

I also had a 2nd showing a dog for S & T - who nearly won the class, judge came back and asked me and the dog he placed 1st to move again - so not a bad day all round, really.

Oops - time flies.

Been to three shows since my last post. At the first one Elton was just entered in the Kennel Club Junior Warrant qualifying heat - he went beautifully but judge didn't seem to like little dogs! Ria got Best Puppy AVNSC and Reserve Best AVNSC.

The second one I just had Ria entered (gundog only show) - she had Best of Breed and Best Puppy in Breed, went beautifully in BIS where I knew she didn't stand a chance, then completely lost the plot for BPIS! She was tired, she'd had enough, concentration completely vanished...disappointing, but ah well. She's still only a baby.

That said - Ria turned 8 months old on Monday! Scary; where did that little baby puppy go?!

The Monday before last I took her to obedience again - and yet again didn't actually get to do obedience, as we went walking :-P

Over the last couple of weeks I've been trying to take her out every day to areas where we may encounter other dogs, I met someone with a black Lab who I know is lovely (working Guide Dog), Ria did her usual...she was just calming down and getting it into proportion when the IDIOT dog wasn't looking where she was going and canonned straight into the mans legs (he was standing still) - which scared her so much she put her tail between her legs and charged off in complete blind panic. *Rolls eyes*.

Wednesday was her first week of foundation agility. I believe she's the youngest in the class, but not by much - it's almost all young dogs of around a year, think the next youngest are 10½ months old and there are a couple of around 12 months.

It started off with a bus journey which was ok except for a group of teenagers that were messing about at the back and suddenly squealed, that started her barking (not good on a bus - but I quietened her fairly quickly), then we walked to the venue.

Great atmosphere when we walked in, and looking at what was set up it looks like they do 2x2 weaves, which is fab as far as I'm conerned! Bit difficult to pass judgement on the class as it was very introductory, but so far so good :-) Also like the fact the trainer understands all dogs are not Border Collies :-P

Third show was today, another open show. I'd hoped the judge may like Elton, but he was standing quite badly in front (since he lost the nail - it is growing back now so am hoping he feels better for next weekend!) and (more to the point) didn't behave that well. He mated his first bitch a couple of weeks ago and this was his first show since, so not sure if it was cos of that or just Elton being Elton! but either way when we all went round together he was not good (or assessable!) and although his triangle was better he just wasn't going properly. So he got a 3rd.

Ria won her class, Best Puppy AVNSC and Best AVNSC! Bit unfortunate when as the judge was going over her some dogs erupted and she jumped out of her skin - but I think recovered. Nothing in the groups, but when it came to the puppy group, for the first time I felt like she may actually be in with a chance, rather than just making the numbers up! So fingers crossed for next time :-)

Afterwards she had a lovely run off lead and I had a tired puppy for a couple of hours :-P