Ack, I've got so sloppy at this over the last month! I seem to have missed another chunk out too? I have nothing written down from my last entry until 19th November. So I'll just have to do a vague fill in again - had another show on Sunday 13th, Ria got a 4th in AVNSC Graduate which I was very pleased with, as it was a class of 10 and she beat a lot of mature dogs, then 3rd in the Puppy Stakes. After some debate I decided to take Elton and just keep him quiet. He had a 3rd in his breed class, then followed it up with a very respectable 3rd in the Open Stakes :-) Agility with Ria on Wednesday, agility with Solei on Thursday.

Now for the bit I had actually written at the time...

Two shows this weekend. On Saturday Ria eventually got in the ring about 4pm! Worth it though - she beat an adult GSP to win her AVNSC Graduate class and was also BP. The judge said she was really lovely. In the puppy group later she was so spooky, never seen her like that in the ring before. She moved well, but standing was a bit of a disaster all weekend! She kept moving just at the crucial moment. Elton had 2nd out of 2 :-P

Sunday I so nearly didn't go. It had been such a long day on Saturday and I wasn't hopeful of good results! However, my optimistic side is always irritatingly....optimistic, and it usually ends in disappointment! However, on this occasion...Elton had BOB! And Ria had 3rd in a class of 5 (AVNSC Graduate again) and beat the GWP puppy for BP :-D So I was really pleased, though nothing in groups. Ria was even worse at standing than he previous day which was frustrating.

Had an easy week this week - I decided against obedience on Monday, partly cos I wanted an early night, but also as she'd been so spooky that weekend I wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not (am wondering if it's hormonal...) and ringcraft on Tuesday cos it's so late.

Then Solei mated a bitch Tuesday and twisted something - ended up on 3 legs, so no agility for him on Thursday! Which meant all I've done is agility with Ria on Wednesday.

Had a fabulous session! She was so much more focused and I was even throwing her toy and she was bringing it back :-) Only had one 'moment' and she did bring it back eventually!

It was very interesting to see that when we did some contact training on a dog walk plank on the floor she immediately knew what I wanted and was fab, wheras doing exactly the same at home on a plank of wood she still doesn't really understand what I'm asking for.

Which has been what I've been doing with Ria and Elton this week! Elton is very good but I keep having to start from the beginning and get his confidence back - it started when mum accidently pushed it against his toes :-P and that took me ages to persuade him to go near it again. Then I'd just got him back  was having trouble seeing his feet to see if he was 2 on and 2 off so I flipped his tail to the other side and that managed to freak him again :-P And so starts yet again going back to rewarding him for going near it!

Had a kinda meh session at obedience with Ria on Monday....and she's still so reactive and nervy with other dogs, it's depressing - even though she is improving. So embarrassing, and people don't understand unless they've been there.

I dunno, I go (sometimes) because I like the structure and the opportunity to practise things amongst other dogs (esp things like stays), but I hate it when the classes are big and I don't like it when people tell me to do X or Y (tbh, not that that happens very often) - I know what works for my dogs and I know which methods I like, and they don't have experience with a very flighty, sensitive, highly strung dog...who you cannot tell off like you could eg a Labrador. So I'll keep doing my own thing, it works for me :-P but trying not to seem like a know-it-all because I don't, far from it.

Elton's chiro appointment was booked for Tuesday. Even though he'd been absolutely fine for the last couple of days I went with my gut instinct which said something was not right, and I'm so glad I did - his pelvis was quite badly out to the right, and spine slightly iffy too. The good news is it hadn't been out long and he responded really well to treatment, so fingers crossed that's sorted that now. The hard part now has been trying to keep him quiet, I just hope it's good enough! So as it happens, rather than me feeling bad about the anaesthetic causing him problems it could actually be a good thing - the dead weight of him being moved under it may have just moved things that were slightly out more acutely and brought an already existing problem to the surface, enabling it to be treated quicker. Of course I'll never know, but at least he's hopefully sorted now.

And apparently I fail here because I wrote this on 11th November and then didn't realise I hadn't posted it nor had I finished off my account of the week! So I shall post this on it's original date, but as it's now 5th December I can't remember a thing so I shall just have to leave it that Wednesday Ria went to agility, Thursday Solei went to agility and that was that!

Well, this is a fun week!

As I mentioned in my previous post, on Thursday I brought the collapsible tunnel home from agility. This was actually primarily for Solei, but also to speed up things with Ria - and mean we could use the classes for more productive purposes.

Apologies if I'm repeating myself, but Solei as anyone who knows him well is the biggest wus ever...and thinks the whole world is out to get him :-P so you can imagine how well that goes down with having to run into blackness and push through fabric that also makes scary noises :-P He will (most of the time) run through it as long as it is being held right open, but if it was lowered at all that was that - and if you overstep the mark he then wouldn't go through it open either. Ria is mainly inexperienced - she had that fright when she first saw the collapsible tunnel age 6 months when the end was grabbed to open it just as she was in the entrance, and then wouldn't go near it again that day. Her next experience with it was at 8 months and she still wasn't very happy, though she did at least go through it once, held open (and then refused to have anything more to do with it!). Hasn't seen it since. Elton has never seen it before, he actually surprised me.

Given the way Solei's mind works, and also that they very rarely use it at Solei's agility club. I figured the only way he was ever going to make progress was to bring it home and have an intense crash course! Which also had the added benefit of being able to get Ria used to it, and overcome her uncertainty far quicker than we would be able to once a week at the club.

So, first session was Friday morning....started with it folded right back so it was just like a partial curtain at the entrance.

This was this (Monday) morning's session....(excuse pjs!)

I am stunned at how quickly Solei has progressed. He isn't terribly confident, but he is doing it - and please note we are training with a toy! For a dog that never used to play, this is equally incredible ;-) haha. As can be seen, although we have a long way to go and it is nowhere near full length, all three dogs are pushing through the fabric! Elton is going to have the hardest job - I wasn't at all sure if he'd be able to do it, he looks so tiny and lost in the entrance! He is quite a bit smaller than Solei, and is going to need to really blast to have a hope of not getting stuck - but I think he has the speed, so fingers crossed.

We'll see where we get to by Thursday!

Wow, what a week. I didn't get much sleep Thursday last week cos I was worried about Elton's dental, though he came back on Friday with all teeth still in tact and nice and clean :-) which was a big relief! Poor boy was knocked for six with the anaesthetic though - he spent all Friday night fidgeting and crying, which was not popular from my point of view! Made no difference if he was in bed with me or in his crate, so no sleep was really got that night by either of us!

He also had reflux - presumably caused by the tube irritating his esophagus, though at least he was still eating soft food - and was just not quite right, but by Sunday he seemed fairly ok in himself so I took him to a show I’d entered as it was close to home and I was going with Ria anyway. He was fine in the ring and won Best of Breed, it was a long day and although he was bouncing around and as normal in the breed and fine in the group to start with, by the end he’d had enough and made me feel suitably guilty! Also discovered on Sunday he had diarrhoea, his first poo since the anaesthetic so I'm sure that was down to that (and a temporarily different diet). When I went to bed that night he wasn’t quite right - wasn't sure whether to put that down to the anaesthetic or not, because then he jumped up on the bed and I noticed he was lame on a rear leg.

On Monday he was still on 3 legs and very miserable! On the plus side it seemed to take his mind of the anaesthetic effects? :-P He was sound again by Tuesday, and seemed much more himself so I took him to our ringcraft club's match just to watch (showing Ria) as I didn't really want to leave him at home on his own. He bounced around a bit saying hello to everyone, as is Elton :-P

Wednesday he was obviously really uncomfortable, in a way I would say comes from his back - stretching and bowing and often couldn't seem to get comfortable for any length of time when lying down. By Friday he was much better - that'd be cos I emailed the chiropractor for an appointment for him :-P - so hopefully he's fine now - though I will still get him an appointment.

In other news - as I say, went to a show last Sunday and Elton got BOB. Ria's class was the most farcical thing I've ever seen! They did AV before AVNSC, then told the winner of AV she could withdraw from AVNSC to remain unbeaten (you can't). Another person and I were standing in the ring for about 10 minutes whilst they debated this, then the judge said he wanted the dog back in the ring so she appeared - and we started the class. I completed Ria's triangle to find the judge deep in conversation with the show manager - nice to see he'd obviously been paying attention!! He hadn't watched at all. I'd had enough of the whole thing by then and Ria had 2nd out of 2! Arrrrgh.

More successful was the ringcraft match on Tuesday was a Supermatch Qualifier and Ria had Reserve Best Puppy in Match, so is the reserve if the winner can't make it for some reason!

Wednesday's agility was fun - though I need to do more work on my right. I've really tried with Ria and thought we were ok, but put into different contexts it was obvious that it's not! That was the last week of the initial foundation (6 weeks gone quickly!) so next week is the next block, in which apparently they will introduce more equipment which'll be interesting given Ria can't do most of it yet! I'm sure they'll make it age appropriate for her (I think she may actually be the only dog still under 12 months now)

Then back to Solei's on Thursday! Must say, I adore the stuff I'm doing with Ria - it's exactly what I wanted, and I wouldn't change a thing - but after having the whole of October off it was nice to be back on equipment running sequences! Considering Solei hadn't done anything in over a month he did very well, he kept flying off the dog walk to start with (we were coming round off a jump in a U, and I think he kept not turning enough and taking the dog walk at an angle so he sort of went over the contact on a diagonal rather than up it - if that makes sense!) but after two attempts when I realised what he was doing I brought him round in a slightly wider arc and that was fine. He also struggled going in one end of the tunnel, but that was me more than him - I suck at co-ordination :-( But overall - nice :-) and he was even playing with me in places! I've worked soo hard on that.

In a bid to get somewhere with the collapsible tunnel/chute I brought it home with me on Thursday for a week, but more about that next time.

Yesterday I went to a disasterous show :-P I almost didn't bother cos I had a feeling it'd not be a good day, but ever the optimist! Some people came who NEVER go to shows down there (they've been once in all the time they've been showing - and they won then too!) and Elton had a 4th out of 4 which he really didn't deserve. I know this is the perils of Phalenes at open shows but I hate him being knocked all the time, and people seeing him being knocked. Can't give them up though - I want his Show Certificate of Merit, he's halfway there and you can only get the points from open shows!

Ria was having a slightly off day - she moved quite well til the last side of her triangle which wasn't good - partly cos I did a sudden stop/change of direction as I almost ran her over a drain grid! - and then lost concentration, and most of the time I could NOT get her standing right. She had a 5th in a class of 7, all bar one were adults so could've been worse - but was beaten by another puppy. Another day, another show...