Not too much happening here since Discover Dogs! We attended one breed show the week after, Elton got Best of Breed and Ria was a disaster - just as the judge put her hands on her another dog errupted behind and really scared her. She did let her go over her but wasn't happy and didn't show well. Hopefully she'll be ok next time - she has a nice long break!
Other than that it's been regular agility classes for all three dogs, and that's about it!

Solei is enjoying his classes, but he's lacking the foundation and understanding of the other two which is a bit awkward for me too - I have to remember which dog I've got! Due to his first few years he doesn't seem to learn in the same way either. He has rekindled his dog walk/aframe obsession and takes great delight in doing them whenever he thinks that might possibly be what I want :X

We've resumed weave training with channel weaves (as that's what they use there) and it seems to be going better than last time so there might be hope yet. I want toy play to carry over better but I am able to get some play there, just not really as a reward yet - that said it did work a couple of times! I'm just trying to be careful to not "reward" lack of interest in toys (you don't want the toy? that's ok, you can have food). Last class of the year next week, and in a moment of madness I entered him for his first trial in January :-P (just to see how focused or not he is)


Elton...I think his confidence is slowly growing. He's very "sticky" still and needs an awful lot of work on independent behaviour (which is also largely a confidence thing) but he is making progress. He's enjoying it, which is the main thing :) He is starting to interact with toys a bit, though as a functional reward it's a bit hit and miss so I'm mainly using alteratives (food in various ways!). Contact equipment is still very much work in progress, but he was walking right to the top and down the up part of a lowered dog walk plank last week, which is definite progress. The chute is also still a scary cavern!

He did a beginners course running workshop a couple of weeks ago, just jumps and tunnels and we gradually built the sequence back until at the end we ran the whole course. I was really pleased with him, he was fab - even though I suck and forgot the course when we came to run the whole thing.

I've recently borrowed a Manners Minder and just started his 2x2 training again, so that's my Christmas project! I completely buggered it all up last time and it's been super fragmented, so I need to basically undo what I've done and start from scratch!


Ria I think may be maturing. I've had a lot of issues with her, largely with reactivity - especially towards other dogs. She has struggled to concentrate in classes because of that, even after months. It's been incredibly frustrating and very depressing, I have worked really hard with her but at times it felt almost like we were going backwards!

She had a really good week in class the Wednesday before Discover Dogs, much more focused. A few days later Solei went absolutely crazy and there followed a very peculiar season which never seemed to develop into a proper one - but I kept her out of class for 3 weeks to be safe, more from the mental aspect than physical - I didn't want her to go all spooky or skittish or anything, especially as the previous week had been so very positive. Last Wednesday was her first week back - and omg she was SO AWESOME ♥

Not once during the class did she run off or bark, and she was pretty focused. As she hadn't been there for a few weeks to start with we went up to the top of arena on our own and I just played some focus stuff with her and threw her ball - but even there I noticed a difference, she was much more interested in me and less interested in the floor and what was going on around her. Then we did a couple of dog walk ends and I mixed up rewarding with food or toy. Then we moved on to sequences.

This is what we were running - two different sequences - obviously not to scale and the jumps aren't quite in the right place but you get the idea - (run from the top) jump, tunnel, dog walk, pin wheel. First time she blasted past the first jump after the dog walk (contact was ok but when I released her she veered off...couldn't figure out why at the time as she was still somewhat focused and came back rather than wandering off, but it dawned on me later - I think she thought she'd finished and was expecting me to chuck the ball :P

Second time she ran it it was really nice (and there was another group working the other sequence, which was in quite close proximity, at the same time, so I was so impressed with her managing to keep focused). So then we were told to run to the wing of the jump after the dog walk before the dog had finished the dog walk to see if the contacts held up, then release from there. The other two dogs contacts blew up, Ria's were lovely but then she could not get the pinwheel - eventually got her to take the first & last but she kept missing out the middle one. Gave up and let the next person go, whilst I was waiting I remembered I'd had that problem before and it was when I was trying to "help" her....because she's so used to work further away from me when I'm that close I actually end up pushing her off stuff - which is why she'd done it fine the previous time, I was further back. So we tried it again with me further back and she got it perfectly.

Then we moved on to the other sequence and she was prettty awesome there too :) Blasted past the weaves the first time but then was ok after that - except after I managed to throw her ball *into* the tunnel when rewarding the first set of weaves and the next time she did that bit she decided the tunnel was way too awesome cos last time it had a ball in it too and she'd only do half the weaves. More proofing required ;) (though she only tried it once and didn't miss a pole the rest of the session, which I was extra pleased with because I've had a problem with her popping out one pole too early after I accidentally rewarded it a couple times :X)

The other really, really fantastic news is that we finally seem to be making obvious progress with her reactivity. Yes she can still go overthreshold if I'm not careful, but the last couple of times I've unexpectedly met another dog off lead she has bounded a couple of steps towards them without making a noise, then recalled back to me - previously she would often bark whilst going towards them and then would just run in a completely uncontrolled "panic" and there certainly would have been no hope of her tuning in to me to recall (though her running was always a large circle which ended up back at me).

We have also managed to walk past various dogs without her making a sound - lots of food involved and the occasional cookie on the nose but even that wouldn't have stopped her before.

I am under no illusions; we still have a hell of a long way to go (as she sometimes reminds me!) but I feel more encouraged that maybe there is hope yet :)

I am so proud of Elton. Last Sunday was the Semi Final of the Special Pre-Beginner Obedience Stakes. What with the events of the last few months I was rather anxious. I had no expectations, I just wanted Elton to cope with it ok - I was really concerned that he would just shut down in the ring and that would be no fun for either of us!

We went into town most days for about 10 days before the semis, so I could get us both used to working in a busy environment. We had our final session the Friday before, and he was superb. He was even showing some interest in a toy, though aided with food and rather hit and miss.

The first exercise is play/motivate your dog - this left me with a dilemma! As Elton hasn't been playing away from home since May I've mostly been doing things like spins, walking backwards..etc but 30 seconds is a surprisingly long time when doing that sort of thing as a constant quick stream with no reward - and I often start to lose him near the end. I knew if he could play with a toy he would be much happier, BUT if I showed him it and he decided he couldn't that would really stress him and would probably spell disaster for the whole thing.

We arrived at Discover Dogs early. I found a quiet corner with him and I was actually really impressed - he felt good, much happier and more comfortable than I was expecting :-) Admittedly there was still almost no-one about and he wasn't in the ring, but even in that situation earlier this year he'd have been unhappy. We even had some pretty good toy play! At that point I'd sort of decided to risk the toy, which was then confirmed when we all went in for our briefing - the judge said she wasn't a fan of just using tricks, so had I done that we'd have almost certainly been out of the running anyway - I decided there was not a lot to lose.

Elton was drawn 5th (of 16), which I was pleased with - long enough to settle and see a couple of others go, but not long to wait around! So the time came, we waited nervously in the collecting ring as I tried to judge the timing and completely messed it up! Thus when we were called I hadn't done as much warming up as I wanted to. We both entered the ring, told to commence the play/motivate and we both went a bit rabbit in headlights! I offered him the toy, and he went "can't!"...I had all sorts flying through my head (including oh sh!t here we go :P) but somehow I kept calm, tried again and he started playing!! That ropey start cost us the win, but I was so, so proud of him - can't believe he played in that situation :-) The rest of his round wasn't bad either! He was a little bit on edge and jumpy, but also seemed relatively comfortable - it's hard to explain, but he was pretty focused and his finish on the recall was very revealing - he did it quickly and confidently, when he's worried he does it very slowly.

He went into the lead but there were still 11 dogs to work. The stay was the longest minute of my life - we had to go by our markers, and Elton was between a Labrador and a GSD. I wasn't at all convinced he wouldn't get worried and get up to come to me, but bless him he stayed. Actually every dog was clear in the stay. In the end, he only lost ¼ mark more than 1st (despite losing 1 on his play), had the best heelwork mark of the day and then ended up on the same overall score as another dog so had to do the heelwork yet again for a run off for 2nd/3rd, which he won! (No thanks to his handler who almost went the wrong way)


He was an absolute star, and has now qualified for the Finals to be held at CRUFTS 2013!! What a day. Results aside the whole thing was an amazing experience, I'm so glad we got the chance to compete. Now we're going to have a much deserved couple of weeks off, then not think about obedience til after Christmas but continuing working on building up his confidence with toys away from home. Go Rocket Man!

Went to Gundog Society of Wales Champ Show with Ria yesterday - and she got Best Bitch!! I am beyond thrilled, she beat the bitch who has been top Kooiker bitch (& twice BOB at Crufts) for the last few years and who is very difficult to get past, and that's Ria's first "green edged card" at a champ show - be a while before I come down!!

Keep thinking I ought to blog and then keep not doing so! So we'll start with a catch up since my last post...

August
Had my first obedience show since Elton qualified for Discover Dogs. Elton & Solei entered in the Pre-Beginner Stakes, YKC Elementary & YKC Graduate. Both dogs decent in Elementary, training round with Elton in Graduate and a competitive turned training round for Solei who decided to leg it out of the ring to see a Pap bitch he spotted in the distance! Solei on strike for Pre-Beginner Stakes, Elton fabulous.
Final results - Elton 1st (Crufts qualifier) and Solei 2nd YKC Elementary, Elton 1st & Best ABC in the Pre-Beginner Stakes! To say I am over the moon would be an understatement :-)

Then came Paignton - breed & obedience for Elton, obedience for Solei. Elton VHC in a good size Limit Dog class, scratched him from stays in obed because he hadn't been in the breed and the ground was wet. Solei not keen on the ground but came 9th in Pre-Beginners, first placing he's got in a normal class for ages!

Bournemouth (breed) was Ria's turn. At 18 months old, her first show out of Junior. Thrilled with her - 2nd in the largest class of the day, behind the Reserve Best Bitch. Also managed a Reserve in the Special Beginner Stakes.

We managed one open show in August, Elton had a 3rd and Ria won her class. Also did one companion show, where Ria won her class and then threw away BIS - judge told me she would've had it, but she got unsettled and then decided to bark at a dog wearing a coat! Arrgh.

The month rounded off with agility club fun day. Ria got a 2nd in Best Trick, then we were drawn in pairs with the more able dog running a jumping course and the less able doing rally obedience. Then tunnellers. I opted to use Elton, for my sanity! I knew I'd spend more time chasing Ria round the field than actually doing agility :-P So he got a 3rd in the rally. Tunnellers was funny - a course of 17 tunnels, and we were allowed a practice run. I couldn't decide whether to do it with him or just go in cold, eventually decided he probably ought to practice...so we did it, he got to about #15 and stopped and gave me a "what, you mean there are still more?" look LOL. Finished the course, but then when it was time to do it for real he slammed on the brakes after #4 and wouldn't go any further! He had much shorter legs than everyone else :-P

September
Started with a companion show, just for the obedience. Elton got a 3rd & Solei a 5th, Solei then did a lovely training round in the next class - with a toy!! Never thought I'd see the day :-D

Next came Richmond champ, just with Elton. He got Reserve in a lovely Limit Dog class, just wish he'd really trot out and stop mucking about cos he could be doing even better.

Fitted in a day at an agility show just for some more atmospheric experience. They had a lovely fenced practice ring (with just jumps & an aframe in), so for once I let all three dogs have a play. Strangely neither Solei nor Ria could get grip on the aframe (Elton is nowhere near being able to do contact equipment, he's still scared of a lower dog walk plank :-P) so I decided the surface must be slippery for some reason and just went for the jumps. Solei was terrible, for some reason didn't want to know and really wasn't concentrating. Elton did some nice work, and Ria was fantastic...one day. Solei was playing by the car, wouldn't once we got away from it but it's a start.

Then followed the last companion show of the year, Elton got a 3rd in the obedience and Ria got a 2nd in AV Gundog after much debate by the judge between her and a Flat Coat.

Then on 14th Elton was bitten :-( there was skin broken and blood, and he was lame. I was livid, not least because he was literally just starting to get his confidence back after the whippet incident. He missed the open breed show I had entered the next day, Ria got a 4th of 4 in AVNSC (shouldn't have bothered!)

The day after that were some rescheduled obedience qualifiers from a cancelled obedience show back in July. I was going anyway, so thought I'd see how Elton (now walking on it) was and what he felt like doing. Physically he was fine, mentally we have work to do - again :-( I could've cried. He was entered in YKC Elementary & Special Pre-Beginner Stakes, Solei in both those plus YKC Graduate. YKC was his first class and I had to take him out of the ring on first attempt, he was just really worried about the side of the ring we were meant to start heelwork. Luckily we had a lovely judge and it was relatively informal, so I took him out and walked him round the side he was bothered about, then we went back in. The ground was also awful, which didn't help - Elton goes round long clumps and jumps tussocks! He wasn't bad to start with, then he refused to do HF and when it was suggested he went back on lead he fell into his "you're gonna protect me" position - pretty much behind me. So we gave up on that.

Solei was very good until we got to the side of the ring where there was a young child lying on the ground, which for some reason totally threw him. Strangely he walked past them initially, then we about turned at the end of that side of the ring which should've been better cos I was between him - and he refused to walk back past them. He then wasn't the same for the rest of the round, which pissed me off a bit.

He still got a 2nd in that class, purely because every other dog broke their stays! Elton (who'd sat up in the down, which was partly my fault cos I don't think I left him in a "proper" down) got a 4th.

Pre-Beginner Stakes were once again a story of what might have been! Solei went into "heelwork" mode as soon as we entered the ring and refused to play or interact with me - all he wanted to do was go into heelwork position! Typically he's never done that before, and the rest was fantastic. He'd have won the class (and qualified for Discover Dogs with Elton) had he only done the play! Elton was much better than the previous class, I was quite pleased with him as I think most of the issues in that class were because of the ground. Solei got a 4th (despite the "play" :-P) and Elton a 6th (you can tell Elton was having a bad day - Solei beat him both times lol). Solei also got a 2nd in YKC Graduate.

and there we are! Obedience done for the year now, except Discover Dogs. Going to put training stuff in a separate post to be written at some point, because I think this has gone on long enough...

Good grief - again!

I'd entered an obedience show the Sunday before last....right up til the last moment I was umming about going because it had been sooo wet. Eventually decided to go because the forecast looked nice, and had a backup plan in case it was just too squelchy underfoot!

Elton was drawn 3rd in Pre-Beginners. Not the best round he's ever worked - his HOL was very distracted (he's hyper-aware of his surroundings atm) but not too bad a position, then we did the recall which was fine except for crooked present (always a problem), and that relaxed him more so his HF was much better, though still not quite as focused as he used to be - which led to him noticing a Cavalier outside the ring on one turn and nearly leaving the ring to go and say hello! As it was he just stood for a minute and thought about it, then caught me up. Expensive! Though even with that, his HF mark was much better than HOL.

Just need to do some more work on his confidence, getting him to relax and enjoy again. At the point he can relax away from home enough to play, then we'll start getting somewhere :-)

Highlight - Elton did his stays on wet grass! He wasn't overkeen on the prospect of lying down (tried to see he if could get away without lying down properly lol) but once he did he didn't move :-D which was somewhat unexpected. (Solei did his too - but (touch wood) Solei is a pretty solid stays dog)

I was really pleased with Solei. His Pre-Beginners HOL was gorgeous, he was actually concentrating and attentive - which he hasn't been for the previous 2 shows. HF was quite nice except he tried the same old trick of opting out! Once he got going the middle bit was very nice, end bit was a touch laggy but then this is Solei - can't expect miracles :-P

Had the most fantastic steward that asked me if this was normal for him, and when I said he'd never done it before but had started doing it at the last couple of shows she said to me "we're going to sort this out!" and told me what to do to do some training in the ring (he was the last dog). Really helpful for both of us.

The other class I'd entered them in was the Pre-Beginner Stakes. We had two absolutely torrential downpours - the first was just before their Pre-Beginner stays (wasn't going to do them, but it stopped) and the second was just as I was waiting to work Solei in the stakes.

So we dashed for cover in a nearby tent, and he was sitting on my lap in there for quite some time whilst it absolutely deluged and then went in to work "cold" (no pre-ring practice) and it was v. v. wet and muddy (though not actually raining significantly). I'm putting it down to the above, cos it was a disaster! Well, it was actually all ok (though hw was pretty crap IMO, but it must've been consistent and can't have looked so bad to the judge cos he got a good mark) except the recall was just all wrong in every way! He's never done anything like that in his life, and it cost him a rosette.

The wait was ok, almost - he did that too well, had to call him twice (or three times - can't remember), then he came in to the side of me instead of the front and just stood there, was completely confused and completely forgot what he was meant to be doing...wouldn't come to the front of me, ended up jumping on my lap! Sometimes I despair of that dog :-P

Elton was a star. His heelwork was lovely (it was an interesting pattern - anti-clockwise circle around cones, about turn at the end and back around about a quarter of the circle, right turn across the middle of the circle and then halt), in fact it was all lovely. Really pleased with him. At the end of the round the judge asked me who I trained with and when I said on my own he said he was a credit to me :-)


At the end of the day I was absolutely thrilled to find he had come 2nd, only ¼ mark behind the 1st place dog...which was a Border Collie. So, drum roll....

as the highest place ABC (Anything But a Collie) dog, Elton has qualified for the Special Pre-Beginner Stakes Semi Finals at Discover Dogs in November!

Arrrgh scary...lots of work to do lol

Happy, happy, happy :-D

Went to a midweek conf show last Wednesday, there was a good entry of 17 Papillons and Elton only went and won Open and Best of Breed! There were some really, really nice dogs there so I'm ecstatic. Unfortunately on this occasion (relatively unusual for an open show) our breed judge wasn't doing the group, and the group judge didn't share her views - but hey ho, over the moon with his BOB :-)

Ria got 2nd in AVNSC, despite a slightly hairy moment when I thought it was going to clash with the toy group - which did neither of us any favours, I think she may well have done better had we not both been a touch frazzled! (I was rubbing off on her..oops)

Then that evening I still went to agility - I think Ria was a bit tired really, she wouldn't engage with toys at all - only food. The show had been held on a large show ground and she'd had 5 very good runs round it at intervals throughout the day! Coupled with going almost straight from the show to agility (5 minutes at home in between, to drop Solei off).

We had a fun tunnel relay at the end of the class, she was first to go (we thought that would be wise given she was very likely to get higher and higher the more dogs that ran!) and we actually did it without incident :-) (and our team won lol)

I was very pleased with Elton....he did slightly varied things to the rest of the class for almost the whole night because the confidence just isn't there post whippet (PW), so have taken him back a bit...but he didn't shut down completely at any stage, and he even did a tunnel at the end :-) He used to have a "tunnel gear" - he can be quite a fast little dog and he loved tunnels and used to be even faster the moment he entered a tunnel - then PW he wouldn't go near one, so for him to go through one was good progress, even if it was very slow.

Had another show (obedience/breed) that Saturday (so just over a week ago now) which was a bit of a disaster on most levels - breed ring was small, grass was long, Elton mucked about and didn't show well. In the obedience, Solei opted not to come with me on heel free again and had a major blank with retrieve (we got there eventually) whereas Elton was beautiful in everything else but wouldn't retrieve (am not all together surprised - as it was a fairly new behaviour and not yet a very confident one it's broken down now he's more anxious PW). I also put him in Novice and trained that. However, am well pleased with the fact he did Novice stays on his own (without Solei) and didn't break :-) and then did his Beginner stays (with Solei) and didn't break there either! Ria had a 2nd in her class (beaten by a Weim), and beat the Kooiker that took Best of Breed at a recent major championship show! So rather ecstatic with that too ;-)

Have just been to this weeks agility classes - interesting week, turned up at the equestrian centre to find they'd resurfaced without telling anyone and we couldn't use it. Luckily they have an outdoor venue not too far away (the one I'd been taking them to on a Saturday morning prior to Ria coming in season), and it was a beautiful evening - so we all went out there instead! Really impressed with Ria - although she'd been going up to the venue before, we were in a small fenced off section alone - she's never worked in the main area alongside other dogs. Tonight she did, and she was such a good girl, despite all that was going on around her. She only went running in circles :X once, towards the end of the class so I think concentration limit had been reached!

It was nice to have Elton in a different environment - I felt more comfortable about going off and doing my own thing whilst we were waiting, he showed a small amount of interest in toys on a couple of occasions, and it was also lovely that there were only four dogs in his class, and I know all the people very well (3 of them are in Ria's class, and one is the mum of one of those) which helped a lot for relaxation (for me lol).

What a weekend with highs and lows! Did a combined obedience (Solei & Elton) & breed (Elton & Ria) show on Saturday and an agility show on Sunday (yes, I am insane. It was my birthday on Friday, this was what I decided I'd like to do.) Nothing major results wise, but some really positive aspects to take from every discipline. All 3 dogs have given me at least one fantastic moment this weekend in different ways, very proud of them.

Breed show - Elton got BOB, Ria was the baby and unplaced in her AVNSC Post Grad class but won Best Rare Breed under a different judge. The positives - both Elton & Ria showed well, and Ria stood like a rock to be gone over. The negatives - Ria's AVNSC (lack of) placement, and the fact the toy group judge saw fit to not move a single dog again!

Obedience show / Solei - It was quite cold and windy and I was based miles from the obedience ground but Solei was drawn 10th and you don't know if they're all going to turn up, so I thought I'd better be ringside for 9:30am, when judging started. It was gone 10am when we got in the ring and Solei had been waiting, too long for him! His brain wasn't switched on for HOL, his recall was lovely and his HF was...not. I started off and he sat there and stared at me. I did 3/4 of the HF on my own, then he thought he'd join me for the last leg and finished quite well!
He also did a special class in which we were given a list of exercises worth either 5, 10 (the majority) or 15pts, and could pick whatever we liked as long as they added up to 100pts. You needed the majority of the list to make the points and I struggled to find enough, particularly as I wanted to avoid retrieve if possible, which counted for 3 of the options. In the end I opted for heelwork (10pts), recall (5pts), recall over 1 hurdle (10pts), recall over 2 hurdles (15pts), recall through tunnel (10pts), stand stay (10pts), down stay (5pts), questions (5pts), send away (10pts), temp test (10pts), A Recall (10pts).

Well...what can I say, other than he devised a new method for the A Recall and it went downhill from there :-) The A Recall (leave dog as normal but keep walking and call dog into heel position when told, then continue for a short stretch of hw before halting) was on a diagonal towards the tunnel. I called him, he ran straight past me, through the tunnel and then back to heel! He had the judge and steward in hysterics. That set the tone for the class really - he decided to see how many of the exercises he could incorporate the tunnel into, and a couple between exercises just because! Everything he did "correctly" was sloppy (except the recall through tunnel - strangely enough he did that very well :-)), but that was just because he was excited, he had so much fun which was the point!

Send away took a couple of attempts, but he did a quite nice one in the end. He went over all the hurdles, and did the stays ok. Positives - he made everyone laugh, had a lot of fun, and did the special class quite well except for all the tunnel deviations and general excitement! Negatives - the heelwork, esp HF in that first class!


Obedience show / Elton - Very much an "if only" day! He wasn't concentrating properly for HOL, his recall was fine til I tried to finish him when he refused to because there was a group of dogs (inc whippet) standing outside the ring (quite a few metres away) and he was worried and didn't want to turn his back. Then his HF was not his usual standard and, for him, especially laggy on turns. The recall made the difference between a place or not :-(

For the special class with him I picked largely the same as Solei - substitued distant control for send away, and more heelwork for the recall through tunnel (he doesn't like tunnels atm, they remind him of being attacked). So that left heelwork (10pts), recall (5pts), recall over 1 hurdle (10pts), recall over 2 hurdles (15pts), heelwork weaving through cones (10pts), stand stay (10pts), down stay (5pts), questions (5pts), distant control (10pts), temp test (10pts), A Recall (10pts).

I wasn't entirely happy with the list, but I had no options left without falling back on retrieve - which I didn't want to do in his current lack of confidence state.

Normal heelwork was the first exercise and improved as he tuned in. Then the weaving through the cones had to be done twice - first time at normal pace, then again at slow pace. Apparently that was stunning, though I was terrified I'd run him over cos I couldn't see him!! A Recall was lovely except I had to call him multiple times cos we haven't practiced that particular approach (when I've done A Recall practice with him I've made it harder!) and he didn't believe me! Normal recall just had a slightly crooked present, 1 hurdle recall was perfect, then he totally buggered up the 2 hurdle recall by going round them both :-(

Stand stay was clear, down stay wasn't - it had poured with rain and he decided he couldn't possibly stay lying in the wet :-P quite funny, he broke (sat up) and when I told him to go back down he sort of stretched his front legs out whilst trying to keep his body off the ground (think cartoon cat when they've got all four legs outstretched trying not to go in a bath or something). Temp test & questions clear.

His Distant Control was stunning....so, so proud. It's something I've practiced at home but never taken it "on the road" and he often misses the down position - I'd chosen it purely cos I'd run out of alternatives, without choosing a retrieve! Can't remember the order of the positions, it was leave in a sit then I think it was down, stand, sit, stand, down, sit? It was definitely 6 positions - 2 of each. He missed the first position (down) but did it on the second command, then the rest was faultless...he hardly crept forward either.

Final marks (gained, not lost) was 8.5/10 HW, 10/10 weave, 8/10 A Recall, 9.5/10 Distant Control, 4.5/5 recall, 10/10 1 hurdle, 4/15 2 hurdles, 10/10 stand stay, 10/10 temp test, 1/5 down stay, 5/5 questions - even allowing for the down "stay", without that 2 hurdle recall he'd have been comfortably in 2nd, and definitely in the placings. (Without the broken down he'd have won) - if only! He did seem more comfortable in the class (it had run very late, everyone else had gone home!) and seemed to enjoy it, so was well worth doing.

Finally - Agility Show - Took all 3 dogs but had nobody entered, I just wanted to play..etc round the rings, and I was intending to get Ria measured - that didn't work as they decided to measure really early, but luckily it wasn't important :-P Will get her done another time.

Nothing major to report, except they had a practice ring - fully fenced, slightly out of the way, food & toys allowed with a short tunnel, jumps, aframe, teeter. Pay £1 a minute and use it how you like :-)

So I took Ria in. I did jump, tunnel and she was really switched on so I decided she could cope with more....there was a pin wheel in front of the jump, and she used to love them, but recently (prior to season so a couple months ago now) I was finding she was going round at least one (usually the middle). So I put her in front of this first jump....and she did the 3 jumps of the pin wheel, tunnel, jump! I only had the poles on small but she was fast, accurate, confident and I wasn't "baby sitting" her - and she drove into the tunnel beautifully from a distance :-) It felt amazing, if this is what she's gonna feel like to run when we get that far I can't wait :-X

Let the fun commence!

Ria has just finished her season, she's back with the boys (well, Solei - Elton still isn't totally convinced :-P) and her first trip out for 3 1/2 weeks ended up being to an agility show this past weekend...I wasn't quite sure how great an idea that was, but she was actually really good :-) It was over two days and just half a mile from home, so both days I took Solei & Elton up in the morning and then went home, had some lunch and took Ria and Elton in the afternoon.

She will be back at agility class on Wednesday. I have (amazingly) stuck to my resolution and have done absolutely no agility (not even been tempted by weaves haha - well, that's not true. I've been tempted, but resisted) with her for a whole month, hoping the break would do us both good - so we'll see if it has or not! She's back to once a week classes for a bit as I have no free Saturdays til late July.

It's kinda scary - she has most definitely matured physically, and there are going to be mental changes too....the unknown, I'm not entirely sure what dog I have now! Hopefully the changes will be for the better :-P

She shows for the first time in two months this weekend, so I will pop her up to ringcraft tomorrow to get some people going over her and see how she is. Hope we can both remember how ;-)

It's Solei's birthday in 4 weeks, he's having a new toy and some massage! I took him for a free evaluation 2 weeks ago and she found a spot he was reacting to that fits with where I feel he is often sensitive, so we're currently waiting for my vet to sort the paperwork out and then he'll be going for 1-4 sessions to see if it helps him! I don't feel the chiro can do any more at this point (though will continue taking him for maintenance) so I have everything crossed this will help. He was on metacam for a short time which I never felt did much, so I'm hopeful that this may be the problem as if it were skeletal/arthritis I'd have expected the metacam to make more of an impact...fingers crossed.

Finally, Elton. I didn't mention it here because I was somewhat upset at the time :-P but he was attacked by a whippet at training three weeks ago. He was utterly traumatised but seemingly unhurt (thank god for a profuse coat and an interfering Border Collie that distracted the whippet), I was furious, not least because the timing really sucked - Elton is somewhat "sticky" to me and adores toys but gets bored fairly quickly, this was less than 5 minutes into the class and I was sending him away from me over a jump to a dead toy....he was pounced on just as he reached the toy. He's not the most confident of dogs and he'd got to the point now where he was really loving it, I was getting so much speed and enthusiasm.

Solei got to do the rest of the class that week as I wasn't going to get any sense out of him. The following week I took Elton (no whippet in sight) and he was fine as long as he was on lead, went to pieces as soon as he was off. Even basic circle work he wasn't happy if he was off lead. I gave last week a miss, because I just didn't feel I could deal with it...he has also been a little off the last couple of weeks anyway because of Ria. After sailing through the first two weeks of her season he suddenly decided she was very interesting and his brain would have to take a holiday! He really worried me because he was displaying similar behaviour (but less severe) as he did when he had that horrendous adolescence that was made 100x worse by a bitch in season and then took the best part of a year til I had my dog back. I could not go through that again! However, he has since been used, is older and (hopefully) wiser and the last couple of days he has been much more his old self :-) which'll help!

So on Wednesday he will be going to class again, we will take things very slowly and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

As I'm twiddling my thumbs cos I should be at a show with Ria today but can't because she is very much in full season and it's now June (I can't believe that, but still - the calendar assures me it is!) I thought it would be good to review the 2012 goals I made at the beginning of the year, and see how we're doing...and how things have changed.

Starting with Solei...apparently this hasn't been so productive. This was the list (with current status in brackets after each point) -

Achieve his P-Beg-Ex title in obedience. At the very least get a few more points towards it! (No. Though we've only had 2 attempts towards more points, and there is time yet this year.)
Overcome the scary cavern that is the chute (I haven't had any access to a chute, so that's been a non starter)
Learn to weave (He does not (yet) get 2x2s, not sure if that's gonna work for him or not. I've been encouraging shaping with other things and I'll probably try again at some point. He will just happily stand and stare and wait for instructions, he's not good at using his own initiative. But channel weaves were a disaster with him too, V weaves may be worth a try...but I don't have access to those.)
Get a Best Veteran Dog and/or a Best Veteran in Show (Not yet...but he has only done two shows and he came close at one (2nd to the Best Veteran Dog)

So...umm...yeah, none of the above! But I suppose I was relatively ambitious with him, given this is Solei and half those things have been on my list for ages. I would still keep all the same points on that list, and also add play - I want to be able to "turn on" his tug desire (which is awesome in the right situation) in any situation and with less effort from me to get it started. So this summer I plan to take toy and try and instigate short play in lots of different situations. Still not sure what I want to do with him re agility.

Elton...oh this is looking better.
Start the journey to his P-Beg Ex title and have achieved at least a couple of points by the end of the year. (Check! He gained his first 2 points at his very first attempt. 8 to go.)
Start agility classes (Check :-) Started foundation classes in April)
Be competent at every piece of equipment by the end of this year (Having now started with him I think this was ambitious - he is very uncomfortable with the seesaw, haven't got to the other contact equipment yet. I also can't teach him to weave til I figure out how to solve my problem (can't use food, need to stop him doing victory laps with thrown toy and relatively quickly losing interest! Though we do still have 6 months.)
The retrieve. :-P (Semi-check! He now has a very passable retrieve, I just still need to generalize it more and want more confidence)
Achieve his ShCM title this year (ok this is unlikely, but I'd like at least 5 more points towards it please!) (No...but I've hardly shown him at shows where he can achieve points towards it)

Very pleased with that! #2 can come off, the rest can stay - more points to his P-Beg Ex would be all good, the retrieve still needs some more work for it to be solid and ShCM will never come off until he gets it! I will revise #3 - from the above, to for him to be more confident with each piece of equipment by the end of the year than he was when he started.

and finally Ria.

Start her obedience show career properly, and for her to enjoy it
Hold at least a 1 minute stay in competition by the end of the season (not tried this yet so not sure, but think she may worry depending on what happens around her, so will be taking it very slowly)
To not run out of the ring when she starts competing in agility later this year
(These first 3 are covered by the same point - she's been much, much slower to mature than I thought she would be and I'm not going to rush her...so we haven't even attempted the first three items on the list, and I doubt we will this year.)
Dramatically improve her reactivity to other dogs (Yes :-) Still a work in progress, but much improved)
Improve toy drive (I think so...she's never going to be totally tuggy obsessed, but she *can* do so and she loves her ball - when I have money am hoping to buy a new toy to try and combine ball and tug)
Be generally awesome at everything she does <3 (I hope so ;-))

So I suppose that could be worse! I need to rethink her list entirely, but maybe that'll be for 2013 :-P

Keep thinking I ought to post and never quite got round to it...too hot! That's a lousy excuse but still, I can't think of a better one.

It's been an interesting few weeks. The most notable event is that Ria (finally) came into season last week! She was 16 months old on Saturday. So everything with her has gone on hold, she can't go to any shows/classes or out for walks (not worth the risk given she would really not appreciate another dog running up to her cos she smells good) and thus I've decided to have a complete break from agility for a few weeks. To be honest it's actually not bad timing from the point of view that I was considering having a bit of a break anyway, as we've been going at least twice a week for the last few weeks and I was starting to feel slightly burnt out! The last classes she did were not great, but they were the Wednesday & Saturday before she came into season so I'm hoping that was part of it. Wednesday's problems were entirely caused by the fact she decided the seesaw was scary, then the dog walk was scary because of the former. I've never had a problem with either before, but I know a season can make them all over the place, and this is her first one too. Saturday she just wasn't really concentrating/tuned in.

She was ok for the first few days but is now feeling sorry for herself! She's still up for a game of ball in the garden and I've been using the time to strengthen commands like left/right/walk backwards/heel position (static) and want to try and desensitize her to the chair - her heelwork position is just not and it's because she's worried about the wheels, think I've run her over one too many times :-X so we'll see where we go with that.

Solei is free to good home :-P He decided she was coming in 3 days before she did, and has been a royal pain in the butt since. Thankfully Elton has (so far) caused me absolutely no problems and all I have between them is a pen panel (obviously never unsupervised). Solei has been relegated to another room and is still being more annoying than Elton.

I had nothing planned (besides agility) the weekend before last, when of course I could've done anything as Ria wasn't in season! However, with Solei's warning on the Monday I took the opportunity to have a really good walk and so we had a long walk along the canal, which was even longer when we had to backtrack and add an extra loop to get round a gate I couldn't open!

Elton is still going to his agility foundation classes as I've paid for a block, Ria is most unimpressed she can't come too.

Solei has actually been very well for the last couple of weeks, not sure what to do about him - I'll give it a bit more time I think, I can't afford to start him back at the moment anyway. It's nice to see :-)

Went to Bath Championship Show last Friday, only had Elton entered and he was so bad :-( Arrrgh. He galloped round the ring, wanted to get his head down all the time on the stand, stood badly because he wasn't being compliant - I came out of the ring and almost burt into tears, and it was nothing to do with the (lack of) placing. Though there was a bright spot - Elton's son from his first litter was there and qualified for Crufts at his very first show :-) He behaved better than his daddy - sad state of affairs when a six month old puppy at his first show is better behaved than his three year old father who's been showing for two and a half years!

On Saturday Ria was meant to be competing in her first agility show, but that was off the cards as she was in season! I chose to go anyway to watch, and took both the boys with me instead to get them away from her and also give Elton some agility show experience - Solei has been to a few, but I don't think I've ever taken Elton. Half the people from Elton/Ria's club were there and we all had a fab day, though it was a bit hot!

Sunday was an obedience show - again Ria was entered and couldn't go, but this time I had the boys entered too - both in the Pre-Beginner Stakes and Pre-Beginners. So once again Ria was left at home with dad, whilst the boys and I went to a show (three disciplines in three days...)

Solei did a beautiful round in the Stakes, Elton's heelwork wasn't up to scratch but given (imo) he is usually very good it was still more than passable.

Pre-Beginner stays were before either of them had worked their Pre-Beginner rounds, and it was hot - Solei decided it was far too hot and went down in the sit - to which Elton decided that was end of exercise and wandered across the ring to me. Elton then did exactly the same in the down, with no provocation. Bit of a disaster all round! That was only the second set of stays Solei has broken in three years, the other lot was also a down from a sit on a hot day. I am mindful of the weather and don't always do stays if I don't feel it's in their best interests, I think his tolerance is less now he's older so will have to move the goal posts a bit! That said - at least half the class must've broken.

They later were both clear in their Pre-Beginner Stakes stays, so that was a relief - esp Elton, who I worked on last year and thought we'd cracked so was a bit concerned we'd gone backwards - time will tell!

Given the stay situation I decided to train both boys Pre-Beginner rounds. Solei's heelwork was so-so, HOL wasn't bad but HF ended up very laggy - however, he did the best recall I've had to my new chair, it was perfect. Fast, straight, accurate!

Elton did the most fabulous HoL, which would've been the lowest mark of the whole class (I asked the judge to mark him - lost 1), a nice recall and then got completely distracted for HF, he's not done that before but still! It'd been a long weekend, especially the day before being very long and very hot. The first stretch of heelwork was down towards the ring entrance and there was quite a lot of activity, he stopped for a couple of seconds to watch and I right turned without him! After that it took the majority of the round for him to really focus on what he was meant to be doing, though I think the last stretch was quite nice.

Elton played with me in the ring, and Solei did some nice play outside :-) In the Pre-Beginner Stakes they tied for 4th & 5th. I opted not to run off with myself as it was hot, so settled for Elton 4th & Solei 5th! So all things considered, not a bad day.

Had the most fabulous agility session on Saturday. Over an hour where I had a couple of jumps, 6 weaves (though we never got that far), access to the aframe and seesaw and was left to my own devices :-D

I'd devised a rough plan beforehand, the aframe was a bonus as I didn't know I'd be able to use that.

So we (Ria & I) started off with the contact equipment, as it was in the main part of the field and not the side bit I usually use. She's done tons of end work but - bar one encounter with a lowered seesaw - only did her first piece (a lowered dog walk) a couple weeks ago.

Seesaw - Very pleased with this. Second time doing a seesaw in its entirety and first time at full height. I let her bang the end down a couple of times first so she knew what to expect (esp as she's only been doing the dog walk recently, didn't want her to mistake it and get a nasty shock!) but quickly progressed to her off lead and me on either side and slightly varying where I was in relation to her. Contacts held up nicely too :-)

Aframe - This was interesting, she's done a small amount of end work, but never been over it. We started on lead, she wasn't too sure the first time but it was rubber which helped (previous encounter was painted) and it wasn't long before she was doing that off lead too. I swapped sides a couple of times but didn't want to do too many repetitions. It did highlight an interesting dilemma with the contacts - I've done 2o2o with her, had thought I may like to reteach the aframe as running at some point in the future, because personally I feel it's (physically) better for the dog...however, she was getting speed over the aframe that made it very difficult for her to stop on it, and I don't want her slamming into the bottom either! If I insisted in a 2o2o she was much slower, though I know that could change. I prefer the running, but have never taught running before and also don't want to mess up the rest of her contacts, which are currently very good (and I want to keep 2o2o for now to give me a bit more time!) Decisions...think it'll have to be 2o2o cos I don't think I have enough access to equipment for running.

Then we moved on to jumps, at which point Elton got to come out and play too! Started some work on Developing Jumping Skills (well, such as I've been able to work out from YouTube as I don't yet have the book) and with Elton I played around with sending him to a target over 1 and then 2 jumps as he needs a lot of work on driving ahead, also did some jump work with me next to/in front of him on both sides, as jumping is still a relatively new skill for him. Not at full height yet. with Ria I introduced a 3rd jump and mixed things up - sometimes sending her on, sometimes pulling her back after 1 jump, sometimes pulling her back after 2..etc

I can honestly say it was the best outdoor session I've ever had. Ria's focus was almost 100%.

Then on Sunday we had the first open obedience show of the year. I'd entered all 3 in the PreBeginner Stakes and the boys in Pre-Beginners too. Very mixed day!

I trained Ria's round because she's nowhere near ready for competition yet. I have also neglected to do any practice at all since Crufts, and it showed. Oops. It wasn't the most productive round ever, but it gave her positive ring experience, and she did do a lovely recall.

Solei was not brilliant at his last obedience show (UK Toy) and I was worried because that's his favourite venue - nice hard surface indoors - so I thought if he's not good there then.... but both the rounds were actually well suited for him, and I was very pleased with him bar the last stretch of heel free in Pre-Beginners where he lost concentration completely so I don't think he's ready for retirement quite yet!

Solei and Elton both did nice Pre-Beginner Stakes rounds, and then I missed the stays :-( gutted is not the word. I'd had Elton down to work his Pre-Beginners round, by the time he got in the ring it was not long before stays and they'd moved the stay ring and it was completely hidden, so by the time I'd gone back to the car to get Solei and then had to ask where it was cos I couldn't find it I got there just in time to hear last command.....insult to injury everybody said to me after I should've said something and they'd have waited! With stays Solei would've been 6th and Elton would've been 2nd :-( Only consolation is Elton didn't lose 1/2 a mark less or he'd have tied for 1st and THAT would've been awful!

Elton was an absolute star...his first open show Pre-Beginners round. He was terrible to get into heel position before we started, I think because there was a large black dog working in the ring next door that happened to be by the ring rope next to our ring as I was by the ring rope next to their ring - if that makes sense! - but once I got him into position and we started, his heelwork was lovely. He got a 3rd, after a run off for 2nd/3rd :-D

And that was my weekend.

It's been a mad few weeks. Mainly full of agility!

Elton started foundation classes the first Wednesday of April, obviously hasn't done much yet, but he adores it so far. I love his enthusiasm, such a happy little boy. He's totally different from Ria which is nice for me. Ria is much more independent, fab at distance work but not always tuned in to me, not nearly so toy driven. Early days, but what I'm seeing in Elton so far is what I expected - much more tuned in to me, prefers to stay closer, more reliable! lol - but I think it'll change some with confidence (not all for the better :-)). I don't think the distance will be a problem, cos he'll drive ahead nicely for a reward. He just needs more confidence, which'll come with time.

Done 3 shows - 1 breed club show with Elton and Solei and 2 gundog group shows with Ria. Breed club show could've been better (a 2nd, 3rd & 4th) but from the 2 shows Ria came away with 2 Best of Breeds :-) And currently typing this in the car on our way back home from a decidedly soggy WELKS! It poured with rain all day, as I had a long walk between Ria and Elton's rings I was very grateful the tents were attached to the buildings so it was all undercover! Worth the trip though - Ria won her class, and Elton had another 3rd in a lovely Limit class with 18 entered.

Have got a couple of extra agility classes in with Ria, and did a training day a couple of weeks ago which did not go well (suffice to say a new venue blew her baby brain :-P), but I had some interesting input and encouraging words.

It's been so wet recently that it's been impossible to do anything much. In class last week I was given a tunnel and set of weaves to work with, and once she was concentrating she produced some lovely work, hit the entries and the tunnel also gave her more speed. She missed out the middle pole a couple of times because she couldn't collect in time, but that'll soon improve. The next day we had one of those rare things called a dry day and so I got my weaves out, because her entries need more work on one side (I broke them by doing too much on the other, oops) and whether it was the tunnel or coincidence, but she seemed to have her stride pattern :-D she was going through them so rhythmically, and with more speed. So thrilled with that, and when it dries up enough I'll go back out, hope it wasn't a one off :-P and get some video.

Oops - so much for tomorrow! I wanted to sort my camera out first, and then it's been mad. So, once again I'm playing catch up! But as I promised, for starters UK Toy :-)

Well what can I say....what a day. Solei just came along for one obedience class, Elton for two obedience classes and the toy breed championship show. I also took up four dogs for friends who couldn't make it. In the breed Elton had a 4th in the biggest class of the day (20 entered) and the other four dogs had a 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th.

It was very difficult to fit all the classes round each other, I didn't take Elton down for the obedience earlier because he is still fairly inexperienced with stays, and last year the lure of other Papillons proved too much and he broke to go and play!! So I thought I'd work him after stays and that way I could train if he broke. I managed to work Solei, who I didn't think was that good, but apparently he wasn't as bad as I thought!

Stays were later than I'd counted on, and then they broke for lunch. Just before they were due back his stakes class was called, so off I ran for that!

To my absolute delight, 18 entered in the class including champions and the Best in Show winner at SKC championship show and Elton WON it!! He went an absolute dream, felt just incredible. Just as well as our judge was hot on movement, and thus moved us all lots! This also now means he's qualified for the finals at Crufts 2013.

Elton 1st YKC Stakes UK Toy 2012

So then he had to go pretty much straight from there to the obedience. Everything conspiring again, he would have to work both his rounds one after the other. So we opted for Beginners first, I could tell he was starting to get tired but he was a little star - love that dog! No pressure for me - it was near the presentation time (he was last to work - thus needing to do one after the other) and so there were lots of people around and everyone was watching :-P His Novice round was nice, but heelwork was getting laggy cos he was really tired by this point. We had a hiccup with the retrieve because the first time I forgot to warn the judge about the end bit and then didn't like to do it without asking and so managed to confuse my dog. Then for Novice he was so tired he couldn't managed to jump on my feet, bless him! As neither went brilliantly, I hope that doesn't carry over to next time.

To my absolute delight, Elton won Beginners and Solei was 2nd to him! Elton also managed a 5th in Novice, which considering he could've done a lot better with more energy, I was really pleased with :-) and we won a small tub of dog food, salmon oil and fish treats respectively!

Obedience Winners (minus Pre-Beginners) Judge, Beginners, Novice, A, B, Judge

So yes, all in all a rather special day! I'm incredibly proud of Elton, proving he really does have beauty and brains.

Oops - have kept meaning to come and update this, haven't got there til now! Though it's been a fairly quiet couple of weeks - up til last weekend we'd only been to one show, and haven't done anything major from a training point of view - actually, I lie. Elton is retrieving! Ria is weaving 6 poles, but she was doing that when I posted my last update - I just didn't have footage. Soo...

Ria is getting almost all her weave entries now, so I need to get back out there and put a command to it! We've had a couple of weeks of not doing much, she was brilliant from almost every angle, except still struggling with the entries at about 5/6 o'clock. So I gave it a rest for a week or two, went back to it and bingo :-) I can now stand at 5 o'clock and send her in.

I was absolutely thrilled with her at agility class last night - we had one of those all coming together kind of sessions :-D Ok, I did lose her a few times to go sniff - but she came straight back almost every time, and she didn't actually run off or totally lose the plot, and especially considering I think we had 13 dogs all working independently off lead (the class isn't usually nearly that big, gained some extra dogs for this week only, though it is a massive area so there was space enough, and more than one instructor) this is massive progress. And she worked really well, concentration was better, hit all her weave entries, and really PLAYED with me, which is another massive thing. Happy, happy - just hope it wasn't a one off haha

As for Elton - we have conquered the dumbbell and won! I'm delighted with him...at one point I didn't think we'd ever get there, and even a couple of weeks ago I wasn't sure it would come back together quite as I wanted it - but persistence and patience has paid off :-) Of course, when he did an absolutely perfect one I didn't have the camera on - went out the next day and videoed, but neither came quite up to scratch! However - I present to you, Elton and the Retrieve
In show news - went to an open show on 17th March, Elton had a 2nd, Ria won her class and Reserve Best AVNSC (guess what the judge said decided it? Maturity!!). Then then both went on to get placed in their respective stakes classes, Elton won wine and Ria won chocolate - so that's us sorted then! lol

Last Saturday was UK Toy Championship Show with Limited Obedience, but that can wait til tomorrow!

Just realised I forgot to post this before. After my post on the 6th I went out and took some video. This week hasn't quite gone to plan - Crufts completely finished me off lol so we've done no weaving for a week, til this morning when I took her out for a quick refresher - and by the end of the session she was weaving 6 poles :-D Really pleased with her, but I leave you with this video from before Crufts....

We survived :-) Barely, in places lol

Thursday was Elton show day, and Ria obedience day. Elton went really well, and I was over the moon to get a 3rd with him in a really strong Limit Dog class :-)

I was really worried about how Ria would cope with the environment in the obedience - I nearly didn't take her in - but she seemed ok, so figured we'd give it a go (bar the recall it was all on lead)

Recall was lovely, she only lost either ¼ or ½ a mark (couldn't read the writing, she lost either 4½ on the heelwork & ¼ on the recall, or 4¼ on the heelwork and ½ on the recall!), heelwork could've been better - she just wasn't concentrating for most of the first bit, pulled herself together quite nicely for the second but it was a bit late by then.

Stays were awful - we had numbered markers in the ring and we had to stand by our number. I always put her on the end because she isn't the most confident of dogs, and not only was she right in the middle of everything, but also next to a large long coated German Shepherd. Sit was fine, though she got in a bit of a state when I released her (don't think she can cope with the "buzz" that goes up when 20 people release their dogs at the same time!) and it took me a bit to settle her again for the down. Down was fine, until we were told to return to our dogs and the others got back to their dogs just before I did, as I was blocked in - she couldn't cope with that for some reason (I think it was something to do with the dog on her other side, who I'd set her up a bit closer to to get as far as possible from the GSD!), and broke. Only unfortunately when Ria breaks she runs round the ring barking which is really embarrassing :-X

But no point dwelling on it, we're working on Control Unleashed and building up confidence, and I won't push her. She's young, plenty of time. I obviously had no idea she would do that, or I wouldn't have put her in!

There are a couple of nice photos floating about, here are two courtesy of ShortDog Photography -

http://shortdogphotography.co.uk/clients/index.php/Crufts1/DSC_8004 Setting up for the recall I think

http://shortdogphotography.co.uk/clients/index.php/Crufts1/DSC_8013 Heelwork

Stayed at a hotel on Thursday night, Ria & Elton's first time in a hotel (Solei was at home) and only second time ever away from home (following on from staying with my great aunt & uncle last September). Ria was wonderful, Elton decided to cry half the night, eventually leading to me standing outside the hotel in my pyjamas at 2am for half an hour whilst he couldn't find the right spot :-P Still, we got there in the end.


Friday was just Ria showing, but there still weren't enough hours in the day! There never are at Crufts. Ria has shown better. She sat down when the judge got near her backend, and then paced half the way round! My fault I think, I got a bit carried away :-P She got a 3rd in Special Junior Bitch.

In the ring at Crufts :-) Don't think she's looking too bad, just very raw still (and yes, she is standing on 2 legs...)

Had a fantastic time, shattered now! Back to reality, til next year :-) all 3 of my dogs are already qualified, not sure who I'll take yet (Solei's qualified for life but I haven't taken him for the last 2 years)

Ria missed agility last week as Crufts involved getting up at 2am on Thursday morning, and seeing as it's usually around 10pm on Wednesday before we get home from agility...yeah, that wasn't going to work. So really looking forward to it this week, hopefully she'll behave herself as I'm suffering from the effects of Crufts, she's bouncing off the walls as usual and wondering why she's not getting normal walks and training!

Yay fun stuff!

Showed Ria the Sunday before last for the first time since she's been out of puppy. That was over a month ago, so I hoped we'd still remember how lol. She wasn't as solid at being gone over again, but she was ok, moved well and won AVNSC Junior :-) Then got 2nd in a really nice Junior Stakes class under a different judge. Won £4 too - every little helps!

We then followed that up on Saturday by her being chucked for the first time ever. Class of 8, and she was the youngest in the class by some margin, competing against dogs up to 4 years older than her. Also not entirely convinced how familiar the judge was with Kooikers! But there we go - another day, another show. She was solid to be gone over which made me happy :-) feel more confident about Crufts now! Also grabbed a spare (carpeted) ring and was able to practise a bit of heelwork, which didn't go too badly.

Agility last week was really good - we started sequencing for the first time, and after the first couple of attempts which were very distracted and not great, she was fab.

In other news, Ria is WEAVING :-D Four poles in a straight line. I still need to work round the entries again as I only put them together yesterday evening, and I realised this morning I've accidentally  neglected entries on my right (we've worked right round the clock, but she was struggling with the more difficult entry, so I unintentionally ended up facing backwards almost all the time, which meant she was still on my left!) but I'm soo pleased with her. I really wanted to have her weaving 4 poles by tomorrow, because then she'll have at least 2 days break because of Crufts; so after that I wanted to be able to give her a quick refresher and then add the last 2 (well, last 2 to make 6 - then we go to 12). She's missing agility tomorrow night because we have to be up at stupid o clock (about 2am) and we can't get home much before 10pm, so that's just not realistic. I said I may have her weaving by the time they see her again, we've still got a whole week so looks like that'll be reality! I'm going to take them to the park tomorrow and see if it carries over there, hopefully video to come.

Solei took the initiative to go through the two poles on a horizontal once :-P so we may get there yet. He LOVES to tug these days, which is so much fun. You'd never think this was the same dog that a few years ago showed absolutely zero interest in toys, never mind tug.

I had to stop weaves with Elton because when we moved outside we couldn't come to an arrangement (he'd run off with the toy the first time, bring it back to me the next couple of times and then get bored) so I need to have a think about that (very difficult because I'm still trying to be somewhat careful with his teeth - so tugging sparingly!) but this is where we're at with the dumbbell :-)

He's making so much progress :-D Our latest steps are overcoming dancing feet, getting him more comfortable holding the db and duration without mouthing, and moving from the bed to the floor :-) Next things I want to work on are wait whilst I place it (don't think this actually needs any work, but I haven't done it yet this time round), building confidence on the wood as well as carpet (he's not quite so confident when it "clunks" on a hard floor) and getting him to present nearer to me and not stand up when I take it (as you can see in the video, he's ok at that distance). Not all at once, obviously!

Crufts the day after tomorrow, arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

What a difference a few days make.

It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining and it's warm.

Yesterday I got to see Elton's puppies in the flesh for the first time (now 3 months old) - and I was much encouraged; I'd been disappointed in them with the photos I'd seen, but they're so much better in the flesh! Elton got to meet them and he thought they were great (eternal puppy <3) - well, til they decided to start pulling his fringing..etc :-P

Also yesterday, my book arrived - and I didn't have to pay anything extra :-D I pre-ordered it and it was shipped nearly 3 weeks ago (first class) so I thought customs had discovered a problem. But all is well! I'm only part way through, but so far it's excellent.

I've been doing all Elton's dumbbell training on the bed, and he is making steady progress :-D We seem to have got past the block.

Annnd I had a fantastic 2x2 session with Ria this morning, and another just now. After a difficult few days, I think she's got the entry :-D

Life is good, long may it continue :-)

I've been telling myself this a lot over the last few days! Ria and I hit a block with the 2x2s, and the saga of Elton and the dumbbell continues. Failure is a necessarily part of learning, and things do not have to be perfect all the time! As the title of this post says - in order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail.

We have had better nights than agility last night, but to be honest I think she was too tired - I have never seen her as she was today! Last night she lay down and slept a lot of the way up which is very unusual, then slept the way home (not so unusual) but then wouldn't get up this morning either - she sleeps next to my bed and usually I turn over, say "morning" to her and she pops up at lightning speed and is keen to get going! This morning when I did that she just looked up at me and didn't bother to move from lying down! I was actually worried, cos I've never seen her like this - the battery doesn't usually die like that :-P but she seems fine...eating normally, and we've done two 2x2 sessions today. Just really tired - she's had a couple of runs round the garden, but other than that she's just slept! I can only put it down to a busy weekend, walk on Tuesday, really, really good run yesterday (better than she was meant to have, her idea not mine!), agility and maybe the 2x2 sessions are using more energy than I thought? Someone said to be maybe it's season related, my reply cannot be printed haha. With Crufts just 14 days away (arrrrgh!), now would really not be a good time.

Well that was an interesting weekend...somewhat against my better judgement I decided to enter a show on Saturday. Got there just after 8am, Paps were 2nd in the ring, and I knew Ria quite possibly wouldn't be in until 3 or 4pm.

I showed a friends bitch to 2nd in Graduate, Elton was unceremoniously chucked, and by this point it was only mid morning so decided to just cut my losses and go home, as then the dogs would get a nice walk as we could stop at the canal on the way. A shame as I was looking forward to showing Ria (haven't shown her at all since she came out of puppy), but I've known her be in the ring at gone 5pm and as we had excitement planned for Sunday (more on that in a minute) I just couldn't hang around for all that time, especially as there were 9 dogs in her class - almost all older, and as we know she is an immature 12 months anyway. Only we got to the motorway turn off and it started absolutely pouring with rain, so we didn't get our walk :-( and upon stopping at the supermarket just before home the car park was totally full - so didn't get shopping either! It really was one of those days where I wished I hadn't bothered getting up.

Then Sunday dawned :-) A beautiful morning, and an agility match to go to! I took all 3 dogs as I figured being a nice day that wouldn't be too hot or too cold, they were just as well crated in the car as at home and I didn't know what opportunities would present.

In the end unfortunately there wasn't time (the arena was booked for 3 hours and they had to be out at that point), despite the fact that it had been intended Ria would do something and I was hoping Solei may get the opportunity to run a steeplechase course. But never mind - I spent most of the morning scribing (yes, they let me loose o_O and I didn't mess it up yay lol) and had a fantastic time. Elton got to come and socialize for a short time at the beginning, and Ria at the end. Then we came home via a lovely canal side walk where Elton & Ria got to run about and burn off some energy (in Ria's case..) and Solei also enjoyed it, despite being confined to on lead!

Can't wait for the next one now - hope there is one before too long!

I have also just started Elton & Ria's weave training. I'm using the 2x2 method, so far so good (I think..). Nearly ready for the second set of poles. I don't feel confident in this yet, so fingers crossed I'm not messing it up!

Elton is awesome :-) We went to the Joint Papillon Clubs Championship Show on Sunday, and he got 3rd in Limit, 1st in Open Phalene, Best Phalene Dog and then BEST PHALENE IN SHOW :-D So proud of him, the judge was very complimentary and I don't think he's ever looked better, so I have everything crossed this will be his year! Last year was a bit of a write off one way or another, with his behaviour, judges not falling right and a couple of other factors. That was his first show for a month, and first championship show this year - so I hope he's started as he means to go on :-) That would be great!

I also took Ria (obviously not showing), and she didn't cause chaos - always a plus.

Well the weekend saw most of the country covered in snow - however, in our small corner we have yet to see even a flake! So Ria still hasn't seen her first snow.

I didn't feel agility last week was as productive as the previous couple of weeks, though the main trainer wasn't there which may not have helped. My delightful dog also decided to throw up halfway through because she'd been eating poop on our pre-agility walk :-P Love her.

As far as classes, that's all we've done. No agility for Solei, obedience or ringcraft. And a couple of weeks off from shows too! Though I did actually end up going down to one on the 28th to help with grooming. Took Elton & Ria and had a nice walk by the Great Western Canal on the way down :-)

Instead we've been taking the time for lots of nice walks, and I've found the cul-de-sac across the road works nicely as a training area. Ria has to stay on a long line for safety, but it works. Elton is more predictable and I can happily work him loose! I want to take my weaves out there and work on that, as we actually have the space to work round the "clock".

The increased exposure to other dogs has helped Ria, and she is definitely improving. Yesterday I took her and Elton to the park, and we met a six-month-old Cocker Spaniel. For the first time she was actually sort of playing with a strange dog :-) Of course it doesn't help that almost all the dogs we meet usually are either large or terriers, so usually too scary for her!

Training for Ria has largely been concentrated on her heelwork position, which I'm really not happy with and am at a bit of a loss at the moment as to how to get it where I want it - or indeed where I want it, which really does not help! Four weeks til Crufts, arrrrgh. Though I discovered this morning she has the most awesome send away to a mat over an amazing distance :-P (knew she had a lovely one, but not over that distance!)

For Elton, it's been concentrated on getting comfortable picking up and giving me his new dumbbell - home made, very light. Gonna be useless outside if it's windy (too light to throw), but that won't be any issue til the end of May at the earliest. We have a way to go, but fingers crossed. My aim is to have him performing some semblance of a retrieve by the end of March!

Tonight is match night at ringcraft, but as I have two permanently muddy dogs that I can't be bothered to clean up :-P I shall be going without dogs! I just hope the whites come up white after bathing - Elton has a show on Sunday!

A year ago today, a certain little Kooiker puppy was born - and life was never the same again!

I picked her up on 18th March, having absolutely no idea what was in store! I had a choice of 2 puppies, still not sure if I chose the right one lol


The past year has been full of highs and lows....challenges and achievements, struggles that seemed never ending and other things that just seemed to fall into place! But I am so glad I waited for the breed I really wanted, and didn't give up and go elsewhere.

In her first year of life, she has competed at 5 obedience shows - 4 at 6 months and the 5th at 7 months 2 days - and achieved a 1st, a 4th, two 6ths, qualification for Crufts 2012 and qualification for the ABC Obedience Finals.

In conformation, at matches she's had 2 Best Puppy, 3 Reserve Best Puppy & 1 Best Baby Puppy (under 6m), 3 Best Puppy in Breed at champ shows and 9 Best Puppy AVNSC, 2 Best Puppy in Breed, 2 Best AVNSC, 1 Reserve Best AVNSC, 1 Best of Breed and a Puppy Group 2 at open shows. She's slower maturing, which hasn't helped her any. As regular readers will know, we've had so many judges say she needs to mature, and at her last show the judge placed her behind her sister, made some comment about Ria being younger and then couldn't believe it when we said they were sisters lol But she'll get there eventually :-)

I am really excited about seeing what she can do in agility. She's been coming on in leaps and bounds over the last few weeks, showing great promise. I was going to enter her for her first show today (not for 4 months) but when I went to register her it was major fail in that whilst she could be an "Arctic Fox Cross", "Brooklyn Carchaser" or "Terrier Thing" she could not be a Kooikerhondje! So I'm waiting for a reply back about that, hopefully they can sort it - or else she is going to be a Brooklyn Carchaser :-P

8 weeks

6 months

12 months (yes, we had a very muddy walk this morning!)

Can't believe she was ever that small and fluffy! And it wasn't that long ago.

Happy 1st Birthday Ria! Here's to the future :-)

Had another successful agility class with Ria on Wednesday. Long may this change continue :-)

On Sunday I had entered a champ show which was coupled with a grooming and obedience competition. I've never sone grooming before, but thought I'd give it a go as I was there anyway - after all, I groom my own dogs all the time. I'd entered all 3 dogs in the obedience.

I was slightly aprehensive - I have done nothing with the boys for 5 months, and when I did a bit of stay practise with Elton in the week leading up to it he was not good at holding his sit stay - and then I realised he has only ever done the length he was going to be asked to do (1 min sit, 2 min down) about 3 times in competition - and broke twice. Ria I had no idea, as she'd never done anything quite like that before (she's competed 5 times (1 without stays) and I don't think she's ever done that length stay in competion), Solei I wasn't particularly worried about - Solei is Solei!

I was also concerned about managing 3 dogs in stays - I was hoping I wouldn't have to take them all in, but stays ended up being first thing before any dogs had worked so I had no choice. However, I was pleasantly surprised :-) Setting them up felt a lot more fluid than the two occasions I've done it previously and I didn't feel I kept anyone waiting. Icing on the cake - all 3 dogs had clear stays! Though Ria caused chaos at the end of each one...which was actually good if it had to happen, because now I know to be careful when I release her. It was embarrassing enough there - but they were understanding, anywhere else would've been 1000x worse - and to make things even worse, had it not happened there it wouldn't happened at Crufts. omg. Don't even want to think about that.

Ria lost the plot when I tried to work her - had been lovely outside the ring (judge said to me after he'd been watching and admiring!) but completely lost concentration, focus and everything else in there (all on carpet which didn't help - her nose was almost glued to the floor the majority of the time). Baby brain. he said he could see the potential in the brief snippets when she did decided to concentrate! So I turned her round into a training round as it'd already gone rather wrong (her recall was good though)

Solei I was really pleased with, though I overcompensated slightly - when he's on a solid surface he always gets a bit enthusiastic cos he doesn't need to worry about scaring chair bumping so I need to do a fair amount to settle him, and I think I overdid it slightly cos he was a bit tired & laggy by heel free

and Elton was Elton! I need to do some more work with him, he's coming along well but I know he's capable of more if I actually put the work in :-X been distracted by puppy...and he got a 4th.

I also won my grooming class with Morse, Elton's younger brother :-)

In breed Ria got he got 2nd to her sister again - and the judge uttered the immortal words about maturity! Again. Then she had forgotten how old she was and said at the end she's younger isn't she, don't think she could believe it when we said they were sisters.

However, I also had her entered in rare breeds which is open to all the breeds here that can't become champions, so as it happened she was in Puppy Bitch with Braccos and Tollers - and she got 2nd behind a Bracco that went on to win Best Bitch & Best Puppy :-)

She rarely does badly when she's not against other Kooikers (or maybe it's just her sister - she hasn't really ever been up against much else!) - but when she is the maturity seems to be a big issue. And I didn't think she was looking too bad now! That was her last puppy class - her first birthday is tomorrow!

It was an insane day - Kooikers ended up being in the ring at 5:30pm, and I'd got there at 7am because the obedience stays were scheduled for 9:30 and I wanted to have time to settle everyone and get them out..etc - and the show was over 3 hours away.

I have had one of those weeks, where it suddenly feels as if things are slotting into place. A light bulb week for Ria, perhaps. It feels like she's really changed in the last week.....maturing I guess? I feel like I have more of the dog I've tried to mould - the way she relates to me, training, playing....life?

Ok the match on Tuesday was not good in terms of her reactivity, but beyond that - as I posted last week, she was awesome at agility.

I then took her to obedience on Friday because she has a competition coming up and also Crufts round the corner, and she REALLY needs the stay practise - her stays in themselves are fine, but she has done almost none with other dogs (it's the one thing I can't do on my own!) and I know she worries if a dog near her breaks, or makes a noise.

Considering it's a relatively advanced class, I haven't taken her for months and it was also a venue she'd never been to before, I was suitably proud <3 She was a little reactive, but not too bad - and didn't kick off at any of the dogs in her class :-) even the very large GSD!

She was the only one to do a nice retrieve, and it was almost perfect - waited whilst I threw, went out and picked up cleanly, brought it back with no mouthing, waited with no mouthing til I was told to take it, let me take it without moving and then did a nice finish when told.

She did the most fantastic send away, and she was the only one that did that without needing multiple commands or help.

I've been having problems with her recall cos she'd throw herself at my legs and then go into the most awful crooked sit, practically 90 degrees out. She now no longer jumps up when she comes back, which in turn is improving her sit and she's only very slightly crooked now.

Someone actually came up to me afterwards and asked why/how my dogs are always so obedient :-X

I mean she's not perfect by any means - her heelwork needs a lot of work - her about turns are crap more often than not, and she is prone to forward working (and then turning her head in thus her bum out), but that's because I have been able to do almost no work to the correct chair...so I really need to fix that.

We did one down stay which was fine, but I did throw in some extra commands to make sure it was fine (esp as another dog broke)

Went to a show on Saturday, and she was fantastic...for the first time in weeks she didn't move a muscle as the judge went over her, though she's moved better - typical, she decided she had an itch but didn't quite want to stop and scratch it! So we ended up with a few paces, try and scratch, few more paces :-P She still won't stand nicely for any length of time at the beginning/end of a class, but even there she was improved. Actually, I've never quite seen her as she was in the ring - she was sooo excited, so happy and enjoying herself SO much :-) Not that she doesn't always enjoy herself, but she was particularly happy. Plus, we got into and out of the ring without any drama, and the whole (large) class she only barked once - and that was when a Malamute in the next ring ran up behind her. She had a 5th which is actually her worst result to date, but c'est la vie - she beat dogs and wasn't unplaced! Not sure if it's true or not, but for the first time since I've had her I got the feeling that the judge was totally disinterested in these "little not proper gundogs". Meh, results aren't everything. I was delighted with her :-)

Elton had another typical Elton open show getting a 3rd out of 3, but then - under a different judge - followed it up with a 5th in a massive (20+ dogs) stakes class and some lovely comments from the judge.

Yesterday I took Elton & Ria and I think I had the best walk I've ever had - albeit literally 5 doors from home it had to spoil what had been an absolutely perfect walk when we met another dog on the pavement without room to divert and I had Elton on my lap so he decided to bark which didn't help matters :-P

I took them to the park, to get there we did some pavement walking but there is a grass area where I let them both off lead. We encountered two other dogs there, and Ria saw them but was really good.

When we got to the park I walked in and right near the entrance was a massive dog...I went "oh sh*t.....oh wait, I know that dog"! It was the Leonberger belonging to one of the trainers at the obedience club, and on lead - so that was really good for Ria. We chatted for a bit and she ran around and then got brave and came up to say hello (my two were both off lead) and it was a really positive experience for her, at her pace.

We had a lovely walk round the park, including one point where there was a man with a big black lab (big black dogs are one of Ria's worst), as we got closer he apparently had a chuck it and the dog ran off after a ball, so I legged it past as fast as I could :-P The dog had got most of the way back when we passed, and she didn't react <3 we then saw other dogs and she didn't run up to them or over react, so it was all really positive.

Also, not quite the play I am aiming for yet, but at both the classes I've been able to "turn on" play to some extent and reward in different ways than just food....and it's getting there. I also love the increased stamina and intensity she has compared to the boys.

I feel more positive about everything, and hopefully the future is bright :-)