Moving day

This year has been one of great change, so it hardly came as a surprise when we were told that the barn adjacent to our training field is finally ready for conversion. I would like to thank everyone who offered suggestions and leads for a new field, it was touching to have such support on hand. As a result is wasn't very long at all before we found ourselves being shown around Pool Farm in Kingston Seymour. We now have a great new field, enclosed on all sides, larger than previously, and with hard standing for car parking right alongside the field. Thanks must go to Sara Bingham for sourcing the field thanks to her friendship with Margaret Bush our new landlady. We're delighted with our new venue and can't wait to start teaching! :)

Today I'm grateful for the many willing helpers who were there to support Sue & I as we made the rather emotional move from our old venue to the new.

Sad news - farewell George

It would seem that just as we are all delightedly welcoming Ella's youngsters into our agility family, we have the sorry task of ushering another member out. I heard the sad news today that we have lost George (Bichon Frisé) from our training community, put to sleep over last weekend. I shall never forget how he honed my rugby tackling skills and brought our ring at North Somerset to a standstill this year with the bag of sausages that he'd found and pinched from an unattended pocket! He was naughty, cheeky, clever and rather devious at times. But oh so lovable, and that wicked expression on his face shall be sorely missed by those that knew and loved him.

The naughty lad himself :)

Betty allowed me the privilege of running him in competition a couple of times and at training. I was a big fan of George, he reminded me of Toby (one of my first agility dogs) with his attitude and expressions. Like Toby, George always wanted to know what was in it for him before he did anything - he never wanted to be involved in anything he wasn't going to be paid for! It was a shame he wasn't able to find Betty & Allen sooner, as by the time they had him he'd developed some behaviours that were difficult to unravel and change. He couldn't have found anyone better though, and he had a wonderful home with them (even throughout some time off agility whilst Betty had surgery on her hip), enjoying agility even shortly before the end. I remember Betty exclaiming "He remembers what to do" when he stopped himself in his customary 2 feet on, 2 feet off position at the bottom of a contact. George always remembered something when there was food to be had out of doing it!

I hope that he finds himself a big, meaty bone to enjoy and guard at Rainbow Bridge - he'll no doubt be a handful to whichever angel is assigned to caring for him! You shall be missed young man, you shall be missed x

Today I'm grateful for having known George :)

Unexpected rewards

For those of you that know me I think you'd describe my relationship with my dogs and their training a bit of a passion. They do take up rather a significant amount of my time and income, but I certainly wouldn't want it any other way. Teaching for a living seemed a natural progression to this love affair as I want the people I teach to be enthused to enjoy their dogs to the full, as sadly we don't get to keep them nearly so long as we would like.

My dogs have led me to meet many people, a few who've gifted me with some important information on my dog training journey, and many others who've come to join me as friends in the bigger journey of my life. Today I was reminded of just how lucky I am to be doing the job I do.

I met Sally Comport and Max a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel sometime ago now on one of our beginner agility classes. By her own admission Max's real problem was his recall and she hoped agility would strengthen their bond and improve his recall in the process. What we find on our current agility classes is how many people are led to agility in a similar way to Sally & Max, that even those who have  successfully attended classes in community halls haven't found a formula that works in the distractions of everyday life. Our training field offers many real life distractions such as rabbit poo, other dogs smells, wildlife scents, to name but a few. 

I'm so glad Sally found her way to our classes, not least because of how helpful she found the instruction in building on her relationship with Max. For the last few weeks I've been enjoying her company on our daily walks as Sally still finds it difficult to trust Max not to take fright at something and take off into the distance. Happily Max takes a lot of confidence from being with my dogs and looks happy and relaxed when out with us, and as such Sally's been enjoying watching him run around off lead. Sometimes just a bit of moral support can go a long way, and really that's all I've thought of our walks as being.

So imagine my surprise and delight to be presented with a rather large gift at the end of our walk this afternoon, with a lovely message on a card to go with it! From someone who started as a client, but quickly turned into a friend - the unexpected rewards in life are part of what makes it all so interesting and enjoyable. Thank you Sally & Max! :-)

Today I am grateful for the friendships which enrich my life :-)

Training afternoon with friends

Devon Dogs & Honiton show

Some FAN-tastic news - Lel and Hattie won Gd. 1-3 Small Agility and came 2nd in Gd. 1-3 Small Jumping. What a way to turn G4 - congratulations to them both, what a brilliant team they both make! We're going back for more tomorrow, so will report more then...

Today I'm grateful for my best friend winning up to G4 with her lovely little dog, and the celebrations which are just about to start :-))

KC International Festival

Friday
Quite the biggest show I have ever been to - agility rings as far as the eye could see! We arrived at the show on Friday morning with only 15 minutes to walk our courses, and both Lel and I were quite overwhelmed by the magnitude of the place. I managed to walk two of the three courses I had to run for the day (the Novice Cup ones which I wanted to focus on), and then I really started to work myself up into a bit of a tiz! The courses themselves were great - just the sort of thing Ella and I could get our teeth into. Unfortunately each class had 12 weave poles - something which I admit I was a bit nervous about. I was right to be a bit worried - she hit her entries fast but clear; in one class she managed to stay in despite knocking herself in the face with the 2nd pole bless her! But in each class she came out two poles from the end, excitement proving too much for my clever girl. I had feared my proofing of 12 weave poles wasn't complete - she showed me that I need to invest a bit more time to make them foolproof. That was disappointing, but worse was how badly I handled the rest of two of the courses - nerves just throwing me out. I redeemed myself in my final class of the day - the Novice Cup Agility, where despite her coming out at the last pole and needing to re-do them, I worked the rest of the course much better and didn't get her E'd. Small relief, but I'm lucky to have a forgiving dog who's always up for trying again, so no permanent damage.

Saturday
Saturday morning came and we set off with much more time to spare and as a result it was a much calmer atmosphere in the Osmond camp! Also I had made the decision not to run classes where there were 12 weave poles as I don't want any more failures until I'm in a position to reward/ correct as appropriate - the competition ring just isn't the place for that. So I was really pleased that 2 out of my 3 classes for the day had 6 weave poles. What I'm about to write next fills me with pride and pleasure - in Ella's Grade 3 Agility class of 234 dogs, she went clear and straight into the lead with a whole second to spare - despite me almost messing up the end by trying to put in a pull through where there wasn't one! Bursting with excitement and feeling a bit sick frankly, we went over to do our Grade 3 Jumping class. I hadn't managed to walk it and had Lel (who had run it earlier with Hattie) talking me through the course with only 1 dog in front of me in the queue! Deep breath then and fingers crossed - straight round with winged heels, clean set of weaves at such speed (!) - into the lead there too!!

Our final placings were:
Grade 3 Agility Large Part 2, judged by Linda Hutchinson (234 dogs) - 1st!
Grade 3 Jumping Large Part 1, judged by Cathy Keith (238 dogs) - 2nd!

Sunday
Sticking with my decision not to put her at a set of 12 poles, I only had a jumping class to run before we left at 11am this morning (getting back for babies). Another stunning round, marred only by her slipping in the weave poles and not being able to bend back in correctly after her entry. Lel commented that the judge seemed to be shaking his head in disappointment at her mistake, as that was her only mistake of the run - it was another first class performance from my first class dog.

Today I am grateful to my agility friends for their unwavering belief in my abilities as a handler, my family for their constant support of my agility dreams, and for my wonderful, fabulous, talented Ella. We're now a Grade 4 partnership! :-))

Caerphilly show

Just a quickie - must have tea and then probably up to bed, it's been a long day. But must post some great news - Ella & I won the First Contact Starters Qualifier, which means we're now Grade 3!

I have two of the best dogs and I'm so grateful to my friends Sue, Lel & Martin for supporting me this week with my weave re-training. It's not complete (we still made 2 mistakes in sets of weaves today) as I knew it wasn't when I left today, but we've come a long way in a week. Who knows what next weekend could bring??