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.

Preparing to say goodbye..

It's going to be a long day tomorrow as we say goodbye to the majority of Ella & Tigger's puppies who are being collected by their new owners. Ryley (Red), Beep (Lightening), Jet (new name TBC!), Oberon/Obi (Spot) and Ruby (Seven) will be heading out into the world to start the next chapter in their lives.

I can't begin to explain what an experience the whole process has been, from making the decision to breed, choosing the stud dog, the mating, the birth, the puppies themselves - a roller coaster, and one I wouldn't have missed for anything in the world. I loved each of my dogs from the moment they entered my life, and with Ella in particular I've shared many special moments in her agility career as we've moved up the grades. But I think this has to top them all as being her midwife of choice and assisting her first little boy into the world and then being there as one by one the rest joined him - it's an experience I will treasure my whole life.

As they've been socialised in various places, I've often been asked the question 'Are you selling them?' or 'Have they all got homes?', only to be greeted with surprise when I explain the waiting list we had before they were even conceived! That's a good feeling, to know that these puppies were loved and wanted before they were even born - just as their mother is treasured every day of her life.

I expect a few tears will be shed tomorrow, but I want it known that they will be happy ones. There are some good people welcoming these young dogs into their lives and I know that they'll be safe and well within their care. And whilst it's goodbye tomorrow, it's not as if I won't ever see any of them again - with each going to agility homes, I look forward to meeting (and hopefully beating ;)) them as their careers develop. And I'm assured of regular updates as their proud new parents have promised to keep in touch with special news. Plus I take comfort from the fact that as these new puppies fly the nest, my darling Ella puppy will be all mine again and she, Kai & Diva will be able to have more of the attention that they undoubtedly deserve. As a family we've all played our part in these puppies early days, but now's a good time to say farewell. 

Except as I should probably mention, for one particular puppy who seems to have worked her way into my affections - unbeknown to me until just this last week. The dark chocolate puppy we named Galaxy who is so like her mother, but instead a rich, chocolately brown. Sensibility finally deserted me and the heart won out - Borderspirit Temptation is here to stay. We're now a household of 4 dogs - oops! ;)

Today I'm grateful for the wonderful homes awaiting Ella & Tigger's precious puppies - we've done all that we can do, now we're going trust their new owners to do what we know they can do :)

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 :)

Ella & Tigger's puppies

I am extremely proud to announce the arrival of some incredibly beautiful little puppies - not that I'm biased in any way you understand ;) 

The little darlings themselves, along with when they arrived in the world and how much they weighed

There are three recognised stages in the whelping process, so my bible "Book of the Bitch" explains! When the bitch is going through stage one she "will be restless, usually refusing food for as much as 18 - 24 hours, and she may vomit". Ella's first sign was the fact that she didn't initially want her tea on Thursday evening, although she did in the end. That was a bit weird only that she's been so hungry of late, she's been gobbling it down! She was very restless, panting a lot, and wasn't able to settle down. Plus she was following me around rather than just chilling out - the generally picture was one of unease.

Kai keeping her company, not really
understanding what all the fuss was about!

So I duly stayed downstairs with her to keep her company in case we were looking at the pups a day or two early. I don't think either of us slept much, she really wasn't very comfortable. On Friday morning she wasn't interested in her breakfast at all so we didn't push it and made plans for the dogs & children to be taken care of for the day. Even then I wasn't really expecting them all that soon.

Next thing I know there's a pool of liquid on the floor near her rear and I realised that her waters had broken! At this point she was on the duvet that I'd brought down to sleep with, and whilst I wanted her to be comfortable I was a bit worried that I couldn't see exactly what was going on where she was. So I asked her to move into the whelping box and she lay on her side, still looking pretty uncomfortable. We could then see her muscles moving in a contraction, and a small white bag like a water balloon appeared from her vulva. I could see a little bit of something that looked like it might be puppy related (!), but really wasn't sure - I was expecting a nose or a foot! This was at 8.35am so the vets weren't quite there to ask, but I left a message with the receptionist for Andy the vet to call back.

Meanwhile I made the decision that it really wasn't the "black, fluid filled bag" of water - this was likely a bag with a puppy in it, so I held her tummy just in front of her hind legs (as it had described in the book) to help her contractions focus on getting the 'bag' out. At the same time I tried to provide the "gentle traction" downwards to persuade the bag to come out, but it was all slippy and not very easy to grip at all! Whilst I was trying to do that it popped, so then I'm thinking "Eek, need to get puppy out now it hasn't got its protective bag round it", grabbed the little body and out the first little pup popped! The little bit of something that I'd seen in the bag had been a tail (feet first - breech birth), hence the difficulties in being born. Our first puppy - a gorgeous red & white boy! Since both parents have to be carriers of the red gene to produce red puppies (as the gene is recessive), I was delighted to find out she was a carrier :)

Welcome to the world baby boy!

After that I'd have to describe the process as something approaching shelling peas! I don't recall it being so easy when I was having my boys, that's for sure! 1st pup was born at 8.50am, then 2nd pup at 9.00am, 3rd pup at 9.20am, 4th pup at 9.40am, and 5th at 10.00am. Like clockwork, as I say Ella made it look remarkably easy - a couple of pushes and pop - puppy! At that point we thought we were pretty much set, but then my Ella has always known how to surprise me. After a little rest the 6th puppy arrived at 11.30am, then the 7th and final puppy at 11.50am.

The Borderspirit boys :)

Andy our vet was very helpful at the end of the phone, and just to be sure that we were all done I also had him pop out to check on Ella to make sure we shouldn't be waiting for anybody else! He had a feel but thought not, and she was also much more settled by then and her waistline (astonishingly!) was looking a lot more like its old self. I wish my tummy could bounce back like that! ;)

Ella has given me some incredible experiences already so far, taking me out of my nemesis of Grade 1 KC Agility and showing me that actually that was nothing, why not push for Grade 6 whilst we're about it. Our last show of this season was Prestbury Park where we had an amazing run to win G6 Agility, our first towards G7. That was a pretty cool day, but it pales into insignificance when compared to watching her give birth to her special litter of puppies.

My wonderful, irreplaceable girl with her precious puppies :)

We had the most amazing day welcoming Ella & Tigger's precious puppies into the world. I was in the privileged position of midwife throughout and I was so thrilled to be alongside her as she met each of her puppies, and touched that she was happy for me to handle them and be involved in the whole process. Our bond was pretty strong before, but I think it may have even shifted up a few more gears from there.

So the first Borderspirit litter has arrived! So far it would seem that we have been blessed with strong, healthy little puppies that appear to be thriving with the love and attention their wonderful mother is bestowing on them. The agility community has embraced and rejoiced at their entrance into the world, in the way that any family does. New friendships have been forged between those involved, with links that will no doubt remain in place for a lifetime. Many good homes have been found for these precious little ones, and preparations for their homecomings are being lovingly planned. Life is good :)

Today I am grateful that not only do we have some amazing puppies, but most importantly, their extraordinary mother is thriving and well. Whilst the pups will be fabulous, their mother is one of a kind and I couldn't be without her :)

Prestbury Park 4th September 2010

I can honestly say I didn't expect much from competing today. My poor little Callum started a temperature yesterday and didn't sleep very well at all. Despite Mike being a wonderful husband and getting up to care for him, it was still a restless night as his cries cut straight through his mother's sleep. When the morning came I wondered aloud what God's plan for me was - I'm feeling under such pressure in all areas of my life, and sleep deprivation doesn't help! Mike convinced me that he'd manage, and sort out a doctor's appointment etc. So feeling very dubious about it all, I set off for the show which is up near Cirencester.

My sat-nav has been playing up for a little while, but really earnt its self retirement today by taking me to the middle of the Gloucestershire countryside, but no-where near the venue. At this point I'm thinking that this might be a sign to head home! However my wonderful instructor Martin Tait is also very good with directions, and he re-directed me to the venue. So we arrive a little late, a little flustered, but there! Missed walking my first course which left me a little wayward in the middle of it, but Ella worked well and was really listening to the somewhat garbled and late directions she was receiving ;-)

Fortunately that was just a Helter Skelter, so I treated that as a warm up and soon headed to the G6 Agility ring to walk that course. Much more straight forward than most of the ones we've seen this season, and bar an obstacle discrimination of tunnel/A-frame, I was feeling pretty confident about getting round.

On my way to get her for the run, I got thinking about what God's plan for me might include. My sons immediately sprung to mind, and I started to think about what they might be learning from watching their mother compete like I do. I realised that I would want them to learn that putting themselves out there to compete is an exciting and worthwhile thing to do. I would like them to know that even if they don't get it right first time, every mistake they make is an opportunity for them to develop and get better. Most of all, I hope they would know that all I ever expect from them is their best, and that their best will always be just fine by me. That made me remember that my parents and those that love me, only want the same for me.

So I entered the ring in a good frame of mind. You'll see from the video clip that Ella has been allowed to get very barky as we enter a ring, something which I'm trying not to let bother me. I'm not mad keen on barking, I find it very distracting and annoying! I console myself with the fact that when she's asked for her startline position she immediately quits barking, and the work switch clicks into place.

Ella demonstrating her cool poise on the startline :)

As I look back at her I'm always blown away by her focus and self-control, and I thank the heavens for such an amazing agility partner. Not everyone gets an Ella in their lifetime, and I still question how she ever made it into mine. The answer to that is in the series of events after Kai's accident and she's another important thing I have to thank him for, he's another truly amazing dog. I don't know how anyone could put together a case for their dog of a lifetime - each that has come into my life could argue a strong case for being the special one! Diva is already shaping my life, pushing me to become a better trainer, to explore new methods to better help her learn, and just generally being a bit of a lovebug :)

Today had some really good bits, and some mistakes to allow for more improvement :) My favourite has to be winning the G6 Agility class, and having Sue there to celebrate with. Must convince her to enter some more agility shows next year! Anyway, I'll leave you with some video clips from the day. I'm off for a glass of champagne to celebrate... ;)

Today I'm grateful for Ella :)

Great dogs

I have just returned from walking Kai & Ella, and feel very relaxed and happy as a result. Due to me becoming a dog walker, we don't walk by ourselves very much anymore and it's something I should do much more often. Great for stress busting, and believe me the last week has given me cause for needing it.

Tomorrow will be a week since Diva, my lovely, bright little puppy - broke her leg. I wish that last bit wasn't true, but very sadly it is. We were walking on the beach at Weston-Super-Mare when a couple of dogs started racing around chasing each other. Diva was just stood still trying to be out of their way when they ran over her - they rolled her and as she went over she screamed out in pain. Not a sound that any owner wants to be familiar with in their dog.

After gathering up the other dogs and putting the children back into their car seats, we headed to our vets and Diva had a conscious x-ray taken which confirmed my suspicions - a fractured femur. The very same injury that Ella suffered from after jumping off the sea wall at Clevedon when she was 6 months old. I think I'll be staying away from beaches with my dogs from now on, we obviously don't mix well.

On the plus side the bone was fractured in the middle which made repairing it that much simpler, and we made use of Diva's insurance policy by employing Dr Hamish Denny to repair the damage. He's one of the best orthopedic specialists in the country, and I am eternally grateful he's local to us. We also have the benefit of knowing the veterinary rehabilitation specialists at the Smart clinic in Cardiff, and Lowri has given me further advice to get us through the next 4 weeks until we can start a program to rehabilitate her properly.

Whilst Diva was understandably quiet and very un-Diva like at first, each day she is clearly feeling a bit stronger and I'm pleased to report that it would appear her spark was only subdued, it isn't lost completely. During me writing this post she has whined for help getting out in the garden - our scary tabby cat was guarding the exit - so it seems her faith in me as protector is undimmed. We've had to forget recall training for the minute as she had taken on board the message that her 'Come' cue means get to whoever's calling you as fast as you can - it's too nerve wracking and far too dangerous at present. So if we need her we go collect her and walk her to wherever we want her to be. The lead walks only thing doesn't seem to bother her either, as she associates the lead with lots of treats - Diva heaven :-)

Despite this bad luck I'm determined that this won't affect the rest of the year. There are some things we can't control no matter how much we would like to. But we can control our attitude and reaction to those things that are taken out of our hands. My decision about Diva's accident is to allow a little time for feeling sad, take stock, and then move on in a constructive way. I'll keep you posted with our progress - I'm swinging back and forth between the feeling sad/ taking stock stage at present ;-)

Today I'm grateful for Kai, Ella & Diva and all the life lessons they've taught me, as well as my wonderful family and friends who support me when times get tough.

Introducing...

Meet Diva! She is a tricolour shetland sheepdog puppy, who will be 10 weeks this Wednesday. We collected her from her breeders in Llanelli around midday today, and despite the long drive home she was quite content in the car - no fear, no accidents. Very happy to be cuddled :-)

We waited until today to collect her as we were away over the weekend for Mike's 30th birthday, down in Cornwall. As well as relaxing, I confess quite a few dog training books/ manuals made it down in my bag! It's been a while since we've had a puppy in the house (Ella's going to be 4 in March) so I just wanted to refresh my memory a bit before Diva came home. From what I do recall, due to the fact that Ella joined us in the wake of Kai's devastating accident (which saw the removal of his front right leg) I didn't dare trust my instincts when it came to raising her in the early days. I read a lot before she came home then too, but I'm a different person to the one that brought that tiny collie pup home.

My knowledge of dog training is constantly expanding, and Diva will benefit from a host of new training ideas and principles that Toby & Lucy, my first dogs, were never introduced to. And you know what - Diva will miss out on stuff that I will learn in the future, just as they have done. Will that make them enjoy their training less, or be lesser dogs because of it? Not a chance. Something that I have inspired in all my dogs is their desire to work for and please me - even those pesky terriers that I started with almost 10 years ago. My methods for teaching are better than they were then, but it's no good knowing a library full of theory unless you're able to put it into practice. For that you need empathy and understanding, and a sincere resolution to give your all - just as you expect your dog to do. I think that's what I do rather well, and I thank all the dogs both past and present who have helped me to become the handler that I am today.

So baby Diva, I have a stack of training ideas and concepts that will be rolled out in your training in the weeks to come; but first and foremost I'll be going with my instincts as to what I believe is best for you. Building a relationship and a solid foundation of trust and understanding is my top priority. I'm already proud of you and how you've coped with a busy first day - looking forward to what's to come!

Today I'm grateful for my mother-in-law for having our beautiful children for us whilst we were away, and for the wonderful weekend Mike and I shared together :-)

In pursuit of excellence..

This is going to be short - it's been a very long weekend! Just wanted to post how pleased I was with my clever, talented and beautiful collie dog tonight. Since having 3 weeks off agility, she has come back fitter and possibly even better than she was before. There is a little rust to be dusted off my handling skills, but tonight we had a final exercise which was the cherry on top of a very good session. The 'scoop' skill which I had found so difficult and frustrating just a few days earlier at Martin Tait's training venue in Hinton, I applied to the finish of an exercise that led into the weave poles. My timing was spot on and she turned from into me, over the jump and through the weaves. Needless to say I was delighted, but to top it off Martin clapped us - he actually clapped us as we had finished!! :-)

Tonight I'm glad that I had the courage to put into practice something that I had recently found difficult. We cannot achieve excellence if we don't push beyond our comfort zone, and our expectations should never limit us to an average performance. The sky is the limit, we can do anything if we only believe. And what a dog I have to believe in me :-)

Post-agility season blues

I am definitely having withdrawal symptoms now that weekends don't involve agility shows - I do worry about what this says about me as a person, but there it is! This is not helped by my lovely dog being off work for two weeks (hopefully only 3 more days to go - and counting!) which has meant I'm not getting to enjoy any agility training with my dog at all. This has led me to thinking about next years puppy plans, as it would definitely ease my blues if I had another dog to train right now.

I have a number of different ideas about what next year might hold for me on the dog front, and I'm both excited and daunted by the options available to me. But what I do know is that even without a new puppy, next year is going to be a challenging and enjoyable one because of the amazing dog I already run in agility. Ella requires me to be precise, well-informed, quick thinking and positive - to name just a few qualities she demands! I sometimes find it hard to be the agility partner that she deserves, but what's lovely about her is that she forgives generously and is always ready to give me another chance. When I re-read what I've written, I realise that our dogs probably teach us more than just what it is to be a good agility partner.

Today I am grateful for the many special moments that shone on my little world throughout the day.

SMART Clinic visit

Today Kai, Ella, Hattie and I visited Lowri Davies at the SMART clinic in Cardiff. Hattie was only with us for the ride, but think she quite enjoyed herself - there was plenty of liver cake going around :-)

I have noticed that Kai is slowing down, and am grateful that friends were able to recommend the clinic which is for veterinary rehabilitation by referral from your own vet. I was distressed to learn how much pain my boy is in on a day to day basis, and that he seems to be lame in his back right leg. The slowing down is obviously a result of the ongoing discomfort he is in, and I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears on hearing Lowri's assessment of him. It's a credit to him that he takes life in his stride and doesn't let this bother him as much as he could. What's comforting to me is that he enjoys attention from anyone, even vets! He happily let Lowri administer acupuncture, and although a little worried, did well in the water treadmill. We have some exercises to do before we see her next week and I hope that these will ease his discomfort and I may have many more years left to enjoy him in.

What was somewhat surprising from the visit, was how much Lowri felt Ella's old broken leg injury was affecting her current movement. Plus the lack of movement she has down her lower back - she works like a hinge at the moment, head and shoulder doing most of the work. I can't say Ella enjoyed the visit quite as much as Kai, as she's a bit of a baby really, but she let Lowri do some acupuncture on her, and did some walking on the water treadmill too. She's been given 2 weeks off work - which I hope doesn't put her off Lowri for life :-) - so my off-season with her is starting nice and gently! We're not sure how long it will take to re-train her to balance herself better, but as she's young and fit we hope it won't be too long. My only worry is that Lowri feels that by removing her pain, she's likely to move even faster than she does currently. Good Lord! :-))

I'm glad I was presented with the opportunity to better improve my dog's lives, and only wish that perhaps I could have had Lowri to consult with around Kai's accident. However we discussed this and both agreed - each of us can only do our best with the information we have available to us at that time. Life would be easy with the benefit of hindsight to make decisions, but as that isn't how it works it's futile to spend too long thinking about it. Instead we should move forward and appreciate that we are better informed than before and with more life experience than we did previously. Each of our dogs will teach us something, in Kai's case he has taught me many things and for that I truly rejoice for his place in my life.

Today I am grateful to my Dad for taking care of my darling children, and in doing so freeing me up to take better care of the other important beings in my life.

UKA Staverton & Dog Vegas

What a long weekend! Thank goodness it's a Bank Holiday otherwise I don't know how we'd have done it, we didn't get home until midnight last night after being stuck in traffic on the motorway back from Scunthorpe. However I'm still glad we went all that way, there's something special about the first final with your dog, even when things don't go to plan!

Anyway, Staverton first on the Saturday - not a great day as I was very wound up about what was to come on the Sunday, and could have done much better than I did. A last minute 'E' in the Gamblers was disappointing, but it was miles better than the last one I tried to do so I'm definitely going to enter more of those - it was quite good fun. Jumping was next and just turned off a fraction too early and brought Ella inside a jump wing, so another 'E', but heartened by a lovely 12 weaves later in the course - can't now imagine what her coming out of the last 2 poles looks like which is fabulous! Picked myself up after that and gave myself bit of a shake - thanks to Sue James for listening to my woes and reminding me how much I love my sport and really how good Ella & I are at it. So went into our Steeplechase course properly and did a cracking clear - 1st place and 6 points off Senior, happy days! Agility was right at the end of the day, but worth waiting for as it was a nice course to run. Sadly missing lunch earlier in the day had left me a little light-headed and I gave Ella's weave command far, far too late - 5 for skipping the 2nd pole but beautiful for the rest of the 12 poles after that.

Dog Vegas started well - I had strict instructions from Martin Tait about holding contacts as now Ella's won out of Grade 3 there's no need to push them. Lovely clear with 6 weaves out of a tunnel and no worries on her entry, plus me crossing behind which was great. The lovely blue & silver 8th place rosette was nice too :-)) In the next agility round Ella was high as a kite (I later found she needed to go to the toilet - good reminder before Final!) and I thought I would test her dog walk contact by quick releasing on the A-frame that came before. As expected she released herself so I was able to correct her, and she then was more careful to remember her criteria on the see-saw, and finished the round with a fast entry into 6 weaves. G3-5 Jumping was next and what I would describe as our first 'grown up' course, although nothing that Martin wouldn't set me as a quick warm up! Clear till the weaves where I think I ended up in her way and 5 for skipping the 2nd pole. She went back in beautifully to complete the 12 poles, so I was very pleased.

The Final course was a nice course which I felt would really suit Ella, and I'm really pleased with how I stayed calm & focused leading up to the start of it. I walked it straight after the judge had finished setting it and decided what I would need to do. I planned to be brave and let her pick up the see-saw out of the tunnel by herself and layer the jump off of it for a front cross. When I walked it the tunnel should have shot them out straight so that picking it up would have been no problem - sadly after I'd walked it the angle was changed slightly, so I ended up with a very eager Ella running directly to me instead!



Looking back (and esp. from this camera angle) I'm not sure if:

a) My original handling decision would have been correct
b) Did I tell her her command for see-saw early enough (or at all!)?
c) As I wasn't moving as she entered the tunnel would she have still come out looking for me anyway?
d) Would it have worked but I wasn't on the correct line I needed to be on?

Whilst I'm disappointed, I'm not going to jump off a bridge anytime soon - mistakes are opportunities to learn, and this isn't Ella's last final. Does my dog know or care frankly (!) that we didn't win? She had her enthusiastic game of tuggy at the end of her job as she always does, and she did everything I asked of her so she had no complaints from me about anything she did. I learnt that I can cope with the pressure of a final and still run my dog as I should, and that I'm brave about the handling choices I make - albeit it for the worse in this instance! Next time I think I'll probably opt for the safe option rather than the spectacular, unless I have a 2nd opinion on it from Martin Tait first! :-))

Today I'm grateful for having a wonderful dog to compete with, a great big snuggly one to welcome me when I return to the van, my dog agility van itself, Jan Sage & Lexi winning G1 Agility whilst we were up at Dog Vegas and going G2!, my parents for looking after my darling children whilst we were away, and last but by no means least, my loving, supportive husband for going all that way with me - and for always being right by my side whenever I need him.

Further 2x2 progress reports

At our 6th session on the 2x2's we were training at Martin Tait's venue, and I forgot to bring my video camera away with us! So I was back to record keeping as we went along rather than the luxury of watching the footage back and recording from that.

It's going really, really well and I'm so pleased with our progress. Ella's attitude to the weaves seems to be changing before our very eyes - she's more thoughtful and seems to have a much better understanding of what I want from her in the weaves. We've now taken our weaving show on the road and been to both Martin Tait's outdoor venue and Severnside's indoor venue at Urchinwood Manor. I didn't anticipate any problems at Martin's, but did wonder if the indoor venue might over excite her and cause her to make silly mistakes. So it was great to see that she was still very focused and driven to succeed - just what I'm after!

Our next session will be the 11th time we've worked on the 2x2's and I'm going to move to 6 poles. I intend to really work the arc and rotate the poles slightly if necessary to help her achieve the entries. Later on today I hope we'll get to do a 12th session, and I'm aiming to stick with 6 poles but crank up the distraction of what I'm doing - running, taking off on a tangent, stopping suddenly, playing with a toy - anything to try and get mistakes that we can work through.

Today I'm so grateful for my wonderful dog who is teaching me so much about dog training this week, her great attitude to working with me, and her willingness to try new things. In truth I don't think it's just dog training I'm learning about this week :-)

Teamwork

Summer's round the corner!

The clocks do their thing tomorrow, and even lighter evenings are just around the corner! It's such a positive time of the year and I'm very excited about going into this summer with my wonderful husband, two wonderful sons and two very special dogs. Last Sunday Ella and I did a league match for Severnside (Callum was only 4 weeks old on the Friday) not really expecting much as we've had such a lot of time off. She was her usual confident self, and provided me with two great rounds, weaves withstanding :-) Safe to say she hasn't forgotten it all, and the season is looking promising.

I went into the match with a different attitude than I have done in the past. I wasn't interested in winning (although I can't say it wouldn't have been nice!), I was just interested in having fun with my wonderful dog. In the past few weeks 3 close agility friends have lost their dogs to old age, dogs who shaped their lives and inspire them still. With that at the forefront of my mind, not to mention my own experience with Kai, I ran my girl with a glad heart and winged heels. We had such fun and I intend that each run this year should encompass those happy feelings.

Happy Thought

Whilst updating the Severnside website (http://www.severnsidedac.co.uk/) I edited and uploaded some photographs that a friend had taken at a recent league match. Naturally my favourite was the one I found of my own little girl; Ella waiting at the start-line for her release command. Cool, poised, ready for action just as she always is - I'm not sure why it so moved me, but it did.

Then it struck me as I moved away from the computer to go and find some dinner - both she & Kai jumped up ready to go, eager to be with me, hopeful that they might get asked to do something. We agility competitors are lucky in many ways, but the thing that strikes me the most is how it makes an potentially ordinary relationship with a dog into something quite extraordinary. Not only are they my talented and willing agility dogs, but they are also (and far more importantly) the dogs I am privileged to share my life with. Our agility isn't the be all and end all (as Kai proves each moment), but through training for it we have grown to know each other in ways we simply wouldn't have if they were merely pet dogs. For that I shall be forever grateful, despite the aching pain I know lies ahead when we shall have to be parted. These happy days make that sadness all worthwhile. Better to have loved and lost as they say, than never to have loved at all.