Diva training with friends :-)

Training afternoon with friends

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 :-)

Group session at Dervish

Just back from fantastic training session with Ella. Joined Martin Tait's 8.30pm class at his indoor venue in Hinton and was very nervous to be rubbing shoulders with handlers from grades far above me! Apparently it was just what the doctor ordered - I'm proud to say I rose to the challenge and of course my wonderful dog didn't let me down. Especially pleased at how good her 'Wait' was tonight, easily one of the best in the class :-)

What was particularly lovely was tonight I was 'me' rather than Jamie & Callum's mummy. Now don't get me wrong - I adore being their mummy and they are the most gorgeous little boys. It's just I had forgotten how much fun I could have all by myself - it was great to rediscover parts of my personality which had lain dormant for the last couple of years!

Today I'm grateful for my husband for encouraging me to go out to training, Martin for being such a good friend & instructor, and those clever, clever dogs of mine. They've given my dreams wings and freedom to fly as high as I dare :-)

Testing!

Great evenings training!

Well I said I'd probably post something after tonight's session, and sure enough here I go! We had great weather, a great group of dogs and handlers, and an even greater trainer - Martin Tait really had us thinking and everyone had a really enjoyable time. Lots to work on of course, even from those who appeared to have done it right - there's always room for improvement, always milliseconds to be shaved off our times. The dogs must love Martin coming along and sorting us out, they of course just follow our directions and I'm sure quite often wish it were them directing us! :-)

Ella & I had a good session and I'm pleased with what we achieved. My timing isn't as off as I had feared it might be, and although we had some broken waits and a self-released a-frame contact, these were corrected and weren't too much to worry about. Group sessions are fantastic for us because she's so hyped up watching the other dogs, it's closer to a show situation than we get during our 1-2-1 sessions. That said I'm looking forward to my 1-2-1 with Martin in a couple of weeks time. It'll be nice to really work through some of our issues and feel like we're getting back on track.

Website updates

Despite a very long weekend, I felt the urge to update the Daybreak websites (dog training & pet care - http://www.daybreakpets.co.uk/) to include baby Callum & whilst I was at it, the rabbits too. This was prompted by the capture of some beautiful pictures of the boys which I wanted to share - my favourite is this one I think:

Now I know I'm their mother, but aren't they just scrummy! Not to mention good little people - we went caravan hunting at the end of the day yesterday, and despite obviously being tired were ever so good. I think Jamie is quite looking forward to caravanning at the shows, if we can ever find a suitable caravan that is!

With the shows in mind I'm really looking forward to a training session with Martin Tait on Tuesday evening for my competition class at Daybreak. If I could explain to Ella I know she'd be equally excited, so perhaps it's better that I can't - two of us excited probably wouldn't be a good thing! Plus, along with my friend Caroline & her dog Jake, we might be paying a visit to Tace Allen for the dogs to have a once over. I don't have any specific concerns, but would like to make sure Ella's in tip top condition to start the season. We ask a lot of our agility dogs and I think it's only fair we repay them by making sure they're fit for the job we ask of them.

So expect an update after Tuesday I guess - can't wait!

Martin Tait Training Session

Just back from a great afternoon of training with Martin Tait from Dervish Agility. I organised a group of 6 of us for a special Christmas-season session at the paddock, to combat the lack of agility we've had to endure for 2 weeks :-) Was brilliant and I think we all took something away from it, even those of us who've trained with Martin before. Certainly I benefited from being in a group session with him instructing - it was useful to see the things he's been telling me come alive by watching the other handlers handle their dogs.

Ella was a bit poorly this morning, but soon perked up as we drove up the driveway to the paddock. Then she almost went into raptures when Martin arrived - bliss! :-) Her idea of a good Christmas present! Although noiser than I'd like her, she worked well and was her usual biddable self. Just want to have the baby now and have my body back so that I can move and work her properly! She's such a good girl to work so well even with such a handicap as me - I'm very privileged. I think that's what some of the barking was trying to tell me earlier actually :-)