Last 2 weeks..

So once again I have been very slack with my blog updating. I seem to notice with most people that do blogs, they only update when they have something good to say or most of the time, its only if they are doing well in agility. I haven't won any classes, hence prob why my blog hasn't been updated for the last few weeks :P... I really really do need to sort this out.

Since I last wrote on here, I had mentioned Phoebe had to have an Op. She is looking better, however I am still having to be very careful with her. Aka lots of small feeds throughout the day and not much exercise. She is doing better, however looking a bit thin and still not back to her self yet, which upsets me. I have this weekend off, so have made sure I have spent some more time with her. She will continue to stay at home and not come to shows for the next month or more, I do not want her to experience any stress of any kind for a while now.

Two weekends ago now, we had the England World Team Try-Outs. Due to Phoebe's Op, surprisingly I went there not too bothered how I did. So for the first time I ran in a class which mattered (haven't ran in many classes which matter too much yet)I wasn't nervous, due to not being too bothered of my result, of course I wanted Rodney to run well. There were a few hiccups on the day, regarding FCI rules not being followed correctly, which annoyed a large number of the competitors, but on the whole it was a good day. The first round was the jumping, I dummied towards the end of the course and due to Rodney not understanding dummies (because I do not teach/ use them, well try not to) he ran past a jump, then I forgot the rule "don't get E'd if you have faults, carry on" so I put Rod over another jump and got E'd... tut. Never mind, like I said, I wasn't overly bothered. Next round was the 1st of 3 agility rounds. I liked the course because it was quite easy and I thought we'd get around without too much hassle. We did, finishing 4th, just and I mean just behind Dave and Dobby, Linda and Kizzy and Greg with Detox. So finishing 4th we managed a few points, then all of a sudden, I had changed my tune and wanted to do well lol. 3rd round (2nd agility) again a pretty easy course, I pushed Rodney verbally and I mean verbally for the first time, he did a good round and finished 2nd, 0.02 behind Dave and Dobby :). So, even more points. For the final round (the 3rd agility) we went into the final lieing 3rd, behind Dave and Dobby winning it and Lee with Bold laying 2nd. All I had to do was go around with 5 faults or less to get on the team... you can see where this is going... I didn't. For some reason, I thought I was marked on my see-saw (even though it was perfect, why I thought I was marked is beyond me now, I think I must of thought I saw Nic's (Nic Jones was the judge for the day) hand go up... but it didn't.) So because I thought I had faults, I stopped trying, like I always do tut. We then got 5 before the weaves, then Rodney wouldn't go up the dog walk, maybe cos I wasn't concentrating.... who knows, he went a bit weird and looked scared. Granted he still wasn't even two and a half, it was soooo hot it was a joke and I had asked him to concentrate properly for four runs. He was by far the youngest dog in the competition. I was a bit gutted afterwards, after being so close. However lets be honest, its prob a good thing, he isn't ready for the world champs, hes too young. I do feel a lot more confident about trying him out next year though :).

The weekend after the Try-Outs, we had Tuffley. I got a bit sun burnt due to being silly and not realising how hot it was and I didn't wear any sun screen. Rodney ran or right, however all weekend I had it in my head he wasn't fast enough and I didn't try properly in any classes, I must get over this because he IS fast enough if I run him correctly.

Here below is Rodney in the CSJ Agility (Sat)...4th, 0.3 behind Lindsey Cheshire and Tia who won....



Here is Rodney again in the CSJ Agility (Sun)... 5th, Ant Clarke and Gass won...



Rodney did a nice run in the Champ Jumping, until the last fence where he ran around the back of the jump, and instead of saving it and just getting a 5R, I let him back jump and got him E'd tut... once again not thinking on my feet. Lee Windeatt and Bold won the Championship, Bold's 5th ticket now :), 2nd this year... here is the run below...



Lee and Shy also made the final, finishing 3rd :).

Like I said this weekend, we had a weekend off. To be fair I have been pretty bored, have mainly been cleaning the house, doing washing and horrible things like that. Weird but I am actually looking forward to work tomorrow.

Next weekend Lucy and I are off to Rugby, Pie's first champ :). There is Champ, Cruft singles (where I still need a few more points) Olympia (which again I still need) and Crufts team... so loads to attempt to do well in :S. I am actually going to run Rodney like I want to win this weekend, no more messing about!

After Rugby, I have Weardale show (Lucy forgot to enter, so isn't coming) then we have Agility Club the weekend after. Then (need to think of another word for "then") the weekend after that Lucy and I are off to Luxembourg for their Agility By Night three day show... I am very excited. My second show abroad, and Rodneys first.

xoxo

Ps... Here is a picture of Pie (Lucy's dog) and I when I was looking after him for Tuffley weekend... He didnt get a mention in this blog, due to us not getting any clears :P.

Update

Ok, so ive been a bit busy since my last post. After Hinckley weekend we then had Thames. I love Thames show! Thanks to Lucy being a member of Thames Club, we got camping right next to the rings :) Thanks to Andrew Dicker we also got elec hook up :).

Rodney did some nice ish runs however nothing good enough, nothing really worth speaking about. Think he was 7th in the Chum (needed to be top 3, due to two parts.) To be honest it was a rubbish run and how we even came 7th I have no idea. Lee (Windeatt) was 6th with Bold, his run was similar to mine.... not worthy of the top ten, however I guess everyone elses was worse, so hey ho. It was so long ago I cannot really remember what else happened.

Here is the only video of Rods of the weekend, Champ Jumping, Clear...



So onto this weekend just gone... hmm... Oh yes, Newton Heath, forgot there for a moment. I really enjoyed myself, was a lovely weekend. Rodney in the Champ did a nice clear in the agility round making him 5th, then in the jumping, it was a pretty hard course (so Champ should be) only getting 4 clears, Rodney had 5 faults and finished 8th. With two pretty good places, he ran 17th (4th from the end) in the final :). By the time the final had come around Rodneys concentrate had gone and we got faults at the very beginning. Nothing I can really do, a part from hope over time his concentrate levels improve. Next day we had a Cruft singles. Bare in mind Rodney already has 8 points so needs another 5/6/7. I liked the course, even though I felt it was a bit too fast for Ploddy. He did a ok run, however had 3 wide bits due to my bad handling grr, and then really measured the up of the dog walk (hes still a bit weird about it after falling off at Nottingham.) Even with all of this he was only 1.5 secs off Dawn and Freeway who won the class. Rodney finished 9th, giving us another 2 points. So still need another 3/4/5. Have 3 more chances to get them I believe. Think we all know cos I want them I will mess it up lol. Rod also had a 3rd in a Gr7 jumping then another couple of classes in an agility or something I think.

Phoebe surprisingly ran pretty well :). Managed a 3rd in a Gr7 jumping, then ran really well in her Olympia qualifier until I fell over on my face before the see-saw tut. I gave her to Lucy for the Champ, due to Lucy having no proper runs for the weekend (Pie went grade 7 at Thames woop, so shes just using her grade 6 runs up for the next couple of weeks.) Phoebe however had other ideas and wouldnt run for her. Think she did jump, dw, jump jump lol.

This week hasnt been the best. I woke up on Tuesday morning to find Phoebe had been very ill in the night. Got mum to watch her all day, she didnt improve at all. When I got home about 5.30pm, she was still very bad and looked very sorry for herself. I got her straight to the vets and they thought she may have a PIOMETRA, where they thought would have to do a hysterectomy. I was so scared and cried soooo much. I do not handle these things well. I took her back to the vets this morning and had to leave her there... still crying. They did blood tests and a scan this morning, still thought it was a PIOMETRA. I had signed saying I allowed the vet to continue and if a hysterectomy was required, so be it. When my vet had opened her up, he found out that it wasnt an infection to the Uterus, it was a sock which had got wrapped in her intestine. Sounds better, but its not. This is a more serious operation. I received a phone call half way through asking if I wanted to have her spayed while she was open, I agreed (been meaning to get her done for a while now anyway.) There is still a chance of complications however my vet said he is very happy with how everything went and all being good I should be able to collect her tomorrow :D. I have finally stopped crying now I am confident she should be fine. I think it is safe to say I may of cried solid for almost 24 hrs! This is a good reason not to have any more dogs, I have no idea how people have 8/9/10 etc cos they are bound to have problems more often than the average person with 1 or 2 dogs. I was so upset, I even went out without make-up on :O cos I knew it would just run off with me crying.

So as most people are aware it is the World Try Out's this weekend. I dont honestly believe Rodney will get through, however very good experience and worth a shot I guess. I did have a plan of everything I wanted to train this week in preparation, however due to Phoebe being ill, of course all that went out of the window. All being good with Phoebe I will still come to the show this weekend, of course Phoebe will stay at home with Mummy to rest. Will actually be good for Rodney not to be around, so she can rest properly. I am looking forward to this weekend. Also Nic Jones is judging the Try out, I think with her experience abroad she will set some very appropriate, challenging courses, which I am despite not getting to do any training, very much looking forward to :).

I must this weekend get more runs of video (got some more done this weekend, however are on Lucy's camera or on mine, however I can not find the cable to put videos onto PC.. granted I havent really looked further than around my PC chair :P.) Lucy's not here this weekend, so will have to try to get Lee to act as my groom... you know queing etc :P. Hopefully he will be better at videoing... getting himself lined up with the contacts correctly so they are clear on camera... Lucy is rubbish and can never be bothered to move from her chair by the side of the ring tut. So fingers crossed I should have some of both of our runs from the Try Outs for my blog posting next week :).

My next posting on here will hopefully be of me saying Phoebe is all clear and back on the mend.

Chow for now.

xoxo

Hinckley

Last post, last week I think I had mentioned Rodney had fallen/ got blown off of the dog walk twice (one after another.) Didnt think too much about it after checking him over and walking and trotting him up on Monday. He looked totally fine. However when I next trained him which was on Wednesday with the Cook's, he started off fine, must of done about 8 dog walks (we were timing different ways around 3 jumps onto the dog walk to see which was the fastest.) Then all of a sudden I ran him at it and he wouldn't go up... was really strange. The only difference was before we were running him around a couple of jumps then doing the dog walk, where this time it was jump then dog walk, so he was looking at it before going up. We of course didn't continue, he could be tired or worried, who knows. Then next day, I went up my field and decided to do a couple to see what he was like. Of course double checked him all over to start with, he was fine. First one, he went up and off of it perfect. Went back around, he ran at it then just stopped. We ran at it again, once again he stopped. I decided to leave it, just encase he had gone up it had hurt due to an injury so he didn't want to continue. Phoned the chiropractor and got her booked for Friday evening. She came out Friday, not a sausage, couldn't find anything wrong with him.

So of course with nothing wrong with him and the dog walk I presume being all in his head, I ran him this weekend at Hinckley show. I had no idea if he was going to go up the dog walk or not. I got into the ring in the Champ Agility (first run of the weekend) since not doing a dog walk since Thursday when he wouldn't go up.... Brilliant. I decided to give him one shot, he either runs up it or he just does jumping runs for the weekend. I ran him at it confidently and he went straight up, not very fast and a little worried, but who cares he went up. He managed to do the rest of the run ok too and managed a clear, think he was 7th. Next up we had Cruft Singles Agility, again wasn't too sure if he was going to go up the dog walk, due to him going up both Weds and Thurs then bottling out after. I ran him at it confidently and again he went up, still a bit slow, but he went up. Due to me thinking about his dog walk, I really messed the rest of this run up. I mean really messed it up. We also had Champ Jumping, I was worried about the weave entry like most people for some reason, due to the tunnel facing the dogs as we are asking them to go into the weaves. Rod picked the weaves up perfect, didn't even look at the tunnel. Then straight after that, 2 jumps later, on prob the easiest part of the course, I somehow sent Rod around the back of a jump and got us E'd... what a muppet.

Phoebe also managed a clear in the Champ agility, E in the Crufts and then she ran straight into the tunnel instead of the weaves in the Champ jumping lol. On the Sunday, Phoebe was clear in the 1-7 jumping, then I forgot about her agility whoops.

Rodney on the Sunday, did a nice ish sort of run in the Chum (KC Olympia Qualifier) but got marked on his dog walk. His time would of put him 5th. Nice run in grade 7 agility, trained his see-saw (two on two off) even with that stop he came 6th. Then in the grade 7 jumping, he did a nice clear. Rodney was 1.5 secs behind the winner. Lee Windeatt pointed out the places I needed to improve upon to get a better time. So much to work on still *sigh.*

Ok so once again not one of my best weekends of results, but who cares.... always next week. Rodneys not injured after the dog walk the week before, hes now not scared to go up the dog walk and like I keep saying, lets face it, hes still only a pup really (2 and a half next month.)

This evening I have just got back from training with the Cooks, we worked on handling from behind.... I hate it, but has to be done :(.I have been teaching them how Lee does it and how I try to do it. They seem to be picking it up very well and can see the improvements in the turns of their dogs and how much time it saves them across the course. I love it when things actually work :D.

Once again no pictures or videos due to Lucy not being at the show :(. Luckily I have good news. Lucy will be at Thames this weekend, so will hopefully have some videos for next week... well if they are not all E's lol. Thames is about 20/30 mins from my house, I would love to propose all shows were at the Newbury showground, wow that would make my life easier.

xoxo

Ps. Forgot to say Linda Hutchinson and Kizzy did a fab run in the large Champ to win their first ticket, another young dog, think she is only 3 :) very impressive.

Nottingham

First things first! So Nottingham show are a bit useless. They don't really know the Kennel Club rules and don't really seem to care about them either. Which firstly surprises me due to them being under inspection for the condition of the ground, especially for Champ. Main reason I was annoyed was because I couldn't run Rodney in Champ due to maybe slightly on my part not chasing the grade had been changed correctly, but anyway. They allowed myself and Stu Harmes to run in grade 7 but not the Champ. Rule break number one, because Champ does not have their own rules (apart from running in order of course) therefore we either run in all grade 7 classes (including Champ) or none at all. Also Peter Dall sent in entries, they were not received, he had a proof of posting, yet the show again said he could run in all classes but Champ, rule break number 2. This is because with a proof of posting they are obligated to allow you to run in all your classes you have entered. The main reason the show were not allowing us to be put into the Champ was because they had not left 'ghost' runs (blank slots) and the draw for the running orders had been done. Yes a mistake on their part, and really not my problem. This could of course been rectified by adding in for insistence a 17a, 25b or 66 something... you can see where I am going. Again no rule stating this can not happen. I am considering putting in a complaint, we have to run by the rules, rightly so. So I like to think so must shows.

Ok ok, enough complaining. Ok, so I wasn't in the Champ, I guess it wasn't the end of the world. I could almost cope with not being in after watching the final. Where Lee Windeatt did another brilliant run to win with Bold (Ag Ch Deeann What A Cracker.) I think with a good run, I could of got reserve to him, doubt I would of beaten his run. Once again proving over and over again why Lee is one of the best. I am sure that will not be his only ticket for the year.

Rodney didn't have Champ, if anyone didn't get that. However Phoebe did. She went clear in the jumping and came 5th, then in the agility had a pole. So she got through to the final running number 16/20. Alan Bray was judging, I really liked the course, not too many places I could go wrong. But what I mainly liked about it was all the collies had been E'd or weren't there. So YES, thats right, if Phoebe and I were ever going to stand a chance in the Champ final... Hello. I had walked it a million times, and had never concentrated for so long and for so much on a run with Phoebe before. So what do I do? Set her up, whilst winding her up, hoping shes going to run faster, then release way too early out of position and get E'd at number 3... thats right. I wanted someone to just shoot me. I literally think a clear would of been enough. Kill me! I will NEVER have a chance like that again. We live and we learn. Just funny, how last week in my blog, I wrote a whole bit about how I keep messing runs up with Rodney due to releasing too soon and how I was going to solve it. Then once again did the same. What a total muppet!

I just trained the rest of my runs with Phoebe for the weekend. So on to Ploddy Roddy. So no Champ like I may have mentioned, however I had 3 other classes on the Sat. 6/7 agility, just trained my see-saw (stop) he stopped 4off so I did it again and he stopped perfectly. In the jumping he had the fastest time (woop woop) but had the last pole. Hadn't actually walked the course, however luckily one of my good friends, Paul Oldfield was there to tell me where to go and how to run it. I did what Paul said and it actually worked. I say this cos Paul usually comes up with some crazy things, which look bad on paper and no-one else could pull off apart from Paul, and we all know Paul doesn't always either :P. He says he comes up with these things so he doesn't have to turn too hard on his knees, due to his age, hes trying to prevent injury. Makes sense I guess. Well lets be honest he runs fast and looks good for 81 does he. Yes hes still single ladies. O yes, Rodney also had the Cruft Singles, I handled bad and got E'd :( I still only have 8 points. Need another 6 or so really.

Onto Sunday. Rodney had 2 jumpings, one which he ran well, my timing was just a bit late. Then the other, he had to wait around to long and switched off, so he walked around. So half way around I took a fast short route to leave the ring. We also had the CHUM (Olympia Qualifier) the last chance for day 1 of 2 of the semis. Due to no Champ, I really wanted this one class. So good hard ish course. Had decided I could do well on it. I had a blip at no3, apart from that was pretty much a perfect run until.... yes there is always a until or a but or something isnt there. So until.... dog walk, jump to finish. It was windy and took Rodney straight off the side... TWICE! Yes annoying, but luckily Rodney is 100% ok. With his run I am sure it would of put him in the top 5. O well... try again next weekend for day 2.

I almost forgot... how could I forget. We also had the team. Was probably the stupidest change over any judge could of come up with, apart from that the course was good. Rodney being a clever dog did a lovely clear. Just shame about our team mates :P who managed about 15 faults each. I didnt check, however dont think we won.

Wow that was a long post. No work tomorrow.. I plan to have a lay in. Then hopefully with nice weather, take the dogs for a nice walk and have lunch by the river somewhere :).

Things to work on... Continue with my wait training, was a lot better this weekend. However they need to be fantastic not just ok. To do this, I need to stop running in training with a toy in my hand, and have it to the side or behind Rodney. Cos thats where my wait falls apart. As soon as I dont have the toy, Rod starts looking around and can not concentrate on what I am doing, going or asking him to do. Again, hopefully easily resolved. 2) more weave entries, I need to get confident at any weave entry. It is not good enough being in a grade 7 class and not sure if my dog will get the weaves. Will hopefully go training with the Cook's on Weds to train both of these things :).

Hinckley next weekend, looking forward to it all ready.

xoxo

Training

So, this is my second weekend off from shows. To be honest it has been a nice break (mainly cos I havent been doing too well, basically my clear round ratio has gone down too much) however I am very much looking forward to starting it all up again next weekend with Nottingham and then Hinckley the weekend after.

I havent done too much training, however when I have I have been concentrating on a few certain things which needed to be sorted.

1) Waits! Think I said on my last post, I seem to be throwing hundreds of classes away by releasing too early and not getting into position because I havent trained a wait good enough. Well I havent proofed in the ring well enough and have allowed bad behaviour. So of course, much to my dislike I have been training lots of waits in and away from agility. I say to my dislike because wait training bores me, its not fun and I cant really be bothered with it. I can pretty much say everything Rodney or myself are bad at is because training it bores me. eg weaves. Also what makes it worse is the fact Lee Windeatt has told me or I should say, has kept telling me to sort my wait out ever since Rodney came out, and I was like yeah yeah yeah, it will be fine bla bla bla. I hate the fact he is right, what seems like all of the time :(.

2) See-saws. As most people I speak to know. Rodney came out with a running see-saw, was good for the first few shows. Then he got more confident and started pushing it. Due to in my opinion training it wrong (using a hoop) I found it very hard to correct. So I think at the end of Jan I decided to start training both a stop and a run. Rodney got it straight away, however due to wanting 4 wins to go grade 7, I decided to run all in the ring. I have a feeling I can not keep getting away with this so have decided to be more consistent to hopefully prevent myself from confusing Rodney. I am just doing a stop now. This is annoying yes, cos means I am going to have to throw hundreds of classes which I do not want to do, to train in the ring. Which half the point of having running contacts is so you dont have to throw runs for training. O well.

3)Pulling into me "here". I didnt really realise until once again Lee pointed out to me. That where ever there is a part where I can not get in front and I have to do any form of pulling, I panic and do it wrong. So basically just practising more pulling (and rewarding into me) and doing more work form behind, making sure I am using the correct body language should resolve this.

4) Weave Entries. I know Rodney can pretty much do any weave entry now. However I still panic and go ahhhhh duno if he can do it. So have been trying to do more if and when I get chance, literally just for when I go in the ring, I go o yeah I can do this, we've done it loads before, this shouldnt be a problem. This is just a confidence issue on my part.

5)Running off on turns. I have got very very bad at this. I can not stand still to save my life. I think I run off all the time, because I am trying to speed Rods up. I MUST stop doing this, cos it is just getting me E'd and wasting me time.

Lee is very honest with me, which is hard to find. If I do something good, he will come tell and praise me. Equally if I do something bad, he will also tell me. I think he has told me my handling has been crap at atleast 3 shows this year so far :S You wouldnt believe how much that makes me want to do better and work harder. We did a bit of training together on Thursday, which once again highlighted a lot of things I need to work on. Not Rodney, just me.

I can not believe agility is this hard. I still remember being at Olympia watching the show jumping just over 6 years ago now and laughing at the agility, saying what a stupid thing people would waste their time doing. Now I can not get enough of it. I keep trying to ask myself why I like agility so much. I guess getting to do it with my dogs, if I wasnt doing agility guess I would be attempting some other form of dog sport. Obedience or something... wow that would be funny wouldnt it. "Heel Phoebe Heel."

So tomorrow I have lots of silly things like house work to do. Then Hopefully training with Lucy in the evening. I should also prob work on my tan ;) You know how it is.

xoxo

Tun Bridge Wells

Ok so Tun Bridge Wells was on this weekend just gone. I was really looking forward to it due to Rodney doing so well the weekend before and with it having both a Chum (Olympia Qualifier) and a Cruft Singles. Aim was to get in top 5 for Olympia and top 4/5 for Crufts. Getting both E's in these classes didnt allow this lol. As I am sure I have said before... I was useless. I had a few other things on my mind this weekend, however that is no excuse. My main reason for getting so many E's is because I am releasing too early from Rods wait and not getting into position cos his wait is rubbish due to me for training and reinforcing it well enough. Easy to resolve I guess. Train more waits in training and dont except anything but perfect in the ring... easy.

Over the whole weekend, Rodney had one clear... power and speed. Then he had a pole in the team, we came fourth. Lee and Scott missed their weaves. I think with our times we would of won if we had 5 instead of 10 faults... doh. Try again next time, which is Nottingham. O yeah Phoebe also ran pretty well. Missed weaves in Crufts due to me handling like a plonker as usual (I am actually going to start training her if I can get enough motivation.) Then she had a fourth in one of the 6/7 jumpings.

This weekend also highlighted how unfit I am and how I want to have a better body *cough Joanne Tristrams body*. So again how to resolve this... jogging. I am going every other day in to attempt to get fitter. Also will soon have to start eating healthier as well I think :(.

If I am learning anything at the moment its that you've really got to work for what you want and sometimes, just sometimes its worth just jumping in and grabbing it. Thats of course only if you really want it!

No shows this weekend. Weekend off :)

xoxo

Reserve CC

I think ill start this blog like I start all the others...

So...

I started this weekend by driving alllll the way to Scotland for Woodside. It was both Rodney and Phoebe's second champs each. Wasnt worth it in the slightest, I was useless. I have started doing this stupid thing where I get very nervous. I have always been one of these people who never gets nervous about anything and always just gets on with it. I used to show jump and the only time I would ever get nervous would be when I sat on a horse which I knew was likely to throw me off, so nerves for good reason. Since running Rodney I have got nervous in the odd class, however Champ is like a whole new ball game and I just havent been able to hold it together. I threw both Scunthorpe and Woodside jumping runs away by basically being so nervous I just didnt know what I was doing. This really needs to stop.

After Champ at Woodside, I was fine. Had a few places with both dogs. Best I think we did was Rodney had a 2nd in grade 7 jumping. (keeping my rule of having to get atleast one top 3 place at every show.)

After not really achieving anything at Woodside, I ventured home, arriving just after mid-night. This would of been ok, if I didnt have to get up at 7am to go to Vyne show. Luckily Vyne is held at Newbury showground, about 20/30 mins from my house.

I arrived at Vyne in time (thank god) to walk the Champ jumping, I looked around everywhere to discover the Champ ring was starting on Agility. It was a nice course, however I just didnt get to where I wanted to in the slightest. I wasnt happy with the run and half way around I did almost give up and left the ring, just didnt think it would be good enough. I have no idea how... but... with 42 clears Rodney ended up 5th. Shocked is not the word. I guess I wasnt the only one who couldnt get to where they wanted to. Lee and Bold did a nice run making them 3rd, Greg and Detox won it. I also ran Dylon in there, after training his contacts all weekend, tyre then see-saw... you'd think he'd stop... nope!

We then had the jumping round. I really liked the course, was so simple. This was the most nervous I have ever been before going into the ring. I knew all I had to do was trot around clear and Rodney would be through to the final with ease. Luckily Lee was there just before I went into the ring, which gave me a lot more confidence. I have no idea why, however I am always a lot more confident knowing he is there. Here is the run below...



O yes. I forgot.... Phoebe. Yes Phoebe had champ for the day too. You are prob thinking the same as me... O god.! She somehow ran very well. Here is her jumping run below. 5r due to me falling over.. whoops..



There was quite a few clears for mediums, so I knew I needed to go clear in the agility run. Phoebe again ran well... I couldnt believe it, then just at the end, I didnt dumbie and she ran past the dog walk. Due to lots of E's in this round, Phoebe somehow got to the final, along with Rodney. My first time in the Champ final and they both get there. woop!

Large was up first. I was nervous, but no where near as nervous as I was in the jumping round for some reason. I was running number 17, so had plenty of chance to watch most of the class. After watching Greg and Detox get faults then Dawn and Promise. I all of a sudden thought omg, I actually could win this. I did have a mini break down by myself for a moment, then got myself back together in time to watch a couple before I went in. Lee told me I could do it just before I got on the start line. I believed him and did the best I could. Ploddy Roddy ran very well and got the reserve ticket :D. Sarah Young and Lucy (Dave Munnings Dobbys sister) won it. Rodney was not even 0.2 behind. Pretty good going. Lee and Bold came 3rd, not even 0.1 behind Rodney. Which is even more impressive, seeing how most people dont know that Lee literally hasnt done any training with his dogs. Most people say they havent, but what they mean is they only went training twice this week. Lee's see contacts in the ring. I dont know anyone that could get there dogs around and get to every champ final without doing training like Lee does. I hope Lee gets to do more training over the summer, so he can keep showing everyone how good he is.

Naturally I watch the video back and can find a million things I could of improved on. Dont get me wrong, I am very happy with Rodney. Lets be honest. So...Hes 25 months old, been in the ring for 9 and a 1/2 months. He came out in grade 3 at Rugby in July. Kc fest he went grade 5. Norfolk grade 6. Big gap until Mid-downs in March where he went grade 7. His 3rd champ, first final (first time I havent got E'd in the jumping) Less than 2 months in grade 7 and he gets the reserve ticket. Not bad going at all. I just hope he can keep speeding up and my handling keeps improving so we can continue to do well and hopefully win some classes worth while. My aim has just gone up for this year. Aims now are... to get enough points to qualify for the Cruft Singles, we currently have 8 points, so need another place or two there. Qualify for the Olympia semis and would love to get a ticket... aiming high as usual.

Here is Rodneys Champ Final run...





This weekend coming we are off to Tun Bridge Wells. Looking forward to it already :).

xoxo

WBSD (I think)

It was lovely weather, lots of runs and dogs ran well, so all in all a good weekend. Was nice and relaxing due to not needing any wins, no qualifiers so for once could just chill out. Most of my runs with Rodney I tried being extra calm, making sure I had a nice wait, not over working weave entries and trying things I wouldnt usually try in a class I wanted to do well in. He ran a lot better, minus a few handling mistakes.

First run of the weekend, about 270 dogs in the 1-7 jumping, he came 3rd. Here is the run below...




We also had another place or two through out the day. Here below is Rodneys agility run from Sunday. He ran very well until the end where I called him and he missed weaves, I then took him back did it how I should of done it first time and he did it lovely. That will teach me for over working once again.



Phoebe also ran well, think she had 4 clear rounds... so weird. Of course in usual style, didnt get any of them videoed. Here below is Phoebe doing a nice training run until I let her run past a jump...



Also ran Dylon (Rodneys dad) for a run on Sunday, once again about 270 dogs in the 1-7 jumping and he came 2nd. What a clever lad...



This weekend I am off to Woodside, bit of a drive, however really looking forward to it. Rodney and Phoebe's 2nd champs, hopefully I will handle calmer and in general just better. Not sure if Lucy is coming or not, so will have to find myself another videoer :O.

This week I must train, a bit more speed out of turns and running past obstacles when I say "here" and drop my arm. O and doing tunnel rather than the contact when tunnel is under contact, I still get nervous and over handle tut.

xoxo

Agility for Great Britain

I finally feel like the agility show season has begun and I feel I am behind. I mean in training and handling wise. Over the past couple of weekends, I have been getting Rodney E'd in the simplest of places. This cant go on any longer. Of course we are still going to make mistakes, but hopefully over my next month of training, trying to concentrate of certain aspects week by week we should hopefully get ourselves together enough to get around most courses.

This weekend, Rodney felt very slow, however was somehow still making the times. I am hoping it was just because he is still a bit unfit and it was the first hot weekend of the year and he hadnt quite adjusted yet. Also maybe due to the weekend before at Scunthorpe cos my handling was so shocking, I wasnt as confident this weekend.

First run of Saturday, EO wildcard, I had decided to go in just for a clear, however coming off the A-frame, I panicked, called and he missed. What a muppet, what on earth is wrong with me. Never mind. Decided to make my next run a clear. Graded 5-7 agility, Rodney got marked on the up of his dog walk, duno if he got it or not, cos cant say thats something I ever look for. Was a nice run, but a ploddy run. Ian Jackson and Bobbi won, Rodney was 0.9 ahead somehow. Here is the run below...



We also had comb 5-7 Agility, didnt think the run was that bad, until I watched it back on video this evening. Very slow and very bad handling jumps 1 to 2. Then I should of done what Lee said and reversed before DW making it faster clearer and better off of DW too. Rodney came 3rd, Dawn and Brexer won it. Think I forget how important good course walking is, really makes the difference to a good run or not. Here is the run below...



Phoebe actually somehow got 2 clears and a 5 (a pole), which is weird, she was running soooooo slow though. Think she got an 8th in one class. Duno what is happening to my dogs, they are too slow. On the Sunday Phoebe also got a clear, think she was 4th. Rodney got an 8th in a jumping, then I got him E'd in other classes, cant way I was paying too much attention due to not wanting to miss Lucys runs in the EO try-outs.

I think Lucy ran the best I have ever seen her run in the try-outs, lets just hope she continues to run like that for the rest of the year. She just needs to get her last win this weekend. We are off to WSBD's this weekend, no qualifiers, no pressure= nice relaxing weekend I hope.

O before I go.... here is one of the funniest moments of my weekend... catching Gibson walking around with this hat on hahhaa...



xoxo

Scunthorpe

The first beautiful day of the year, wasnt prepared in the slightest, so no sun screen and due to my side fringe and wearing Peter's sunglasses all day I have a very interesting selection on red patches on my face :S, hopefully make-up will cover it for work tomorrow.

My aim for Scunthorpe with Rodney was literally just to get into the Champ final. This went crashing down when I got E'd in the jumping round lol. My handling was shocking, I just panicked every where and basically was just useless. I then went and did the graded 6/7 jumping. Where again I was terrible, prob something to do with how bad I was in the Champ but also I think it was one of those courses, where I really wasnt sure what to do handling wise and ended up doing half a job, Rodney I think still came 6th in the Grade 7 part. Well done Ian Jackson and Bobbi for winning. I think my main problem is, I keep pushing for speed, then as soon as I do this (as Lee keeps telling me) my handling goes to pot and my rounds get worse and slower. So... how to solve this problem, simply, stop handling like an idiot and trust my training. After these two rounds, I could not be bothered to do the Champ agility, I knew I would go in not care and didnt want to risk messing up my contacts by confusing Rodney. I did however care about the Cruft Singles class, I was very wide at the end, due to not signalling Rodney early enough over one of the last turns. I came out very pleased with how Rodney worked and he is for sure speeding up nicely, however thought that end bit would of cost me and didnt think we'd even get into the top 10. Luckily the end must not have been as bad as I thought, cos we finished 3rd (Lucy and Ben winning, Elaine and Dave 2nd) so I believe that is 8 Cruft points. Just need another place or two like that this year so Rods can qualify for the Crufts next March.

On to Dylon, well.. I have been training a wait all winter and can now sort of tell if he is going to wait or not. Champ jumping round, I got it wrong, put him on the start line, looked at where I was going and he was off, through the tyre, over the long jump and off to no 3, before I had chance to engage my legs, we were of course E'd, and then in usual Dylon style, he completed the rest of the course with ease. We also did the Cruft Singles, he did prob the best run he has done for me. Actually listened for once. However as we came out of the weaves, I should of sent him over a jump, however I ran off too early and he came with me, wasted lots of time there, however he still managed a 12th, clever boy.

Things to work on this week... hands up high, calm handling and continue with weave entry practise. Hopefully I can then be nice and calm for at the agility for GB show next weekend. I think Lee may slap me if I handle like I did again this weekend... I am a little scared.

xoxo

Whoops

Forgot to update my blog from Easter Celebration weekend... here goes...

Well, as everyone knows the ground was c**p at the weekend, luckily at Easter Celebration where I went, all rings had been moved inside or on sand, so the agility could continue. We were also camped on hard standing which was also very helpful.

It was Rodneys first runs at grade 7, my aim for the weekend, was of course to attempt to get in the top 5 in the Chum and to get another top 5 placing in any of the other classes. Rodney did sooo much better than I thought he would do. First day, Saturday, we started off with the Chum run, I can honestly say I have never seen so many fast runs. Aka Greg and Detox did a nice, very fast run, a bit wide, but at the end of the day last year proved Greg and Detox can go wide and they still win by 2 seconds... this was not the case, they ended up 5th or 6th, luckly still good enough to qualify. The standard scared me big time, I went into the ring with the attitude to just do as good as I could and it didnt matter on where I came this one time, I just needed to push so I could compare times and see where and how I can improve. I ended up getting E'd 3 jumps from home, my fault as usual. Rodneys run was pretty good, however I wouldnt of put him in the top 10 however... being a geek like I am, I videoed both Rodney and Detoxs runs. As they both hit the contact of the dog walk (3 jumps from home) Rodney was almost a second quicker... believe it or not. Fantastic :D Will this ever happen again once we get outside and the faster dogs can open up? Hmm... well we will see, lets hope so. Here is the run below...



We of course did not just have the one run. We then had 6/7 jumping, which I handled like a retard in so that run was an E. We had grade 7 jumping, where Lee and Bold did a nice run and won. Rodney was 5th, 0.9 behind Bold. Videos of both Bold and Rodneys runs are on my YouTube page (laurachudleigh) We also had a power and speed class. I didnt make the turn I wanted to in the jumping section, so ended up doing it all from behind. Elaine Auty and Dave won it I believe, Rodney was 0.6 behind Dave. And only 0.3 behind Dobby which is pretty good going. Phoebe also somehow managed a clear, so I thought id better post it, just encase it doesnt happen again...



Sunday...

Rodney and I had 3 runs. First up we had grade 7 agility, I was soooo hung over thanks to mini Stokoe and Ian coming over, I could hardly walk the course. Rodney however was not hung over and did a nice run and came 2nd just behind Dawn. We then had a grade 7 jumping, where again Rodney did a lovely run, came 3rd. Debbie Fox won, Will Rolfe 2nd, which I am pretty happy about Rodney being anywhere near their times. We also then had a celebration connection qualifier thing, wasnt too sure what I was doing, luckly Lucy gave me her course and somehow we ended up 3rd. So Rodneys 2nd day in grade 7 and he has 3 top 3 places... not too shabby. Here below is Rodneys 3rd in grade 7 jumping...



I think its safe to say after every show I am a bit more pleased with Rodney, he grows that bit more. If we can both keep improving, maybe one day he could even stand a chance in champ. This weekend we are off to Scunthorpe (Rodney, Dylon and I, Phoebe has to stay home due to no runs for her and we are staying in a travelodge, dont think ill be able to sneak all 3 in.) My aim is to get to the final. I will update on how we do next week... fingers crossed.

xoxo

UKA Masters

Well on Sat I decided to go to UKA for the day, pretty much it was a good day. Rodney won the beginners agility by just over 6 seconds with just over a 100 dogs in the class (still in beginners in UKA, think I need 24 points or something to move up.) Then he also went and won both steeplechases. We had the jumping last in the day, I thought ok this will be another nice easy win, I jogged around, forgot to tell Rodney "right" and he back jumped number 17, so once again, that will teach me to not be so cocky lol.

Phoebe didnt run cos I think she was/ is in season. She came into season I think about 10 days ago, she only ever lasts a couple of days. Think she is out of season now, so hopefully fine for easter weekend coming up.

I also ran Dylon, trained his wait and contacts in the champ agility, did a lovely clear very pleased with him. Also ran him in the first Masters class. For those who dont know what the Masters is, its sort of the equivalent to Champ, but in UKA rather than at Kennel Club. I love the idea of it, regarding encouraging people to run more competitively in both runs with no final. I also like the idea of prize money for the top four, at the moment first prize for all heights is £100, again great, again encouraging competitive running, which again I love. BUT... Only thing I could fault was... that faults were added on as time instead of actual faults aka 1 pole down, or 1 missed contact = 5 faults as we know, instead it was 5 seconds added onto the time. The problem I had with this was the fact you could blast a very fast dog around miss your contacts and you could still win. Of course if the class grows and more good competitive people enter, I doubt that someone with 5 seconds added onto their time could win, but it still leaves that open. I hate the idea that a class would encourage people not to worry about their dogs too much and missing contacts is fine. Due to not many people entering on Saturday (it was only the first one after all) Greg won the maxi (large) with detox with two pretty good runs, however... he had a pole, so 5 seconds added onto the time... should someone win with 5 faults... hmm im not too sure. I dont think its such a big deal with just a pole down, however, if Detox had missed his A-frame, instead of having the pole down, he still would have won, is this right??... In my opinion no. I think that was my only thing regarding the Masters class I didnt like. I hope a few changes are made and that people support this class, so it can grow and prize money can grow (if so, ill be trying to get Rod up to Champ in UKA so I can have a go at winning the prize money.) O yeah... Andy Hudson did some of the best courses I have seen in a long time, brilliant :D.

My usual complaint of the week... no training due to the weather being crap :( BOOOO.

Anyway Easter Celebration this weekend, which I am looking forward to. Rodneys first classes in grade 7. I think its safe to say most peoples first camping show of the year. lets hope it doesnt rain.

xoxo

Chippenham

I think this is my 3rd/4th posting of the month :O I am getting pretty good at keep this updated... well if I do say so myself.

Chippenham today... was it worth me getting out of bed... prob not! I would of loved Kate's Champ courses for Rodney, not so much for Phoebe. Phoebe and I some how managed to get through all the hard bits in the jumping round, then the easy bit into the tunnel, Phoebe decided to turn left and do the tyre instead. Think I was just stood there, however really never had a problem with Phoebe wanting to do a tunnel before. So there we were, 9am and I was already E'd in the jumping round of the champ. Decided to stay to run the agility and do the 6/7 jumping (also E's tut.) Also meant I could watch the final :). Well done to Bernadette and Zen winning and to Jo and Ellie just behind with the reserve.

Next weekend I think I am going to do UKA on the Sat down at Newbury showground. Phoebe and Rodney have 5 runs (if I want) each. Then Dylon can enter the masters thing. Then on Sunday I think I need a day to just sleep. After Chippenham today, I had a 4 hour power nap... not sure I can call it a power nap, more of a sleep.

xoxo

Training

So... weather today was/ is totally rubbish. Lucy and I ventured down to Kent to train with Lee. I took a list of things I feel I really need to work on. Lee somehow seemed to cover most of the list, and gave us a few more things to be practising. We worked on being behind and correct body language when being behind. Weave entries, different angles into snakes, dragging and the chain tyre (which I do not like one bit.)

I took Sammies Dylon with me for training, he was surprising good and not too slow either :) Rodney was good as usual, but again like usual, a few things were pointed out, which I must work on handling wise. Then I also ran Phoebe... I have no idea why I do it to myself! Shes just mental, cant fault her enthusiasm though :P.

Sammie's out for the day, so Dylon's chilling with me, until she gets back. Here he is, next to the mini fire I have in my computer room. Bless him!




Tomorrow is Phoebe's first Champ lol... lets see if we can get to the final ha!

xoxo

18 March

Well its already mid March and I feel I havent done anything this year yet. Think its safe to say Phoebe has been trained 3 times and luckily due to the weather being better ive done a bit more with Plodders. Im sat on the my computer as I write this, trying to work out what shows ive entered, what shows I should go to and where the hell they all are. Its safe to say I have pretty much put a career on hold to run the dogs, which at some point, some point soon, I need to change that around. But hey, you only live once and after all I am still only 21. I have it in my head, that I am either going to win the euromillions or I am going to meet a rich man, so working wouldnt be an issue. Think I need a slap!

So Crufts... Went up on Thursday and groomed for Lucy. Lucy did a lovely clear in the team, unfortunately her team didnt make it through to the afternoon finals. Lucy Oneil and her team won though :D. Sunday, I groomed for Lee and Bold in the Champ. They did two nice rounds getting them to the final. Lucy and I would of put our life savings on them winning it, however Bold jumped through Lee at the 2nd jump and got E'd :( boo! So... Lucy and I are going to put our money on them winning it next year.

Training this week, I have worked on weave entries... prob my worst thing to train, I hate it. Its just boring compared to everything else to train. Then on Tuesday evening, Sammie and I worked on tunnel under A-frame, as I had hoped for, Rodney was fantastic.... he knows the score!

This weekend, Lucy and I are hopefully going training with Lee. Then on Sunday is Chippenham show (prob about 20 mins from my house, so lie in :D) no runs for poor Rodney though.

xoxo

Off to Crufts

Ok so ive just got back from work, have an hour to sort myself and the dogs out, before I head off to Lucys house for the evening. We are leaving to go to Crufts tomorrow morning at 5.30 am erghhhh. Well if we tell ourselves 5.30, atleast we should be gone by like 6am lol. O yeah... I am grooming for Lucy and Pie as they are part of the Thames Crufts team which has qualified. I should of entered mine in YKC senior agility, so Rodney could have some practice on carpet, however I am useless and forgot... o well!

I will of course video Lucy's run(s) and take some pictures tomorrow. I am actually really really looking forward to tomorrow, mainly cos it means a day off work woop, but I will also watch some good agility... well I hope so.

Ive had a few comments regarding my last posting, I stand by Lee being the best trainer and I said, anyone who has trained with him will agree. Hopefully he will be organising some training days this year, so keep your eyes open and get yourself booked on. I actually had no idea how many people read my blog, well now I know, I better keep it updated :)

xoxo

Rodney = Grade 7

Quite a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Took the dogs to my clubs show on the 20th of Feb, somehow Phoebe managed 2/3 clears, which was very strange, seeing how it was a limited show, she won them both :) Rodney also had 2/3 clears and won 1 and came 2nd in the other. I also ran Dylon and had 2/3 clears, he had 2x 3rds. So wasnt a bad days training.

Lucy and I went down and trained with Lee last Saturday, as usual we got lots out of it... and lotssss to work on :( which of course is always brilliant, however Lee really likes to show up my handling faults to make me work on certain things, so I always look and feel rubbish when training with him. But again... if this didnt happen I wouldnt improve, so I will not complain. No point doing agility if you are not happy to learn or get better. Someone asked me the other day who I thought was the best trainer in the country... there is no question... Lee Windeatt is. 1) He doesnt MAKE you do his way, he only suggests it and shows you how and why it is better. When showing me things, he has not once been wrong. He does not say its my way or not at all... I have heard a few agility people saying this now, it is a ridiculous attitude which I hate. 2) Hes lovely to his dogs and everyone elses, when teaching he takes everyones training techniques and dogs ability into account. 3) He is very supportive and helps anyone at shows etc. To be honest with you I could go on for ages. I am pretty certain 99% of people that have trained with him, would agree.

Anyway on to more important things like Mid-downs today. Well, as my title of this blog says... Rodney is now grade 7 :D He won Tash's (Natasha Wise) grade 6 agility by just over 2 seconds, video is below...



In the 5-7 agility, I didnt call him enough and he did an extra A-frame, so I did a quick route to leave the ring. Then in the jumping, I was an idiot (as I was told a lot today) and ran off wayyyy too early and got E'd. A few things from the courses today which I need to work on. Phoebe also ran very well (2 weeks till her first champ ahhhhh lol)

Well its Crufts this week.. I am going up on Thursday as Lucys groom, then on Sunday as Lees. I am really looking forward to it... mainly cos I am hoping to get Rodney a bling collar :D Not sure how mum is going to feel about this lol.

So basically a few random weeks off, hopefully will be able to fit a bit of UKA into one of two of my weekends. Then as of easter, the agility season really kicks off. I couldnt be more excited :D

xoxo

2nd and 3rd wins to gr7

So within 8 days Rodney now has 3 of his 4 wins to grade 7. :D

Lucy and I went up to Hare and Hound on Saturday, the usual, we didnt arrive at the Travel Lodge until about 1.30 am, didnt get much sleep, competed all day, then drove home pretty tired. Think its safe to say between us be drank about 30 red bulls... we're keeping them in business, I tell ya!

It must be pretty boring hearing me say it, however im going to say it again... Rodney is brilliant! First run of the day was combined 5-7 agility, Rod got a little confused cos I pushed him to a jump and also said right, basically I just confused him and he smashed through a pole, apart from that he ran very well. 2nd run was graded 4-7 jumping, Pete Jennings was judging (Pete and his wife Margart are two of my faviourate people in agility, so genuine, friendly and just really nice people.)Rodney did a lovely round, felt a bit wide at the time, however doesnt look as bad on video as I thought. Snake was a bit wide, however I know I need to work on them. Here below is a video of the run. Rodney won the grade 6 part, also beating the times of all the other grades, including grade 7. Also well done to Diane Tablot for winning the grade 4 part with her youngest :) I think she also beat the times of the grade 7's :P



Next run was graded 6/7 agility, I was very pleased to see Sue Mallabar judging because I always like her courses and knew I stood a chance of getting around. Rodney did a nice round (two places a bit wide, cos I reversed late, before the A-frame and before the see-saw.) Rodney won the grade 6 part, also again beating the times of all the grade 7's too :) Here below is his run...




Last run of the day, 1-7 jumping, Rod was looking around abit, I sort of forgot where I was going and I got the poor lad E'd at the very end. Phoebe happened to do an almost good run and came 6th. It is very clear Phoebe needs a lot more attention when it comes to training, I literally do none with her cos of Rodney. Think this also shows I shouldnt get another pup for quite some time, cos if I dont have time to train two, how would I make time to train three.

Today (sunday) I am going to do nothing for the first time in agessss I have got up late, am in the process of eating a sausage and egg sandwich, while the dogs are throwing around their bones. Rodney is a bit dredlocked from yesterday due to the mud, so he needs a shower. Apart from that, I am relaxing! Next weekend, I have Corton's unaffiliated show on the Saturday, going out Saturaday night, then Lucy and I have X-factor live tickets at Wembley Wooooooo! Then the weekend after that Lucy and I are finally getting to go training with Lee Windeatt for the first time since October :D.


xoxo

P.s You can see all of Lucy and my runs.... http://www.youtube.com/user/laurachudleigh

1st win to 7!

So weathers been slightly better over the past couple of weeks, so ive finally been able to get a little bit of training in. Rodney has been fantastic apart from last night at Corton, where he was well just rubbish. Phoebe even got to do 15 mins worth of training last weekend :0!

This weekend Lucy and I ventured up to Waldridge Fell, arriving there at 2am (only a 5 hour drive erghh) We stayed in a travel lodge, for a couple of hours, where the dogs were all soo naughty, we didnt get any sleep. We got up at 7 after being very pissed off and went to the show 20 mins down the road. Was cold, but luckily not wet. We spent a fortune of raffle tickets to find out there was only 3/4 prizes.... what!! Guess we were up north, we should of known!

Phoebe ran pretty well, had a 4th in 1-7 agility, only 1 second behind Alan Gardner who was 2nd... not too bad for a spaniel. On the video looks like she misses her dog walk, however as you slow it down you can see she taps it with one front paw... just trying to figure how to slow it down and sent to Lucy to prove it! Ha! She then had a pole in jumping, then other jumping missed her weaves and some how I fell over a jump.... NO LUCY that video is not going online!

Ploddy Roddy was also a good lad, in the agility I didnt call him after the dog walk and he took the wrong jump, have no idea what I was doing.. soo annoyed! 6/7 jumping, Rod ran wide and missed a jump. Then he WON grade 6 jumping woohoo, by 0.7 so he finally has his first win towards grade 7 :) Here is a video below, for some reason in bad quality :(



This weekend Lucy and I are going back up north for the Hare and Hound show, 4 runs per dog and Paul Oldfield is having a run with Phoebe... :D veryyyyy excited!

xoxo

Feb 2010

Rodney and I have finally been able to get a bit of training in. I am very pleased with how he is going, hes slowly getting fitter and therefore jumping better. I am just counting the days down to when the clocks change so we can finally get some proper training in the evenings done.

Here is a 30 sec video of Rodney from training last night. Forgot to get Sammie to video anymore, here is the quick warm up round.



Seriously do need to do some training with the Spaniel. We are at Waldridge Fell on Saturday... permitting Lucy and I get out of bed :P

xoxo

Training

So.... finally after all my complaining of not getting to do any training, I was lucky enough to train both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Firstly on Saturday, Lucy and I went to the Cook's (John and Lindas) so we could do some training all together. It was really good and I got a lot out of it. We are hoping to go back next weekend and are also hoping to arrange in the summer to train together every Tuesday evening, which would be great :). Rodney happened to be fantastic, did some hard weave entries where you need to drag your dog and drop in, of course it doesnt sound hard, however when you want to dummy, but know Lee would kill you if he knew you did a dummy, you just know its not worth it! So even without using a dummy, Rod was fantastic. We did push throughs, all different types of tight turns and Rod was just great :).

Saturday night was Helens Party woop! Great night :)

Sunday (today) Lucy and I went to this stunning venue where Daniel Gee trains. So.. due to doing lots of tight work yesterday Lucy and I set up some very spaced out work... Daniel thought we were training for Olympia :P As promised... better late than never, here is a short video of Rod from today...



Next weekend hopefully get to do some more training, really need to do a bit of work on my dog walk and see-saw. Then the weekend after is Waldridge Fell Show :)

xoxo

Ribble

Well like everyone has been saying... "I have done no training" I like most have literally done no training due to the snow :( Rodney has not only done no training but is also very unfit and a bit chubby (as pointed out by Paul Oldfield.)

Ribble was on Saturday, was a fun show :) Lucy won grade 6 agility :) so now she only needs one more win to go grade 7 (anything) I said she had to be 7 by April, so shes doing good so far. She did however mess our pairs up tut... Rodney of course did a fantastic run, Lucy decides to put Pie in the wrong end of the tunnel... I am now recruiting a new pairs partner if anyone is interested?

Rodney on the whole ran very very well. He also went clear in the 6/7 Olympia qualifer (CHUM) came 8th, which is slightly annoying due to this is the first year they are taking top 5, when it has always been top 10. He had just done the pairs, so was a bit puffed out due to being unfit, I should of prob of given him a little breather. He started off a bit slow, but then sped up. Off the dog walk it was a sharp turn right back on himself, so I used my "K" command rather than my "right" he totally nailed it, turned with front right paw and I think I am safe to say all 4 feet were on it, you couldnt mark it, it was fantastic if I do say so myself. I did however watch some dodgy marking, I watched atleast 2 good dog walks get marked and two terrible A-frames (not even close) not get marked. My friends will know, this bothers me a slight bit!

In the grade 6 jumping which Lucy and Pie won, Rod ran past the dog walk, cos I over worked it, due to it being on a totally stupid angle onto it. Dodgy contact angles I think annoy me almost as much, if not more than bad contact marking. I think this is cos dodgy angles onto contacts are not necessary in the slightest, eg if the course just went over one more jump, aka the start jump, there would of been no dodgy angle... sorted!

We then had a 4th and final run... grade 6 jumping. Rod I think finished 3rd 0.06 behind Leah and Hex who were 2nd and 0.6 behind Nic Jones and Digit who won... here below is our run. Not perfect, but also not bad :)



Here is Lucys winning run...



So next weekend, Lucy and I are hopefully going to do a bit of training on Sat, then we have Helens birthday party on Sat night :D!! Recovering Sunday daytime, then training somewhere with Dan Gee just down the road, loads of training, all very exciting. The weekend after we have Waldridge Fell show... bit of a drive, so we better make it worth it.

xoxo

P.s Lee Windeatt if you read this, get on and sort things out so we can do some training please!! :)

03/01/2010!!

Well all my plans of training loads, getting myself together and going to UKA today... all didnt happen :( Mainly due to the weather I couldnt do much training, actually since my last post, ive only trained Rods once. I really want to do what I said regarding doing lots of short sessions, I prefer it and so do the dogs. This again would be made easier if I had my own indoor venue :P. So instead, ive been out most nights with friends and have done way too much shopping and eating. tut!

On a better note I have started organising Rodneys first show abroad :D Lucy and I are off to agility at night in Luxembourg the weekend after agility club and before Kc fest... perfect! Hopefully ill get some training in before then :P We will be staying with my German friend Jana Kiefer. I was hoping to do one of the big German shows at the end of May, however Rods failed his rabies, so we couldnt go :(

Instead of my training videos like promised, I have a few random pics :P...

Rodders with his xmas hat...



Rod with a winner medal and a Xmas hat...



Rodney and Phoebe in one of the fields outside our house... perfect for an indoor arena.... hmm...



Phoebe and a santa toy lol..



Last but not least.... Lucy in Reading yesterday.. haha... this is one of her favourite pictures...



Hopefully training over the next few weeks will go a bit better to plan.

xoxo