PAWS in the Park

Had a lovely weekend at the Hop Farm, Beltring. The weather was gorgeous and the agility was great with lovely courses set by all the judges (certainly for my classes anyway!)

I didn't get a single clear round which sounds awful but as this was Niamh's first sortie into G6 I wasn't disappointed, quite the contrary in fact! All her classes apart from one were combined G6/7 and the hike in technical difficulty from G5 was very noticeable. She managed the courses really well and the errors were all due to me mis-timing or mis-reading her reactions to different sequences. The good thing is that I came away with three clearly defined areas that I need to set up and practise. I can't wait to get started. Poppy was a little lame when we got home last night but was perfectly sound this morning. I decided to rest her today (much to her disgust) and will lead walk her for the rest of this week to make sure she's completely sound before I bring her back to any sort of training.

I had a good wander round the stalls at the big dog show alongside the agility. I can't remember seeing so many doggie stands. It was wonderful. Big news: I didn't buy any new dog beds; in fact I didn't really spend much at all. I'm looking for some bling collars but have decided to order from Pet Needs theirs are so lovely and they weren't at the show. Nothing I saw seemed half as nice but they were twice the price! Take a look at their lovely collars and leads at the link below. Leah bought a new one for Link and it's very smart and suits him very well. I think Herbie has a new one too but I didn't get to see that - yet!

http://www.pet-needs.co.uk/site/index.php

This afternoon Mand and I sat at the ringside talking (unusual for us!) and Niamh had a wonderful game with her cousin Twix. They laid side by side at the ring for quite some time and we could seem them eyeing each other up and twitching their tails. Suddenly they started and they played like puppies for ages. It was really lovely to watch as they didn't get rough or spiteful. They played like this a couple of years back at Scunthorpe when Niamh was about a year old and Twix a puppy but haven't really interacted since. I can't wait to see how they react when they next meet. I wish I had the play time on video but sadly I didn't take the camera with me this weekend.

Andy had the whole weekend at home. On Saturday he completely stained the new summerhouse ready for winter. It looks very smart. Today he had a huge bonfire and did a lot of work in the paddock making more space for my agility training! He removed three large fruit bushes and two small fruit trees. We need to get the area rotivated and turfed at some point. It's amazing how much space you can grab back. It will be fantastic when we finish clearing the area and get the gigantic compost heap removed once and for all. He had his three dogs out with him all day on both days and consequently all three of them are currently upside down on the sofa and hearth rug. Our visitors (Ellie, Tina and Tazzie) also had time in the garden but not as much as Andy's own three. They all tire quite quickly: Tina because she's very old; Ellie because she's only got three legs and her one front leg is heavily plated and we have to be careful with Tazz so that he doesn't over exercise as one of his front legs was broken when he was a puppy.

I love agility shows but getting up and going to day shows makes me so tired and my interminable yawning (as witnessed by some of my friends this weekend) is now overcoming me and I'm signing off and going to bed with my book! Good night!