Happy eighth birthday to my beautiful Naughty Niamh

Happy birthday to my lovely girl.  We share a birthday which is why I'm always so sure that Niamh really was meant for me.  I love her so much.

Back soon to do a proper blog update.  Don't know where the time flies at the moment!

Some more pictures from my walks

Beautiful Tidal Wave proving she can sit and wait .....

In the distance you can see Andy to the right of the tree, with a little blob behind him (Kizzle), a bigger blob in front (Murphy) and to the left of the tree and bushes a little red blob (Pop in her Hurtta coat).  Becky must have been bhined the bushes!

The lovely house we pass on our walk each day

The Naughty Niamh in the mud, her favourite place!

Closer shot of Niamh, you can see the flood water behind her in the distance

The last bit of dry ground before we go into wading rather than walking mode!

Kick my toy or I will shout at you!

Last warning, I'm building up to a big bark here!

That's it, lost control of my mouth .....

The result of Naughty Niamh's mud games

Happy Birthday Naughty Niamh

Happy birthday to my beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful and Naughty Niamh ... seven years old today. I can't believe where the years have gone since I picked up this naughty bundle of fur. I love her so much and am so very lucky to have her as my companion and agility partner.

Naughty Niamh at Keston

I love these pictures that Alex took of Niamh this weekend. They show her different faces so well. In the first shot she is watching the agility.

In the series of photos that follow she has seen people who she loves and is trying to get to them. In this instance it was Emily, Marian, Jean, Alex and Grace. She is such a funny girl. She really isn't keen on strangers but once she has befriended someone then they are a friend for life and she will spot people she knows amongst a crowd; these are the faces she displays as she tries to engage with them. In the last picture she is reversing ready to launch at her specified target!

Agility watching - above

People watching - below

Dartford & Keston Shows

It was hard work getting ready for this show due to puppy paraphernalia and loading our stuff into the new caravan.

The venue is not far away at all but our journey took twice as long as it should due to the wretched tolls at the Darford Crossing which are always busy from lunch time onwards on Fridays. Why they can't lift the barriers when the queue backs up so far I don't understand. Originally the tolls were going to be dropped once the bridge was paid for but obviously that didn't happen!

We got set up and Tidey began a new adventure which she took in her stride. I can't begin to say how good this little puppy is. She just accepts whatever comes her way and gets on with enjoying herself. She woke up a little earlier than at home but that's quite understandable bearing in mind that she is sharing a small space with two humans and six dogs. She woke up at about 6.10 am each morning. She continues to be really good about toileting and gets on with her business just outside the wind breaks on the extender lead. She is so easy. We set up her play pen inside the wind breaks and she was very content in that space as we had our deck chairs beside her and the other dogs were close by on their pins. It got a bit chilly at times so we covered her little bed with a blanket so she was very cosy.

At night time she slept in a soft crate on the bunk above my bed. Niamh slept beneath my bed, Poppy in a bed in the door well and Zeki slept in bed with me! Kizzy slept on the end of Andy's bed and Becky and Murphy on quilts on the floor beside him. We were all very cosy and slept well.

Above and below - Tidey in the new caravan

There is a puppy in there somewhere!

Naughty Niamh in her new caravan bed

Tidey had a wonderful weekend meeting lots of new people and receiving some nice new toys! She loves toys and gets very excited each time she comes across a new one.

Agility-wise it was a very mixed bag for me. On Saturday I was disappointed that I pulled off a jump too quickly and caused Niamh to drop a pole in the KCQ but delighted that Zeki won her agility class and came 3rd in her jumping. Kizzy ran well especially considering her first run was at 5.40 pm and both she and Andy had switched off somewhat! It was a shame that she cut behind Andy in her agility run and shot up a tunnel as the rest of the round was lovely. Bad little Kizzle. She redeemed herself on Sunday by getting 2nd in her agility class.

Sunday for me was hopeless with Niamh, completely lost our mo-jo. The only round I was happy with was her jumping class which she ran brilliantly but unfortunately we were E'd as she picked up the second weave pole. I ignored that and carried on as I wanted a positive run to end our rather disappointing weekend. Zeki was brilliant but I let her down in all three of her classes. She was running so well in all of them but a single stupid mistake in each of them meant we had no results to show for Sunday. Below are some videos of our good and bad runs from the weekend:

Overall we really enjoyed the weekend but I must work to get back in tune with Niamh. I can't bear it when we aren't running well together. I think Niamh is suffering a bit from puppy-itis and I am very tuned to Zeki at the moment. This is good for the forthcoming EO's but I am determined not to waste my beautiful Niamh so I need to get my act together quick!

On a serious note, an agility person suffered a heart attack at the show yesterday. It was very upsetting. Several agility people came to his aid and a small team formed to perform CPR until the emergency crew arrived. He was very poorly and at times it seemed he wouldn't survive but thanks to the efforts of those people he was taken to hospital by the ambulance and I understand he is making progress in the right direction. Brings my poor agility performance into perspective for sure.

Catch up time Pt I : Olympia; End of 2010 Agility Season & the Garden

At last I feel like posting on my blog; I really miss keeping it up to date but I just haven't had the heart for it lately. However at the weekend my special little sheltie made me very happy and I want to record that emotion on the blog so here we go with part I of a megga update completing with very good news (well for me and Zeki anyway!)

End of 2010 Agility Season

Both my girls were brilliant last year with Niamh getting into four champ finals and Zeki winning into G7. We are really looking forward to our first champ class in 2011!

Here they are with there 2010 hauls.

Olympia 2010

I was proud to have Naughty Niamh at Olympia for the second time. We had a great time despite the worry about getting home through the snow. As it happens we were fine especially as we were travelling in Jay's super duper 4x4. We ran clear in the morning event but were just out of the top ten times. There are a couple of places I could have saved precious time but hindsight is a wonderful thing! I was thrilled that Niamh was so close to the qualifying times. We got to run in the pairs and she ran clear again; our partner had a lovely run also but picked up 5 faults.

Here are Niamh's videos and some pictures. I so love Olympia. Whenever I watch back video of Niamh it makes me proud and quite emotional as her honesty always shines through to me. She is such a wonderful dog and I am so lucky to have her. I know, I am biased but that's how I feel about her.

Me and Naughty Niamh at Olympia 2011

The little snowman Dan and Mac built in my front yard for when we returned home!

Niamh with her Olympia rosettes at home

Garden

I had written on the blog back in the Autumn about the work we were doing on our long border. I am excited about this as we have put lots of new plants in and it's lovely to see them start growing.

Right now we are just finishing the lovely display of spring bulbs and we have to wait and see what else will happen this year. Obviously it's going to take time for it to mature but it's still so much better than the mess it used to be. Andy has cleared a couple of areas and put down grass seed. The downside of this wonderful sunny April is that the new grass isn't growing very fast as the ground is too dry.

At last my bird house/table has been fixed. Andy made this years ago and we had it at the old house but the post had rotted and it has laid under the shrubbery here for nearly four years. Whilst I was at Shuttleworth show the other weekend he mended it and it's lovely to have it back. You can see it in one of the pictures below.

Here are some pictures of the garden.

During March when not much happening

Above and below the height of the daffodils and tulips, really gorgeous

A few tulips left but now bluebells starting

It seems to be a really good year for pansies. Ours are looking gorgeous and some of them we planted before all the snow last winter and they have survived. Julie who helps us in the garden gave us a tip to feed them once a week with tomato feed. It seems to be working!

Nearly Olympia!

I can't believe where the time has gone since we qualified for Olympia back in early September. I know it sounds clichéd but it's true "time flies" (actually I think that phrase is probably an example of an idiom but I'm never quite sure!) Anyway the fact is that Olympia is only just over a week away for the large dogs and I am very excited.

The only downside is that we haven't had any training for two weeks. I can't train outside as we still have snow and, more worryingly, ice. On top of that the indoor school has been inaccessible. Andy drove up there on Tuesday to see if there was any chance we could train but the yard had about 9 inches of snow and ice covering it and it would have been too risky. Today it's really sunny and the temperature has risen but so far the snow isn't thawing very much at all. We really need more rain to wash it all away.

I know it's the same for quite a few people going to Olympia but it really worries me as it is far from ideal. Obviously there is the issue of fitness for both Niamh and myself but also the worry that we will have lost our self-confidence. So I am trying to counter this by making sure Niamh gets decent exercise despite the icy conditions and that I am keeping fit by walking and doing my pilates exercises. Andy is walking Poppy with his dogs so I just have Niamh and Zeki to walk. It's much better because Niamh is calmer; she doesn't herd Zeki like she does our other collies and so the walk is much gentler. She still gets a good run but doesn't do all the hand brake turns and crazy charging around. I am also having a trick training session every day and getting her to do some exercises on her wobble cushion and pilates peanut ball. Hopefully we will hang on to our connection by doing bits and pieces together.

I am hopeful that we might be able to access the indoor school one day next week to do some agility training but it really depends on the state of the yard.

Meantime here is Niamh's latest little gift from Leah - isn't it great and the words are just perfect. I am going to use it to save up for a new bed for her!

Before the snow came!

Things are progressing very nicely in the garden. Our rose has arrived and been planted, for me rather disappointing as it's just three twigs but that is normal I am told. I'm not really sure what I expected but not just three twigs! Oh well, I am sure it will be beautiful one day.

Al and Andy have been very busy starting to work through the very long list of outdoor stuff. They worked the last two weekends flat out and finished up on Sunday evening working in floodlights in the freezing cold. So far they have repaired the shed roof and completely re-felted it so it now looks very smart and doesn't detract from our newly planted border. They have also built a lean-to roof over part of Andy's yard so that he can keep most of his stuff (trailer, barrows, timber etc.) under cover. Part of clearing out the yard meant using up the decking that we inherited from Dennis and Bernadette a good time ago. This has now been put to very good use around the summerhouse and gives a nice area for people to sit. Here are some before and during photos. Can't put any 'after' photos up yet as everything is covered in SNOW again!



Next weekend Andy is going to have a huge tidy up of the yard and do some much needed pruning in the agility area. Then the following week Al will be back and they hope to get power and light into Andy's mower shed, put up lighting in the new lean-to and other bits and pieces and then on the second day, if we can get materials here in time lay the new bigger gauge gravel on the driveway. This isn't a very technical job, just lots of hard work shifting the current gravel next door as Geoff has a use for it and then taking delivery of the new stuff and getting it in place.

It's very exciting to see progress but it's really hard work for Al and Andy. I did feel sorry for them this weekend as it was so cold. I spent a lot of the day ferrying up hot drinks, soup and lots of food for them. I did two walks in the freezing weather so could imagine how cold they were stuck out there all day.

A couple of weeks back was North Downs agility show. I like this show as it's always well organised and a nice indoor venue. My girls were both brilliant and we even managed to execute a funny turn! Zeki got 3rd place in her class but I got e'd with Niamh as I pulled her off a jump which was a bit annoying.





Zeki got a 4th place in her jumping class and then one elimination down to a poor handling choice on my part. I actually didn't wait for her last run as it was too late. Niamh did some fantastic contacts which I was really pleased with bearing in mind we have Olympia coming up soon. Can't wait, very excited about that! I can't believe how excited I still get at the prospect of going to Olympia. My first time there was with dear little Bess in 1991 and this will be my twelfth time competing and Niamh's second.

On the subject of Bess, Graeme gave me a dvd of her Pedigree Pairs win from 1993. It made me cry when I watched it. She was such a wonderful dog. I have already posted the video on Facebook but here it is again for posterity on my blog.

What have we been up to - pt 1 Agility Update

It's a while since I've posted on the blog mainly because we've been really busy and partly because I just didn't feel like it! Have been a bit bogged down with our year end accounts which causes me no end of misery as I always leave things to the last minute and then bury my head in the sand and hope it'll go away. It never does and I never learn. Oh well.

Anyway, the agility season is all but over and Autumn is well and truly with us. The clocks went back at the weekend and the horrible dark evenings are with us once more. There is a part of this time of year that I love as it's nice to be cosy by the fire with Christmas coming (and Olympia!!) but I really don't like the dank, dark days.

So with the dark evenings here what better way to spend an hour than catching up with the blog and remembering the last few shows of the year. I think I left off after Lune Valley and the World Tryouts. Quite a few shows between then and now and I can't remember all the details but some highlights are:

Rugby with Zeki getting 3rd in the Crufts singles (also EOQ).

On the lovely walk at Rugby venue with Pops, Zaz ( staying with us at the time) and Zeki

Agility Club third win towards G7 for Zeki and some good runs from Kizzy with me running her. Here are some fantastic photos of Niamh from this show by Grace and Alex:




Burridge Niamh Q'd for Olympia semi-final and had a nearly with Zeki but one pole down. Andy Sandercock judged the large qualifier and it was a really good course, obstacle discrimination and some really tricky bits. Loved it as it gave me a chance! I know some people like to set very fast and relatively easy courses for Olympia Q's as they believe that reflects what you'll get at the finals. They are absolutely entitled to this view but I feel a bit differently. I see Olympia as a prize that should be earned. The style of course at that final is like no other due to the size of the arena and the nature of the event. From a personal viewpoint, I am so much better when I have to really work at a course than just blasting round fast patterns. Anyway, Andy's course certainly suited us!

KC Festival Zeki got her final win for G7 and then another win the following day. Here she is with her prize, clever beautiful little girl:


DIN - Zeki got into the G6/7 final and was a superstar, such a shame her daft handler pulled her off a jump right at the end, she also got a couple more wins at that show; Andy and Kizzy starting to get back on form with Kizzy coming 5th in the small champ final with clear runs in all three elements; sadly not at all on form with NN at DIN. Here are three videos from DIN and some photos of Niamh and Kizzy:








I absolutely love these photos taken of Kizzy at DIN - she looks so lovely, thank you to Patch Guipago for these super pics!





And a couple of Niamh taken by Grace and Alex. I particularly love the shot with Leah and Herbie where we've been caught without realising having a cuddle (and kiss) with our lovely doglets.




Letchworth another 3rd place for Zeki in EOQ class and some good runs from NN in prep for the semi finals the following day. I camped over night in my van at Letchworth, here is Niamh getting ready for bed on the new pillow I bought her :o)


Love the above photo as Niamh leaps in the air as she watches Leah and Herbie run. She gets so excited as she always assumes it's pairs when she sees them run!

Fantastic shot of her focused and driving through a tunnel. What a lovely girl and what a great shot (not sure Alex or Grace but thanks anyway!)

Olympia semi-finals, Stoneleigh - I truly didn't think I would get Niamh to Olympia again as the qualifying process is very hard now. We are a good team but there are so many great partnerships out there and rather a lot of them quite a bit quicker than we are! We have consistency on our side and I guess I can handle the pressure of big events having participated in quite a few over the years. So I have to stay focused on the positives and I really did that during my walk at Kenilworth Castle before driving on to Stoneleigh. I gave myself a good talking to and it seemed to work! I had stayed over night at Hill Top Bed & Breakfast in Kenilworth where both my dogs were able to come into the room and I would thoroughly recommend this establishment to anyone with up to a couple of well-behaved doglets. I was treated so well and waited on hand and foot. Such lovely, welcoming and friendly people.

Anyway I digress but it does help to stay somewhere nice where you don't feel under pressure because of your dogs. I know Kenilworth quite well and have often walked in the castle grounds and find it a good way of relaxing before the trauma of the qualifier! Niamh dug up several mole hills and got smothered in mud so I wasn't best pleased at that!!


On to Stoneleigh which is literally five minutes up the road and got parked and organised and then went to watch the novice qualifier. It was quite a tricky course and we saw a lot of E's. I was quite nervous as this was to be our warm up run and I hoped that I could get Niamh round! As it happens the course ran really well with the slightly more experienced dogs, it wasn't as tricky as it had looked from the outside. I decided what I wanted was a clear round with solid contacts, I also found somewhere that I could turn Niamh towards me rather than flick her away even though it was slower to work the combination like this. I have a few issues with her flicking away from me when I want her to turn toward me but more of that in a later training update! Niamh didn't disappoint and ran a lovely clear which boosted my confidence.

Before lunch Simon built his qualifier and we were allowed to walk it over lunch. It was quite trappy but still a fast course. I really liked it as it wasn't just a straight forward blast. I walked it probably twenty times and drilled into my mind all the things to remember. The course had a bit of everything: running past the face of obstacles not to be taken; pull or push throughs; go rounds; snakes and a fast finish. Sadly I didn't get it on video as I was on my own and just had to concentrate on my run.

We ran quite late and Leah and Herbie had already gone clear running early on. I was thrilled for them and so wanted to get it right for me and Niamh. I was very nervous.

Apparently by the time I ran (which was two thirds through the competition) all I needed was a clear round but I was unaware of that. Bless her, Leah stopped anyone from saying this to me because she knows that I work much better under pressure and would probably screw up if I went out just trying for a clear. As far as I was concerned I had to go fast and clear. Niamh was brilliant and I couldn't have asked for more. We ended up 10th out of the eighteen that qualify and I was delighted with this result.

The competition is so different now and because there are more in each semi and a lot more go through to the final (sixteen whereas used to be five) I was worried that this would make me complacent. I mean when you know you have to get top five you have no choice than to go for it but when you are looking at top eighteen it would be so easy to take it too cautiously and blow it. Anyway, we didn't and we're going to Olympia. I am so thrilled! My clever, wonderful Niamh.

This is the cake that Leah made for me and Niamh for qualifying. I wish I was that creative!

Will he, won't he? I couldn't possibly eat Niamh - it would have been so wrong. That didn't stop Andy. Horrible person he ate my dog.

Gillingham - just can't remember what we managed to do there. I don't think very much agility-wise but had a great time as I love the venue and had lots of nice walks. We were able to go early as Andy and Tamzin had a trade stand so it was nice to have a few days away. Here is the naughty one peeping out from the windbreak:



Stour Valley - great day with Niamh getting four out of four clears and some good places. Didn't do as well with Zeki!

South Downs with 6 hours between my two (yes two) runs but it was worth it as Todd and Zeki won the pairs that was over by 10.00 am and then it was gone 4.00 pm before the qualifier was set up. The wait was worth it Zeki was a star and won the Olympia qualifier meaning we have qualfied for the 2011 semi-finals! Zeki won a lovely picture frame (well two actually) at South Downs and this is perfect for the lovely photo that Gran'Ma bought for me at DIN of Zeki competing in her first final. It was even worth the four-hour drive home (accident on M25)!

Zeki and Todd with their haul from Southdowns show

I think that's about it for the agility competition update. I have one more show before Olympia which is North Downs and also the WAOC try outs in December. More of that later!