Well, we've made real progress this week. The wall between the kitchen and new utility room has been knocked through and the lovely oak beams and post to hold up the corner of the house look really lovely. The plasterer has been in and finished the walls and ceilings; I am so glad about that because the dust caused by this trade is just too awful. He has to come back to screed the utility and garage floors but that won't be so bad ......... I hope!
Al has been here the last two evenings doing the second fix electrics. He's just left us at 9.45 pm to drive all the way home to Bognor. Then he has to be up at 5.00 am to get ready for work. I don't know how he does it. He is such a hard worker. I really don't know what we'd do without him. He is a very good friend.
I will take some pictures of the new extension and garage tomorrow and post them - it's a bit too dark right now!
I have been enjoying reading the Obay blog today with all the details of the FCI World Champs. All our teams did us proud. Bernadette is writing a really good account of the whole experience and I can't wait for the next instalment.
We were booked into the Norfolk show this coming weekend but have decided not to go. Abbey hasn't been brilliant just lately and now poor old Tina is not very well. Andy and Mac took her to see Jim this evening and we're hoping we can get her over her bad tummy problems. She is almost blind, completely deaf and her back end isn't too sound any more so we are getting to the stage where we have to start looking at quality of life. It's so hard as she seems to have been around forever. She is just over 15.5 but these things are still so hard to deal with. Hopefully she will get over this problem and have a bit more time. Dan and Mac have been so good taking her in after Mum was taken ill. She is Andy's dog but has lived with Mum for the past four years. When Mum became ill and Ed could no longer cope with the dogs the plan was really for us to take Tina back and Dan and Mac to have Ellie. However, Tina pined for Ellie and we collectively decided that they needed to be together. As we already had six dogs they offered to take them in, we just help out by having them when Dan and Mac want to go away. We are very grateful to them for looking after Tina and of course Ellie.
We're megga busy at the moment. Andy's work has gone absolutely mad. It was a little bit quiet through the summer I think as interest rates took hold and people got used to the squeeze. Now things seem to have levelled out and people are wanting to do extensions and build new houses etc. This of course means tonnes of work for Andy on the design front. It's good news as we seem to be pouring money into the extension at our own house but not good from the free time perspective!
All in all, we're quite looking forward to a chilled weekend. We're going to shut the office door, take the dogs to the Ashdown Forest and go for a pub lunch!
Thursday, 4 October 2007
Monday, 1 October 2007
Bad Sheltie & Other Stuff
We've been really busy over the last week. Our building work is on a final push to get finished. It's exciting but at the same time I'm sick of it! On Friday Karen and Todd came over for lunch and a bit of training. I was very impressed with both Kizzy and Toddy (Andy and Karen weren't too bad either!) They did some good stuff once Kizzle had settled down and stopped showing off to Todd because it was her paddock and her equipment. She was a right little monster to start with, tearing round, barking (yes Bernadette, barking ...... ggrrrrr) and generally being a bad sheltie. After lunch Andy had to go on a site visit and Karen and I took the dogs for a nice walk in the pouring rain. They had a good time and it was a lovely day. Karen gave Kizzy a lovely present - a beautiful leather collar in purple. It's really gorgeous and will be her every day collar.
Karen's crowd with my three!
Naughty Niamh, Abbey, Jess, Poppy, Todd, Tikka, Sassy, Corrie & Sparkie
I did a training day on Saturday which seemed to go down well with the attendees. I certainly enjoyed it as they were a really nice bunch of people. I was very tired at the end of the day though. On Sunday I attended a training session myself with the Naughty Niamh. We had a great time and our trainer, Natasha Wise, was brilliant. Tash had obviously put a lot of thought into her programme and I think everyone enjoyed the session. I came away with a couple of really good ideas to practise.
Tomorrow our little visitor, Tazz, goes home. We will really miss him as he's such a little sweet heart. He's like a cuddly version of Kizzy. Talking of Kizzy, she is a monster at the moment. I think she's quite jealous of the attention we've been giving to Tazz. She is rampaging in the evenings to the point where I'm beginning to think of getting her soft crate in. She is running round the walls across us and the other dogs and being generally BAD. I had Tazz on my lap last night and out of the blue she landed on top of both of us. She is a wicked little sheltie at the moment. Of course, she is still gorgeous and beautiful but WICKED.
This morning I left four of them in the kitchen while I did some work on the PC for Andy. When I returned to make the builders their tea she was sitting in a red snow storm (see picture). Dennis our builder had put a piece of red cladding on a sheet of ply to protect the beam it was leaning up against (said piece of ply being in place to keep the bad sheltie in the kitchen and out of the new extension) and Kizzle decided it was fun to play with ..... and destroy!
Bad Sheltie
Karen's crowd with my three!Naughty Niamh, Abbey, Jess, Poppy, Todd, Tikka, Sassy, Corrie & Sparkie
I did a training day on Saturday which seemed to go down well with the attendees. I certainly enjoyed it as they were a really nice bunch of people. I was very tired at the end of the day though. On Sunday I attended a training session myself with the Naughty Niamh. We had a great time and our trainer, Natasha Wise, was brilliant. Tash had obviously put a lot of thought into her programme and I think everyone enjoyed the session. I came away with a couple of really good ideas to practise.
Tomorrow our little visitor, Tazz, goes home. We will really miss him as he's such a little sweet heart. He's like a cuddly version of Kizzy. Talking of Kizzy, she is a monster at the moment. I think she's quite jealous of the attention we've been giving to Tazz. She is rampaging in the evenings to the point where I'm beginning to think of getting her soft crate in. She is running round the walls across us and the other dogs and being generally BAD. I had Tazz on my lap last night and out of the blue she landed on top of both of us. She is a wicked little sheltie at the moment. Of course, she is still gorgeous and beautiful but WICKED.
This morning I left four of them in the kitchen while I did some work on the PC for Andy. When I returned to make the builders their tea she was sitting in a red snow storm (see picture). Dennis our builder had put a piece of red cladding on a sheet of ply to protect the beam it was leaning up against (said piece of ply being in place to keep the bad sheltie in the kitchen and out of the new extension) and Kizzle decided it was fun to play with ..... and destroy!
Bad SheltieSunday, 23 September 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Tazz, Training & Concert
We had good fun at training last night. We had a lot of people away from training on holiday so we set up a some courses (agility and jumping) designed by one of the judges at this year's FCI World Championships. We invited Berndatte, Lisa, Toni and Lee to come along and have a practise before going out to Norway.
We trained over a slightly simplified version of one of the agility courses and were really pleased with how we and our dogs coped. It was good fun. Then we had a long session for the World Champ people and allowed them time to walk the courses and then run them and train bits and pieces where needed. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed for the British team and wish them all lots of luck.
Dennis came along in order to try out some action photography in an indoor arena, hopefully he got some good results.
On the way home they dropped off Tazz who is now happily installed with us until Bernadette and Dennis get back from Norway. He has settled in really well and is very comfortable with Tina and Ellie in the small sitting room ...... yes that is Tazz and not Kizzy on the sofa with Ellie!
The most exciting thing for me today is that I managed to get tickets to see my favourite pianist Leif Ove Andsnes who is doing just two concerts in the UK this year (he only tours here about once in every 3-5 years!). The concert is in December at the Birmingham Symphony Hall and is a celebration of Elgar and Greig.
To see him play has been a dream of mine for a very long time and to be able to hear him play Greig's piano concerto is something I never thought I would be lucky enough to experience. I can't describe how happy I am. It will be a lovely Christmas present. I tried to book at the weekend but there were only single tickets left so I was very disappointed, the concerts had sold out so quickly. I called again today and was lucky to get two returns which means that we can sit together!
We trained over a slightly simplified version of one of the agility courses and were really pleased with how we and our dogs coped. It was good fun. Then we had a long session for the World Champ people and allowed them time to walk the courses and then run them and train bits and pieces where needed. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed for the British team and wish them all lots of luck.
Dennis came along in order to try out some action photography in an indoor arena, hopefully he got some good results.
On the way home they dropped off Tazz who is now happily installed with us until Bernadette and Dennis get back from Norway. He has settled in really well and is very comfortable with Tina and Ellie in the small sitting room ...... yes that is Tazz and not Kizzy on the sofa with Ellie!
The most exciting thing for me today is that I managed to get tickets to see my favourite pianist Leif Ove Andsnes who is doing just two concerts in the UK this year (he only tours here about once in every 3-5 years!). The concert is in December at the Birmingham Symphony Hall and is a celebration of Elgar and Greig.
To see him play has been a dream of mine for a very long time and to be able to hear him play Greig's piano concerto is something I never thought I would be lucky enough to experience. I can't describe how happy I am. It will be a lovely Christmas present. I tried to book at the weekend but there were only single tickets left so I was very disappointed, the concerts had sold out so quickly. I called again today and was lucky to get two returns which means that we can sit together!
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Summer House
At last the summer house is in place. It's really great. Andy and Dennis took all day Saturday to get it done and were exhausted by the end of the day. But, it was worth it!
I had a rummage at the boot fair and got a couple of blinds and a set of whicker chairs and sofa all for £22.00. They are all installed and it's very cosy. At some point Al is going to run electricity down there so I'll be able to have a kettle and a heater for the cold winter!
The dogs had a wonderful day out in the garden while Andy and Dennis toiled. Here are some pictures from the day.
Men at work aided by the three old codgers: Abbey, Ellie & Tina (who are staying with us for their holiday)
I thought this was funny!
Andy asking Tina for some advice on carpentry!
Abbey posing!
The finished job.
Tina & Ellie enjoying the fresh air!
Naughty Niamh with her favourite football!
A very tired little sheltie at the end of the day!
I had a rummage at the boot fair and got a couple of blinds and a set of whicker chairs and sofa all for £22.00. They are all installed and it's very cosy. At some point Al is going to run electricity down there so I'll be able to have a kettle and a heater for the cold winter!
The dogs had a wonderful day out in the garden while Andy and Dennis toiled. Here are some pictures from the day.
Men at work aided by the three old codgers: Abbey, Ellie & Tina (who are staying with us for their holiday)
I thought this was funny!
Andy asking Tina for some advice on carpentry!
Abbey posing!
The finished job.
Tina & Ellie enjoying the fresh air!
Naughty Niamh with her favourite football!
A very tired little sheltie at the end of the day!Friday, 14 September 2007
Poppy visits Mum
Had to go into Tunbridge Wells to get my hair cut today so I took my three dogs with me and stopped off at Eridge forest for a lovely walk before going to visit Mum.
I decided to take Poppy in with me as she hadn't been in for a visit. She was absolutely brilliant. She cuddled up to Mum and was so gentle. The nurses and care workers loved her and brought her a saucer of tea and a biscuit!
Here are some pictures of Poppy and Mum (not very good as taken with my mobile, as usual!)
It's a bit hot in here!Thursday, 13 September 2007
Kizzy's Training
Kizzy is really enjoying her training and we think she's progressing well. She had a great night at our training club on Tuesday doing some set ups, jumping exercises and lots of seesaws balanced on two tables with lots of cream cheese to eat on the end! She was full of herself and really showing off on the seesaw, at times I barely managed to squirt the next blob of cheese on before she'd wizzed back round!
Today we had a training session at home in the lunch break. We did quite a bit of stuff and got some of it on video.
Today we had a training session at home in the lunch break. We did quite a bit of stuff and got some of it on video.
This, that and the other .... oh and conkers
Walk in the evening sunshine and visit to the Pub
We took the dogs for a late walk yesterday so that they'd be tired when we went to meet Dan and Mac at the pub (belated birthday celebration for Mac).
It was really nice across the fields and the dogs had a lovely time. As usual we forgot to take the camera so I took a couple of photos with my mobile. We can never find Kizzy on a walk, this picture of her and Andy illustrates why ..... she's behind you! This is where she likes to walk, right behind Andy. She does have a good run as well but she often tucks in behind. She runs more if she finds a plastic bottle or something to carry. Then she likes to show off to the others.
I'm behind you!
I'm the king of the castle!
Aren't I gorgeous (Kizzy that is, not Andy!)
When we got home Poppy decided to relax outside while they cooled down ready for their dinner (it's a hard life for the dogs in our house!!).
Poppy: Where's my Pimms?
Naughty Niamh: Who cares, about the Pimms, let's get down the garden!
We took the dogs for a late walk yesterday so that they'd be tired when we went to meet Dan and Mac at the pub (belated birthday celebration for Mac).
It was really nice across the fields and the dogs had a lovely time. As usual we forgot to take the camera so I took a couple of photos with my mobile. We can never find Kizzy on a walk, this picture of her and Andy illustrates why ..... she's behind you! This is where she likes to walk, right behind Andy. She does have a good run as well but she often tucks in behind. She runs more if she finds a plastic bottle or something to carry. Then she likes to show off to the others.
I'm behind you!
I'm the king of the castle!We popped her up on the hay bale to pose. As usual she was very happy to oblige! With my usual aplomb I took the first photo in my own shadow, I suppose it's something that I noticed I'd done it and actually moved for the second photo!
Aren't I gorgeous (Kizzy that is, not Andy!)When we got home Poppy decided to relax outside while they cooled down ready for their dinner (it's a hard life for the dogs in our house!!).
Poppy: Where's my Pimms?Naughty Niamh: Who cares, about the Pimms, let's get down the garden!
We went to the Royal Oak at Crockham Hill and had a lovely meal. They have a great selection for vegetarians which makes a nice change. It's run by two guys who are partners (both in the business and privately) and they're very hospitable and friendly. It's very much a village pub with the locals popping in and out during the evening. It's our favourite pub at the moment but we're going to make ourselves try others in the area so we don't become boring!
Building Work
The building is really taking shape. It's been quite a slow process but things are finally coming together. We're very pleased with the shape of the roof and how it looks. The final few tiles are going on and we hope to have the scaffolding down on Friday which means we'll be able to go next door and tidy up their garden. We are lucky to have really lovely neighbours who have been totally supportive of our building project. Our builders have had to work from their side of the boundary a lot of the time and the scaffold is sitting in their garden. We put up temporary fencing to keep their dogs in and the last job will be to put up three new fence panels between our properties. Liz and Geoff come in and check our place when we go to dog shows, they collect the mail, water the greenhouse and plants and usually leave a little tub of fresh veg for us in the kitchen for when we get home. During the building works they have let me park my car in their drive whenever needed. They really are so accommodating. When it's all finished we're going to take them out for a meal .... probably to the Royal Oak!
The scaffolding and temporary fence in our neighbour's garden.
The new utility room viewed from the new garage.
The new utility room from the outside.
Conkers
Especially for Bernadette - these are conkers (the fruit of the horse chestnut tree, not the sweet chestnut tree where edible chestnuts come from.)
Apparently, if you put a conker in each corner of a room it stops spiders coming in (Mac heard this from someone but we're not sure if it works!) I am going to try this as our new house is very spidery! I think the building work has disturbed quite a few. I don't mind the thin harvest spiders that hang in the corners of the ceilings but I am not at all fond of the large black house spiders. Kizzy and Niamh like to eat them (yuk!) I will also put lots of conkers in my summer house once it's up as I think that will be a very popular place for spiders. Andy and Dennis (our builder) are spending Saturday morning putting the summer house up. I can't wait, it'll be so nice for somewhere to take a break during an agility lesson.
Visitors
Tomorrow Tina and Ellie are arriving for a two week stay whilst Dan and Mac go on holiday to Cornwall. They're going to an agility show and then having two weeks holiday with Alan and Tracey. It'll be Dan's last outing in G2 so I hope he wins! Al needs one more win with Meggie for G7 so we're keeping our fingers crossed for him too!
Then next Tuesday Tazz arrives for his holiday whilst Bernadette and Dennis travel out to the Agility World championships. Oh boy, that means 9 dogs in the house!
The worst thing is that during that time the builders will probably want to break through the kitchen into the new utility room - where am I going to put all the dogs! Tina and Ellie normally have the small sitting room to themselves but they'll just have to get used to sharing that with some of the others, probably Kizzy, Tazz and Becky. Naughty Niamh will move into the office with Abbey and Poppy (oh dear, that means all my three are with me in the office, how did that happen I wonder!) That means Murphy will just have to move into the greenhouse! After his recent escapades at agility shows I think this could be a very real possibility! Only joking ...................
FCI Courses
We have lots of people away from training due to holidays so we decided to put up some FCI type courses for Bernadette to come along and practise prior to departing for Norway. Toni and Lee are also coming along and maybe Lisa.
We're doing this next Tuesday at our training school. It should be fun and hopefully helpful for our British team members. We're going to train over the courses ourselves and then when they others arrive they can show us how it's done properly! I have a pile of courses in front of me which I'm studying (they are courses designed by this year's two judges) and we hope they'll give a real flavour of what's to come. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for the whole British team.
I think that's enough for now!
Building Work
The building is really taking shape. It's been quite a slow process but things are finally coming together. We're very pleased with the shape of the roof and how it looks. The final few tiles are going on and we hope to have the scaffolding down on Friday which means we'll be able to go next door and tidy up their garden. We are lucky to have really lovely neighbours who have been totally supportive of our building project. Our builders have had to work from their side of the boundary a lot of the time and the scaffold is sitting in their garden. We put up temporary fencing to keep their dogs in and the last job will be to put up three new fence panels between our properties. Liz and Geoff come in and check our place when we go to dog shows, they collect the mail, water the greenhouse and plants and usually leave a little tub of fresh veg for us in the kitchen for when we get home. During the building works they have let me park my car in their drive whenever needed. They really are so accommodating. When it's all finished we're going to take them out for a meal .... probably to the Royal Oak!
Dennis working on the new roof. As you can see we've managed to keep the lovely wisteria intact. We actually made the extension slightly smaller than orginally planned in order that we could have a go at saving it and it seems to have survived as it's flowering for the second time this year.
The new garage from the front of the property.
The scaffolding and temporary fence in our neighbour's garden.
The new utility room viewed from the new garage.
The new utility room from the outside.Conkers
Especially for Bernadette - these are conkers (the fruit of the horse chestnut tree, not the sweet chestnut tree where edible chestnuts come from.)
Apparently, if you put a conker in each corner of a room it stops spiders coming in (Mac heard this from someone but we're not sure if it works!) I am going to try this as our new house is very spidery! I think the building work has disturbed quite a few. I don't mind the thin harvest spiders that hang in the corners of the ceilings but I am not at all fond of the large black house spiders. Kizzy and Niamh like to eat them (yuk!) I will also put lots of conkers in my summer house once it's up as I think that will be a very popular place for spiders. Andy and Dennis (our builder) are spending Saturday morning putting the summer house up. I can't wait, it'll be so nice for somewhere to take a break during an agility lesson.Visitors
Tomorrow Tina and Ellie are arriving for a two week stay whilst Dan and Mac go on holiday to Cornwall. They're going to an agility show and then having two weeks holiday with Alan and Tracey. It'll be Dan's last outing in G2 so I hope he wins! Al needs one more win with Meggie for G7 so we're keeping our fingers crossed for him too!
Then next Tuesday Tazz arrives for his holiday whilst Bernadette and Dennis travel out to the Agility World championships. Oh boy, that means 9 dogs in the house!
The worst thing is that during that time the builders will probably want to break through the kitchen into the new utility room - where am I going to put all the dogs! Tina and Ellie normally have the small sitting room to themselves but they'll just have to get used to sharing that with some of the others, probably Kizzy, Tazz and Becky. Naughty Niamh will move into the office with Abbey and Poppy (oh dear, that means all my three are with me in the office, how did that happen I wonder!) That means Murphy will just have to move into the greenhouse! After his recent escapades at agility shows I think this could be a very real possibility! Only joking ...................
FCI Courses
We have lots of people away from training due to holidays so we decided to put up some FCI type courses for Bernadette to come along and practise prior to departing for Norway. Toni and Lee are also coming along and maybe Lisa.
We're doing this next Tuesday at our training school. It should be fun and hopefully helpful for our British team members. We're going to train over the courses ourselves and then when they others arrive they can show us how it's done properly! I have a pile of courses in front of me which I'm studying (they are courses designed by this year's two judges) and we hope they'll give a real flavour of what's to come. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for the whole British team.
I think that's enough for now!
Monday, 10 September 2007
Chippenham & Gillingham
We had a lovely long weekend. We offered to help set up the rings so were allowed to camp from the Thursday. It was a really nice break and the weather was great. We had lots of nice walks with the dogs and had a really chilled time.
On Saturday Andy worked Pops in the champ class. She worked really well and but for one mistake in the jumping round and a knocked pole in the agility did the best she has for a long time in this class. I ran her in the Crufts Senior agility and she was fantastic. I should have made a cross at the dog walk but didn't and caused her to mis judge the run onto the dogwalk otherwise her round was brilliant on a very tricky Ian Fraser course - I do love his courses! Although they are tough they always run well and you really have to work hard. I worked Niamh really badly on the Saturday, it was nearly 4.00 pm before she had her first run and I had switched off a bit. Poor excuse I know! We got 13th in the G5 agility which we really shouldn't have achieved as we had at least two refusals that for some reason didn't get marked. I was amazed we had a clear round let alone a place!
On Sunday I was more focused and Naughty Niamh did a lovely round to win her last ever G5 agility. She also worked brilliantly in her last jumping round but due to pilot error was E'd. Sadly (for me anyway!) no video. Andy wanted a weekend off filming so he could actually watch Niamh work rather than film her. Boo!
Murphy was bad on Saturday but better on Sunday. He did a fantastic G6 jumping round just knocking one pole right near the end of the course. He was just 1/100th of a second of the winning time. Why couldn't he leave that pole up! Andy is very disillusioned at the moment and is seriously thinking of retiring Murphy and just concentrating on Kizzle.
As for Kizzy, well she had a wonderful weekend as always. She played round the rings and went out in the exercise area with Andy where they practised their targets and set up routine. She spent all the evenings just mooching around while we sat out with friends. She didn't wander off at all and is quite happy to just potter around.
We could have stayed over on Sunday evening but decided to come home as Andy is very busy work-wise. We kind of wished we had stayed though. The journey home was awful. The A303 was very slow as was the M3. It was 8pm before we got indoors which is a bit later than we'd hoped for!
Now we have a free weekend coming up. I decided not to enter WBSD show as the classes for Niamh were combined 6/7 and I thought we might be over faced. Instead we're waiting until the following weekend for Paws in the Park (nice and local for us) where she'll have grade 6 classes (scary!)
We have a new A-frame being delivered to our training school tomorrow. Our old one was damaged by a fork lift truck moving hay into the barn where it's stored. Our land lady was very cross with the farmer and is making him pay for a new one! A good result as ours was ex-hire and we've had it for nearly 14 years. That said, there was nothing wrong with it.
On Saturday Andy worked Pops in the champ class. She worked really well and but for one mistake in the jumping round and a knocked pole in the agility did the best she has for a long time in this class. I ran her in the Crufts Senior agility and she was fantastic. I should have made a cross at the dog walk but didn't and caused her to mis judge the run onto the dogwalk otherwise her round was brilliant on a very tricky Ian Fraser course - I do love his courses! Although they are tough they always run well and you really have to work hard. I worked Niamh really badly on the Saturday, it was nearly 4.00 pm before she had her first run and I had switched off a bit. Poor excuse I know! We got 13th in the G5 agility which we really shouldn't have achieved as we had at least two refusals that for some reason didn't get marked. I was amazed we had a clear round let alone a place!
On Sunday I was more focused and Naughty Niamh did a lovely round to win her last ever G5 agility. She also worked brilliantly in her last jumping round but due to pilot error was E'd. Sadly (for me anyway!) no video. Andy wanted a weekend off filming so he could actually watch Niamh work rather than film her. Boo!
Murphy was bad on Saturday but better on Sunday. He did a fantastic G6 jumping round just knocking one pole right near the end of the course. He was just 1/100th of a second of the winning time. Why couldn't he leave that pole up! Andy is very disillusioned at the moment and is seriously thinking of retiring Murphy and just concentrating on Kizzle.
As for Kizzy, well she had a wonderful weekend as always. She played round the rings and went out in the exercise area with Andy where they practised their targets and set up routine. She spent all the evenings just mooching around while we sat out with friends. She didn't wander off at all and is quite happy to just potter around.
We could have stayed over on Sunday evening but decided to come home as Andy is very busy work-wise. We kind of wished we had stayed though. The journey home was awful. The A303 was very slow as was the M3. It was 8pm before we got indoors which is a bit later than we'd hoped for!
Now we have a free weekend coming up. I decided not to enter WBSD show as the classes for Niamh were combined 6/7 and I thought we might be over faced. Instead we're waiting until the following weekend for Paws in the Park (nice and local for us) where she'll have grade 6 classes (scary!)
We have a new A-frame being delivered to our training school tomorrow. Our old one was damaged by a fork lift truck moving hay into the barn where it's stored. Our land lady was very cross with the farmer and is making him pay for a new one! A good result as ours was ex-hire and we've had it for nearly 14 years. That said, there was nothing wrong with it.
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
Kizzy Jump & Playtime
Andy has been teaching Kizzy to jump into his arms. It's going quite well, the first part of this little video shows her jumping and then moves onto a puppy play time with a new little friend.
Leah & Jay have a puppy from Leah's mum to hand rear. We think he's about four weeks old. He just arrived today from Wales. He's a really happy and bold little chap. They called in for lunch and he had a nice time in the garden and a game with the Kizzle. Kizzy is such a nice natured dog although she can get a little over the top and managed to roll the puppy over a couple of times!
Leah & Jay have a puppy from Leah's mum to hand rear. We think he's about four weeks old. He just arrived today from Wales. He's a really happy and bold little chap. They called in for lunch and he had a nice time in the garden and a game with the Kizzle. Kizzy is such a nice natured dog although she can get a little over the top and managed to roll the puppy over a couple of times!
Monday, 3 September 2007
Kizzy's Training
Kizzy's training is really coming along well. Andy has had lots of homework since the lesson with Berndatte a couple of weeks back.
Her weave training is progressing well and she seems to really enjoy the process. She is also starting seesaw training and is doing well with her dog walk target. She is now at the top of the down plank and pulling down the whole plank to her target. The next stage is for her to do that with a looser lead to see if she really understands the process, i.e. speed but stop at her target! I don't think it will be much longer before Andy tests that out. Andy still does lots of groundwork with the target as well as on the bottom of the dog walk. She's building up her duration on the target really well and loves this 'game'!
We have also done quite a bit of work getting her to jump up into our arms. That's really progressing well although she point blank refused to demonstrate this to Grandma and Lisa at Trent Park on Sunday (bad sheltie). I bought her some Burns fish treats which sit on the breakfast bar and now she is really keen to jump up! The other morning she arrived on Andy's lap when he was sitting on the high breakfast bar stool and almost landed in his cornflakes.
Every morning whoever gets up first and goes to the kitchen and opens the baby gate, Kizzy tears into the bedroom and leaps onto the bed for a cuddle with whoever is still there (ok, ok, normally it's me, I admit it!) This has developed into a real routine and it's lovely as she's such a cuddly little thing in the mornings.
I hope to do a little training video of Kizzy but it's quite difficult at the moment as some of the processes require me to hold her lead or place her treats out etc. Once Andy is more self-sufficient (is there such a thing with a man!!!) then I'll be able to take some video!
Her weave training is progressing well and she seems to really enjoy the process. She is also starting seesaw training and is doing well with her dog walk target. She is now at the top of the down plank and pulling down the whole plank to her target. The next stage is for her to do that with a looser lead to see if she really understands the process, i.e. speed but stop at her target! I don't think it will be much longer before Andy tests that out. Andy still does lots of groundwork with the target as well as on the bottom of the dog walk. She's building up her duration on the target really well and loves this 'game'!
We have also done quite a bit of work getting her to jump up into our arms. That's really progressing well although she point blank refused to demonstrate this to Grandma and Lisa at Trent Park on Sunday (bad sheltie). I bought her some Burns fish treats which sit on the breakfast bar and now she is really keen to jump up! The other morning she arrived on Andy's lap when he was sitting on the high breakfast bar stool and almost landed in his cornflakes.
Every morning whoever gets up first and goes to the kitchen and opens the baby gate, Kizzy tears into the bedroom and leaps onto the bed for a cuddle with whoever is still there (ok, ok, normally it's me, I admit it!) This has developed into a real routine and it's lovely as she's such a cuddly little thing in the mornings.
I hope to do a little training video of Kizzy but it's quite difficult at the moment as some of the processes require me to hold her lead or place her treats out etc. Once Andy is more self-sufficient (is there such a thing with a man!!!) then I'll be able to take some video!
This and that ....
We had a nice leisurely Saturday with no dog show to attend! We caught up with some chores which included Andy cleaning his Shogun inside and out. It hadn't been touched since before we moved house so was pretty bad. Now it looks beautiful so I see no reason (Bernadette & Lisa) why he should need a new vehicle (purple or otherwise!) We did a little bit of dog training with Naughty Niamh and Kizzy and then took them all for a lovely walk across the fields.
We had Tina and Ellie to stay for the weekend as Dan & Mac were off gallivanting at Letchworth. I think it was a worthwhile trip for Dan as he came home with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th! Mac did well with Jess getting 17th in a G5/6 agility class.
On Sunday we went to Trent Park. It was lovely day out but agility wise it wasn't great. Murphy was awful, truly wild and wicked. Niamh was brilliant but I made two errors, one in each of her classes. She was working really well so I was very angry with myself and the frustration lasted all day. In the jumping class I pulled her off a jump and in the agility I made a very abrupt cross behind the weaves and caused her to double up. Bad and useless handler! I also handled Poppy badly. She is working like a little train at the moment but I made errors in both her rounds and wasted them. I am handing Poppy over to Andy for Chippenham and Gillingham so that she gets some proper attention, my mind is so focused on the Naughty Niamh that it's hopeless for me to contemplate running Poppy in a champ class. I love running Poppy and hate handing her over but she's just too good to be wasted especially in the twilight of her agility career. It's Niamh's last weekend in Grade 5 classes so I'd like to get round the courses with some degree of success - if possible!
When we got home from Trent Park we went to visit Mum. She's doing OK and my sister is trying to get her assessed for a wheel chair so that we can take her outside. The problem is that her legs are so badly bent due to the neuro-spacticity that it makes it very difficult to put her in any kind of chair: for safety as well as comfort reasons. We took Abbey with us as she's a wonderful dog for just lying quietly and been petted. Here are some pictures of Abbey with Mum and Dan from Friday's visit to Mum. You can see from these photos how her poor legs are bent. That's the position they're in all the time and they can't be straightened even with physio and calipers. They had one of her legs in a cast for weeks but it didn't help. It's such a shame.
Mum with Abbey and Dan
As mentioned we're off to Chippenham and Gillingham for the weekend. We're actually going down on Thursday and coming back Monday so making a nice long weekend. We have replaced our Fiamma with a bigger version so looking forward to trying that out!
We had Tina and Ellie to stay for the weekend as Dan & Mac were off gallivanting at Letchworth. I think it was a worthwhile trip for Dan as he came home with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th! Mac did well with Jess getting 17th in a G5/6 agility class.
On Sunday we went to Trent Park. It was lovely day out but agility wise it wasn't great. Murphy was awful, truly wild and wicked. Niamh was brilliant but I made two errors, one in each of her classes. She was working really well so I was very angry with myself and the frustration lasted all day. In the jumping class I pulled her off a jump and in the agility I made a very abrupt cross behind the weaves and caused her to double up. Bad and useless handler! I also handled Poppy badly. She is working like a little train at the moment but I made errors in both her rounds and wasted them. I am handing Poppy over to Andy for Chippenham and Gillingham so that she gets some proper attention, my mind is so focused on the Naughty Niamh that it's hopeless for me to contemplate running Poppy in a champ class. I love running Poppy and hate handing her over but she's just too good to be wasted especially in the twilight of her agility career. It's Niamh's last weekend in Grade 5 classes so I'd like to get round the courses with some degree of success - if possible!
When we got home from Trent Park we went to visit Mum. She's doing OK and my sister is trying to get her assessed for a wheel chair so that we can take her outside. The problem is that her legs are so badly bent due to the neuro-spacticity that it makes it very difficult to put her in any kind of chair: for safety as well as comfort reasons. We took Abbey with us as she's a wonderful dog for just lying quietly and been petted. Here are some pictures of Abbey with Mum and Dan from Friday's visit to Mum. You can see from these photos how her poor legs are bent. That's the position they're in all the time and they can't be straightened even with physio and calipers. They had one of her legs in a cast for weeks but it didn't help. It's such a shame.
Mum with Abbey and Dan
As mentioned we're off to Chippenham and Gillingham for the weekend. We're actually going down on Thursday and coming back Monday so making a nice long weekend. We have replaced our Fiamma with a bigger version so looking forward to trying that out!
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Gardening
We got home from the show around 4.00 pm. I was getting quite anxious about our other dogs as we don't leave them very often. They were absolutely fine and came to greet us with yawns and stretches so I guess they'd been fast asleep most of the time.
Andy had a cup of tea and some cake, I opted for a Pimms! Then we decided to do some gardening. Andy mowed both the back lawn and the agility paddock. We then got a bit carried away and did some more trimming of overhanging trees which get in the way of my agility! You can see from the size of the bonfire we created that our little bit of gardening grew into a bit more than cutting the grass. I moved all the equipment while Andy cut the back lawn so he could get the tractor out and cut the agility area. It's hard work moving all the gear. Once we'd finished we set up a new pattern for the equipment ready for this week's training.
The dogs were outside with us from 5.00 pm until 8.00 pm and had a lovely time playing. Kizzy had fallen in a heap when we got home but as soon as we opened the gate to the garden she transformed into a whirling mass of black fur. It's amazing how they find more energy when there's play involved!
Here are some pictures, they're not very good as it was getting quite dark.
The bonfire we built last night (not to include the Naughty Niamh!)
Part of the huge compost pile we want to get rid of to make more space for my agility area!
Andy had a cup of tea and some cake, I opted for a Pimms! Then we decided to do some gardening. Andy mowed both the back lawn and the agility paddock. We then got a bit carried away and did some more trimming of overhanging trees which get in the way of my agility! You can see from the size of the bonfire we created that our little bit of gardening grew into a bit more than cutting the grass. I moved all the equipment while Andy cut the back lawn so he could get the tractor out and cut the agility area. It's hard work moving all the gear. Once we'd finished we set up a new pattern for the equipment ready for this week's training.
The dogs were outside with us from 5.00 pm until 8.00 pm and had a lovely time playing. Kizzy had fallen in a heap when we got home but as soon as we opened the gate to the garden she transformed into a whirling mass of black fur. It's amazing how they find more energy when there's play involved!
Here are some pictures, they're not very good as it was getting quite dark.
The bonfire we built last night (not to include the Naughty Niamh!)
Part of the huge compost pile we want to get rid of to make more space for my agility area!
The view from the end of our garden
Edenbridge & Oxted Agricultural Show
We decided to take a trip to the show on Bank Holiday Monday having decided to have a day off from agility. I haven't been to the show for years and it has moved from its old site in Edenbridge to one in Blindley Heath which is about five miles away.
We had a bit of lie in and then left for the show around 10.30 am. We took Kizzy with us and left the others at home as it was forecast to be a hot day and six dogs would be too much to cope with. That said we met Leah and Jay during the day and they had all their dogs with them. Too much like hard work, also prevents any 'serious' shopping!
We met Mac at the entrance and then went to find Dad and his tractors. We had a quick chat with Dad and stopped long enough for Kizzy to have a cuddle with Grandad before we got down to the serious business of shopping!
Kizzy with her Grandad
We had a great time and spent some money which we couldn't really afford. I bought some new Joules long sleeve tops and a lovely pink body warmer oh and a new bag. Um, I also bought a new dog bed for Abbey but I'm kind of hoping that this sentence will be overlooked by our blogger friends who all know of my 'problem' with dog beds! Andy bought a new tee shirt and a new magnetic bracelet for his aches and pains. We bought three little cotton floor mats; one for each bathroom and one for the caravan, they were only £3 each and they look really good! Here is a picture of Kizzy modelling Abbey's new bed with some shopping bags!
Don't get too comfy, it's for Abbey!
We tried a couple of harnesses on Kizzy but Andy didn't like them so wouldn't let me buy one. We found a lovely purple leather bling slip collar but it was a bit too big for Kizzle.
We found some gorgeous garden furniture and got very tempted but decided to wait until after our building work is completed. It's made by a family firm and is really rustic and well made. I think we'll get a table and chairs and a swing seat next year some time. It is lovely stuff.
It was sad that there could be no sheep or cattle at the show. We walked past the empty stalls and pens and it was quite upsetting to see it all empty. There were lots of horses around for the showing and jumping competitions. The show was massive much bigger than when it was held in Edenbridge itself. I think it could be a very could option for Dave Ray and his semi-finals! I might just mention it to him.
A local agility handler who is on the show committee put on dog agility displays so we saw one or two people we know - you just can't escape!
Kizzy had a great time and was totally unfazed by it all. She ate her way round the show ground and met loads of different dogs. Here is a little picture of her trying out a bed with a little friend she met on the day. We were negotiating on the new bed for Abbey and Kizzy just decided to try out one of the beds because she was so tired!
Kizzy and her new friend!
We had a look at the old and unusual cars on exhibit. Andy would like to have spent more time but we couldn't lose too much shopping time so I hurried him along. We stopped long enough to take a photo of this Thunder Bird which we thought rather appropriate being as we have an 'American' sheltie!
Once we'd finished shopping and had some lunch from the jacket potato stand we went back to the vintage tractors to find Dad and Jan for a cup of tea. Dad had four of his tractors at the show and Kizzy had a sit on three of them.
We went to the marquee with Dad and Jan for some tea and when we sat down to drink it, Kizzy was so tired she got into Abbey's new bed and fell asleep!
It's all too much for a tired little sheltie!
We had a bit of lie in and then left for the show around 10.30 am. We took Kizzy with us and left the others at home as it was forecast to be a hot day and six dogs would be too much to cope with. That said we met Leah and Jay during the day and they had all their dogs with them. Too much like hard work, also prevents any 'serious' shopping!
We met Mac at the entrance and then went to find Dad and his tractors. We had a quick chat with Dad and stopped long enough for Kizzy to have a cuddle with Grandad before we got down to the serious business of shopping!
Kizzy with her GrandadWe had a great time and spent some money which we couldn't really afford. I bought some new Joules long sleeve tops and a lovely pink body warmer oh and a new bag. Um, I also bought a new dog bed for Abbey but I'm kind of hoping that this sentence will be overlooked by our blogger friends who all know of my 'problem' with dog beds! Andy bought a new tee shirt and a new magnetic bracelet for his aches and pains. We bought three little cotton floor mats; one for each bathroom and one for the caravan, they were only £3 each and they look really good! Here is a picture of Kizzy modelling Abbey's new bed with some shopping bags!
Don't get too comfy, it's for Abbey!We tried a couple of harnesses on Kizzy but Andy didn't like them so wouldn't let me buy one. We found a lovely purple leather bling slip collar but it was a bit too big for Kizzle.
We found some gorgeous garden furniture and got very tempted but decided to wait until after our building work is completed. It's made by a family firm and is really rustic and well made. I think we'll get a table and chairs and a swing seat next year some time. It is lovely stuff.
It was sad that there could be no sheep or cattle at the show. We walked past the empty stalls and pens and it was quite upsetting to see it all empty. There were lots of horses around for the showing and jumping competitions. The show was massive much bigger than when it was held in Edenbridge itself. I think it could be a very could option for Dave Ray and his semi-finals! I might just mention it to him.
A local agility handler who is on the show committee put on dog agility displays so we saw one or two people we know - you just can't escape!
Kizzy had a great time and was totally unfazed by it all. She ate her way round the show ground and met loads of different dogs. Here is a little picture of her trying out a bed with a little friend she met on the day. We were negotiating on the new bed for Abbey and Kizzy just decided to try out one of the beds because she was so tired!
Kizzy and her new friend!
We had a look at the old and unusual cars on exhibit. Andy would like to have spent more time but we couldn't lose too much shopping time so I hurried him along. We stopped long enough to take a photo of this Thunder Bird which we thought rather appropriate being as we have an 'American' sheltie!
Once we'd finished shopping and had some lunch from the jacket potato stand we went back to the vintage tractors to find Dad and Jan for a cup of tea. Dad had four of his tractors at the show and Kizzy had a sit on three of them.
An old fashioned hay baler and a very well turned out tractor next to Dad's. I rather liked this one.
We went to the marquee with Dad and Jan for some tea and when we sat down to drink it, Kizzy was so tired she got into Abbey's new bed and fell asleep!
It's all too much for a tired little sheltie!
Monday, 27 August 2007
Bridge House Agility Show
Naughty Niamh did the double at Bridge House winning G5 jumping and G5 agility. Needless to say I'm very proud of the Bad Naughty Niamh!
Friday, 24 August 2007
Last, but not least - Mr Tazzy at DIN 2007
Here's Tazz and Andy in one of their runs at Dogs in Need. At the KC Festival they achieved 5th place in one of their classes. They weren't quite quick enough for a place in this class!
Pops at Dogs in Need
Here are a couple of videos of Poppy at Dogs in Need. She worked her little socks off but we just can't get places in G7 any more as they only go up to about 8th place. Sob.
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Monday, 20 August 2007
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