Nothing interesting to report!!!

Well as the title says....nothing very interesting to report. This is a quiet time of year for us (depressing really as all the UK shows are starting up!) Wish we were there!! However I do have Smudges first Jersey show to look forward to on the 12/13 April, so lots of training in preparation for that. I don't feel he is quite ready for competition yet, but as it is Jersey we can really take our time, run them as training rounds and use it to gain good ring experience for him. Then May is the busy month, with a show every weekend before we go to the UK for Thames in June.

At the moment we are working really hard on his motivation, and getting him working ahead of me more confidently. We have done lots of work on increasing his toy drive even more and it seems to be paying off. Last night we had what I like to call a WOW! run with Smudge in training. He ran perfectly and with great drive, just as I am hoping he will do. He doesn't always run like that, but it was great to have a glimpse of what I know he can do. So we just have to keep working. I want every run he does to be WOW!! I bought a new agility lead and tuggy, and would highly recommend these - www.yipeee.com. I saw them ages ago on another blog but never bought one. At Crufts it was so hard to find sheltie sized tuggy leads, they were all too big (Smudge is a midget)so I ordered these and they are perfect! The added bonus is that the tuggy has a squeaker in the knot. This is great as it makes Smudge want to tug like crazy but when I'm around other dogs, the drive to tug is still there, I just don't squeak it! Perfect!!

A few pics from our walk yesterday. This is one of our daily walks.

Please note the ears - massive grooming effort being made and I think we are getting there!!!

A Scooby sized stick!! Nothing smaller is good enough!!

Smudge practising his 'control around livestock' with these Jersey cows!! Luckily we live on a farm, so he has seen cattle, chickens etc since the day he came home.

Maisie just seconds before she rolled in something disgusting! Terriers - don't ya just love em!!

If you look carefully at the picture above you can see the French coast on the horizon.