And so the season draws to an end.......

We finished our UK season with Stour Valley and Trent Park. I loved Stour Valley and will definetely be going back. It's on a beautiful venue, in a really nice part of the country. The day parking is fantastic as it is right next to the rings, so I could watch what was happening and didn't have to keep running back to check if the course was ready for walking!! It was a lovely relaxing day. As an added bonus Smudge won the 5-7 Jumping, on a tricky course, so I was really pleased with that!

Unfortunately we hadn't entered Stour Valley on the Sunday, instead we headed off to Trent Park which was a shame as it wasn't quite as nice! The venue was on a steep hill and was very bumpy!! The exercise area was the size of a postage stamp and was part of the car park, so the more cars that turned up, the smaller the exercise area got, and the more dangerous it became as the cars were driving right through where you were walking!! I know it's a day show, so the need for a large area isn't as great, but I do still like to let mine stretch their legs and have a run after a long drive, especially for the non competing dogs.

The nice thing about this weekend was that we decided to turn it into a mini holiday and stayed in a cottage in Hastingleigh. It was really high up above the South Downs and had the the most amazing views. They were very accomodating and although they normally only accept two dogs made a special exception and allowed us to bring our four. It was so nice to get back to a proper sofa and a comfy bed instead of a tent or a caravan!! What luxury!!

So now Autumn is here, and I don't think we will be doing any more shows in the UK this year, although I am trying to get some time off work to go for a few training sessions.

My winter project is going to be contacts (surprise surprise!). After a brief flirtation with the idea of retraining running contacts I have decided that I will persevere with stopped. A long and detailed analysis of my contacts this season, plus snippets of advice from some very helpful people :) has brought me to a conclusion and from there I have developed a plan. I think the problem is three fold:

1. The old classic....Not enough proofing! Lots more work needed on actually trying to make him miss them. I am so used to 'setting him up for success' that it is hard to change my mindset and set him up to fail!

2. Jekyll and Hyde syndrome!
In training Smudge is angelic. "Me? Miss a contact? Never!!" :) In the ring he can be a devil "Contacts? What contacts? No don't make me, the yellow bit is electrified!!" Clearly in training I am not creating the same adrenaline rush and excitement that he gets in the ring.

So, up to now I have walked Smudge as normal on training days. However, that means he gets to training nice and calm, very attentive and trotting around like the perfect little sheltie. But I need to train him when he is in 'demon mode'!! So as tough as it is, he now gets no walk on training day (much to his disgust when he sees the others go out). He also has to sit in the car whilst I teach the first two classes, so by the time I get him out at the end to do my own training I have a tazmanian devil on my hands, much more like Smudge in the ring! Now I can work on harnessing that into doing what I want!!!

3. To correct point 1 above, I have been doing all sorts of things whilst he is getting into position (thorwing toys etc). Do the obstacle alone, and he gets it perfectly, waiting for the release. Do 2-3 obstacles before and he still gets it. Do a longer sequence and he busts. But watching it back on video you can see that he does try to stop, he just can't anchor himself firmly enough to stick! It seems like the more speed he builds up beforehand, the harder he finds it to stop. He just cannot physically do it. Back to lots of work on his core stability I think. Over winter I am going back to doing lots of work on this and hopefully that will help him to be able to transfer his weight appropriately and stop on there no matter how fast he is going!
Lots to work on during the dark winter nights! And they will be here sooner than we think. I love walking at the moment as the leaves are falling, and there is the feeling of autumn in the air. A couple of people near where we live have started to light their fires in the evening this week, and that smell in the air is gorgeous!! I think autumn is one of my favourite seasons :)

And finally, a pic of Maisie in her new bed.....doesn't she look comfortable and snug? Sadly she hasn't been well again recently, so is very appreciative of her plush bed. She's a little tough cookie though and is not letting anything get her down! :)


P.S This blog post was brought to you with the kind assistance of a very bad sheltie..........