By popular request.......video!

People have asked me in the comments and in person if I could put some video of Mannix on the blog. So here it is!! Paul has been doing a little trainning session with him every day, so I managed to catch two sessions this weekend. His left and rights are coming along nicely, and he should be able to fade the physical cue fairly quickly I would imagine. He has also started the very basics of the elephant trick and 'leave it'. I asked him to start teaching 'leave it' as there have been many times over the past few days when I wanted Mannix to do just that!!!! At this stage all we want him to learn is that clicker training is FUN FUN FUN and make him eager to learn!

I have also put some video of him tugging with Smudge. He is strong! This is a fairly tame video to be honest, he has a tendency to be far too rough and we have to supervise playing very carefully. He is calming down though, which is a relief as he will not get away with playing with other dogs roughly. This video is a nice example of what a well behaved sheltie he 'can' be! Although he enjoys tuggin with Smudge, he actually prefers to tug with Paul, which is fantastic and just what we want so we are working to keep it that way!

Lastly is a short clip of the gang on the beach on Sunday. We have to be careful as Mannix can only go down for 5 minutes really as he is still so young, and we don't want to over excercise him. But boy does he enjoy those five minutes!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I took some video of Smudge doing tricks so will upload that later.

Its the Jersey Agility Festival this Fri - Mon so a great social experience for Mannix, and a fun weekend for the others. Can't wait!!!!

Pups first week

Thought I'd share the latest pictures of Mannix. He has grown already and is going to be a really big boy I think!! He has been to watch obedience, puppy classes and agility (in our arms of course) and is dying to get on the floor. He has also been on lots of walks, but gets very frustrated that he can't get down and run around with the others yet!!

He also had his first bath - evidence below. He doesn't look anything like a sheltie when he is wet!!!!

Paul has started doing some clicker training with him and he is picking things up really quickly. He has started sit, down and some tiny left and right spins. He loves tuggy games, and really puts all his effort into it with his tiny puppy growls. Tugging is coning along nicely. Already he has a bond developing with Paul, which is so nice to see. Every morning off they go to work together, another good experience for Mannix as Pauls work is very noisy!! As you can see from the photo below, he is very vicious!!! Haha!!

For me - training with Smudge tonight. The plan is to do lots of work on sending him on ahead of me into tunnels, as he isn't so keen on this. I want to increase the distance that I can send him from. The main area with that still needs lots of work is getting him to look forward and work on ahead. He still has a tendency to try and stick near me and looks to me a lot for direction. I guess that will come more with age and the training I am doing now, but I wish I had trained him slightly differently from the start. A thought to bear in mind for Mannix anyway!!

Smudges first 1st!!

Each month our club holds a relaxed monthly competition, and this Saturday Smudge attended his first. I am pleased to say that he came 1st in small starters jumping!! It was a messy run as well with very wide turns, so for him to win with a run like that was great. His first red rosette! Unfortunately we didn't get it on video :-(

Looking forward to the Jersey festival next weekend!

Sunday - Training Day

On Sunday we had a training day with the judge for Saturday (Simon Chandler). We did some useful excercises on working your dog at a distance and getting more distance between dog and handler (very handy for Smudge). We also concentrated on tightening turns and improving your course time through your handling choices. As much as we hate to admit it, he did prove us wrong on the sequence below. Most handlers (myself included) thought that the quickest way to run the sequence below was to wrap the dog inside the wing of number 3 and take them through the gap into the tunnel. Simon insisted that it would be smoother to recall the dog over 2, push them out over 3 and wrap the wing on the outside of 3 to go into the tunnel. Looking at it, we all thought his way was much longer for a smaller dog.
Each handler in the group tried it both ways and was timed on each. And every single one was around 1/2 sec quicker doing it Simons way!! I didn't get a chance to try this with Smudge, but I am going to set it up for myself this week as I am not 100% convinced yet (Smudge does turn very tight anyway). I still think the inside might be quicker for Smudge - results to follow!!

Mannix spent the day in and out of his crate, sleeping then watching. He seemed to enjoy himself and was taking it all in!

When I got home at 5pm I still had the others to walk, so did that and then collapsed for the evening! Whilst Paul still had to run around after a puppy!! I am so glad Mannix is his!!

Now I'm back to work for a rest!!

Saturday - GSD Show

Well what a weekend! After collecting Mannix on Friday, I arrived back home around 4pm. I had an hour at home, then it was off to set up for the show on Saturday which I had very stupidly volunteered to organise! People don't realise just how much effort and time goes into running the shows - I have learnt now! Anyway, set up done we went out for a nice meal with the judge and helpers then it was early to bed before I collapsed!

Saturday was Smudges first show. Unfortunately Maisie has not been well recently and Scooby was slightly lame, so Smudge was flying the Macfarlane flag solo! I really didn't feel he was ready for his first show, and I was proved right, However it did give me a really clear indication of the areas that still needed work. I ran all of his rounds as training rounds, taking my time to hold him on the contacts etc (apart from once when I didn't hold it and the judge told me off! Smacked wrists for me) In his agility run I tried to send him ahead of me into the tunnel and he missed his entrance. So I had to go back and help him in, which left me in the wrong position to handle the next part, meaning he came around the jump. In his jumping round I crowded him at the weaves, so he missed his entry. For some reason I wasn't trusting him to run as I know that he can. He doesn't need help with his entry so why on earth I did that I will never know! I guess first run nerves. His last run of the day was Steeplechase and again we had a missed tunnel entrance.

So things learnt are:

Don't run him as if he is a baby - he is capable so let him get on with it!
Need to work more on sending him ahead of me into tunnels.
Lots more work still required on getting him to look ahead and drive forward.
Contacts were faster and he got every one, but I want to carry on working on those to get them even faster.

So lots of work to do before the Jersey Agility Festival which is in 3 weeks time!!!

I do have a video of his jumping run so I will upload when I get time.

I also think that volunteering to do most of the organising on his first show was probably a silly move looking back, as I didn't feel I gave him 100%.

Saturday night was out again for a meal (apart from Paul who had to puppy sit! Haha!).

I hope you aren't reading that without me??

Sadly this photo has made Paul realise just how much hair he has left - not much!! Ouch!

Allow us to introduce.................

Our new puppy - Mannix, who is 8 weeks old today. A sheltie with real attitude!!!

I flew out to Southampton on Friday morning, then took the train to Bournemouth to collect him. He was a fantastic traveller, and didn't seem fazed at all by the car journey, or even by the plane. At the airport he got lots of attention, especially by the security staff who all wanted a cuddle. The plane that we travelled on was one of those tiny tin can things......and was VERY noisy and bumpy. It was a really windy day on Friday - tiny planes in wind are not a good idea! Even after all this, Mannix still came bounding out of his crate when we got home, as if nothing had happened. He is a very confident and happy young man, and is already proving to be a bit of a handful!! Paul will be training him, so I guess he has his work cut out!

Maisie is taking it very much in her stride and ignoring the puppy (as she usually does!), Scooby is terrified of him (which is hilarious when you look at the size difference!) and Smudge thinks all his Christmases have come at one as he has a new play mate!


We think Mannix is going to be a big sheltie when he is fully grown. His paws are bigger than Smudges are already! Sorry for the lack of quality photos, but getting him to stay still is very hard. He seems to sleep with one eye open, just in case he misses something, so every time you think he is asleep and you get the camera, he has pounced on it and tried to eat the lens before you can take the photo!