This and That

What fabulous weather we have been having recently! Makes a real change waking up to sunshine in the mornings and certainly makes me feel a lot brighter at the start of the day!! On our morning walks there has been a real sense of spring in the air, just what I need to lift my spirits! Our move is not going quite as straight forwardly as we had hoped, and it appears we may have to re think things slightly. We are still definitely going, but every day we seem to be faced with a new obstacle, some of which are taking an awful lot of time and effort to sort out. I am getting sick of even thinking about it now. So perhaps we will be delayed (again!!), but we are determined to get there. All the planning, worrying and negotiating is really starting to take its toll and I have been feeling extremely fed up. Hopefully it will all be worth it in the end.

On a more positive note, I do have an exciting few weeks coming up and that thought is enough to cheer me up. Next weekend is the Jersey GSD Agility show, and the following Thursday we leave for England. Smudge and I are going to UKA Scrambles (have never done a UKA show before so should be interesting) and then to the ESSC show. I am looking forward to this greatly as I have wanted to do the ESSC show for ages but have never managed to find the time to go. I can’t think of anything better than being surrounded by shelties!!

The only part of the trip I am not looking forward to is having to spend four hours on a ferry on my own! I am not a good sea traveller at the best of times, and to be honest if I could I would rather swim. Having to drive when I get to the other end is not an experience I am particularly going to relish, but hey ho that’s the way it goes. Can’t let a little thing like sea sickness stop me getting to the sheltie show! So please all pray for calm weather, no wind at all and seas like a mill pond please?? Huh, fat chance – now I have said that it would be just my luck to have gale force winds and swell as high as a house!!

The good weather has also meant that there have been lots of walks where we have taken the new camera. I love these shots. Some of them aren’t the best photos, but I just like them for one reason or another.

Photos!!!

For ages now we have been thinking about getting a new camera. Last May we borrowed my brothers’ all singing, all dancing, makes the tea whilst taking a picture etc etc camera. We captured some brilliant pictures of the dogs, and decided that we really would like to invest in one ourselves, but they are so expensive!! Anyway, as we will probably be as poor as church mice for a while after we move, I doubt we will be able to make extravagant purchases – so we though we would do it now, whilst we still can!! So lots of pictures coming up on the blog in the next few posts! The only problem is that I am not 100% sure quite how to use it to get the best effect yet. No doubt I will learn in time!

And the first of Mannix jumping. What a crazy pic! Loving the crossed paws in the second - don't think he had quite sorted his feet out!!

The perfect contact position, what a good boy!!

Are you taking photos of me!?!?!?!?! (you see his mind is never fully on the job ;-))


"I'm a sheltie, it's my job to bark at all times!!"

I know I am biased, and those ears could really do with some work, but I do think he is incredibly handsome!


I had another treat this week (aren’t I lucky!). Tickets for me to go and see the Russian State Ballet performing Giselle in two weeks time. For those of you who don’t know, I was originally a dancer and it is my one other great love, apart from the dogs of course and agility. Sadly I don’t get to actually dance these days. I am looking forward to this performance greatly as I have not been to the Ballet for some time now and I do miss it. Plus Giselle is one of my favourite pieces, both for the music and the dancing. Not really ‘Macfarlane Dogs’ related, but hey!

Back to agility and we have started to look at the schedules for the summer season, and my goodness what a minefield! Far more choice than in Jersey!! There are so many to choose from and we don’t even know where to start. I guess once you start doing them you will get your favourites for the following season etc. But I didn’t realise just how much choice there was!

Mannix has had a short break in his training as Paul has come down with a horrible bug. He currently sounds like Marge Simpson and I hate to say it but I do find it terribly hard not to laugh when he talks! The dogs cannot figure out why his voice is so funny, and they are finding it very difficult to understand what he is asking them to do a lot of the time.

We had a great training session on Wednesday night. I used a weaves/tunnel sequence that I had seen on another blog. The faces of some of the newer ones in my class were a picture! Sheer terror I think sums it up. There were four different sequences, all varying in difficulty, and we stuck to the more basic one. By the end of the session, to their surprise, all of them had achieved it! Sometimes I think we just need to be pushed out of our comfort zone to realise that we can do more than we think. Hopefully they all went away feeling that they had learnt something new about their handling and their partnership with their dog (some strong :-) and some needing a bit more work :-/!)

At the end of the night I used the same sequence and worked through two of the exercises with Smudge. I was really pleased with his weave entries, and clearly our work on these has started to pay off. He also did great ‘go rounds’. We have been teaching him these whilst out walking around tree stumps etc and it was nice to see it translate so easily to the equipment. However the big surprise was that he would not go into the tunnel, hard to describe without a plan for you to look at, but needless to say I though he would do this with no problems at all. However every time, he actually ducked behind me and went for the nearest entrance (even when I was partially blocking it with my body!) So a good lesson learnt there, and something to work on for the future. We also did a fab session on a dog walk sequence involving a lot of distance handling. This again is Smudges weak area, he hates going too far away from me. It’s getting better, but something we need to work on a lot.

No doubt I will be out and about with the camera on our walks this week, so lots more photos to come!!

Happy 1st Birthday to Mannix!

From this.................

To this...................in what seems like only weeks!!

Happy Birthday Mannix XXX

Who will be my valentine??? :-)

Smudge is waiting for his valentine.......................

And before any of you think I was given roses by a handsome stranger (chance would be a fine thing :-)) i'm afraid I will have to admit that I had no such luck! But it did come free with the M&S valentines dinner - on a budget this year you know! ;-)

Anyway - suits Smudge better. Red is just sooooooo his colour don't you think!?! :-)

Paws

What a great weekend! Saturday wasn’t such a great day results wise, but we did some fantastic stuff which I was really pleased with.

In the first run of the day Smudge knocked the first pole and I have a feeling it was because I asked him to ‘wait’ a bit too firmly. I needed a big lead out and I think I stressed ‘wait’ at him just slightly too much and made him worry. When he does knock a pole, his confidence goes through the floor and I could feel he wasn’t quite with me for the rest of the run. Next run I had a similar problem when I questioned him in the weaves. Again I asked myself why I do stupid things in the ring that I never do in training?? Apart from affecting our performance it also affects Smudge, and that really isn’t fair. After having a long think I went back in for the third run of the day feeling very relaxed and positive. And we had a great run! Ok we were eliminated; because I put him back on his contact when he didn’t have his back feet firmly in position (can you believe I actually did it? Maybe I am getting there??) but it felt great and I felt we had really achieved and learnt something. Last run of the day it all paid off and he got 1st in the Agility, even with holding his contacts.

Sunday was even better and he won three 1sts in Agility (held contacts), Jumping and Steeplechase. I am so glad I took the time to correct those contacts on Saturday! All in all I feel I turned a corner this weekend (not Smudge, he was always ok…..I was the problem!) Being disciplined enough to behave exactly as I do in training, and to correct his contacts when they weren’t 100% as I would like was a massive achievement for me. And Smudge was so much happier when I was relaxed, I felt the partnership that I know we have daily and in training was carried into the ring with us, instead of being left on the start line. Isn’t it silly how nervous we get in a ring? After all, its only agility!! And who cares if you win or lose anyway?? I guess we lack ring experience over here, but hopefully that will shortly be resolved!

Unfortunately the battery ran out in my camera, but we did get two of his runs on video. In the first we had a run by, then I stop and ask him to back up onto the A Frame.........then the fatal weave error mentioned above occurs. Why I didn't just trust him to get the entry i will never know! The second was later on that day, and 1st!







Maisie only did two runs each day. I don’t do any more with her due to her leg. On Saturday she had a 2nd in the jumping and a 5th in the agility. Sunday she had a 3rd in the Jumping and eliminated in the agility. But my goodness did she enjoy herself!! She benefits so much from having lots of breaks from agility. It’s a shame as she loves it, and would keep going all day if she could, but I know it’s the best thing for her.

Scooby had some great runs, with a 2nd in the jumping on the Saturday. All his others were so close, with just one pole here and there. He could be such a stunning agility dog if Paul and he could get it together. Agility sends him totally nuts and Paul finds it very difficult to keep him calm and attentive. Even worse is that Scooby is such a strong character that he really does not care if he goes wrong or if you are unhappy with him. He also doesn’t care if he injures himself, and that is what makes running Scooby so scary. I often wonder if we had him from a puppy instead of as a rescue whether he would be any different? Anyway, the first run of the day was disastrous (broke his wait and launched almost into orbit from the see saw!) but Paul did exactly the right thing and put him in a down before doing the see saw again in a controlled manner, and then left the ring. There is no point even trying to carry on when he is in that frame of mind. It did seem to work and in the next few runs he was great (bar the one pole in each! Drat!) But he did listen!! And Paul was most pleased with his contacts. They have been a real uphill struggle, and this was the first show where they were perfect. And I mean perfect. I couldn’t quite believe it was Scooby out there. He ran across the dog walk with such speed and power that I didn’t think he would stop in a million years, but he screeched to a halt every time (whilst screaming his head off but never mind – you can’t have everything!) So all in all, definite progress!

Mannix did lots of socialising and flirting with various people. He loved all the attention, and Paul worked hard on keeping him calm in such close proximity to agility in an enclosed space.

Needless to say we were all very tired; we are out of the habit of doing two day shows! Sunday night was bliss, in the warm and dry with Dancing on Ice on the box! Shame we had to go to work on Monday really :-)

We have snow!!!!

I cannot believe we have really had snow!! Not much, but enough to keep me happy!! :-) For the first time in years!! Smudge, Mannix and Scooby had never seen the white stuff before - and they loved it!

Decent handler wanted...........

Smudge has decided that he is going to advertise for a new handler - well at least I think he should do!! I'll explain why...............

Last season we had an issue with contacts in the ring. He was getting them, but they weren't anywhere near as consistent as they were in training and they certainly weren't as I wanted them to be (a complete stop in a 2 on 2 off position with a nose touch until verbally released). So all winter we have worked really hard on proofing them further, keeping them consistent and maintaining criteria no matter what the situation. Great I thought, we are really getting somewhere. Nice fast independant contacts - in training. All I had to do was maintain that performance in the ring, so in the coming season if ever I wasn't happy with them in the ring, I wouldn't carry on, but would ask him to correct himself then praise and leave the ring.

Or so I thought. Yesterday we had our club monthly competition. And what did I do???? I let him carry on after a dodgy contact!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrrgggghhhhh!!!!!! Someone slap me!!!!!!!!!!! How can I ever expect him to have perfect contacts if I constantly change the boundaries??? I tell you, if only that poor dog had a decent handler!! He got both contacts, but they weren't perfect and I know that if I accept this now, we will end up slipping again and back where we started. But if I cant do it in a silly monthly comp how will I ever do it anywhere else?? I really do not know what goes on in my brain sometimes. I spend ages explaining to people at club how important it is to be consistent so your dog knows what is expected of them, and here I am not practising what I preach!!

Soooooo, at the show next weekend I have given Paul full permission to severly tell me off and confiscate my dog if I let him away with one contact :-) We will see!!

It is freezing again, and they say it might snow here tonight. I do hope so! We haven't had snow for years in Jersey!! Here are a few pictures from our walk today on the sand dunes. The dogs love it here as there is just so much to explore and the surroundings are changing all the time.

The view from the bottom.

Maisie sporting her extremely luminous winter coat!If you look carefully you can just about see our lot at the bottom of this dune. And four sets of paw prints!!

And the view from the very top!