Bank Holiday Sun!!

We had sun! And lots of it! It was sooo hot here yesterday, it reached 27 degrees. Phew! Having seen the forecast we headed out really early to walk the dogs before it got too hot. And we were glad we did, as even at 8.30am it was starting to really heat up.

With the rest of the day Paul and I decided we wanted to do something completely different for a change, so we headed off to the Durrell Wildlife Preservation Trust, often incorrectly referred to as Jersey Zoo. I say that 'zoo' is incorrect as Durrell is very determined to make people aware that they are in fact a Wildlife Preservation Trust. This means that all of the animals there are an endangered species, many due to the selfish actions of man, and Durrell is heavily involved in ongoing work to protect them from extinction. I am not a fan of traditional zoo's, in any shape or form!! But this really is quite a special place with a really important message. The grounds are just beautiful and it was lovely to wander around watching such fascinating animals up close. All the animals have the most amazing areas to live in, not the typical 'enclosures' you see in zoos. They try to replicate their natural habitat, and I have to say the results are just wonderful! It's an amazing place to visit, and really makes you appreciate our world and what we are doing to it.

Once it had cooled off we took the dogs down to the beach for a swim. It's such a shame as I forgot my camera, but both Mannix and Smudge had their first swim! Neither of them have ever been brave enough, but with a little encouragement (i.e me carrying them out!) they both discovered that they really wouldn't drown after all! I really wish I had the camera....Smudges face was a picture!!!

Sadly I had to go back to work today. I could really get used to not having to work for a living!! The good news is that I only have two more days to get through before we head off for Letchworth this weekend. Have to break myself back into the working routine gradually you know! :))

Where to start??

Mega blog update required!!! Ok so where to start?? I guess back at Agility Club. We had a lovely weekend there, which also happened to be my birthday weekend. What better way to spend it? Agility wise we had some nice runs, with a few 'nearly' classes!! A lovely surprise was our result in the Small pairs, which we won with the Andy and Kizzy! Woo hoo! Unfortunately we never did get around to taking a photo of the winning pair!



It was then on to one of the major events of the year and the KC International Festival. I really do enjoy this show every year, despite the sheer travelling distance required to get to and from the rings!! We were quite lucky this year and had a relatively close spot. Certainly better than I have had in previous years at the old venue anyway. We also had great company all weekend which I think can really make a show! The new venue was lovely and I am looking forward to going back there next year. As Paul didn't come to KC I was in a tent and it was freeeezzzing! So much so that I bought Smudge a snug new bed to keep him toasty warm!



So KC started really well. I took advantage of the practice ring to do some work on my contacts and this seemed to really pay off as Smudges contacts were pretty good for the whole show. Woo hoo!!!! That made my weekend! It also meant our results on the first day were looking pretty promising......2nd in the KC Novice Cup Jumping and 1st in the KC Novice Cup Agility. This meant we were the top placed dog going into the Novice Cup Final. Go Smudgey Go!!


Sat was the final, and unfortunately disaster struck!!!!!!! I really hate those moments when something so completely unexpected comes and smacks you right around the head, and that is exactly what happened. I worried about his contacts......would they be as good? I worried about the weave entry....it was tough. I worried about his start line wait.......would he break (although why I was worrying about that I have no idea as he has never broken in his life - random concern I guess!) However the one thing that I did not even consider, and in fact would have put money on him NOT doing was running off mid course for a spot of air scenting!!!!!!! Never in the entire time I have been running Smudge has he ever stopped and sniffed at anything on the course. He is normally so switched on to both me and the course. But of course when it did happen, it had to be in one of the major finals of the year. To say I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me right there and then would be an understatement. I really wasn't sure what was going on, and I just couldn't get him back!! So sadly no placing for us in the final this year. I would be lying if I said I wasn't really disappointed, not with the result, as I honestly believe winning isn't everything, but mainly with the fact that we didn't show off just how great our partnership can be and how much fun we have running together. I really wanted our run in the final to be the best that we could make it, and sadly it wasn't even close. Still I am so proud that he got there, and that he was the top dog going into that final. It was just one of those things!


The final day was the Nations Cup and we were selected to run in a team for the Rest of The World, along with two spanish shelties. The jumping run went fairly well, but the agility run was in the main ring again. Oh no! The scene of the disastrous final from the day before!! Walking the course I felt fairly confident and everyone was very kind and tried to reassure me that they were sure it wouldn't happen again. Nancy very kindly came and walked the course with me, which was greatly appreciated. Thanks Nancy! I really felt that this could be a great course for us. It was my second chance in that main ring to show off what we could do, and I was feeling positive. Oh dear, if only that were the case. Nope, it happened again!!!!!!!!!!!! Complete mental shutdown from Smudge. Arrrggghhhhhh!!!!! Getting around it was PAINFUL!!!! Nose in the air, sniff sniff sniff, in exactly the same direction as the day before. Detailed analyisis of the problem threw up many reasons....flags, people, food, etc etc. none of which seemed entirely likely, knowing Smudge as I do. And it was so frustrating that in every other ring he was truly on fire, and getting placing after placing, but in the main ring he was a different dog! It had to be something about that specific ring. Hmmmmmm. Later on in the week I discovered that there was actually a bitch in season camped right at the spot that Smudge was sniffing towards, so I am pretty sure that was the reason. I guess his natural instincts were pretty overwhelming!!


Here is our Novice Cup Jumping - 2nd.

And our Novice Cup Agility - 1st (although slightly messy I will admit!)

From KC I went straight down to DIN. I have really mixed feelings about this show. We had some great results in the agility, with four 1st places and qualifying for the G4-5 finals. This also meant we had won into Grade 5, very pleasing! Our finals curse seemed to follow us down there though, with a less that perfect performance in the final. It wasn't quite as disastrous as KC, but I just knew it wasn't our best. He hesitated a lot on his contacts, took a pole, and finally had the big E!!! The elimination I wasn't really bothered about, that is just one of those things, but the rest of it just wasn't as smooth and controlled as I would have hoped. I think my nerves get to both of us, and they had been made worse by my experience at the KC finals. Something I really must work on for next season!

I also ran the crazy Scooby at DIN and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! No clears, but most runs only had one pole down......that is most definetely progress!!


The one thing I really don't like about DIN is that there is just so much waiting around!! There were times when I had done all of my runs before 9.30am, so had the rest of the day just hanging around doing pretty much nothing. I do like the fact that it gives you time to spend with your other dogs, but mine weren't with me so I guess that affected me slightly. Also the show isn't in the nicest of areas, so when you have the whole day free there isn't really anywhere else to go, or anything else to see! God I am so damn hard to please aren't I?? :0) The excercise area at DIN is fantastic though, so we spent a lot of time walking and playing up there and through the woods. By the end of the time we were all absolutely exhausted and greatly appreciated arriving home! I had really missed Maisie and Mannix and was pleased to get back to them. Judging by the wall of death performance they gave when I walked in they were pleased to see me too!



Since we have been back I have pretty much confirmed my suspicions re Smudges air scenting. He has suddenly started to show a lot more interest in the girls. In fact he isn't all that fussy....our poor cat seems to be the main object of his affections at the moment! So guess what Smudge is probably getting for xmas?? Is that the faint sound of scissors I hear?? Snip snip snip :)) We will see how it goes.

Isn't this great?

As I am going to be away for my birthday at the weekend, I have been very lucky and have received some early presents! :) Georgia and Frankie gave me this lovely picture. Isn't it great? Not sure if you can see it all that well in this photo, but Mannix is saying 'quick Scooby, run, no one is looking' - very appropriate!! And I love the fact that Maisie is dreaming of food, and Scooby has knocked a pole! Haha! They certainly know our dogs well!! It definitely ranks amongst the most thoughtful presents I have ever received and will now take pride of place above our fireplace. Thanks guys!! x

This week the weather has been just dire. I don't think we have had one single day when it hasn't rained. And sometimes it has been torrential!! I just hate walking the dogs when the weather is like that. Makes it such an operation trying to get them all dry and clean before putting them into the car. Well actually it is impossible, which is why my car is always filthy!! Five wet dogs (we still have Tico visiting) just don't fit comfortably into the back of a Rav 4!! Yuk! But that has now all changed.........

We have been thinking about getting a new car for ages, but just couldn't decide on a model. We knew we wanted proper two tier caging in the back, but didn't really want to go to a full van. Partly due to the cost, and partly because I didn't fancy driving a van to the supermarket!! We looked at a couple of models had kind of settled on a Caddy until we saw a Renault Kangoo on the forecourt this weekend. We took it for a test drive and I have to say I was impressed. My only worry was that the boot space just wasn't big enough to accomodate Scooby comfortably. After speaking to a cage company and getting dimensions etc I was relatively happy, and the deal we were offered to trade in our Rav was just too good to turn down. We wouldn't have been offered anywhere near the same on a Caddy. So we are now the proud owners of a blue Renault Kangoo! Not the most stylish of cars I will admit, but certainly very practical! Pictures will follow. I have cages on order, but they will take a bit of time to come down, so we will have to rig up a temporary tail gate. It gets its first UK run this weekend as we are off to Agility Club. Yay!!

Wow what a busy time!!

Finally I have some time to update the blog!! What a busy few weeks we have had. Firstly Paul became ill with kidney stones - ouch! This then went into a kidney infection and lastly a blood infection. He really hasn't been too lucky! Its amazing how much more there is to do when one of you is ill!

Last weekend was Wellingborough and Surrey. Crazily got up at 5am on the Saturday morning to make the long drive up to Wellingborough, having only arrived at the Travelodge at 12.15 the night before. I didn't feel we ran our best, but we did get a 9th place in the G1-7 Eukanuba. Not bad considering. It was really hot at Wellingborough and I was glad to have finished all my runs by 11am, meaning I could leave the show nice and early. We drove back down with our pairs partner, and had a lovely long walk through the fields to a local pub, then sat and had a drink in the beer garden, before the walk back. Nice! I then went with Julie to collect her new puppy, a Jack Russell called Belle. She is just gorgeous, and although small in size is pretty large in attitude! I must admit she really is lovely (even if she is a Jack Russell!! :))

Sunday was Surrey, and we were most definetely back to our usual selves with regards to speed and enthusiasm, with just tiny errors in each run. The last run of the day was horrible. Poor Smudge looked back at me momentarily as he came over the see saw, but carried on running sideways, which sent him crashing into the jump wing, number and timing equipment on the last jump. It was quite some hit and I was terrified that he had hurt himself. Luckily he bounced straight back up, barking at me and telling me off (always a good sign, when the mouth stops working you know you are in trouble). I felt so bad for the poor little man, but he really did seem to be 100% ok after it. Thank god!

This weekend we had our first local show since May. How nice it was to only have a 20 min drive each way! It was a good day, despite the rain :( and Smudge had two 1st's in the jumping classes. We trained the agility, and it did seem to pay off as in the Power and Speed he did the most perfect A Frame ever. Maisie did two runs and had a 2nd in her jumping class. She clearly really enjoyed being back at agility. Sometimes I feel guilty for not running her more often, as she really does enjoy it, but I am convinced that if I did anymore with her she would eventually suffer for it. So I have to be strict! And at least she does still get to have the ocassional blast!

Georgia ran Scooby as Paul is still pretty much out of action, and she had a 2nd place with him, as well as an 2nd with her own dog Obi! I think she may have got herself a permanent part time dog! Paul has never let anyone run Scooby on a more permanent basis before but Georgia and Scooby get on really well (not too sure what that says about her!). She has a really nice nature with him and has a very similar attitude to us in agility. As Paul can't come to KC Int this year I was going to run Scooby, but on second thoughts I have decided that I really want to concentrate on Smudge, and only have him to think about. So Georgia gets landed with him! I am sure they are going to do really well.

Sunday was my first day off in ages, and it was so nice to have a rest! I spent a long time lounging around in the morning, then we went and had a lovely breakfast at a café on the beach. Bliss! We then did a lovely long walk across the headland and the racecourse at Les Landes, before heading home and catching up on all the things I haven't had time to do recently! How relaxing! It's on days like this that you do really appreciate the Jersey scenery.

The only thing that perhaps isn't so relaxing is our house guest……Tico. We are currently looking after my mums rather large labrador. As you can see he is pretty overweight.

He is also diabetic so takes quite a bit of care. We are going to try and shift some of his excess weight, as he is with us for three weeks. So poor Tico is now in doggy boot camp. I think he believes we are trying to kill him. :) I just don't understand why people do this to their animals. Can't they see they are actually killing him? It is actually pretty embarassing when you walk him, as people do tend to stare and point with the usual 'look at that labrador' comments, which I have to admit is what I normally think when I see other people with dogs this size. I would love to get him to loose some weight, as he would be so much happier and would certainly feel better for it. We tried to weigh him this weekend, but his weight was actually off the scale :( I am taking him down to the vets tonight to get an accurate reading, but we believe he is over 45 kilos :( He is going for a weekly weigh in now at the vets and I am determined to get him fit! He is the softest, most gentle boy, with the cutest personality and is only 5 years old, very sad. Hopefully I will be able to put an improved picture on here by the end of his stay with us!

Cute!!

I almost forgot to mention this..............

This is Smudges half brother Quidditch, who we were lucky enough to meet whilst we were away. Isn't he just adorable? He has gone to live with Kez and I am sure they are going to have great fun together!!

Thames, Axstane and the bit in between!!

Thames

We left Jersey on the Thursday before Thames on the overnight ferry. We arrived in Portsmouth at 6am and as it was nice and early, stopped and gave the dogs a nice long walk in Manor Farm Country Park. We were still quite a bit ahead of schedule so decided that we would stop at Gunwharf Quays to pick up a few things that we needed. Thinking we weren't going to be long, we left the dogs in an outside car park. Turned out that it was taking quite a bit longer than we thought, so I decided to head back to the car as I wanted to check it wasn’t too hot for the dogs. Whilst we waited for Paul to return I thought it would be a good idea to switch the air con on to make sure they really were chilled. Big mistake!! I didn’t even notice that the sat nav was plugged in, and of course the radio was on. This meant that by the time Paul got back to the car and tried to start the engine - it had a flat battery!! Oh god did I feel like a total idiot. We don't have AA membership (that situation will now be reviewed!) and so our only option was to go to the nearest Halfords and buy a new battery. Needless to say I was not a popular woman!! Minor crisis averted, we were finally on our way.

I really enjoy Thames every year, for the atmosphere alone if nothing else. Saturday was hot! No placings for Smudge, but some really fabulous courses and aspects of every run that I was really very pleased with. Our main problem, and the reason for most of our runs not being clear was the dog walk contact, which seems to be a Smudge repellant area at the moment! We are still battling with this after the issues previously blogged about. And now he has developed a habit of bunny hopping off the end! Still, a dog walk contact is fixable, and the rest of each of our runs was lovely so I was generally quite happy. Maisie had two runs today and got an 11th in her G3-5 Jumping. There is life in the old dog yet! She thoroughly enjoyed herself and seemed to be on fine form - long may it continue!

Saturday night is always great at Thames, and the band they have is just fab! We danced and danced, with some crazy agility people! Who would have thought we had it in us? :)

On to Sunday and a better day. In his Olympia qualifier Smudge suddenly produced a perfect A Frame contact. Clearly the correct behaviour is hidden in there somewhere. Now I just need to make sure it stays at the forefront of his (and my) brain! But isn't it just typical, we had a pole! I dropped my arm too quickly after a turn and off it popped. Isn’t it always the way? We made up for it with a lovely clear in his G3-5 jumping and came 1st. Aren’t the trophies stunning?

I only did one run with Maisie as it was just so hot, and she had a nice clear. Then we were called for a run off for the last place in G1-3 Jumping. By that time the temp had dropped significantly and it was only jumping, so I decided to do it as she was looking keen. Typically I got eliminated! Haha! So the placing went to the other dog, and I was actually really pleased. The lady was over the moon as it was her dogs first ever numbered rosette and she was thrilled. It was lovely to see how happy she was. I don’t run Maisie for the placings anymore, just the sheer fun of running her and for her enjoyment. That rosette mattered a lot to the other lady and Maisie had got an extra run in the cooler part of the day, so everyone was happy!

I haven't mentioned Scooby much in this posting. He and Paul had some nice runs, with only one pole or a missed contact, but also some total disaster runs too!! He is just so hit and miss that I really feel for Paul sometimes. I would get very frustrated running a dog like Scooby who just doesn't care, but Pauls whole attitude is that as long as Scooby is having fun he is happy. Hmmm wish I could be like that. I like my dogs to have fun, and that comes first, but I am not ashamed to admit that I do have a competitive side as well (don't we all?)

The 'bit in between'

We spent the week in between at a lovely campsite in West Sussex. Our time was spent walking, shopping, relaxing in the sun, more shopping (I never shop in Jersey, so take the opportunity when I can :)), some agility training and visiting friends who live nearby.

These photos were taken at Cissbury Rings.

Wednesday evening Andy and Nancy were at Bernadettes to help set up a European style course, in preparation for Bernadette and Zens trip to the European Open and their own trip to Denmark. The video of Smudge running the course is below. Generally I was pleased with this, and it was a good opportunity to make sure I didn't relax my criteria on those contacts in the midst of running a full course (hence the faffing around the A Frame you see in the video). I have left the tunnel/A Frame blooper in at the end too, it was tricky!

Paul didn’t escape lightly as he also had to run Scooby around the same course. I did wonder if Bernadette really wanted to unleash the beast that is Scooby in her back garden, but funnily enough he ran like a bit of a girl!! Not the Scooby that comes out in the ring anyway! It was still not particularly pretty, and we were taking bets on how many poles he would take down each time he ran. We didn't anticipate him taking out the upright long jump poles though and had a bit of a discussion about whether they counted or not :)

Smudge relaxing in the caravan after some hard work.

Axstane

First thing to note about Axstane was that we had downsized our accomodation and this was our humble abode for the weekend, a marquee sized tent!

I'll be honest and say that I was dreading it, but tenting turned out to be far better than I had imagined. We decided to 'road test' the tent as I will be using it on my own at a few shows this year, so made sense for its first outing to be with assistance. I was offered the loan of a few tents by various kind people, but we decided that we would buy our own. Partly because it was on special offer and also we decided that we were going to need one at quite a few shows as time contraints mean collecting the caravan would just be ridiculous. We might even use it in Jersey a few times! So all in all we felt it best to have our own.

Agility wise Axstane was much better. Two wins for Smudge and a win into Grade 4. Yay! My goal for this trip had been achieved. Now I can head off to Wellingborough knowing that I don’t need to push for a win in the agility - instead perfection will be my goal! I just find the competion head takes over and all my good intentions go out of the window. So having the pressure off in that I know he has already won out is great as it will hopefully allow me to chill. Maisie was a total star at this show and came third in the G3 Jumping. She never fails to surprise me with her sheer determination. Just when you think she is winding down, she comes back with a bang and shocks me again with what she can do.

Back to Smudge and his contacts, I know exactly what my problem is. When he was a puppy they were good. Then during last season when he first started competing in the ring, I was very bad and started to release them too early. This has made the whole thing such a gray area for him that it just gets worse and worse. After talking to Bernadette we had a plan. And on the whole at Axstane I did stick to it. If he even slightly 'bounced' over that contact, or didn’t have the perfect position I picked him up and we left the ring. One judge was quite surprised and said 'but he got it!' - yes I knew he had got it, but he hadn't performed the criteria he has been taught exactly as I wanted him to. And I have confused the little guy so much that I owe it to him to try and be consistent so he can figure out what on earth I want!! And I do believe it will work, if I am disciplined enough. And that is the part that is the problem! Its all very well knowing what the issue is, and how to fix it, but its having the self discipline to see the process through no matter what that does not come naturally to me. As we only do a few KC shows each year, every run feels important if you see what I mean. I'm hoping that doing more, as we are this year, will help. It’s a big thinking point and I am going to stick with it for now, but if I can't do it then I may have to go to plan B………more to come on that if I go down that route!

The End

So on to the final installment of this epic post! After a minor episode of 'tent rage' on Pauls behalf (it goes up easier than it comes down :)) we set off for our 5.10 ferry from Poole. Or so we thought. Turns out the time on the confirmation was wrong and the ferry had actually gone at 2pm! Oh just great! 'Tent rage' paled in comparison to 'ferry rage'!! Haha! After speaking to the ferry company they changed us to the next available sailing, which didn't happen to be until 6am the following morning. At this point Paul was having kittens as he had to be back for work on the Monday morning urgently. So we decided that we would try to fly him from Southampton and I would wait for the ferry. Good plan, if you have the photo ID required by the airline, which we didn’t. What followed can only be described as a military style operation involving my brothers wonderful girlfriend Ashley going to our house to collect Paul's passport and then locating a fax machine to be able to fax it to the airport. Phew! Thanks Ashley!! Eventually Paul jetted off into the sunset leaving little old me and the dogs to wait for the ferry. I am very grateful to Sara and Steve who were absolutely wonderful and came to my rescue by offering me a bed for the night, some company and the most delicious home cooked roast. Thank you so much to both of them, they just do not understand how much it was appreciated!! A bed and a meal was just what I needed, even if I did have to leave at a ridiculously early hour to get back to the ferry! In the end I left at around 2.40, after having three hours sleep (yes three as I just couldn't get to sleep as I knew I had to be up at a silly time). I made it to Weymouth at 4.30 and was so relieved to finally be on the boat!! I walked in the door at home at 10.00am, then had to go to work for six hours. Believe me, you did not want to see the state of me! It was not a pretty sight!

So a very tiring ending, to what was otherwise a great trip! Looking forward to the next one already :)

Hot hot hot!!!

Today has been so hot! The first really hot day of the year. Far too hot to start mowing the lawn unfortunately so it is still looking like a jungle, but that is top of my list for tomorrow!! We actually waited to walk the dogs until the evening as it was cooler.

I must admit it is nice having a weekend off!!