20^th June

What a glorious weekend sunny but not too hot. England were fantastic beating Australia 21 -20 and it was a really exciting game, the other lot were a disgrace.  I blame the coach overdoing the discipline and control and not allowing the freedom to express natural ability.  A lesson some dog trainers and instructors could take on board.  We got up early Saturday and spent most of the morning catching up with farm work then chilled out in the afternoon. By the evening we were a bit bored and the dogs were restless. So Claire found a Lee Gibson G6/7 course on the web and we set it up and had a go at just for fun. It turned into a really good bit of training bringing out some interesting points for training we should do it more often.

      On Sunday morning we went up to our show venue it is looking good. We could do with some rain to soften the ground a bit but everyone is going to have that problem. Otherwise everything is looking on course for a good weekend. 

      Then we went on to the micro chipping course. Glenda and Claire are now fully qualified micro chippers. 

We took Holly to both the venue and the course where she was chipped. She was so well behaved at both. We are absolutely delighted. It has been a lot of hard work and it has taken a long time but we seem to be getting close to having a well balanced dog. As we are taking her out and about more we have noticed she gets distressed by lorries. So there is another thing to work on and wonder how it came about. Having the other dog from puppies has been so much easier.

3rd May
We enjoyed Vyne Championship Show in spite of the weather and having 2 dogs not 100% fit. It was good to be at a show and be not involved in helping. Although we did help a ring get get started while waiting for the ring party to arrive. Rusty had 2 early runs and it was far too cold for him to concentrate, his afternoon run was in an icy shower he did his best but messed up the weaves, at least we collected his second place trophy and rosette from the previous weekend. The ground had dried out by the time Jet did his grade 4 agility run and he was on great form lying second until the last few dogs ran and ending up 6th. As he has qualified in the ABC we used it for WC practice really pushing him hard, this caused him to miss a tight pull through but Mike expected that and just pushed on, he still got all his contacts and the weaves. He did a good clear in the G4 jumping but it was in an icy downpoor so Mike had to take it careful. Ty did a stunning C3-5 jumping round coming second, we thought it best to go straight to his agility round rather than cool him down and then warm up again but it didn't work he just didn't work as well and had a pole down, after a rest he was better in his last run but came out of the canvas tunnel off centre and got a refusal on the following jump. Emmy worked very well but we are still getting the balance between keeping her attention on Claire and letting her run on when she gets distracted. Her first 2 runs had 5 faults each and then she was clear in the ABC and was 14th towards the end of the class, even though she had a bit of a slip and fall. We had hoped to stop to find out what place she got and watch the championship finals but there was heavy hail storm and we decided to call it a day.  We were a bit worried about the bank holiday, Badminton and the North Somerst show traffic but it was fine and we were home by 6.
2nd May
Mayday is here and it must be North Somerset show weekend as it has turned wet and cold as usual. We are off to Vynne championhip show for a change this year. For the last 5 years we have been going to the FMBB world championships on the Tuesday after the bank holiday and it would not make sense to drive to Newbury bring the dogs back home then drive back past Newbury again, the WC is 2 weeks later this year so we will see what Vyne can provide. 
It is very hard to guess how the dogs will do, Ty seems fully recovered from his injury but has been on lead rest for a week and will therefore be a bit lively.
Last Friday we went on a long walk in the Mendips exploring a new area. Then in the evening Emmy was on 3 legs and she was supposed to be at a breed show at Hand EC on Saturday. She was still holding up in the morning so she went to the vet instead, as soon as she got there she started walking normally and Sue could not find anything wrong. Claire thinks she was just getting out of showing. She is mostly running normally but she has held her leg up a few time.
Thank heavens Jet is sound it is his last competition before the world championships. He got a first and second at the breed show he doesn't mind strolling around looking handsome.  Rusty also seems on good form in spite of having a great time hunting while we were on the Mendips.
We were going to have a quiet weekend but have found we have been quite busy catching up with outstanding jobs. One is repainting the dog walk, with the cost of paint and the amount of work involved we wonder if it is worth buying aluminium and fibreboard equipment instead.
And we have just heard Taz has run into a bike and will be out of action for some time Helen will be very upset.
   
27th April
Ty was not too bad on Monday so we did not go to vet, he is now a bit stiff but walking soundly so we suspect just a bit of soft tissue damage and bruising. We are keeping him rested and just on short lead walks until the end of the week and then we will see how he is.  The only competition  we have is Vyne which we are mainly going to for the ABC then we are going to watch the ICFS world champs the and Jet goes to the FMBB world champs. So Ty can rest for most of May and hopefully be fit to compete in June. 
25^th April

The very good news today is Jet has qualified in the Olympia ABC class at the WBSDS show, it was a demanding course set by Andy Hudson and we saw some very good runs.  Jet came 6^th but 2 of the dogs placed above him have already qualified so we will be going to the semi finals. He is working very well getting 3 agility clear rounds and 3 clear jumping rounds over the weekend,(Claire had to work him on Saturday as Mike was Judging) his best places were 8^th and 9^th He also did well in the World Championship training on Saturday night with Nancy Hudson.

The good news is Rusty was on mixed form again having a few silly faults but then on Sunday pulled out all the stops and came second in combined Grade 6&7 agility only being beaten by Natasha Wise and her world champion winning dog.  

The not quite such good news was when she went up to collect her trophy “someone” had already “collected it” for her. There had obviously been a miss up but we are sorry to say the people in the secretaries tent were less than helpful.

The quite good news is Emmy worked well but is still having problems with being distracted she got an 8^th place in G3 jumping and a couple of clear rounds in other jumping classes, in agility she is having faults not with contacts as you would expect but with weaves. Still it is only her 3^rd ever show.

The bad news is Ty is injured. He had been working well with only a couple off minor faults but then he hit a jump while doing a turn around a wing from a pull through. We will see how he is in the morning but most likely we will be going to vets.

Congratulations to Carol Wye and Seren who got a 3^rd and 4^th place on Sunday.

Overall the show was very well run with just a few of the usual problems with help, but we did not have to work as hard as at Shuttleworth. The weather was just right, dry and sunny but not too hot, as it has been all week. In fact it has been so dry for the last few weeks we are having problems with grazing for the horses, and we are still feeding hay. Also the wildlife pond has completely dried out, bad for the wildlife in the short term but we have taken the opportunity to enlarge it and it is now twice the size. A real joy is that the swallows are back and have started nesting and the bats have come out of hibernation and can be seen hawking for insects in the evening.

We have been busier than ever and we are having problems fitting everything in but have managed some more walks with the dogs in the Mendips.  Claire has been struggling to keep up and she has now resulted in riding her horse.   

18^th April

A week is a long time in dog training. The weather has been glorious and we have been very busy. On Thursday and Friday we were running an Agility Instructors course. It was another great group of people with a wide range of experience but all keen to increase their knowledge.  It was a bit cold in the barn on Thursday morning when we were doing the Theory but we warmed up as we got into the practical sessions and the weather improved on Friday. We went out for a meal Thursday night with the people who were staying over but everyone was too tired to stay late. By the weekend the weather was glorious on Saturday we tidied up the grass paddock. Then on Sunday we had a simulated competition in the morning and fired up the barby in the afternoon. The simulated competitions are great to give new people an idea of what to expect without any pressure and a chance for everyone to practice. Everyone enjoyed it and learnt something from it. Claire worked Holly just to see what she would be like with the other dogs around her. We are delighted with her she was only distracted once by a dog by the gate when she should have gone into the weaves but she never stopped working or lost her contact with Claire. Sara worked Jet and she was a little star, she will do some more junior classes in the summer. Only a few people stayed on but it was very pleasant. It is quite spooky to have no air traffic due to the volcanic ash. The plane noise does not bother us too much we are a good 5 miles from Bristol airport and it is 400ft above us so the planes are high when they go over, but we are also under the long haul path from North America to London and usually the sky is full of vapour trails. So it was strange to be out in the paddock with an absolutely clear blue sky and not even a whisper of a plane.

      Kath and Kevin are stranded in Florida not the worst place to be but it must be a worry for them not knowing when they can back to work and they must be using up their holiday funds for the next couple of years. 

Honey’s puppies are 4weeks old now Bob has found homes for 4 of them but the black and white and blue merle girls are still available. We would really like to have one and we have decided it is time Mike had a puppy, because if we get a puppy this summer it will be 2012 when it would be ready to compete and Jet will be rising 6. The problem is we would like to breed our line using Ty. We have been in contact with Shirley Bell at Canen for some and have been waiting for a suitable bitch puppy. She has the working lines of ISDS registered dogs that we like and both Ty’s parent were bred by her.  By coincidence when we were at the Easter Celebration we saw a couple of Sable collies and Mike said to Claire “I would love a dog like that, they remind me of Sabre my first agility dog”, Claire had a look on the Canen website when we got home and there was an absolutely gorgeous Sable girl puppy that is not too closely related to Ty, all being well she will be joining the family in 4 weeks time.

12^th April

It has been a good week for training but everything has been over shadowed by Mike and Claire going to Spring at Shuttleworth. We feel we have to go as they help support the Great Britain Agility team for the FMBB world championships which we are involved in. It is should be a nice show it has a great venue and facilities but it was not a good experience for us the journey there was terrible with long delays on the M25, the weather on Friday and Saturday was roasting during the day and literally freezing at night, on Sunday there a cold wind and it didn’t warm up until midday. We had to work so hard on Friday and Saturday we could not concentrate on our dogs Ty and Rusty got a second place each and Jet and Emmy got a couple of clear runs.  We were too tired to be disappointed. On Sunday we wanted to spend more time with the dogs but we were under constant pressure to help because there were so few people working in the rings. We felt very bad by the afternoon and we  were so worried about the journey back that we helped to pack up some rings but had to leave at 5pm.  We drove back across country to avoid the M25. It was slow but at least we kept moving and we got back at 9pm. Exhausted does not come close to describing how we felt. We are not camping again unless we really have to and never again in April.

April 5th
Claire, Mike and Sara went to the Easter Celebration to on Sunday The good news is Ty won G5 jumping and Rusty won G6 jumping, It was also Emmy's first competition and she worked really well getting a 7th in G3 Jumping and just had a couple of mistakes in her other classes. It was was also Sara's first time in KC show and she did well getting a third in Juniors with Jet. She was thrilled to bits with her trophy, rosette and easter eggs. They were in first class of the day and Ty was just too strong for her. The less good news is Rusty was in bi-polar mode and disgraced himself in his agility class and Ty was doing brilliantly in the KC qualifier and had the last but one pole down. 
The weather in previous week had been appalling and vehicles and rings were not allowed on the grass, so the rings were in a large shed and 4 jumping rings were in 2 20x40m arenas, so the the courses were very tight with minimum distances between jumps. This did not suit Jet at all, or Ty and Emmy really, to make matters worse we had got up at 4am to leave at 5 to get Sara there in time for her class and then Mike and Jets did not have a run then until 4 pm and then did all 3 in 10 minutes as the classes were closing. In Jets first run with Mike there was a spread with very little landing space and he crashed it, he did 2 good clear rounds after that but was a bit worried and could get into his stride and was not fast enough to get a place. We left about 5pm getting home exhausted at 8pm. It is a well run show at a good venue with plenty of hard standing, proper toilets and the organiseres were right to use the arenas rather than cancel the show. But overall our feeling at the moment is never again. 
The rest of the week has been organised around the weather, it doesnt effect the work with problem dogs we can always go in the barn if we have to but some classes were quiet when the weather was bad and others were busy when the weather was ok. We have also been catching up with jobs and trying to have a spring sortout and getting the garden ready for when the weather does improve. 

March28th
Claire is back off holiday thank goodness. She had a great time but is keen to get back to her dogs and horses. We have been so busy there has not been much time for training our dogs and they are getting a bit lively. Mike is handing over management of the GB agility team to Louise Challis so he can concentrate on Jet for the world championships. The sheep are out in the fields now so they will be less work. We are getting a lot of requests to run a stock socialisation course so we will have to plan some for the summer. We have recently worked with a couple of stock chasers very successfully with the sheep and their lambs in pens. Not the nonsense about putting the dog in with them, that would turn them into sheep killers, we just play the recall and retrieve games getting closer to them. Also a couple of the problems dogs we have been working with will be able to join normal classes soon.
There has been a lot of interest in Honey and Ty's puppies so they should all find good working homes.
We have changed to summer training times now so have had the first weekend without training since christmas and before that Octoberso that was a nice break and a chance to catch up on some jobs.
March 22nd

Honey has had her puppies 3 boys and 3 girls right on schedule with no problems.
Two girls and a boy are still available.








It has been really busy with Claire away on holiday even with the change over to summer training times, and we had the second part of one of our agility instructors courses at the weekend. That went very well in spite of a few people dropping out at the last moment. What sort of excuse is a broken leg. There has not be much time for training our dogs just a bit to keep them ticking over we will have to catch up when Claire gets back with our first show at easter. 
We have had some rain at last and with it warming up there are a few buds on the trees and a bit of grass coming through but we are having a very late spring compared with the last few years. The last ewe has lambed and they will all be out in the next few days as soon as they are all vaccinated. We are getting a lot of requests for stock socialisation workshops and we will have get some arranged. 
The warm weather and rain has brought on a mini plague of rats. The dogs are enjoying hunting them the belgians aren't very good at it, except Tippy who has had the practice but at 15 is losing the reactions needed, the collies are quite good, but the master is Rusty. He could make a career out of it if the agility and media doesn't work out. We will have to discuss it with his agent. 
March 14th 
At last it is warm as well as dry we have had a lovely few days with some great dog training. We had thought it would be quiet with people going to crufts but it has been very busy. Glenda and Helen went to Crufts for the day on Friday and had an enjoyable day out. Claire is away on holiday with her Grandmother in Bali, some Australian relatives kindly invited them to share a Villa and Nan helped with the flight as birthday present.  So they should have a great time. Mike has been busy sorting out the arrangements for the FMBB world championships before handing over to Louise Challis for the actual competition.
We are swapping over from winter to summer training the last winter training is this Sunday and we start Summer training Monday 22nd March. We still have lots of 1-2-1 agility lessons and a few problem dogs to see and next weekend we have an agility instructors course.
Jet had a few days rest but soon wanted to get back to work so we started training again. Working on fitness and speed for both him and Mike. Training for our other dogs is proceeding as planned and we are looking forward to the competition season starting soon. 
In between all this we have watched some crufts online which was great. It is so handy to be able to view on demand. Unfortunately so much of crufts is depressing, the standard in agility is mixed even allowing for the environment, surface and nerves, but at least the dogs and handlers were enjoying it and Natasha was a brilliant example as a judge. In showing the unhealthy examples of some breeds still getting awards even best in breed was shocking, this is going to continue until the judges really tighten up and do not give anything to dogs with health or temperament problems. How this fits in with fit for life fit for purpose is a complete mystery.
The obedience was awful the dogs couldn't walk into the ring under control and then gave a display that was so unnatural it was obscene.
We thought More4 put together a well balanced series of programs which should keep the debate about dog breeding going, but it is a shame their coverage of the actual events was not at all proffesional. It was as bad as the BBC with the the introduction of an even worse muppet than Fogle and Claire Baldwin was strugling to do some serious interview with terrible background noise DFS must be very dissapointed.
March 7th 
A fantastic end to a mixed week. Jet has quailfied for The Great Britain Agility team in the individual competition we are so pleased with him in 8 runs over very challenging courses he only had one elimination and a few faults. We left to go to the selection near Daventry as the sun was rising and got home just as it was setting and barely saw a cloud in the sky. It was bitterly cold when we arrived but it soon warmed up for a great day. 
Claire also took Emmy as the white dog and Ty in reserve. Emmy's first run was super if she had been in competition she would have come fourth. In her second run she was a bit distracted and made a couple of mistakes so for the second 2 runs we replaced her with Ty he was bit wound up fom waiting to do something for so long but worked reasonbly well.
On Saturday we ran a simulated show for people who train with us mainly for those who will be competing for the first time this year but also with the aim of getting people who have done a bit of competing experience at helping out at a show and doing the all important tasks. It seems obvious when you have been doing it for a while but there are lots of little things that you need to know about and when they are added together they are quite daunting to people new to it. Anyway a good time was had by all, and a lot was learnt. Each dog had a run on an agility course , a jumping course and we finished with a steeplechase. Claire was in charge of prizes so obviously they were chocolate based.
Spring has been on pause during the week we have had some glorious days but some freezing nights and a cople of cold days with biting winds. it has stayed dry so training and lambing continued. 
Unfortunately we have all had some sort of winter virus, Sara brings them home from school, which did not go with the cold weather so we have not been on top form this week. We are getting back to normal now but it would be nice to have a trouble free preparation for a big event like a worl champ selection.
March 2nd 
It is like a switch has been pressed and Spring has been turned on. Last weeks weather was mixed with some nice days and some wet. Training classes have varried accordingly. The number of problem dogs we are dealing with is growing steadily and we are getting great results with them. It is so satisfying to help both people and dogs. Mike was away at the weekend running the second part of the Agility Instructors course for Douglas DTC on the Isle of Mann. He had a great time working with an enthusiastic group of people and some fantastic dogs. Their standard of training is generally very good but they have a lot of problems getting experience because it is not easy for them getting to shows. While he was away Claire and Helen took the Agility Classes and had very good classes specially on Saturday with a very good afternoon group for dogs getting ready for their first show. Glenda is enjoying taking a puppy class on Sunday mornings, it is similar to normal type of puppy class but in a very different environment to the usual church hall, and it gets puppies used to behaving properly around farm animals and older dogs. 
Mike came back on Monday and the sun came out along with the crocus and daffodils and we started lambing. 
Holly has been a lot better behaved following our set back with her last weekend perhaps she realised we were very unhappy with her. She has worked in a couple of small classes that had suitable dogs in, and played with a couple of visiting dogs without any problems.
For many years we have used Dash for as stooge dog working with dogs with dog aggression problems but as she is now 15 years old we have started using Jet and Emmy. They are very good at it with very different techniques that they have perfected with Holly. 
Dash also brought in the ewes for lambing gently and firmly, we will really miss her when she goes. There is no more news on Honey so we assume all is well there.
Jet is getting ready for the final selection for the FMBB world championships next Sunday he is working so well at the moment but it is all very close with only a few points between dogs so anything could happen. 
Next Saturday we are running a simulated agility show for all the people who train with us and we are looking forward to it.
 
Feb 22nd 
What a cruel month February is. We have had some sunny days with hints of spring and also sleet, snow, hail and freezing winds.  
The weekend was good though with ideal dog training weather and busy classes. We have a nice group of dogs that will be ready for competition this year so shows should be fun this season. Hinckley and Rugby schedules came out on Friday. Mike started the Hinkley entry on line Friday afternoon as soon as he saw it and by the time he finished it and started on the Rugby entry their camping was full so we will not bother going.
We think it is a bit of a stitch up with the camping already allocated to organisors, judges and friends. Half the competitors camping at our show in July has gone in the first week but because that is in addition to officials camping and we do not have any qualifiers there are still 100 places left. 
       On Friday we took Sara hunting. She had been promised to go to the special childrens meet at xmas but the weather was so bad she couldn't. There was a Friday meet to fit in with the hunt ball and it was half term holidays and a nice day. So off we went. Hunting is so much better after the ban. There used to be so much standing around waiting to find a trail now its meet up, a nice drink of something warming and hot sausage roll and off on a preset trail. Claire and Sara went for a great ride for about an hour then came back early. Glenda, Mike and Rusty drove to a vantage point and watched proceedings from the comfort of the car. It is so interesting to see how the hounds are controlled by voice and horn from horse back without what we would normally think of as training they just learn from the older hounds. Rusty would have loved to join in he might be a pedigree PRT and if you met him in the house you would think what a softy but the hunting instinct is only just beneath the surface.
Rusty and Ty have their pet passports now and they will be trying out with Claire for the world champ team at the end of June. We have realistic expectations. This year it is all about getting experience they only have an outside chance of being selected. It would be nice to take Ty to the border collie classic we will have to see which country it will be in next. It is only 2 weeks now to Jet going to the selection for the FMBB world   championships, it's very exciting Jet is working really well the question really is will he have enough speed. 
Honey has had her scan and there are at least 5 puppies. It is so tempting to have one, Honey is such a sweet dog and Ty is a fantastic worker
but this terrible weather has reminded us what hard work having 7 dogs can be. Also we would like to breed from Jet and Emmy in a couple of years so we have to plan for that.
Holly has been so good with dogs she knows we tried bringing her out when we had our Saturday afternoon workshop. The idea was that they are all experienced dog owners, but it was too much for Holly she got very stressed and even snapped at Lynne. This was a complete surprise she has not been a problem with people for almost a year. So its back to basics with her, we had entered her in one class on a Sunday at some weekend shows the idea was we would socialise her all weekend and then if she is settled try a run with her. We have now cancelled those entries are we are not even going to take her to a show until we are confident with her here. We have had enough bad experiences with people not controlling their dogs and having them chase or attack Ty. He is now defensive and we have to make sure we protect him so he can relax. If the same thing happened with Holly it would set our work back and we may not be able sort her out. All the people who owned her before us have a lot to answer they think they are dog trainers because they breed and train for sheepdog trials but it makes you wonder how many other dogs they have ruined in the process.
Sara has been entered in some Junior classes with Rusty, Ty and Jet and has done a little practice with them. She is very good for a 6 year old but when people ask her what she wants to do when she grows up she says "train dogs and ride horses".
Feb 14th
We have had a very exciting end to the week. The schedule for our KC show went on line with ISS Sunday morning and entries immiediatley started flooding in. The paying in book for the agility club account finally arrived and we started taking members. The details for the FMBB world championships have been announced and the opening ceremony is day earlier than usual so Mike has had to review the arangements for the team. On Saturday evening Claire and Mike went world champ training with Andy and Helen Brown. Jet is working well we would like a bit more speed
so we will do some more fitness training. We took Emmy as she we are planning for her to be the white dog at selection and to get her ready for selection for 2011. However we realised she might be in season in March so we took Ty as well as he will have to stand in if she cannot be the white dog. It worked very well. Emmy is quite young and 2 hours is a long session for her. So Claire did some with her then Ty and then bacl to Emmy after a rest. We were please with all of them. After we all went to the pub for a meal and a drink. it was a bit odd as they were have a valentines. The group of us in dog training gear talking dogs were a bit out of place amongst the couples. The chap with the guitar singing lovesongs was very good though. 
Training in the week was steady the dry spell has continued but we have had a bitterly cold north wind which put a few people off. Mike is helplng more problem dogs which he can see in the barn. On Sunday the wind died down and the sun came out making for a glorious day, and the classes were very busy. We also managed to get a Photo of Mike for his entry on the Guild of Dog Trainers website.  Holly's training is coming on so well we have entered her in a show. Just one class to begin with as we will have to see how she behaves in a show environment.
Feb 7th
Another good week for dog training with busy classes it has been mainly dry and cold with a few heavy showers and a couple of nice sunny days, the crocus have started to flower and the birds getting active. So its a shame the forecast for next week is it is going to turn wintery again. The ground has not been so good for tracking so Jet did some sendaways and he got up to 150meters and also did some redirection over much shorter distances. It is working really well alternating his agility training with other exercises each day. He works so much better and its fun too. Claire has been busy helping out at a couple of local stables that are having staff problems so Mike has been doing training with all the dogs. Not much agility but lots of general training exercises. Its really good that Holly will work with him now. 
On Friday a student from Bristol University came out and did some testing with them it was very interesting how they responded, but we not sure how the amount of training they do will effect the results.
On Sunday afternoon we went training with Dawn Weaver at Cannington it was better than last time. We have also all been reading her book since before christmas. Most of her ideas are similar to our training principles and of course she is very succesful but there is something about the training sessions and the book we are not quite comfortable with. It's a bit too obsessive, a bit too precise and there is a lot more failure than the way we do things.
The Dog Van is back with a new engine and clutch and numerous other bits and pieces and is now running like a dream. The heavy frost finished the engine off but it is now clear that there was something wrong with it before that. We will not be dealing with ex-police cars again.
The show schedule is in its last stages of being checked by ISS and should soon be out. We have had a lot of offers of help but we will need every one of them and more and that will be the next stage.
It has been very difficult getting the KC registered Agility club going first getting approval from the KC took ages and then getting a seperate club bank account set up has taken much longer than we thought. After more that 2 months they have finally sent a cheque book but nothing else. We should be up and running in the next couple of weeks and in time for the competition season. We are now starting to do courses with the competition dogs and on the 6th March we are having a simulated competition. Soon after we will be moving to weekday evening training. Time for a newsletter.  
Jan 30th
Its been a great week for dog training dry and cold but not too icy. Jet has done some really good tracks.
 We have also noticed something interesting. There is a small herd of fallow dear that live in the fields around us normally when they see a dog they are off like dicky lightning but when Jet is tracking they watch him go by and then continue grazing. We have also been catching up on some agility training with our dogs. We are so pleased with them and we are really looking forward to the coming competition season. 
On Wednesday Rusty had to go to London for a photo shoot. Claire was already booked up to work at a local stables and Mike had lessons to teach so Glenda took him. He was little star he loves this sort of attention and behaves perfectly in complete contrast to when he is in hunting mode. 
All the classes are busy again and some lovely young dogs and puppies have just started. The first instructors course is almost fully booked and the second is filling up fast.
We also have had several problem dogs this week fortunately they are not too bad and shouldn't take too long to sort out. It is a bit of a concern that they have all had some really poor advice from dog training clubs. 
Even more worrying is the huge increase in calls we are getting to help with rehoming and rescue. We give as much advice as we can and let people know who can help. But we are not a rescue organisation and do not have any facilities so why do people have to get offensive when we say we cannot take dogs ourselves. 
         On saturday evening we went world champ training at Andy and Helen Browns. Because the dog van is still off the road we could only take Jet and Emmy. We were very pleased with them. Jet is improving all the time and seems to be over the problems he had with their modified seesaw. Andy has also put a rubber surface on their dog walk which put Jet and a few other dogs off initially but they soon got use to it. Emmy is not out of place in the company of some very good dogs even though she has yet to compete in a show. Greg Derrett joined us to pratice for his selection. We had hoped to learn something from him but that didn't happen as he works his dog Dee so differently from anybody else including his own handling system. We timed some elements and were very pleased Jet was not far off the pace set by Greg but he looses it on the speed doing contact equipment. He will never be able to match a good collie but there is still room for improvement.  
        Mike has also been able to do some good training with Holly it has taken a lot of patient work to get her over her fear of men but now she is very confident with him and she will recall to him, bring him toys to play with and even push into his lap for a cuddle.
Jan 24th
A week of mixed fortunes Mike got back from the Isle of Man after an interesting and enjoyable weekend to find the engine in the dog van had packed up and has to be replaced. Fortunately the weather has improved and the afternoons are staying light longer which raises the spirits. Classes are building up now particularly at the weekend which stayed dry and mostly sunny. We had some really good training sessions including our Saturday afternoon competition workshop. These are getting so popular we have had to turn some people away and we are trying to work out how we can fit in some more. On Sunday we went training with Dawn Weaver at Cannington. Claire and Helen went in the morning while Mike and Glenda took the lessons then Mike joined Claire for the afternoon session. It is good to go some where else to use other equiptment and get another view of how ours dogs are progressing.

Ty and his girlfriend Honey are going to have puppies all being well.  Normally we would not be too keen on breeding more collies as we have so many requests for help with rehoming them. But Honey is such a sweet natured friendly dog and Ty is an exceptional working. They have both been eye tested OK and Ty has a good hip score and they both have good temperaments. With Ty being a blue merle from a red merle dad and a black and white mother and Honey being a lovely deep red there should be puppies with great colours.
We would love to have one ourselves but do we have room for another dog or would 8 be too many ??



Jan 18th
Yet another extraordinary week. There do not seem to be any normal ones recently. We seem to have gone from winter to spring in 2 days. On Thursday the track and arena were frozen up but by Saturday it had all gone. Mike was away running the Instructors Course for Douglas DTC on the Isle of Mann and when he got back he found out that he has been accepted as a Member of the Guild of Dog Trainers. The classes have started getting back to normal and Claire and Helen ran them while Mike was away. Sunday was a beautiful day and really busy.
Jan 10th
Well we know its a bad winter when it snows here. 
Claire is 21 and she has seen more snow this week than in her whole life. The track and the arena are totally frozen up and we have not had any classes this week. We have had some very strange days. On a couple there has been a blanket of pristine snow but there has been an absolutely clear blue sky not even a vapour trail from a plane and it has been spookily quiet because there is so little traffic. One night there was a very bright half moon that reflected of the snow with ghostly glow . A couple of nights later there was an amazing view of the stars.
 We have tried to keep our dogs ticking over with some basic training and a little agility. We have done some amazing tracking it is so useful to see the trail the dog is following so clearly. The dogs really enjoy running in the snow and that seems to be keeping them fit.  It has been too cold for the young dogs to be in their kennels so they have had to come in to the house. They have either been too tired or they were please to be the warm but they have beed extremely 
well behaved.
We tried to get them to pull Sara's sled with limited success. We eventually gave up and went sledding on cadbury hill instead. That was exciting and dangerous people were completely mad. 
The forced break does have its advantages all the paperwork is up to date the accountant will be pleased. We have also just about finished the show schedule and it just needs a couple of bits of information and it should be out in the next couple of weeks. 


Jan 3rd 2010
This week was another strange one we did not have any classes which was just as well Monday was nice but we had constant light rain all day Tuesday and Wednesday, and all the ice thawed. A bit unfortunate as we had our christmas walk on Tuesday about the worse day for weeks, but we made do with a short walk and a long time in the pub. Then on Thurday it switched back to dry and cold again and has stayed that way since. We had to move the sheep on News Eve Ty worked hard and pushed them on in the end but they have become very stubborn. We use the Belgian Shepherds to hold the sheep back when we are putting their food out and the sheep are standing up to them. We will not be able to train any young dogs on run any herding assessments for a while. They will be ideal for stock socialistion though.
We have not done a lot off training with our dogs over the holidays but on Saturday we went world champ training with Andy and Helen Brown. Jet worked really well and it looks very promising for him this season.  Claire worked Emmy she will not be able to do the selection this time but we hope to use her as the white dog in preparation for selection for next year. She has never done this sort of training before and we were absolutely delighted she was brilliant.  Our agility classes started up on Saturday and Sunday and we got off to a steady start we have moved a lot of dogs up into higher classes and will be taking on more beginners over the next couple off weeks.

Dec 27th 

We have had a great christmas but what a strange week. Most of the country has had a terrible time with the winter weather. Really it has not been that bad here but we have had some snow showers which has started to thaw in the afternoon and then frozen as soon as the sun sets. The whole 100m of our drive has been a sheet of ice and the arena is also frozen solid. So we have not been able to do any lessons this week. Instead we have been catching up with paperwork and getting the class and ring plans sorted out for our agility show.
Our grass training paddock is not too bad and we have been able to do a little bit of training with our dogs. 
On Monday Emmy and Jet went for their booster vaccinations and had a checkup. Emmy is a bit underweight which wasn't a surprise she is not a great eater and is very active. Jet's fitness training has been working even more than we thought. He has lost 1.5 kilos a bit too much for a 3 year old dog we would like him to put on about half a kilo but as muscle not fat. At the same time Ty and Rusty had their Rabies vaccinations to get their pet passports as Claire is going to try out with them for the world champs in the summer. Rusty is the same weight 7kg he has been for the last couple of years and very fit. Ty is the same weight as last year and in the ideal condition for a canine athlete.
Dec 20th
The cold dry spell has continued and we are using it to to catch up with some farm jobs, one is burning the rubbish particularly the dead wood blown from the trees by the storms. The dogs love it when we are doing this, they run around us and play for hours. There was one interesting incident Holly and Rusty crossed the rhyne (a deep ditch/stream) ran towards our sheep. This could be the worst combination a collie that has been rejected from sheep work for chasing and a terrier, but we have done a lot of work with both of them individually. Mike saw them going and called them back from about 50meters away, they stopped dead and returned right away. A very satisfying result. It also helps that the sheep are being fed at the moment and come when we call them, the dogs looked back to see that the sheep were following them. It has been below freezing for most of the week and on Thursday and Friday there was strong North easterly wind bringing snow to many areas. We are fortunate we are only couple of miles from the sea and about 5m above sea level, benefiting from the gulf stream and we are sheltered on 3 sides by hills. So we have our own micro climate but it will get very bad if the wind shifts to the north west though. The wind died down on Saturday and Sunday and we had a couple of lovely days with surprisingly full classes. We had thought it would be a lot quieter with the weather and xmas coming up the competiton class was particularly busy and we enjoyed lots of mulled cider and loads of mince pies.
In the evenings we have been watching Olympia it is a shame there has not been more agility but we all enjoy showjumping anyway. We were very pleased to see a new person Lucy Osbourne winning the large finals, but would have liked to see Mark win it just to see an ABC do it, and felt for Dave a brilliant round that had just one tiny mistake. It was very difficult to see why so many dogs were turning the wrong way after the long jump.
Dec 13th
It is great to be having a dry spell even if it is cold. The arena has drained completely and the surface seems to be better for the long soaking. Most of the standing water has drained from the fields and the training paddock but they are still fairly wet. The number of people at classes is slightly down with christmas coming up, but the people who have come have had really good sessions. On Friday Claire and Mike went to a training session at scrambles with David Munnings. David was great with lots of positive encouragement and ideas for tiny improvements. The conditions were a lot better as well. Ty was absolutely brilliant and Claire was on good form only making a mistake on the very last exercise but still got some good tips. from David. Jet is improving all the time and we were very pleased with him. 
We have trained with David, Toni Dawkins and Dawn Weaver in the last couple of months are we are really pleased that their training methods have suited us and our dogs and are very much in line with our principles and ideas for training. Anyone who trained with us or with someone who comes on our instructors course would not have any problems training with them.
We also took Emmy and Holly to socialise. Emmy barked a bit meeting new dogs in new place which is good it gave us the opportunity to teach her to be quiet and relax. She had an opportunity to have a couple of goes on the weaves and contact equipment and was just great it is so useful to get young dogs to train on different equipment. With Holly we concentrated on the socialisation, she is very good when being trained or playing with Claire and will ignore the other dogs. We would like her to relax and just sit or lie quietly when other dogs are working so we are trying out some relaxation techniques first away from the working dogs and gradually getting closer. We had some success but it would most likely have worked better if she had had more exercise first rather than a long van journey. We will have to try it at some other venues and shows. 
We left earlier than the previous week but there was an accident on the M4 and we still did not get back until 8.30.     


Dec 6th 
We have had to get the thermals out this week and they seem to have shrunk a bit since last winter. We have had a couple of frosts and a biting north wind and some more rain. At least when it is frosty we get a dry spell. We have still been busy with classes and training our own dogs. On Tuesday we brought the sheep in to check them and take the ram away. We used Dash to bring them in and she did it just as well as she has been doing it for the last 13 years. We
thought it would be a bit much for her to take them back out again so we used Ty and he did a really good job. The sheep have a tendancy to split into two groups. Dash would just stand off a bit and let them join up again but Ty still turns onto one group so we just give him a down command to hold him while they reform. Apart from that he needed very few commands he will soon have the hang of it and be just as good as Dash.
On Friday we (Claire and Mike) went to a training session with Toni Dawkins at scrambles in west London. Toni had lots of good advice and ideas that fit in well with our training ideas. Ty and Jet did some really good work and coped really well with Toni's exercises. Jet did not have any problems with the seesaw. We also took Holly and did a bit of socialisation with her before our session. She was very good. Claire could keep her attention on her with a toy and even did a couple of jumps and a plank with her. If we tried to just let her sit quietly she was ok unless a vocal dog was working. When she got too excited Mike took her lead and Claire went away only coming back when Holly settled down. This is working quite well and we will try it at some other venues and then shows. So it was worth the long journey and in spite of being dark, cold and wet. We got tangled up in Walton on Thames Christmas carnival on the way back and had to stop for some fish and chips so it was nearly 10pm by the time we got back. 
Saturday was a nice dry day, if a bit chilly and our morning classes and afternoon workshop were very busy. The weather held on Sunday morning and we had some excellent beginner classes. We have some great beginner dogs including a complete teams worth of  lovely Border Terriers, The competition classes were a bit quiet as a few people were off at competitions, but the people who did come had a really good training sessions. Heavy rain came  back in the afternoon so we had a pleasant break.  
We have just entered our first competition for next year. We are going to the Easter Celebration at Ardingly. Claire wants to have a go at qualfying for the Olympia Novice Class before Ty goes grade 6. Emmy and possibly Holly will coming out. It is really strange and quite exciting to be entering a show so early but we want to be sure of camping.

November 28th

"If I wasn't doing agility in the rain, I would be walking the dogs in the rain" Ian

We are just about saturated now. A couple of times the water has been up to the top of the ditches and it takes a couple of dry hours for them to get back to normal levels. The arena has drained enough to continue training and we have not had to shelter too often. Most people has continued to train and we should have a great group of dogs ready for next season. 
We are also doing increasing amounts of work with problem dogs. We are being very successful giving people practical ways of dealing with problems in a friendly and helpful way without them feeling bad about it. Nearly all the people are coming as a result of word of mouth. How is it we can do it? Well we have been living with and training dogs for a very long time and we have encountered those problems ourselves and know what it feels like.
 We are fortunate that we can go out any time to train with our dogs and we have been doing lots of short training sessions which is working very well. 
We have also got the last of the apples collected. It has been a very dissappoining crop both in quality and quantity but that is the way it goes with cider apples. The dogs can now enjoy running in the orchard and the fields behind it but we are keeping up our walks on the mendip hills. The bad weather has meant it has been very quiet up there, marvelous.
We have been exercising the dogs by getting them to run up and down some steep slopes and of his own accord Jet started climbing a nearly verticle 12 foot bank. Then he worked out how to come down in perfect style. I have not been able to train him to come down the working trials scale safely and now he has shown he can do it. Maybe I will transfer this skill to the scale and we will have a go at some working trials next year. He does all the other execises so well especially tracking.   
We have been looking at agenda for the next agility liason meeting, the forum threads and Gregs big winge. Yes there are lots of valid points but it paints such a gloomy picture of agility but we have been having a great time.

November 21st
What an interesting week it has been. The Kennel Club may finally be doing something positive about the appalling situation at agility shows with dog aggresion incidents, and what a rumpus it is causing. The sooner something is implemented the better. Dogs have very few options other than to show or use their teeth in order to protect themself and it is up to every handler to ensure they do everything possible to prevent incidents. Show organisors could do a lot more as well. 
Ty has a wonderful temperament but 3 times he has been chased in the ring, 3 times attacked while waiting outside of the ring once a ball was thrown out of a queue and went under him closely follwed by a dog and he had a motorbility cart park on his tail while queuing, he is naturally very defensive now and we have to work hard to protect him and stop him taking care of himself. He is totally relaxed and ok with other dogs when we go sheepdog training and there is plenty of excitement there.
We have also seen some terrible organisation at shows which just make these problems more likely. We must have space, proper control by collecting stewards and warm up areas.
The Kennel Club is also showing their teeth in their campaign to sort out breeding problems by threatening to remove CC's from GSD's if they don't get their house in order. The GSD societies have also put forward some good suggestions which the KC appear to be ignoring and there is a standoff. Lets hope a solution can be found and this once wonderful breed can be saved. 
I had hoped to get to a meeting organised by the Belgian Shepherd Dog Societies with the KC genetics expert, but we were just too busy with classes. The meeting was to address a potential problem with the gene pool for BSDS's getting smaller because the same stud dogs are being used. One solution would be to allow intervariety matings which we are very much in favour off. We wanted to mate a wonderful BSD bitch Tia but could not find a suitable dog because so many of the stud dogs were related to her. She got closed pyrometra when she was about 5 and although we saved her she was never the same dog. 
We have heard it was a very positive meeting and everyone was keen to be proactive and as well a intervariety meetings look at only registering dogs that have been health screened and limit the number of time a stud dog can be used.
We have also received the licenses for our first Agility Show so we have been busy contacting Judges, booking equipment and producing  the schedule looking for trophies and schdules and so may other things. Only Glenda and myself have previous experience of running a show but the rest of the team are very enthusiastic. I hope they feel the same after the show.
And the FMBB have announced that the BSD world championships will be at Cottbus in Germany (nearly in Poland) in May so Mike has been arranging accommodation and travel etc.     
 On Friday Mike, Claire and Helen went down to Dorset for some training with Dawn Weaver. Fortunately the weather good and we had an interesting session which gave us some ideas to think about. It was a long trip with an early start and we were finished by 12 so it was a pub lunch and a walk on the Mendips on the way back.   
On Saturday morning the weather was starting to turn but we had some good classes and in the afternoon the competition workshop went ahead with the weather getting steadily worse. However spirits remained high and we had a very good session. 
Ty gave us some light entertainment by killing a large rat and being very pleased with himself ran to Claire to present her with it. As an experienced dog trainer Claire should have known better but she is not fond of rats and squeeled and ran away. Ty thought this a great game and bounded along after her. Glenda and Mike nearly split their sides laughing.    

November 15th 









What a difference a day makes. The wind and rain has gone the sun has come out the A frame has been repaired again and all the classes are packed. This is just the competition class our beginners classes are even busier and all the classes are a really great bunch of people and dogs. 

November 14th 
The first of the big winter storms came through last night and it was a big one. The premier A frame in the sand arena had been completly flipped over and Mike needed to make some repairs. Strangley the Adams A frame in the grass paddock hasn't moved. There was a lull in the weather in the morning and some hardy souls came training but the storm resumed and we had to cancel the afternoons competition workshop. It was just as well as the A frame blew over again. It is the only time in the last 20 years it has been that bad.
    
The last few weeks have been a really hectic time. Our classes have been very busy despite the weather turning wintery. The worst of the weather has been at night and the days have not been too bad. We have only had to shelter in the barn a couple of times and we have been able to do something until the worst passed.
One thing we do in this situation is practice for measuring, and we can explain about how register and get ready for shows.  We can also do some basic exercises, and work on socialisation.

We have also had some great news from the Kennel Club our application for our Agility Club has been accepted. So all the things we have been planning suddenly have to be put into action. We have decided to start the new memberships from January. That will keep things tidy and we will have time to get ready for teams next season. We are also steaming ahead with organising our first show. We have a great venue near Thornbury it has 50 acres of well drained sloping field and 50 acres of woodland walks. It is scheduled for 10th 11th July and we are very excited about it.

October 27th
A pretty unusual week. We have been really busy with all of our lessons and we have been making use of the good weather to train our own dogs which is going really well. It was Glenda's birthday at the weekend so we went away for the night on Sunday and had really good Italian meal and stayed in a hotel in Rochdale.  So why drive 200 miles for a night out. Well we now have 4 large dogs and Rusty and we hope they all will be competing next year and they will not fit in our Land Rover Discovery so we decided it was time to change to a van. We have been watching one that we liked the look of from ex-policecars, it is a ford transit with good cages, ventilation, cctv, hot water, sat nav, & hands free phone. The price had just dropped and there was chance to part exchange the Discovery so off we went. All went well the trip up wasn't too bad despite miles and miles of roadworks, the hotel was excellent and it was a very short walk to the Italian restaurant, Glenda and me had a lovely evening and a relaxed start with a full breakfast the next day. In the remote possibility we are ever in Rochdale again we will know where to stay. We set off across the dales to Sowerby Bridge arriving a bit early at 10.30. The dealer had not arrived at work yet! So we explored having a nice walk along the canal and river and we helped a narrow boat through the  lock. By 11.45 there was still no dealer so we went for a cup of tea. 
At 12.15 hooray he was there. The van looked just what we wanted but it took an hour to agree a deal, it then took another hour to sort out insurance and a trip to the bank in Halifax to get a bankers draft, as the dealer could not take any cards, by now my patience was starting to wear a bit thin. But we finalised the deal and set off home. Fortunately the van drove really well and we made good time in spite of heavy traffic and got home at about 6.30. 
I will miss the disco it was one of my favourite vehicles but needs must and it seems to have worked out in the end. 
      









October 19th
It has been another good week. The change to winter training times are now complete and we have been really busy. I gave Jet a week off agility after the world champ selection and just did some walks and little bits of tracking and work around the sheep. Emmy is in season and he suddenly understands what it is all about. We are having to be careful keeping them apart we do not want them having any puppies yet. He is 3 yo and Emmy is having her first season at 17months a right pair of late developers.  
This weekend we had the last of our instructors courses for this year. It was really enjoyable and we had lots of positive feedback. The weather stayed fine if a bit chilly and we got lots of practical work in as well as covering all the theory. We have reduced the theory because we have found most people had already covered it in other ways on other courses, at college or reading. We sent them the course notes in advance with the key things they should know about and covered them in detail if they were not sure about them. This worked well and they all got extremely good scores on the test papers. 
Rusty is now training for grade 6 and 7 classes so we need a lot more speed and working further away to be successful. So we are training running contacts and sending away it is working better than we expected. Ty's is briliant as he always is at home so Claire is going to trying getting to some training sessions away. Holly's agility is looking equally briliant but we have a lot of work to do with her socialisation

October 10th 
Its been an interesting couple of weeks as the evenings start to get dark early we have been changing over to to our winter training times. Some classes are really busy and some are quiet it will soon even out. We have a great bunch of beginners they are really nice dogs and people with loads of ability and enthusiasm.
I have also been getting Jet ready for the first BSD world championship selection. We have been doing FCI specification weaves and tyre for 3 weeks and courses with much bigger distances between obstacles. We went to Andy and Helen Browns FCI training and he had a bit of mishap on a seesaw and we couldn't get him back on it. He has been a bit wary of them since an accident when he was quite young, which has been re-inforced by some mishaps at competitions. He was fine back home but I didn't won't to take any chances so took him around to some other places for seesaw training thanks to Gemma Osmand, Leslie Skinner and Toni Keating. The selection day was on Saturday 10th Oct. We drove up to Hinckley DTC agility field early in the morning through patchy fog but it started to clear and we had a glorious autumn day. Steve Croxford facilited and judged again and we had a very efficient ring party of Margy Pratten, Ken and Sue Bowe from BSDA and June LeFevre from WBSDS. It all ran very smoothly making my job as team manager easy and letting me concentrate on Jet. Claire also came up as my groom and coach and she also ran Ty as the white dog. 
There were 25 dogs in the trial and more grade 5,6 and 7 dogs than ever before so it was very competitive group. I was really pleased with Jet we only had a slight slowing up for the seesaw and he worked well on some very testing courses that caused a lot of eliminations. I still cannot run properly and I was a bit dissapointed that I couldn't get some faster times and also on the last of the 4 runs I just couldn't get to the position l needed for the last couple of jumps and got Jet eliminated. His over 3 runs were pretty good though and we are still in touch and could qualify at the next selection in March. He is lying at 9th place and 8 dogs are in the WC squad. A lot can happen in 5 months so we are quite hopeful. I am doing training specically for the WC over the winter and I am going to keep a record of it on his own training page.
Ty's runs as the white dog were also very good and show that he will be ready for top level competition next season.  
September 28th
Well its been a very hectic couple of weeks. We have stacked 600 bales of hay in the barn and we have started collecting apples for cider making. It has been a bit warm and they will not keep very well it is great shame as the crop is very disappointing this year. As well as this work all our dog training classes are getting really busy as people return from holiday. We have had another day of special agility workshops and our special introduction to herding and stock socialisation workshops, they were really successful and we are delighted with the positive feedback from them. 
Last Saturday we went to the CSJ finals at the Malvern autumn show. It was a really good day out really well run by Anne and Stuart Harmes from CSJ. It was a really interesting group of people and dogs with some top handlers with their young dogs and a few new people. There had been about 6 qualifying events around the country for grades 3,4 and 5 so there were a huge number of dogs trying to qualify for this event.  Claire was working Ty who she had qualified by winning the class at the Thames show. He did very well in the final coming a very creditable eighth. We were very please as it was Claires first national final since returning to a agility. 
By coincidence we found some old photos of Claire at crufts in the YKC finals about 10 years ago and many of the faces around her are the same as the ones at the CSJ final.
On sunday we went to Honiton show it was a good day out but I was really disappointed they had moved the rings back up onto the slope. It doesn't matter what platitudes the organisers can come up with there is no excuse for letting people run on a steep slope with wet long grass and copious sheep muck. It was also dissapointing that some of the judges had not altered their courses to make them safer.
 Conditions improved as the sun came out and dried the ground out. In the afternoon it was really hot for the time of year. Jan and Lexie did really well winning a G2 jumping class and getting really close in the agilty. Jane and Boot continued their good form winning another G1 agility. Helen did an amazing round with Taz just messing up the last jump they are sure to well next season. 
Ty is having a few last pole problems in the weaves and very unusually had a pole down. Rusty is back in the wars one of his dew claws was sticking out at an angle and is obviously distracing him. He is putting up such a fuss when we try to get a close look at it we can't tell if it is a serious injury or not . We will give it a few days and if there is no improvement it will be the vets again. Anyway his first G6 show didn't go as we hoped and we ended up withdrawing him. Jet had a good day getting a 5th in a complicated G4 Jumping class and just a dog walk contact fault. I will have to get some work in on that we have the BSD world champ selection in 2 weeks.  
September 13th
Another Fantastic weekend we are enjoying an indian summer which is very welcome after all the bad weather during the real summer. We did not have any competitions but on Friday and Saturday we were running one of our courses for people who want to be agility instructors. We are so pleased with the way these are going, we are meeting so many nice agility people, and getting lots of positive feedback about our training methods. Most of the people on the course were staying at the nearby Bridge Inn and on Friday night we all (including the children) joined them for a meal and we had really fun evening. After the course finished on Saturday Claire and Me shot up to Worcester to train with Andy and Helen Brown, Michelle Griffiths, Gille Raddings and Sian Harvey. We are getting ready for the selection for the Belgian Shepherd World Championships and Claire is joining in with Ty to get ready for the CSJ final. 
The training was really good FCI courses are so different from what we have been doing and it is important to get the dogs used to them. It was a beautiful evening so we were outside in a grass paddock. We then followed it an excellent meal and a drink in a neardy pub.
We had a bit of rest Sunday morning then went down to Clevedon sea front to do a demonstration. It was in aid of Marlans a group who keep keep the facilities on the sea front in order. They have lots of family attractions, live music from local performers and a bar with a selection of local ciders. Yet a again the weather was great brilliant sunshine with a pleasant sea breeze.  We did a couple of formal demonstrations and in between we trained the dogs while I explained to the crowd what we were doing, we also had great fun with a circular knockout. We had the main arena all afternoon and for most of the time we were there the audience was 3 deep around us. 

September 6th
Another amazing weekend, Last weekend was Helens official birthday and this weekend was her real one 
we were at Prestbury Park show somewhat confusingly held at Cirencester Park, it is a great venue and the weather was reasonable not too hot but no rain, and we over indulged in bacon and egg rolls, strawberries and chocolate and sparkling rose wine with strawberries and lots of birthday cake. We also squeezed in some decent agility.  Lady of the weekend was Jane and her collie Boot on Satuday they got 4th in G1 agility and 7th in C1-2 agility then on Sunday they got second in C1-2 agility and to cap it all they won G1 agility.
They had just pushed Ute and Amina (Emmy's mother) into second place.
 Claire also did very well she and Rusty won another G5 agility, and then Ty won G4 agility 2 seconds faster than both the second dog and the winning G5 dog on the same course. They also got a 6th in C3-5 agility,
Jet is working well getting 5th in G4 jumping, 9th in G4 agility and 16th in C3-5 agility. An interesting observation on Jets performance we had been doing a lot of work sending him onto tunnels in preparation for the steeplechase finals and that had clearly paid of as he won it and this weekend on most of the courses it was still an advantages. However on 2 courses it caused elimination so I will have to put a lot of work into calling off tunnels and wrong tunnel entrances ready for the BSD world championship trials.   

August 31st
What a weekend. We started by going to Helfest. Helens weekend long birthday party. We only went for the Saturday and had a great time time but it was not the best preparation for the competition on Sunday. 
I felt a bit dehydrated on Sunday morning so had obviously eaten something a bit too spicy. 

 We also had a flat battery first thing Sunday so we arrived at the UKA staverton show just in time for Claire to go straight into the Senior Steeplechase which she won. Jet was in Novice steeplechase shortly after and worked well just crashing through a jump. We then had a long break when we tried to recover and then we had a load of runs in a short time. Ty was second in Novice Steeplechase, Third in Senior power and Speed, and Fourth in Senior Jumping, Jet was Second in Novice Agility, Third in Power and Speed and Eighth in Jumping. We then had another long wait until the main event at 5.30 and the reason we were at this show the finals of the Dog Games Beginners Steeplechase. Unfortunatley the Senior class was running at the same time and Claire had to run Ty and Rusty and do the final all within half an hour. 

The final course was a challanging 175 meters with lots of long runs past jumps to tunnels. It was well supported with a good growd cheering the competitors on. There were 22 maxi dogs in the final and 4 of them were from Diamond Dog Training, Sarah and Murphy did a really good run just getting caught out by trap where you had to run past a jump to get to a tunnel, Claire and Ty did a really fast 31.5 secs but had 5 faults for a run past on a tunnel but came 10th, Carol and Seiren did a brilliant clear round and came 6th. Me and Jet were the last but ones to go and after seeing all the collies flying round I knew we had to really go for it. I went for a long recall start, then sent Jet on to the tunnels and cut across where ever I could, on the final long run I just ran as fast as I could, our time was 30.42 but I had no idea how we had done until the presentation and I was delighted that we won it.
Something really good was all the people, many of them with collies, who said how nice it was to see a BSD win it. We have a lovely trophy from dog games and we are looking forward to putting a suitable photo in it.

On Bank Holiday Monday we did a demonstration at the South Gloucester County Show. Once again it was a really good day. It was hard work but so worthwhile to have the chance to train our dogs in a different environment, and promote our sport and dog training to the public. Sara worked Ty he did very well for her and the audience loved it. It was also the first time Emmy has done agility properly at this sort of event and we were very pleased, she wasn't put off by the crowd or the other attractions and worked really well.  We also took Holly for some socialisation.

I am so pleased to be running again, it has taken a trip to a speciallist running shoe shop and some very expensive road running shoes but it seems worth it. I can at least run although I pay for it later and standing around is very difficult.  

August 16th We (Claire Helen and Me) went to the WBSDS Oswestry show and it was a great success for Rusty and Claire. They won G5 jumping on Saturday and Rusty is now Grade 6 and then they got second in another jumping and won G5 agility on Sunday. Ty was a bit fired up and had a few little faults and dodgy judging decisions but did some great runs getting a second in in g4&5 jumping. Jets jumping is improving all time getting a 4th and 9th but we are still having some contact and seesaw problems, Saturday we got the contacts but on Sunday I tried pushing him and he missed them, he also did an uncharacteristic flyer on the seesaw Saturday and must have scared himself because on Sunday he was backing off. Helen had a good weekend Daisy is getting around courses without elimination more often than not now and is just having a few faults. Taz is still very inexperienced and goes under jumps we expect she will be better next year. It was really great to meet some new BSD's owners and some old friends. It is the area where Ty is from and there were a lot of Bryning and Canen dogs all doing well but it was interesting to see the effect of different training.
August 10th 
We ran modules 4&5 of the instructors course this weekend it is very hard work but very rewarding.
August 1st

Claire has been off to the UKA nationals this week with just Ty while I took the classes and caught up with some farm work. She and Ty did very well. They got through to the second round of the nationals but not the finals, and they got 1st in both Agility and Time Fault and Out, 2nd in agility, and 2 x 3rd in Jumping. We don't do a lot of UKA shows as KC competitions are our priority so Ty had no Novice points at the beginning of the week and is now in Seniors, in fact he was in beginners at the start of the year.

I went up on Saturday and so we took Rusty and Jet, Rusty did well getting 2nd in both Senior Jumping and Senior Steeplechase, and he got all his contacts in Senior Agility (but Claire pulled him out of the weaves early). The best thing about my working Jet was I didn't fall over, Jet went well, but my foot has been playing up again (damn tractor clutch) and conditions were terrible especially early on. The venue is a nice sports field but it could not cope with the amount of rain and traffic. I just could not run, keep my balance and get in the right places to work jet properly.

 There were all the usual calls for help you get with UKA shows with threats to close the ring if it didn't arrive, the problem is there are just not enough people there, and the classes finish quite quickly. We had 9 runs with 3 dogs and with course walking and treking to and from the distant day parking there was not time to help. I expect most people there were in the same position. I use to think that their policy of not waiting for the judge to hand out the awards was good one as it moved things along, but it has now degenerated into just anybody available dishing them out without so much as a hand shake and a well done, the whole thing is now very down market and I wonder why we bother at all.

On the positive side the classes finished early so we left which was just as well as the holiday traffic on the M5 was diabolical.

July 09

27th

Another busy and interesting week. Tuesday we went sheepdog training with Ty in the rain he is doing very well, we are now finding that he can be left to work the sheep more naturally. We are not sure how much more we will do with him he is good enough for helping the normal jobs and demonstrating   at our workshops, and we do not really have the time to train for ot take him trialling.    

Friday we ran a introduction to sheepdog training and herding assessment workshop. None of the dogs   had much herding drive so we switched to stock socialisation we soon had them   walking of the lead. recalling and retrieved surrounded by sheep, we also had a couple of gundogs that are going to be picking up next season and we had them retrieving dummies through sheep. So a very successful and enjoyable day.  

This weekend we were at the Agility Club Championship show it was a very high standard throughout the classes and we were please our young boys got some good clear rounds a couple just outside the places, Rusty got 9th, and 15th in Jumping classes quite good now he is grade 5   on Sunday he has suddenly got a burst of attitude and did some blistering agility runs whcich   caught Claire out. they   just had a couple of little faults maybe he is coming back into form, we have been slightly altering his feeding so   that could have soemthing to do with it. Jet had a good clear just outside the places in G4 jumping, and on Sunday we started to get it together to get 18th in CG3-5. I am strting to get my timing better as we practice more and his speed over the ground is improving, we have to work on tightneing up turns and accellerating out of them. In the agility classes he worked well but   flew his dogwalk contacts. It is a price we are paying for trying to speed them up. We are managing a fairly reliable fast contact in training but haven't yet got it in competition.   Ty did a realy good run to come 15th in the Olympia qualifier and an equally good run in the CG3-5 Agility just clipping a pole or it would have been a good placing.   We spotted a problem in the jumping classes we use an "out" command to send the dogs wide   and we have also been using it in   Ty's sheepdog training. He has been going very wide and once looked very confused so we will have to rethink that.          

20th

We had a   fun weekend at Caerphilly Show Claire and Helen talked me into camping for the first time in ages and it was pretty good the weather stayed good until saturday night and we (Me, Claire, Helen, Bekki, Rachel, Jane, Jan, Amanda and Shane)   and enjoyed a great chilli thanks to Jane, and plenty to drink. It was a really well run show the only problem   was having the team dash first class on Saturday. It meant there was no time to sort out team changes and the judge, show mangement were not agreed on the rules. It caused chaos which we didn't recover from until the afternoon. Ty did very well getting a third place in G4 agility. Rusty was having a few lapses in concentration again, I was back to working Jet for the first time in 2 months and was even more rusty than I expected.

Things picked up on Sunday despite some appalling weather, Jet and me started to get it together again and we managed 10th,11th,12th, even Rusty did some good work considering the conditions just having a pole down on a spread and missed contact,Ty did a stunning G4 agility to get a second place. Jane got a   9th and Rachel 15th, Jan a 4th in G3 agility, and Amanda won a medium class, best of all Helen did a stunning round to win G1 jumping,   have a look at

http://www.youtube.com/user/mikeofdiamonds#play/all/uploads-all/2/3XJkr7SK7oM

12th

We have had a great weekend. It was the second of our agility instructors courses. I was very tentative about running these courses but received so much encouragement and support we had to do them. The first course was really good but this one was   excellent, most of the gremlins were out of the way although there are still a few things we want to improve, but the course ran really well,   the weather was changeable but we managed to do the theory in the barn when it was raining and the practical outside in sunshine, all the dogs were just right for the points we wanted to make, and we got the tone just right. It was relaxed and not stressful but the main points   were made successfully. Most of all they were a great bunch of students, they came from Glasgow to Kent and they had a wide variety of experience   of dog training, this led to a vigorous and healthy exchange of views. We went to the local pub for a meal and a drink on Saturday and   I haven't laughed   so much in ages.     I am really looking forward to future courses.

7th

We have had an interesting day Holly has not been off the farm much since she has been with us so   we took her sheepdog training with Ty. She was much better behaved than we expected and we are really pleased with her. Ty was a bit strong on his first attempt and really pushed the sheep on his second run he settled down and Claire got some decent work out of him   I tried filming him but technology defeated me and we will have to try again.  

4th/5th   A lovely weekend at Tuffley show Gary and the team do a great job and it is   lovely venue on the water meadows   overlooked by Berkley Castle.

Congratulations to Carol and Seiren getting third in g1 agility it was a   fantastic run and could easily have been a winner. It was so good to see Phil and Dylan back at a show after the birth of the twins they were a bit ring rusty but   did some good runs, and baby Morgan seemed to enjoy being looked after by Sara and Bekki.

We did some good work with Helen and Daisy on her start line waits we should have that sorted soon, and   her runs were very good apart from weaves which need a little more work,   Taz only went under a couple of jumps in 3 runs so we almost have that right and she is still such a baby. Jane was very pleased with Boots two clear rounds it would be nice to get a bit more speed from him but at 9 years old it is expectant a bit too much and he tries hard enough for her.

Rusty did not have any classes on Saturday and was in really bad mood on Sunday, he ran out of the ring in his first agility class something he hasn't done for ages and really didn't want to work. He had settled down after few hours and did really good 1-7 jumping round but it was a flat out speed class and he wasn't fast enough to catch the G7 midi-collies, in his late Agility   there was the regular Tuffley   thunderstorm so he went on strike again. He didn't run out of the ring but he didn't work that well either.

Ty and Jet did not do very well on Saturday   just   the   occasional missed contact and some weave errors that started with doing 9   poles with   the last one a bit wonky, we hardly ever train for that so we can soon put that right. They settled down on Sunday and did some really good work, In the 3-5 Agility Ty was 9th and Jet was 17th, in the G4   Jumping Ty was lying 15th and Jet was just 4/100th second behind him.   I am afraid to say we left before the final result but we had all got soaked in   a downpour ironically while queing for an icecream it came on so fast.

June 09  

Saturday/Sunday 27/28

We had an interesting weekend at Lansdown show. This is the first time in around 20 years I have not been involved in running this show or run a dog there. It seemed very strange but hopefully my foot injury will benefit from the rest. The show seemed to run ok without me, it is now up to 7 rings so it is shame dogs only get 2 runs a day if they are not in a crufts team or the ABC. Congratulations to Jan and Ruby winning G1 jumping and Caroline and   Milo winning G2 agility. Claire ran all   our dogs again with mixed results. It was both Ty and Jets first time in   grade 4 classes, places were down to 12th and they were just out of the places in the runs they were clear in. Jet is closing the gap on Ty with time and was just     one second behind him. Jet managed 14th place in the ABC qualifier and we had to give our details for the next round, The Kennel   Club have taken over running it but we have no idea what is happening. It used to be the top 4 qualified so it could be they assumed up to 10 could already have qualified.

Rusty was yet again a little star on Saturday he won grade 5 jumping and   on Sunday   came second in grade   5 jumping. One more and he will be grade 6. He nearly did it in agility but had a couple of lapses of concentration.        

Tuesday 23rd

Sheep dog training with Ty this morning. It ran a lot better this week. There were only half the dogs and the flock was split in two so there were fresh sheep to work with. Claire and Ty are really getting the hang of it now and worked really well, John Whitley the instructor is encouraging her to have a go at a trial.

Sunday 21st

Well we have had a very strange week. On   Monday we found out that Ty's sire Mac has been eye tested and found to have a narrow tear drainage channel which can be a cause of Glaucoma a very horrible and serious eye problem. We had been planning to have our youngsters   eyes checked and decided to   bring it forward, we found a testing session not too far away at Dursely and booked it up for Thursday. On Tueday we went on a sheepherding workshop with Ty and it was a bit of a cockup there were too many dogs booked on it and some   arrived at 10 and some at 10.30 and some were late. As there were too many dogs we only got two very short goes at working the sheep not a very good use of the best part of the day. My foot had been getting better but all the   standing around involved started it playing up again.  

On Thursday we found the vet surgery easily and ended up over an hour early. The   receptionist told us off near by walk for the   dogs  

It turned out to be a steep climb up onto the top of the Cotswolds. We got back for the eye test and the dogs were brilliant and best of all   Ty,   Jet and Emmy are all clear. We then went to look around   a place where we have been asked to run a big demonstration and possibly an agility show and other dog events.

Friday my foot is giving me absolute hell, I am off to the Doctor and he confirms I have Plantar Fasciitis as we suspected and I must rest and could be out of action for the rest of ther season.   Claire will have to work all the dogs for a while.

Then we were off to Golden Valley agility show at Top Barn Worcester. It is a very well run show with an experienced team but it has got too big for the size of the venue and is very crowded and busy. Day parking is a terrible.

Rusty had one of his off spells most of the Medium classes were combined 1-7 which didn't help as they tend to be quite straightfoward for the   younger dogs which gives him time to look around and there was plenty to distract him.   Ty did a brilliant G3 jumping round only being beaten into second place by Anthony Clark and his young dog by 100th of a second,   Jet is getting   faster and was only 2 seconds but 20 places behind them, he also got a 18th in the other G3 jumping, and 4th in Combined 1-7 ABC, He was also a lot quicker in agility but missed his dogwalk contact. It is his 3rd birthday and a good time to reflect that this only halfway through his second season competing. Ty got a bit over excited and is attacking the weaves too hard again.   Claire will have to go back to braking before the weaves.   The only class I worked Jet in was the pairs with Claire and   Ty and under the circumstances we are very pleased to got a fifth place.    

We had 2 days at Thames show 13/14 June, What a great weekend it was the show was really well run with good classes and lots of qualifiers and the standard was very high. When we had some free time we enjoyed watching the championship and qualifying classes. As usual help drifted away on Sunday afternoon particularly noticeable in the secretaries tent. It was Claire's birthday on saturday and the boys gave her a great present. Claire and Rusty won Grade 3-5 Jumping and came second in Grade 5 jumping and on sunday they came second in Grade 5 agility very nearly winning it and going grade 6. Not to be outdown Ty worked brilliantly for Claire and won the grade 3-5 CSJ qualifyer, they won a bag of CSJ food a lovely leather collar and has qualified for the final in September, he also got fifthe in a very technical G3 Jumping.

May09

Hinckley KC Champ Show

What a contrast why should this show be so much better than Wye Valley they are both well established clubs they both had nice venues. Well the grass was cut in the rings and there wasn't muck everywhere but it was more than that. The show was quietly well run. There were a lot of qualifying classes, there were more experienced judges and better courses, but there was even more to it. The handlers and dogs were more experienced and the dogs were better behaved and we felt more at ease with our dogs. Jet and Ty are entire. They love attention from girlie dogs but are not so keen on other males invading their space. Both have had bad experiences at less well organised shows, with out of control dogs   and both they and us have to be   on our guard.   It was so nice to be able to relax and handlers understood and more importantly had control of their dogs and appreciated our concerns and the effort we put into having our dogs under control.

The classes were combined and it was very tough competing against so many senior handlers. In the morning Jet did a couple of nice clears   but wasnt quick enough to get in the places, Ty was working brilliantly but has slipped into the coming out of the last weave pole problem, at least the weave entries are now working well, back to training. It was extremely hot in the afternoon and our dogs were flagging, we are fairly sure it was just the heat but a very senior handler has recommended feeding CSJ command performance 24 or even 30. By coincidence we have just put them on 24 so it will be interesting to see if it has any effect.  

There were not any classes for Rusty so we took Emmy to socialise and we were very pleased with her.

ps we trained Tys weaves today, cross behinds, in front, spins away, at a distance   all perfect, we will have to try to train in more show like conditions.  

Wye Valley KC We should really enjoy this show, it is at a great venue on a bend in the river wye in Monmouth but it just ok not great. Perhaps it is the grass that is so long you can't see the numbers, the liberal sprinkling of cow pats, (how did it get on my T shirt and trousers), the rings laid out in a huge square, the odd classes, (why have combined agility 1-7 and then split it 4 ways, more chances for the grades 6 and 7 to win),   but   it just doesn't work.   The courses didn't help 2 grade 3 classes were really tricky and the 1-7 too simple. The medium jumping 1-7 had to be stopped after 10 dogs and the course redesigned, it is so difficult to build courses to suit this range of dogs so why have them. The medium agility course was quite good as was the pairs. We had 7 good runs in the morning just have unlucky   5 faults in each. Claire ran Rusty and he was ok he has never liked this venue and we have not really worked out why.   Ty is on really good form just little errors in the weaves we have nearly cracked that, My foot held out ok so I ran jet Jet and he was Brilliant just having a pole down on a spread after a tunnel, and   shying at a wobbly weave, and was clear in the pairs.

It was really hot in the afternoon and our remaining 3 runs didn't go   at all well so the dogs enjoyed a swim in the reiver and we came home early for a barby.      

Phoenix UKA

We had another great day at Phoenix, this a lovely local show, it was well orgained,   the weather was good and the grass surface ideal, and of course there was good food all day and proper toilets. What more could you want. We were a bit distracted because Holly is ill but are pleased with how the dogs worked Ty and Rusy got a fourth place each and Jet a clear round, and we had a few silly faults. Sarah and Murphy did brilliantly getting their first trophy second in the steeplechase, and there were a lot of clear rounds for our Diamond Dog Training friends.     Carol and Seiren got fourth places in Beginners Agility and Jumping

Severnside at the North Somerset Show

We had a really good day, it was a shame after so much good weather a cold front came through with a freezing north easterly and light showers, but we made the most of it. Severnside ran it fairly well, we could have done with a more room and toilets but you have to take what you can get at these big agricultural shows. Our club members did really well Jane and Boot got a very good fourth in G1 Agility, Rachel and Flint did really well getting 13th in G1 agility, 15th in ABC,   and a clear in G1 Jumping and she worked Phils dog Dylan to get a very good 15th in G1 Agility, Helen and Daisy are getting it together if they hadn't put an extra jump in they would have done very well in the G1 jumping, Suzy is still having a few problems with Henry but went over to the gundog   scurry and won 4th place and a box of chocolates. My foot is still playing me up so Claire worked Rusty again. We are going to make it permanant as she won G4 agility and got second place in both the Jumping and Steeplechase, he has also now got his 200 points for his Agility warrant. Ty is now under control and working beautifully, Claire held his contacts and steadied him for the weaves perfectly to get a third place in G3 Agility and with a similar performance got second in G3 Jumping. Jet   worked really well I pulled him a bit short   in the ABC steeplechase and   G3jumping because I   wanted to send him on and not   run too much, but we did a great G3 agility run to get a 6th Place. To round the day off we did an outstanding large pairs with Ty and Jet winning the class.    

April 09

WBSDS

We helped run this show and ended up working too hard as usual, but it was worth it. It was a really good show, well organised, good classes and there were plenty of helpers until Sunday afternoon. We had a small group of people from Diamond Dog training running the ABC ring and although they had not run a ring before they did a pretty good Job. Jet and me were not on the best of form just getting a 4th in ABC jumping and 17th in G3 Jumping.

I think I trod on a stone or something back at the UKA show and bruised my instep/heal and it is getting steadily worse, so Claire worked Rusty and they were absolute stars. On Saturday they won the helpers class, and Combined 3-5 agility, and came 3rd in C 3-5 jumping, On Sunday they got 2nd in C 3-5 Agility and 3rd in C 3-5 Jumping. He is now Grade 5 and we are so pleased with him.

Claire and Ty worked well winning the helpers class on Saturday and coming 6th in the helpers class on Sunday. He is still having a few problems with the weaves caused by running at them too fast, so Claire is stopping him before them and it seems to be working, of course he doesn't do it training at home so we are effectively having to train him at shows.

The people who came with us from Diamond Dog Training did quite well considering how little competition they have done, Carol and Seiren got a eighth in G1 Agility and   fourth in G1 Jumping, Rachel and Flynn got 2 clear rounds, and Jane and Boot did a brilliant jumping round but knocked a brick out of the   wall.   Sarah and Helen did better than they expected and should be more confident next time.

Wallingford, We went for the Saturday only it was a nice enough show but the main lesson learnt was do not enter young dogs in Knockout pairs, The organisation of the pairs ring left a lot to be desired. We used to run a knockout pairs when it was sponsored by Barbour and I know how difficult it is, you need plenty of space for the collecting ring, and good organisation with a ring party experienced in running that type of class, there was none of that, result chaos. Both Ty and Jet were unsettled by the mayhem, and to make matters worse a dog with a muzzle on plowed into Jet's side he jumped sideways and bumped into another dog that justifiably snapped at him. It took the rest of   the day to get him confident queuing again. We   thankfully got knocked out in the second round, we were on the verge of withdrawing if it had not improved.

The dogs started to settle down in the afternoon, Ty worked well and had a couple of unlucky faults, Claire ran Rusty and he did some brilliant runs but again with just a couple of unlucky   faults. Jet did a good ABC agility just missing the down contact a bit unusual for him I probably did something to put him of or he was still worried after being attacked. Fortunately   he was back on form for Grade 3 agility getting 4th place.    

We went to our first proper show of the season, the Easter UKA it was an ideal start, a nice venue and not too busy. Claire and Ty were stars winning beginners Agility and Gamblers and organisation steeplechases. Jet was not far behind with organisation x 3rd place, organisation x 5th and 8th, Rusty is getting back to his usual   form winning senior jumping and getting 2nd in a steeplechase. Our diamond friends also did very well details to follow soon.

Belgian Shepherd Dog World Championship Selection Days.

Mar 09

I am really pleased with Jet we had the ideal result from our point of view. He is just a bit too young and inexperienced for world championships but the training has done us both the world of good, He ended up in 11th place and with only another six points he would have been 8th and in the team.  

Feb 09 Training has been going well. We have had organisation more selection / traing days at Rugby DTC indoor venue and I have done some training with Andy and Helen Brown that has been really good, and of course Claire and Helen have been helping me at home.   Jet is getting better all the time and he is also maturing physically and mentally. I am trying not to   get to excited but   I looking forward   to the coming season.

Oct 08 I had a really good day at Steve and Yvonne Croxfords last Sunday at the Great Britain agility team selection. I am the team   manager but did not have as much   involvement as usual as I was working Jet. The weather was great sunny, but not to hot, the paddock surface was excellent,   and there was a really good group of people and dogs taking part. The courses set by Steve were typically FCI and very challenging particularly for the young dogs like Jet. I am very pleased   with Jets performance. We just managed to get into the squad that will train through the winter. He does not stand much chance of getting in the final team as there are some very good higher grade and   more experienced dogs ahead of him. But   it will be great to train with the the squad   and I am sure it will help us have a really good season next year and   be in really good form for the selection for 2010.    

We don't have any more competions booked now and don't think we will be doing any over the winter but we will give reports from our friends who do go.

Honiton

Congratulations to Jane Piggot and Boot getting 9th in G1 jumping, they have only done a couple of shows and have got some clear rounds and must be delighted with this result.

Also well done to Nikki and Mia getting 8th in Agility

We had a really enjoyable time at Honiton show, now they have moved off the slope and down on the flat ground by the river the rings surfaces are a lot better.   There was good group from Diamond Dog Training most have not been competing that long but had a good day. The food was bit limited and cold drinks in short supply. The organisation was mostly good and the classes had good combinations of grades. I had a very early run with Jet and the ground was very wet and slippery, I was doing a bit of grass surfing which caused him to have a (dubious) refusal rest of the round was good contacts and weaves ok if a bit slow because of my lack of running ability. My non slip running shows aint what it says on the tin, I must get some football boots. Things sort of picked up as the ground dried out   Jet got a fifth in the Steeplechase against some fast opposition. In the   jumping he was brilliant he finished to lots of applause and the judge clapped went to the presentation at the the end of the day- Nada - I couldn't be bothered to look into by this time but I will make a point of checking after my riuns in future. Rusty wass back on good form in the agility   there was a horrible weaves entry at the start and I should have handles it better,   but got 5 on the entry so that turned into a training round. That paid off because he did a super weave in G1-4 Jumping and came 2nd, and in the 1-7 steeplechase he got 7th against some really fast dogs. Ty working really well and got a 8th in Steeplechase, Claire made a tiny handling mistake in Jumping and got a 5R and time for another winge I'm afraid Ty did a really good running contact on the dogwalk all four feet on and got faulted, whats the point of running contacts if judges cant judge them, we have seen so much of it this season, I think I will have to have a winge on the forum.

Best of all it was the first show we have taken Ember to, she is an absolute star totally relaxed around the other dogs, interested in dogs running but not excessively. She was   admired by a lot of people and really enjoyed playing in the river and had a thoroughly good time.    

Prestbury Park

Our break over August as turned out to be double edged, It has been great for recovering from ailments and injuries both human and canine, but we were really ring rusty. I really liked this new show great venue I haven't been there since my scouting days a   good few years ago and it brought back some memories. The show was well run but the classes need a bit of sorting I was caught in the worst aspect of the grade system Jets best run was in a huge combined class so didn't get placed and   Rusty did a brilliant agility run but because there were so few in graded class he   gor nothing for his second place. Ty did best with a 19th in Jumping again a   huge combined class. The other runs were the usual silly five faults handling this time.

We only did the Saturday as on Sunday   we did a Demo at a local festival on the Sea front. It was a   hazzle to organise and very hard work but   it worked out very well in the end.    

August

We are having a bit of a break during August and are hoping we get over our injuries and ailments. I am also doing some   training with Jet for the FMBB Belgian Shepherd Dog World Championship selection day.   It is going to be interesting as the type of courses are quite different to those in the UK   . Also   he is still a bit young for it really and we are up against some really good dogs and handlers.

Recently there have been some great sucesses stories for some of the people who train with us.

Phil Hedley and Dylan his staffie cross went down to the UKA Cornwall show and got a 4th in steeplechase, 2nd in agility and 2nd in gamblers, then a 1st in jumping!
and   qualified for the steeplechase national championships in Staverton where they came 9th. Not bad for a team that have not been training very long.

Also Jane Piggot and Boot a working Sheepdog who has done very well getting a 4th in the Snooker out of 38 and then came 7th in the Steeplechase out of 89 at the UKA Cheltenham Show.

Emma Warren and her little terrier cross have recently managed 2nd for Agility &   Snooker, 3rd for Jumping, Gamblers &   Snooker, and 4th for Jumping

Nikki Dew and Mia at Staverton UKA got 2nd in Novice Power and Speed and 3rd in Novice Agility and at Cheltenham 3rd in Novice Snooker

Caroline O'Connors Border Collie Milo a dog who has not been competing long has the following   results, 25th August - CR in Steeplechase, 7th place in jumping and 5th place in agility and 30th August - 4th place in steeplechase & 6th in jumping.

Blackdown AC

Big congratulations to Chris Lowe and her patterdale terrier Nellie who won out of G3 by winning small G3 agility

Well we are very pleased with the dogs In the G3 agility Jet came 8th and Ty 4th. Ty was a bit unfortunate he did a fantastic run but with 4 jumps to go a loose dog came into ring and looked like it was going to chase him. Claire did the right thing and put him in a down untill the dog was caught,   they then had a re-run but they were a bit slower with a wide turn to the weave entrance.   Rusty came 4th in 1-3 jumping, but is still working erratically Claire had finished her runs by 1Ty and all mine were done except   Rusty's last by 12.30 we worked out it would be 4.30 by the time he would work again and the weather was getting worse so we left.

What a difference a venue   makes this   used to be   such a lovely show. I don't know why they moved but this run down equestrian centre just isn't suitable for an open show, and then declaring it a moan free zone, well run a decent show then.

And where is the field officer at these shows they don't mind nit picking at the the big well run shows but you never see them sorting out the rubbish.        

UKA 08

I went up to the UK National final show on Tuesday with Jet and Rusty. Claire had to work.   The day started of well and the boys were on good form Jet won the beginners gamblers, and got 4th in Jumping and 6th in steeplechase and Rusty got 2nd in novice Steeplechase and 4th in Gamblers. The show   organisation started to slip at lunch time. My last show run was at 3pm but I eventually did my National run with Jet at 7pm. On one hand I was dissappointed that he did not get through due to a dubious contact decision but I am really pleased that   I don't have to go back on Thursday and possibly Saturday. Relaxed shows are all very well but there is a limit.

ps I seems that Jet had qualified for the next round but I didn't think we would get through on 5 faults and did want to hang about any longer on the off chance.

Agility Club

A big mostly well run show at Newbury Showground only problems were it was so hot with little shade and the hike from the parking to the rings.

Jet was a star this weekend two faultless team runs and the same in the pairs, and 16th in the Novice Agility (Grade 3,4,5) and 10th in Grade 3 Agility he is really enjoying it now and when it is going well he is brilliant, he gets a bit worried when it goes wrong so   I don't let him know now and just carry on around the course as though that is what I meant him   to.

Claire had some problems in work and couldn't get away for the whole weekend. She got to the show late and although did some good runs with Ty they had some little mistakes.

Rusty is still having some problems the bruising has completely gone now but he is still worried about the jumps, I have to be with him at every jump or he will go under. He is only 1cm into medium height.   He did some some good work though and I hope he will soon get his confidence back. I didn't push him and stayed with him in the team and he did a nice clear and the   same in the pairs where we were very pleased to get third place against some very good high grade dogs.    

Caerphilly

Congratulations to Karen Hague winning medium G2 agillity with Clares dog Todd and Caroline O'Connor for winning her 4th G1 jumping.

Lovely show in a great venue only criticism is a few   too many combined classes.   We had more mixed fortunes the boys worked well generally but did better in the combined classes where the higher grade dogs got the better places. In the graded classes we had a few silly errors.

Jet managed to get get a couple of clears and a 12th in Jumping and Ty did best of all getting a 6th in Jumping and 10th in the collie sprint.

Rusty is really in the wars. He fell down on to the pole on the first jump in the first class. He carried on to do do a good run and then did really well in the team, but later on he developed a load of bruising on his chest and a lump under his front leg. Sue Yeo our vet was there and was   concerned about the amount of bruising. It was fresh so couldn't be from some previous escapade, but seemed to be too much for his accident. Had he managed to get some warfarine.   We   treated him with Arnica   cream and Metacam and he was a lot better on Sunday   we did a couple of classes but were not on top form. He is a lot better now almost back to normal.  

Bretford

Lovely little show at Bretford, just like the good old days of Agility, very friendly and well run by Graham and Gemma and their team.   Very nice of Gemma to call me gorgeous or perhaps she meant Rusty which shows she doesn't know him very well. Helen insists that I report on the catering at shows so I must say I was a little dissapointed the rugby club was closed and being refurbished and there was the standard burger van. I was only there because I had BSD business in the area as it is a bit too far   to be a regular show for us. I just took Jet and Rusty as Claire was busy at work.     I (and mapquest)   had underestimated how long it would take to get there and arrived   just in time for the end of the first two classes for both Rusty and Jet. Naturally we didn't do too well. After we had settled down we had some good runs Rusty came 2nd in G3 Jumping and First in the Power and Speed, Jet got a 7th in Jumping and 9th in Helter Skelter. I was very tired   and   had not completely recovered from the virus so I was very pleased   that I did not   take Ty it would have been too much.   I am   happy we are back on track and I must make more effort to get to shows early.  

Tuffley

Congratulations to Sally Harris and Flash winning their second G1 jumping.

Flash is a fantastic dog with loads of ability that has been training with me for a couple of years, as Sally gets more experience they are sure to be even more successful.

Great show, fantastic setting on the water meadows between Berkley Castle and the hunt kennels, efficiently and calmly run but I should have stayed in bed for the weekend. Glenda and myself have had another virus brought home by Sara and I was feeling terrible, On Saturday it was just the big dogs and to be fair Jet did a good jumping round just clipping a pole, but from then on he realised I was wasn't right and we were hopeless. Claire and Ty did well with just   a couple of faults caused as usual by his speed. On Sunday we took all 3 dogs the weather first thing was appalling heavy rain and wind I really should have stayed in bed but managed to get Jet around the Team Dash pretty well and our team came 6th the other team members were Caroline O'Connor and Milo, Imogen Rogers and Marmite, and Helen Prosser and Baz,

For me it went rapidly down hill from there Rusty just wouldn't work for me he needs a lot of input and I just didn't have the energy. So I finally did what I should have done in the first place and let Claire work them. And she did a fantastic job Rusty got 8th in G1-7 jumping and was very unlucky hitting a pole in G1-4 jumping. She did a great run with Jet in the CSJ agility but didn't get a place they weren't quite fast enough makes you wonder what is the point off having combined 3,4&5 splitting the class and still having almost 300 dogs in a class.

Lansdown

Mega Congratulations to Caroline O'Connor and Jake who won their third grade G3 with an ammazing round good luck   in grade 2.

Caroline has done a brilliant job with Jake   a working sheep dog with very high drive she had to come for a lot of 121 lessons before we could get him into a class until just recently he has also been able to train at Severnside    

Lansdown is another show I am not sure about now, only organisation runs per dogs each day if they are not in the Crufts team   or ABC. Saturday we were busy helping most of the day and then had most of our runs late in the afternoon all in one hour announcements being shouted about classes closing while we were trying to get ready for the team and then we get there to find huge queues. Ty was working well except for his speed weaves, Jet had an unlucky contact and a clear in the jumping. Rusty saved the day by winning the G3 jumping, unfortunately it has gone to his head and he has decided contacts are something to slow up lesser dogs.

Sunday we decide to do less work and concentrate on our dogs. Ty is still missing weaves through his speed, Rusty has gone mad, but Jet is brilliant another clear round in JG3 jumping but was not quite fast enough for a place we need to look at that now, he did great round in G3 agility   and came 21st in a huge class. We did an amazing ABC round on a tricky course the last jump was a slightly off line wall and I overhandled him pushed back and he went past it.

Still   we are very pleased with how the dogs are coming on.

Golden Valley

Mixed feelings about this show the camping and day parking were really packed in and unpleasant, and the ring management was poor. I was also really dissappointed that people who said they would be in the team didn't turn up and didn't even let us know. After that we were pleased that the dogs worked well Ty just had some unlucky 5's, Jet did as well but got 12th in the 1-7 ABC jumping, Rusty was on brilliant form coming second in G3 jumping, had a good clear in 1-7 jumping but places didn't go down far enough to get anything. and he had an unlucky pole down in G3 agility. I am really pleased he didn't freeze or run of in the last few shows.

Thames  

We did a local demo on the Saturday it was lots of fun but might of been a bit too much as the dogs didn't seem on the best form on at Thames on Sunday, Jet suddenly went tunnel mad in the first two classes and then in the third class G3 jumping didn't seem with it at all. Rusty worked ok but I was still expecting him to be like he was at Wye valley and it caught me out when well I didn't handle him properly. Ty had a really good run in the Olympia Novice qualifier and came 12th and just a couple of 5's in the other classes. I don't know why Newbury gets a bad press the rings were perfect for running on there is plenty of room, proper toilets, the only drawback was the lack of shade we would loved to have watched the championship classes but could stand any more sun.

Wye Valley

This should be a   good show but I didn't enjoy it. Claire's mare foaled on Friday night and we were a bit tired which didn't help. But some of the ways the show was run could do with improvement,   the grass had got quite long and there were cow pats everwhere, some of the rings were very close together particularly ring 3 which was stuck in a corner, which   made access very difficult and the attitude of the ring party didn't help, and they have too many combined 1-7 classes. I don't think we will go there again.

Rusty just didn't work well. Maybe the smells in the long grass,   as he just froze a couple of times. Jet did a great G1-7 Agility on a tricky course and came 11th and got a clear in G1-7 jumping. Ty is really getting it together now and did a fantastic G3 jumping round to come 4th.

Packington

We had a day off Sunday and then went up to Packington on the Monday for their second day.   What a change in the weather it was stormy all day with high winds and intermittant heavy rain. Ty got an early run in the G1-7 Colllie Jumping and worked brilliantly getting an 18th place not bad against the senior collies perhaps we are getting somewhere. The conditions were terrible for the Olympia Novice qualifier the ring was exposed and dogs were getting blown off the dog walk, Jet got round with just   5 faults and Ty got 5 faults and Claire ran him past the dog walk, it is just too risky at his speed.

Martin Tate set a very interesting jumping course, it was   very "FCI" style with long runs past jumps, allowing for high speeds and precise handling.   Jet loved it but I will have to work on timing for these types of courses, We put both Jet and Ty wrong but it was very useful for future training ideas.

Jet had a run in the Olympia ABC qualifier, the ring was in a corner with a high hedge on two sides. Jet was doing very well until he trod on a ring number that had somehow got in to the dogs track and he stopped. Very pleased with the rest of it though.

Rusty turns out to be the star of the day, which comes as a surprise as he is a bit of a fair weather dog.

He started by winning the grade 1-3 jumping, then came 8th in G1-7 Jumping and second in the G 1-3 Agility at the end of the day.

Phoenix UKA

What a wonderful show Phoenix AC and UKA have really cracked this. Just the right size, good food in Langford canteen, lovely weather and good company sitting around the the rings, at not home too late. And to top it all Jet won beginners agility and came fifth in the jumping. I really didn't think he was fast enough as he is not organisation years old yet. I am still having to help him but he did the Agility in 25 secs. We watched a video done by Phil and he is really moving along.

Ty is still going too fast   but other than that is working really well we will soon get the balance right.

Rusty seemed distracted perhap the long grass along side the outside rings had something more interesting to offer. He ran along the top of the tunnel at one stage. Terriers are good for your humility all dog trainers should have one.

Severnside at   the   North Somerset Agricultural Show  

Ended up working too much again. At timess we had a Bacon family ring party, Glenda's mum Val doing calling, Glenda scoring, Claire Scriming, Sara (4) doing leads and me running about with everything else. Glenda and me were off to Slovenia for the FMBB world championships as soon as we finished and I was also worried we had everything ready. So the dogs didn't worked so well in the morning, It's not the best environment for Rusty. I shouldn't enter him really but since he is with us anyway it seems silly not too. We downed tools in the afternoon and it paid of Jet came 7th in grade 3 jumping and Jet and Ty came 4th in the Pairs, Ty was brilliant perhaps we are getting somewhere.  

WBSDS

I was helping at the WBSDS show from early Friday until Saturday evening and stayed overnight Friday. I went home Saturday and returned Sunday with Glenda Claire and the dogs. Jet did well again just a dubious contact decision and he got 8th in Grade 3 Jumping. Ty is too fast still he does 95% brilliant rounds but is still going past the first weaving pole. Back to training. Rusty is working well but he needs 100% concentration and I was a bit too tired.

Wallingford

We had a good day out at Wallingford just taking Jet and Ty as there were no classes for medium dogs on the Saturday. Ty had a couple of 5's he is so fast he is going past the weave entrance. Jet did very well getting a 12th place in grade 3 agility and a couple of 5's for drifting past jumps. Early days yet.

Wye Valley Medium / Small

I had a nice day out at the Wye valley medium and small show at Monmouth. We had to be there early as Gemma Osmond was working Rusty in the Brace with her dog Toby and were running order one.   They did quite well just a couple of problems in the weaves we should have got some practice in with Gemma working Rusty.

We then had to wait until 2pm for our other runs but filled the time with a couple of walks by the river, some bacon rolls provided by the scouts and chatting to people we hadn't seen since last season.

The grade 1-7 helter skelter was going quite well until Rusty decided he had to go and investigate an important smell outside the ring. That didn't look very promising for the team event but he did an absolutely brilliant round unfortunately the rest of the team had some problems.  

We then did the grade 1-3 Jumping Rusty was great again but after the problems Gemma had had with the weaves we took them a bit steady and that added to the time in the end we came third.   We were quickly into the grade 1-3 Agility and yet again Rusty worked very well, but after what happened in the jumping I pushed him a bit too hard in the weaves and he missed a pole. I took him back to the beginning of the weaves and let him do it his way and he was fine. I must to try to get that right in future. Still the rest of it was very good and we left just as it started raining and got home just in time to watch the Grand National.

North Somerset UKA

We attended the North Somerset UKA show at Wraxall   last weekend (29/30th March).   It was very nice being close to us and had lots of interesting things going on at the horse trials and country fayre. Unfortunately   weather conditions were not ideal it was wet, windy and cold on   Saturday, on Sunday it was much nicer with warm sunshine but overnight rain made the ground very slippery. There has been an outbreak of kennel cough in our area fortunately our dogs were not affected but we very dissapointed for   the people who train with us who couldn't attend.

This is quite an important and interesting show for us. It is   our first   show of the season and being UKA the dogs have 4 runs each on both days so it tells us how our winter training has gone and what we need to do for the fast approaching competition season.

We did quite well

On Saturday Rusty came Second in both beginners steeplechase and Novice Gamblers and on Sunday he excelled himself and won the beginners steeple chase and then won Royal Canin Novice Agility he also came 2nd overall in the Royal Canin tournament. We believe he has now moved up to Novice steeplechase, and senior performance and has qualified for the Royal Canin final.

Claire and Ty are really starting to get it together. Ty had a few faults in the weaves caused by going too fast on the slippery surface but is improving with every run. On Saturday they won beginners Gamblers and on Sunday came 3rd in the   Snooker.

It was Jets very first show and to begin with he seemed a bit   unsure about it, probably because of the conditions and my strange   handling cause by trying not to slip over. But he got around all the courses without any eliminations and with just a few 5 faults mainly for drifting past jumps. On Sunday he settled down and worked very well getting   a clear round and eighth place in the steeplechase.

Sara (4yo) worked Dash (13yo) in the casual agility and jumping classes each day. Everyone was very kind   to them and by the last run on Sunday they were starting to get the hang of it and they won the casual jumping and got a fantastic rosette and a trophy. Sara was very proud and took her rosette into school for show and tell.

Also doing very well were Sally Harris and Flash who won beginners steeplechase and are now in Novice and came second in Gamblers