Update on this week.

What a roller coaster this week has been!

My Dad's broken hip has been scheduled for surgery every day - but there have been constant complications. Finally, on Saturday afternoon we were told that the complications meant that the surgery was potentially life threatening, but that it needed to be done straight away if it was going to be done at all. Family conference - my Dad decided to take the risk and go ahead.

He has a knack of making good decisions, my Dad, and all went well. I'm glad to say that he is now in recovery, and hopefully he will continue to make good progress.

It's the second time in 30 years that I have done the dash down the motorway to be at his side in a hospital, hoping to get there in time, and it's not at all nice!!!

The highs and lows....

After Ireland, I just had time at home to pick up the dogs from kennels and change suitcases before heading south for my Dad's 90th birthday - yes, 90! He and my Mum (88) are very active people, so we had a great family birthday party on Friday, followed by another celebration on Saturday at my sister's house, followed by going out for a very posh meal on Sunday (Mothers Day too!)

Except that my Dad slipped on loose gravel as he was getting out of the car - and broke his hip (the other one). So all the highs of the week ended on rather a low note at the local hospital where he is now enjoying the hospital food rather than the slap-up meal he was looking forward to.

Beannachtai Na Féile Pádraig

It always rains on St Patrick's Day....but not this year!! This year the Irish Kennel Club's Celtic Winners St Patrick's Day Championship Show was held in bright sunshine, and the crowds poured in!

Flew out to Dublin on Monday 16 March to warm sunshine. After booking in to the hotel, Sarah came to pick me up and whisk me off to lunch at a pub, followed by a trip up to the National Centre showground where she and Cheryl, Pat, Liam and Frank were going to be doing some agility training. It was so good to see everyone again! And fascinating to be a specatator while Cheryl worked with Sarah on gettin Fionn to get his up contacts. At the end of the afternoon they all helped me to set up my Premier course for the next day - but without numbers! I left them with a puzzle - try to work out what the course would be when the numbers went on - none of them got it right!

Sarah dropped me back at the hotel in time for me to have a shower and change, and go down to a meeting with the other judges and the IKC officials. Except that this was Ireland, so the meeting turned out to be free drinks at the bar followed by a fabulous dinner in the hotel. And what excellent company too! Some amazing stories were being told, with much laughter and hilarity. The party broke up at about 11.00pm as we all had to be fresh for judging the next day.

St Patrick's Day dawned bright and sunny, which apparently is completely out of character, and we were taxied to the show ground to begin judging. Bob Beesley and Steve Rutter went off to set up the obedience, and I went to the agility ring - the rest were indoors so didn't get the benefit of sunshine (or the sneaky chill wind!).

It was lovely to see so many familiar faces - and quite a few new ones too! I was fortunate to have Mary (Bailey) and Mark O'Brien as my scribe and time keeper all day, and they were so efficient! People willingly helped to alter jump heights and courses as needed - that sort of support makes judging a real joy!

The courses I set were well received, though apparently a bit more difficult than they were used to.....got that wrong then!! However, the competitors all seemed to enjoy trying something that was a bit different to what they were used to. The only potentially down point was when a spectator's boxer dog came into the ring and repeatedly tried to attack the dog that was running - not a good idea when that dog is an entire male kelpie....luckily no damage was done to either dog, but obviously the incident had to be reported to the Irish Kennel Club just for their records. When the boxer was evetually caught and reunited with its owner, the kelpie completed its round as if nothing had happened - good lad!! He was so well behaved and restrained throughout the incident.

After the agility finished and all the presentations were done, I had to say farewell to all my lovely friends (Nuala, Liam, Sarah, Olive, Frank, Mark, Mary, Heather, Orma and many others) as I was going to do some measuring training with the new IKC measurers. BUT I will be seeing everyone again in a few months when hopefully I will have a bit of time to just chat with them.

The training went well too - lots of pertinent questions, and lots of inside information about the new regulations that come into effect in May. Again, it seemed to go well.

Luckily, we finished just as Best in Show was being judged - and the amazing Border Collie Sh Ch Tonkory Move Over to Huntly won again!! He is a truly fabulous looking dog, and was a popular winner.

Back to the hotel for another shower and change, more drinks and another fine meal, regaled with stories from Geoffrey Davies who is a wonderfully funny raconteur, and a very sweet man.

Late to bed, and early to rise for breakfast and departure to the airport at 7.00am - and the long morning's journey home.

It was very sad, again, to be leaving Dublin - but it was so lovely to see my own dogs again. I had really missed them!

(Photos of the Show can be found at Blackblur Photography at

http:// wwwblackblurphotography.com/portfolio52244.html)

Pleased!

Oh, I was pleased with both Amber's and Bryn's agility training this week! Amber, on Wednesday, was working almost as well as she has ever done despite having turned 9 earlier this week! (Whoops! Missed another birthday!) She was fast, accurate, turning on a sixpence, happy to pick up FXs, RXs or BXs without a hesitation - none of this steadying into a turn for her! Just swing on your hocks and go! She did an amazing dogwalk - s**t off a shovel as they say. What a pity we weren't timing her!
And Bryn, last night, was really up for it. At last I managed to get back into a competition mindset, rather than a training one - I think I have found the cue word I need to change in competion mode now. We were, apparently, the only partnership that got the staggered pull/push through right, ie tight and straight, not loopy, and he was happy to be sent out or to work in close to me. He was a bit fazed by someone walking their dog next to the weaves while he was doing them - and I mean about a foot away!! And he began to offer me some proper waits on the start line again - all the training is starting to pay off!
So, a glorious sunny Spring day today, and a real lift to my spirits.
PS Corker is wonderful too.....just shedding great lumps of moulting hair everywhere he goes.... you wouldn't think a smooth coated dog could lose so much without going bald.

Sunday

Sunday afternoon Bryn and I went training with Janet Nero. It wasn't bad, but didn't exactly go as planned....
I went early so I could do some start line training outdoors on my own before the indoor session began. So it hailed and rained and I went to have a coffee instead.....
I had gone with the intention of trying to get back into a competition frame of mind, and out of the puppy-training mind-set. Janet had similar ideas for us, as she began by applying some pressure - a £10 refund for the person with the fastest clear round on the mini-course! I don't respond well to pressure - I already provide enough internal pressure of my own, and obvious attempts to pressure me lead to me opting out. So, instead of being competitive, I very deliberately put in a training round - doh!!! And once in that mind-set, I couldn't get out of it - damn!
BUT the boy did some good stuff - kept his start lines (yay!!!); nailed his contacts, easy-peasy weaves each time; layered - all good stuff - took the 'out' command a little too literally (oops!); the 'steady' work led to a complete stop - maybe need to lighten up on that command a touch LOL!; and he didn't eat too much of the wooden chipping that makes up the floor surface.... I got a chance to refresh some handling, not recently having a dog that would work away from me so well as Bryn, particularly some shaping through spaces.
Came home pleased with the boy, less pleased with my mental attitude though.
See Rob's account of the same session at http://robandmaggie.blogspot.com/

Two Down, One to Go...

Just heard the good news that Rupert is safely back home (via the police station....)

So, Corker's home; Rupert's home;.....just leaves Freddie to prove that the superstition about things going in threes is correct......please!!!!

Missing!

These last couple of days have been filled with missing dogs.

First I had a call to say that Freddie, a missing Border Collie belonging to a friend of mine, might have been sighted about 7 miles from where I live. So I drove over to the area, spoke to the person who saw the dog, and it sounds very hopeful. I left some food down where she had been seen, and it had gone when I went back this morning. BUT of course, it might have been eaten by a fox or cat or another dog or...well, any animal. So, we can't raise our hopes too high yet, but this dog has been lost for nearly a year now, so it would be marvellous if it turned out to be Freddie.

Then I heard that another friend's working Cocker Spaniel Rupert had run off from home, and hadn't been back for two days. He is very friendly, and hopefully is being looked after somewhere and will be home soon, but so far there have been no sightings (not even by highways at the side of a road, which is good news)

Then, to make sure I really understood these friends' anxiety and stress, Corker disappeared while we were out for a walk this morning - just vanished in a twinkling of an eye. Luckily for me I found him half an hour later scavenging around some tents that had been set up across a footpath in the Nature Reserve (I ask you!!) about half a mile from where he went missing. He was unimpressed by my anxiety....We have had 'yoofs' tenting before and these seemed set to continue the practice of leaving their litter, empty beer cans and cider bottles around for the rest of us to clear up, judging from the mess around their pitch (not all due to Corker's efforts!) I hope he peed on their tents!

So, not a good few days at the moment. I can't help worrying about Freddie and Rupert and hoping that they will be back home safe and sound soon.

Agility Cattle Dogs!

I spent today with a group of Australian Cattle Dog handlers and their dogs (and one or two other breeds) working on their agility skills. The group's aim is to compete in some team events as an ACD team, but first we need to get them all up to standard. We worked on contacts, turns, send ons, positioning and line, and some weaves. The youngest dog was a 6 month old, gorgeous red girlie, so we were able to talk about how important interactive play is, and how to prepare a puppy for agility in small doses. We did tiny recalls and send ons over poles on the ground and through a wide weave channel (just 4 to 6 weaves) and through a tunnel. Quite enough for a baby!!

The most experienced dog/handler partnership was Kylie Birch and her blue boy Tooey (sp?). High drive, accuracy and suppleness - just some tweaking to do after his 3 month layoff. Watch out in the ABC Qualifiers!

In between we had all the range of experience, which made for interesting work as we needed to break things down for some dogs, and extend them for others, so spectators (if they were watching) could see what the foundations should be and what sort of progression to expect.

After a chill out at lunchtime, we tackled a couple of courses using the morning's learning. I was really impressed with the progress made, in handling and in the dogs' confidence.

The day was held at Staverton near Daventry, at the ground used for the agility trials for the European Open team selection in April, so you get some idea of how spolit we were with facilities, equipment, and warm welcome. And the sun really shone, and the day was mild, and all the dogs were lovely, and the handlers were great. Hope we can find time to do it all again sometime!!

For more details of ACDs, go to : http://www.acdsocietyofgb.com/