A scorcher! Hospital rooms are definitely not designed to cope with heat waves - yes, my dad is still in hospital with kidney problems - the same single room for 9 weeks!! However, we heard today that he is to be moved to the Urology Ward, so at least he will have a change of scene.....
Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, I accompanied some of the Beginners' Group from the Tuesday night class to their first foray into competition at Delinquent Dogz. Great courses from Doc Docherty and Jules Vickerman - straightforward enough for the beginners to cope with (3 rosettes can't be bad for their first show!) yet enough to challenge the more experienced dogs.
Bryn behaved beautifully. Amber took a chunk out of his face on Sunday morning (who knows why?!?) so he was a bit subdued which certainly helped with his 'no meet/greet' training. (Don't worry - a vet looked him over and passed him fit for purpose before he competed) He and I made silly mistakes in each course - a quick turn, a pole down, an unintentional pull past etc etc, so no rosettes, but some lovely, focused, fast work.
Amber was entered in just the jumping classes - and managed a clear round! She might have done better had I not thought she had been faulted and stopped working her properly! Numpty!! She even managed to keep going all the way in the Helter Skelter without arguing with me, but got something wrong (forget what!) so no rosette there. She was a good girl.
And Corker got to play as well - Delinquent Dogz is the only show that Corker enters - despite not having trained at all for 3 years, or is it 4 years...? Thanks Michelle for giving me the chance to play agility with my boy! No rosettes for him either this time - but Michelle told me that he had managed to qualify for the DD Finals in July on his previous performances! What a hoot! The only one of my 3 that doesn't compete or train, is the only one of my 3 to qualify. LOL!!
It was lovely to see so many people relaxing in the sunshine, and applauding each others' performances - what agility should be all about.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Waldridge Fell
I love this venue - almost on the beach at Redcar, sandy soil so it doesn't bog down even when it's wet (which it wasn't) - but there is always a chill North Sea wind!!
Although I had booked camping I chose to drive each day, parking on the camping plot saved for me by Kirsty and Helen (nice to be with friends).
On Saturday Bryn was over the moon with excitement - all these people to say hello to! And he did - out of the ring to work the crowds walking the next door course - 3 times!!!! I was absolutely despondent. I managed to complete 2 rounds (yes, a show with 5 runs for the dogs) but they were slow as he was looking elsewhere all the time, totally unfocused. Still he managed two clear rounds - 29th (ha! ha!) in the KC Novice Stakes (3-5 combined agility) and out of the places in the Large 3 to 5 Jumping. These 'harder' courses definitely suit him better than the 1 to 3 courses.
Amber was also off her head - in Amber it takes the form of being snappy around other dogs, and getting dangerously under my feet. We completed a couple of courses but pulled out of the others. If it hadn't been for seeing loads of people I haven't seen for a while, and enjoying the sunshine, I would probably have come home early. Not my best day.....
I nearly didn't go on Sunday. But Jules persuaded me to give it another try, and I'm glad I did. I decided to concentrate on Bryn, which meant Amber got pulled from her classes as soon as anything went wrong. Actually this worked better for her than fighting her the whole way round the rest of the course. But no places.....even at a show that was generous with rosettes.
I had worked out my strategy with Bryn - a mixture of aversion therapy and high rewards, so with the help of lots of people, some of whom I didn't know at all, I 'prepared' Bryn to go into the ring. Just one person refused to help when asked, and unfortunately this was the one person Bryn wanted to get to more than anyone - and was standing alongside the ring when I took him into his first class. As I took off his lead he shot off to try to find this person, couldn't in the crowds ringside, but stayed inside the ring and came back to me pretty quickly - the aversion therapy and rewards for playing with me had already begun to work. So, not a complete disaster. We set off together, were doing quite well when I took the wrong course (I'd just been in with Amber on the 6/7 course just before, and worked the combination of jumps from that course instead - doh!)
Each ring we went into got better and better - lots of rewarded tricks in the queue, lots of focus onto me. He went clear in Jen Lewis' Large 1 to 3 Jumping, but was just out of the rosettes because he was still a little distracted in the ring. His best round was Helen Taylor's 3 to 5 Agility where he really worked the course - except that I was slack on the weave entry and pulled him to the second gap instead of the first. So 5 faults, but a very nice run. In fact, I was complimented on his 'excellent running contacts' by a very well known handler (I do 2o2o.....but with an instant release)
By the end of the day I was a lot happier. I know that there is a lot more work to do still to break the 'meet and greet' habit and get him obsessed with the agility and me instead, but he responded so well. Many thanks to Kathryn Tasker and Niki Keeler for their advice with this, and to my friends for their practical help and support.
Although I had booked camping I chose to drive each day, parking on the camping plot saved for me by Kirsty and Helen (nice to be with friends).
On Saturday Bryn was over the moon with excitement - all these people to say hello to! And he did - out of the ring to work the crowds walking the next door course - 3 times!!!! I was absolutely despondent. I managed to complete 2 rounds (yes, a show with 5 runs for the dogs) but they were slow as he was looking elsewhere all the time, totally unfocused. Still he managed two clear rounds - 29th (ha! ha!) in the KC Novice Stakes (3-5 combined agility) and out of the places in the Large 3 to 5 Jumping. These 'harder' courses definitely suit him better than the 1 to 3 courses.
Amber was also off her head - in Amber it takes the form of being snappy around other dogs, and getting dangerously under my feet. We completed a couple of courses but pulled out of the others. If it hadn't been for seeing loads of people I haven't seen for a while, and enjoying the sunshine, I would probably have come home early. Not my best day.....
I nearly didn't go on Sunday. But Jules persuaded me to give it another try, and I'm glad I did. I decided to concentrate on Bryn, which meant Amber got pulled from her classes as soon as anything went wrong. Actually this worked better for her than fighting her the whole way round the rest of the course. But no places.....even at a show that was generous with rosettes.
I had worked out my strategy with Bryn - a mixture of aversion therapy and high rewards, so with the help of lots of people, some of whom I didn't know at all, I 'prepared' Bryn to go into the ring. Just one person refused to help when asked, and unfortunately this was the one person Bryn wanted to get to more than anyone - and was standing alongside the ring when I took him into his first class. As I took off his lead he shot off to try to find this person, couldn't in the crowds ringside, but stayed inside the ring and came back to me pretty quickly - the aversion therapy and rewards for playing with me had already begun to work. So, not a complete disaster. We set off together, were doing quite well when I took the wrong course (I'd just been in with Amber on the 6/7 course just before, and worked the combination of jumps from that course instead - doh!)
Each ring we went into got better and better - lots of rewarded tricks in the queue, lots of focus onto me. He went clear in Jen Lewis' Large 1 to 3 Jumping, but was just out of the rosettes because he was still a little distracted in the ring. His best round was Helen Taylor's 3 to 5 Agility where he really worked the course - except that I was slack on the weave entry and pulled him to the second gap instead of the first. So 5 faults, but a very nice run. In fact, I was complimented on his 'excellent running contacts' by a very well known handler (I do 2o2o.....but with an instant release)
By the end of the day I was a lot happier. I know that there is a lot more work to do still to break the 'meet and greet' habit and get him obsessed with the agility and me instead, but he responded so well. Many thanks to Kathryn Tasker and Niki Keeler for their advice with this, and to my friends for their practical help and support.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
It's been a while
It's been a while since I posted as I've been in the Midlands with my family, visiting my dad in hospital (yes, he's still there - week 6) and staying with my mum. It was a roller coaster of a week, with my dad being fine at the weekend then critically ill with renal failure on Monday, then slowly making some progress back towards health again. The hospital he's in is great - all the staff have worked their socks off to improve his condition.... and the food is great!! (very important to my dad!!)
The dogs went into daycare down there at a kennels just 5 minutes from the house. It was galling to see how happy they were to leave me to go to their playschool for the day!! By day 3 they were waiting at the door to get into the car in the morning before I even called them. But, to be honest, they were just as happy to come home again at the end of the day.
I finally found Arrow Vale Country Park and lake, and took the dogs there each morning for a walk. It was a beautiful place and lovely to watch the herons fishing, and the swans, geese and ducks swimming the lake with little ones in tow. The dogs liked 'watching' the rabbits......and the cyclists.....so mostly had to stay on lead.
Then back home here, and last night we had Katherine Palin, the McTimoney chiropractor, come to the club to assess some of the dogs. I took Amber and Bryn, and was pleased with her assessment of both - very reassuring at the start of the busy part of the summer agility season. I think the other handlers were also pleased to have her professional opinion, and I'll look into asking her to come again later in the season. As Amber and Bryn are to have a 'quiet day' today (tell that to them!) Corker benefited by having an extended walk and ball throwing session all to himself. He was a really happy laddy!!
The dogs went into daycare down there at a kennels just 5 minutes from the house. It was galling to see how happy they were to leave me to go to their playschool for the day!! By day 3 they were waiting at the door to get into the car in the morning before I even called them. But, to be honest, they were just as happy to come home again at the end of the day.
I finally found Arrow Vale Country Park and lake, and took the dogs there each morning for a walk. It was a beautiful place and lovely to watch the herons fishing, and the swans, geese and ducks swimming the lake with little ones in tow. The dogs liked 'watching' the rabbits......and the cyclists.....so mostly had to stay on lead.
Then back home here, and last night we had Katherine Palin, the McTimoney chiropractor, come to the club to assess some of the dogs. I took Amber and Bryn, and was pleased with her assessment of both - very reassuring at the start of the busy part of the summer agility season. I think the other handlers were also pleased to have her professional opinion, and I'll look into asking her to come again later in the season. As Amber and Bryn are to have a 'quiet day' today (tell that to them!) Corker benefited by having an extended walk and ball throwing session all to himself. He was a really happy laddy!!
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