The First Snow of Winter

7.30am and Bryn and I set off, lit up like Christmas Trees in the dark, to go for a walk - AND IT WAS SNOWING big, beautiful flakes. It was only settling in the colder hollows on the hillside, so the rest of the walk was the wet, muddy affair that we have come to know and...hate.

By 8.30am when I set off with Amber and Corker, it had turned to rain again.....when will it ever stop?? So we trudged around the hillside, slipping and sliding as usual, and bringing home enough mud to plant flowers in.

But for at least 40 minutes we had proper snow - the first time this winter!! (And no cold icy wind either - hooray!)

(PS I have cheated with the picture - this was from the early months of this year - last winter)

What did I do...?

What did I do to deserve, not only a really fabulous family, but such great dogs for companions too?

Bryn did well yesterday in an intensive 121 agility coaching session, working so hard for me, and then his HTM class later where he picked things up sooo quickly; Amber has become a real little cuddle bag now that she is semi-retired from agility, though she isn't going to give up her place next to me on the sofa to anyone else; and Corkscrew is being sooo attentive, wanting cuddles - very unlike him - and games and just general closeness. Makes me realise how very blessed I am.

Wilmslow

Myerscough is generally a noisy, busy venue - but Wilmslow DTS always manage to make it seem relaxed and happy, so it is enjoyable going to their shows there. Like yesterday.
Classes only for Large and Small dogs, so neither Amber nor Corker got to play, so it was odd to be hanging around waiting for Bryn's 3 classes. We didn't get going until 10.45am, having walked Sue Morley's Large Combined 3 to 5 Agility course at 8.00am, so not surprisingly I ended up on the wrong side of the dog walk and wasted valuable time trying to get back on track! Bless him, Bryn took it all in his stride - clear round and 17th place! Would have been about 7th if he'd had a better handler!!
Nothing after that until lunchtime when both Large Graded 4/5 Agility and Large Combined 4/5 Jumping went up for walking at the same time. Bryn and I ran first in the Agility - some great technical sections (thanks Nic Jones!) - and did a clear in a fast enough time to finish up as 8th! I was still on a high as I went straight across to the Jumping, and miscued Bryn for the 3rd jump (Said 'Back' instead of the 'Back in' needed) and he did exactly what I told him to do, picking up a jump some way off, as per the training we have been doing about spotting the fence ahead and ignoring the side obstacles. Good boy!! Don't think the judge, Alan Sherwin, could quite understand why I was so pleased to get eliminated - especially as Bryn then returned to the original, highly technical, course, and did a perfectly executed round after that.
So, two rosettes with numbers on them (!) in our first real Grade 4 competition - I drove home through the dark and rain and greasy road spray smiling all the way!!

It's the little things....

For a few weeks now Bryn and I have been doing some HTM classes - very basic moves still, but coming along nicely, and very enjoyable for both of us. Bryn prefers to do touches with his nose, hardly ever using his paws by choice, so tonight was really special when he thought very hard about what he had to do.......and touched my hand firmly with his paw only! It sounds like a little thing, but if you could have seen the concentration on his face, working out exactly what was going to earn him that click and treat. I do love the lad!!