Not done alot since the last posting, we were at Wilmslow agility show last week but no clears. Zara was mental in the first agility round as she hadn't competed for 6 weeks, she enjoyed her run although she pretended I wasn't there, and ran her own course, after that she did 2 lovely runs but was unlucky with poles again. I was pleased with Mawgan as she gave a one second stay just enough that she doesn't knock the first pole, once she got past that first 2 jumps her control was lovely, we may get another clear one day!!!

Yesterday I passed the Judges Rules and Regulations exam, so I am looking forward to the course design and judging assessment early next year.

Well looking forward to Wyre next weekend, last show of the year, hopefully the weather won't be too bad, so it can go ahead.

Quiet Month

Not really alot has happened in the last month, we have had no shows to report on, quite boring really!!

For halloween we went to Lee Gibson's for training, that was really good, it was very noisy with lots of barking collies so very much like a show. My reason for training in a class was to work on Mawgan's stay and sure enough as soon as I removed her lead she was away at 100 mph like being at a show, great, I worked with her stays and using a clicker was eventually successful enough to get past the first jump before releasing her, if I could do that at a show I would be happy. I also worked Zara a little and as always was very pleased with her performance, she did some tight turns and only knocked a couple of poles, mainly after exiting the tunnel and I wanted more speed, gives me something to work on her turns were ace. After training Lee put on a buffet and some of us had brought lanterns, see the piccie of Ruger with his.

I must mention that although I haven't been to any shows for what seems like years there were excellent results at Hare and Hounds this weekend, on Saturday Jules and Jette won Grade 1 Jumping and on Sunday Kirsty and Tim won their first placing 3rd in Grade 2 Agility with Kirsty's Maisie coming 2nd in same class.

Great Weekend

Started the weekend off at Lune agility show on Saturday, nice and local is always a bonus. Mawgan has improved as although she still will not stay the short pause at the start means that she is not knocking the first pole!! She did 3 good runs just missing the contacts in the agility classes, I got us E'd in one jumping class as I forgot the course and told her to go the wrong way aaargh! Zara was great, just a few poles and a stunning jumping run, but just clipped the second to last pole to get 14th place, if clear she would have won the class by nearly 1 second, I was so happy with her time, as I hadn't expected her to be competitive at Grade 3, but she has proved me wrong. Ruger enjoyed meeting new people and was very well behaved.
On Sunday we went to the BSD Club of GB with Ruger, he was entered in Junior as there was no puppy class, he was very good (although he did tell the judge what a bad handler I am when I stood on his paw) and it was a lovely surprise when he was awarded 1st prize, he also got Best Puppy in Breed which is his first trophy, a silver tankard, the only problem with that is he wants beer in it!!!
Overall a very successful weekend, I am so proud of my lovely dogs. I will post some pictures when I can find my camera.

Best Puppy

Last Saturday Ruger was a star at Darlington, getting Best Puppy in Breed and Reserve Best Dog (not as grand as it sounds as he was the only puppy in his class!!!!!) the main thing for us was that the judge commented on how good his temperament is, that means alot, and I am so pleased with the way he behaved in the ring.

Ruger's First Breed Show

Some good news about the Guide Dogs Open Day from last week is that apart from raising a good amount of money for this worthy cause, 6 needy dogs were rehomed by the Dog Wardens who had a stand there, fantastic, and also guide Dogs have recruited some much needed volunteer puppy walkers.

Yesterday Ruger had his first show at Richmond Champ Show. He was so good and stood nicely for inspection, but his handler (who could that be?) forgot that although agility is about speed showing isn't, so I sprinted round the ring with Ruger bouncing up and down, it was so much fun, I was given a second chance and the judge was so nice about it. We came 2nd (out of 2 entries) but well done to Jan and Caper, he is stunning and went on to get Best in Breed and the dog CC, well deserved.

Today I set off to Wigan Alsatian for a day of agility with the girls, but after walking the courses I was in two minds as to if I would run as it was so muddy , I had plenty of tine to decide as I had high running orders, however the show committee made the difficult but right decision to cancel the show due to safety.

Guide Dogs Open Day

We have had a fantastic day, at the new Guide Dog Training Centre in Manchester. They asked if we (K9 Skool) could do an agility display, so I asked how many people at training would like to take part and found we had a good team. It was good to see a mixture of breeds taking part, Alfie (Lab), Penny (GSDxLab), Kenzie (Lab), Whistler (WSD), Zara (GSDx), Molly (Weimeraner), Candy (Boxer), Archie (Cocker), Charlie (Springer), Charlie (Cocker), Raddlie & Saffie (Min. Schnauzers) and Mawgan (GSDx Groenendael), all the dogs ran well with a large crowd, we thought it was going to be quieter, but it was all good practice for those who compete! Simon kept the crowd entertained on the mike, I don't know how he does it. Thanks everyone for a lovely day and also to our ring party Ali, Christopher, Judy, Sarah and Tayler. There were lots of lovely dogs and cute puppies, I hope that Guide Dogs raised lots of money, their new training centre is fantastic, especially the enrichment areas for the dogs to exercise and have fun in.

LLancaiach Fun Dog Show

For the bank holiday we headed down to South Wales to visit Simon's parents and the Barking Mad Dog Show, in aid of Hope Rescue at Llancaiach Fawr, what a lovely weekend, good weather and a lovely show with a good friendly atmosphere. In previous years this was a small show with have a go agility, and we always enjoyed it, this year BHC agility put on a limited show, so 50 agility dogs were there and hundreds of other dogs. My first class of the day was agility, Mawgan broke her stay so I left the ring, little Zara did a lovely clear round and took 2nd place. Then I took Ruger into his first ever class, best puppy under 12 months, there were about 70 puppies in the class, and some real cuties (especially a cute fluffy little GSD) so I was very happy that Ruger was picked out for the final 15 and then took 2nd place. Zara was picked out for the final 15 in prettiest bitch and best crossbreed but unfortunately didn't get placed (even though she was the best LOL). In jumping again Mawgan broke the stay and I took her out, Zara didn't let me down and went clear, no place this time but lovely round. Then for the steeplechase, the challenge was to remember how to get round the tunnels in the middle, it was a very clever course, not actually difficult but you had to concentrate. Breakthrough of the year Mawgan gave me a 2 second stay, I didn't push for too much but she didn't move until I released her, I was so pleased with her, and then she went clear and came 5th. Zara ran very well but got distracted in the corner added in a stride and took out the wing (at least it wasn't a pole), so I pushed her for speed and she actually cleared everything else with pressure, so she is getting more accuracy. It was a lovely day apart from all three dogs getting places, they really enjoyed the day out it was a good socialisation opportunity for Ruger and he was so well behaved in the ring, I fell more confident with him for Richmond show next week.

Well the time is going so fast, yesterday was Mawgan's 5th Birthday, she's still very puppyish, although her ears are not as big as in these pictures. She has had a couple of clear rounds in agility in the last month getting 27th in Jumping at Caerphilly and having a runoff for 10th place at Hereford (which we lost because I called her round a jump instead of over it, funny she was listening to me that time!!) We are now on a zero tolerance regime for stays, as she flies off at 100 mph at shows and we get E'd on the first couple of jumps, hopefully she is getting the message as I am stopping her and leaving the ring if she ignores my stay command. "No stay/no play"

Zara is running very well and is getting more clears in Grade 3 as the courses suit her more, at Hereford she had 3 out of 4 clears, then one refusal which was my fault! But she got all her contacts and weave entries and didn't knock one pole:)

Ruger is still growing and has started ringcraft classes, this is new to me and Simon, but is good fun and socialisation for Ruger (and us), he is so full of character and likes to make sure everyone knows that he has arrived, work in progress. He has his first show next month at Richmond and then the following week at Darlington.

What happened to June?

What a busy month with getting my assignments in to college, working and a holiday. Started the month with a holiday to France to visit the Somme area, to see Simon's Great Grandfather's grave. Its a beautiful area but a sad place with all the war memorials.

One of the highlights was a visit to Belgium to visit Strike, who is Ruger's dad, as we had not met him before, he is stunning and just so full of personality. His owners Claire and Gaston showed us around their town of Mons, with Strike and Chiraze (Ruger's mum) who now lives with them, his sister Biper also lives with them and she is as gorgeous as Ruger.

We had a few agility shows in June and both Mawgan and Zara are running well, just unlucky with Zara with the odd pole falling but she's getting better, Mawgan is just too fast so makes mistakes, its frustrating as at training she is steady and accurate but changes in the ring, if I could get a stay it would be easier, but she won't stay after being attacked on the startline, so I have to live with it, her rare clears normally get placed. Zara ran what I thought was a nice steady clear at Newton Heath in Graded 1 & 2 Agility, I couldn't believe it when she won the class 5 seconds ahead of the second dog taking us into Grade 3!!! At Dashin Dogs Zara also managed two thirds in G2 Agility at our last show at G2.

Ruger is growing and is looking really good, we are looking now to enter him into a show or 2 once he's 6 months old, never shown before so it will be interesting.

Progress

Had a good weekend with Ruger and socialising, he has met lots of different people and is not barking at them as he was, which is great. I took him to the hairdressers and he sat and focused on me instead of looking at what was going on around him.
Yesterday Ruger went to his first agility show, Delinquent Dogz in Sheffield, where again he met lots of new people and dogs
Mawgan was her usual self with no stay, so we had 5 faults in the agility for leaping off the A-frame, then we had 3 eliminations, although she ran lovely once past the first 3 jumps.
Zara worked well she went clear in agility and jumping, and I was so pleased with her in the jumping as she was perfect, did everything I asked, including lifting her feet!!! She got 2nd in both classess at Level 1.

Ruger's first puppy class

Ruger went to his first puppy class last night at Buddies, run by friends of ours Karen and Derek. We missed the first week of the course due to work, so Ruger entered the class and decided that he had to let everyone know he was there by barking like a mad creature. I settled him in with a tub of polony and managed to get his focus with lots of hard work!! He managed the sits and downs very well and also into the stand, I was very pleassed with him, as he does his positions at home, but there are more distractions in a class. Heelwork wasn't as good as I had hoped as he didn't like having a dog behind him, he wanted to say hello, however he walks nicely on the lead when we are out and about, ie. he doesn't pull, so I am not too worried.

Settling in

Well Ruger has well and truly settled in to life in Lancashire. He has done alot in the last few weeks and takes everything in his stride. He was very well behaved at the vets, and went to his first agility lesson last week (as a spectactor) and loved it, might have been the fuss and attention and lots of treats, as long as he is not scared by the noise etc I am happy. He has visited Liverpool and South Wales and enjoys exploring new places.

Mawgan and Zara are happy with him, Mawgan ignores him mostly but will protect him if she thinks that Zara is being too boisterous, Zara now loves him as he plays all the time.

Both Mawgan and Zara have been performing well at agility shows in the last few weeks, Zara is now starting to pick her feet up!!! At the April Gundog show Zara had a 3rd in graded 1 & 2 Agility and 5th in jumping, then at Tailwaggers she got 6th in introductory Jumping and Mawgan got 6th in Triple A Agility (not bad for a dog that pings her contacts!).

Last weekend was the WBSDS show at Newbury, I was so pleased with both dogs as they ran so well, Zara only knocked one pole in 10 runs getting 3 clears unfortunately no places but the classes were big, I was not so happy with her totally forgetting what weaves are though, she kept missing the entry, and weaves are usually her strongest point LOL. Mawgan ran one clear getting a 16th place in Combined 1-4 ABC Jumping, she was unlucky with quite a few 5 faults, but she normally gets lots of E's but only had 3 in 10 runs, so that's a big acheivement for her, she was listening to me most of the time.

Ruger's First Week

This was Ruger's first night at home, Mawgan and Zara soon settled with him, he is not frightened by their size, and will take any toys he wants out of Zara's mouth as she lets him. The first night he slept well until about 4.30 but once taken into the garden he slept again untill daylight. During his first week he has got into a good routine of sleeping, eating and playing. He has learnt a recall, present, fetch a toy and leave. Today I have started clicker training with him and after one session he is very responsive.
Mawgan and Zara have now settled down and are not trying to chase him around, at first Mawgan thought he was as robust as Zara but is now quite gentle with him.