I can not believe its been 6 weeks since I found time to write! .......Actually yes I can. Our agility business is busy, Rogers "real" work is even busier, the weather has been pretty rubbish and hindered lots of things, and I dont seem to find any spare time at all.
So in the last 6 weeks a lot has happened.
We spent a week at our first training camp and it was a blast! Training with top handlers, chilling with good friends, and lots of quality time with the dogs. Would recommend it to everyone as agility obsessed as us :-)
Cove has had a win already in Grade 6, and 2 second places too, Twiggy is still improving in confidence and having real fun around the courses now, with consistent clear rounds, but over the last few weeks had more eliminations, which has actually excited me. She is getting faster and cocky, and has caught me out, so I am thrilled. Now I am going to really start working her properly, and the clears when they come will be winning runs :-)
George is not far from starting out on the scene, which seems bizarre! No more puppy, now a very talented, handsome young man who is showing signs of being a natural agility dog, and I can not wait to start competing him :-)
Olli has had a rest, seen a chiropractor who straightened him out a bit, and suddenly he is jumping more fluently and back looking like a grade 6 spanner. Sometimes you have to take a good look at your dogs to see what is staring you in the face. Still, only a minor injury and thankfully we do spend so much time with our guys that I knew when he wasnt right.
Lily has been left a bit in the background. Not on purpose, but I admit I thought she was not in need of regular training, and i was concentrating on the 2 young ones when I had a spare 5 minutes, so I am rectifying that now. Its a fact that every dog you have, will probably be trained a bit better than the last. New ideas and gained knowledge will dictate this, unless you are someone who refuses to move with the times or accept change. Lily didnt have the same training, nor did she start from a puppy, being a year old before I took her to her first agility foundation group, so the younger dogs do have a better understanding,but she is still my gorgeous girl, and has done me proud, so we are back on track and going to try and get back to winning ways. Last weekend at Agility Club she had a near perfect run in the Crufts qualifier, just a pole as she stretched to far to catch me up. My fault totally, but it was a reminder of how clever she can be :-)
Cove won the starters cup, and had a second in Grade 6 jumping, 11th in Crufts qualifier, and is looking like a mature boy now......most of the time! It was a fab weekend, with glorious sunshine and great friends to share it with and although it is a 5 hour drive it is definitely one of my favourite shows and we will be back next year.
This weekend we are home, and its our local Folk Festival so we are looking forward to a catch up with non agility friends, before setting off on Thursday next week to the International KC Festival followed by Dogs in Need. The hi light of our year, but also signals the beginning of the end of the season for us.
Counting down then to Coves Olympia semi final and Georgies début at Prestbury Park. Not sure which is going to be the more nerve racking for me!!
Will try and get back to weekly blogs now,...............
