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Monday 22 July 2013

And back to form we go!!!

Leaving at 6am last Friday to avoid the heat was a good choice. By the time we reached Catton Hall Derbyshire, at 10am it was already 27 degrees and no breeze! The pitches were huge, the venue was lovely  and we were lucky to be near the rings but on the edge of camping so had a lovely open space behind us to exercise the dogs. Paddling pool was filled, both Fiammas erected, and every window and skylight open and by noon we were chillaxing. Fern & I set up a ring, built a course and it was almost unbearable heat! What a contrast to this time last year!!
Saturday was Champ day, and as we walked the jumping course first thing we were a bit taken aback by it! It was choppy, naggy, and had no flow at all and from the chatter heard from other competitors it was a bit of a conversation piece! Cove was 6th to run and he did really well but was eliminated for a wrong jump, but so were probably 60% of the dogs that ran, if not more. The agility course was in contrast a lovely clever but flowing course, and Fern & Cove got their first clear round at Champ level! A really nice round.
Lily had a good clear in jumping and was very happy and full of beans :-) Olli had a clear and was 5th in Anysize jumping, and is flying around the lower courses, proving I made the right decision for once! George was in naughty Merle mood so was eliminated in both his runs. I was disappointed, more frustrated really, as he has such a natural talent yet he does such childish things sometimes................and then I remember he is not yet 2 and a half, is already well on his way to grade 6 and hasnt been competing for a whole season yet. With so many good youngsters coming out the same time as George, I have sometimes felt pressured (which is stupid) but its hard not to want him to win. Thankfully I am a bit of a muppet, and just love my dogs and their quirky ways, so I soon "had a word with myself" and appreciated him for what he is. A total dream boy :-)
Who couldnt love this face??!!!

Then it was Twiggys turn, and she had a good clear in the same jumping class as Lily, a bit tighter but probably not quite as fast, although they are so different to run its hard to tell, and I forgot to look at their times :-( Talking of times, in the agility Twiggy had a stunning run, just one slight wide turn out of the tunnel but a cracking clear........and the judge came over to me as we left the ring to say the timing had failed :-( Its one of those things, and nobodys fault so I left it for a couple of dogs to run to get my breath back, and we set up on the start line again. Bless Twiggy, another great run, full of fun and this time not so wide on the turn and another clear!! She was pushy on her contacts second time round, and we thought the judge may have marked her dogwalk, but an hour later at the presentations (while Rog and I were off buying supplies in Burton on Trent), Fern collected her trophy for me. First place! She had won it by just over a second, and when we watched the video she was quick, and so tight! My little girl won at a big show, and is now beating George on the race to grade 6 :-) 


Sunday was another scorcher, and I was glad to have an early run with George in the Camddwr Cup Qualifier agility. 320 dogs entered and a really nice course with a few challenges but nothing nasty. George was back in the room, and he did a stunning run, and went into the lead. He held the lead for 2 hours!! I kept checking as I couldnt believe some of the dogs he had beaten, but in the end he was knocked off the top by a brilliant Belgian Shepherd dog, by a fraction of a second. I was still so chuffed with the run, and in such a huge class at a big show, George really did me proud. Olli had another place in jumping but with the ground being so hard, and the heat almost unbearable I decided not to run Lily on Sunday. Twiggy was naughty on her contacts so we ran out laughing, and cursing and Cove was eliminated in his agility for a silly lack of communication between him and Fern. By then it was nearly lunchtime, and we packed up and headed home. Missed the Grade 6/7 jumping and the pairs. Unlike me to miss some runs, but the dogs were not happy, and it was a 4 hour drive back in 30 degrees of heat with broken Air Con :-( 
Still loving this agility lark and never bored of learning new things with the dogs, young and old. Watching Olli having so much fun now in his special jumping classes, is just the best. Watching Cove mature and start to look like such a superstar is awesome, George & Twiggy both so different but so happy and fun to run, the future is still at their feet, and then young William. Handsome, clever boy with gallons of potential which is starting to really show now. By this time next year he will be competing! Cant quite believe how time flies, and I still have a few goals left to achieve this season. Best get my arse in gear then!!!

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Great levellers these dogs of ours :-)

Lansdown was a bit of a change from last year. No bogs and torrential rain, with tractors bombing around towing everyone to safety, but a warm pleasant dry weekend. The Olympia qualifiers were both very different courses. A lovely flowing one from Barrie and a very weird, horrible one from the other judge. Twiggy was in Barries and George in the other. We didnt qualify, in fact both dogs were eliminated, but the 2 things I was more thrilled with were that Twiggy did a start line wait!!! and George was so fast and powerful I just couldnt get in position for one important move. Always take the positives :-)
Lily didnt seem to be firing on all cylinders on the Saturday so with a few bad runs I decided to leave her and not run her Sunday. Olli was meant to be running in the ABC qualifier but after a disastrous demolition derby in the grade 6 jumping, the final decision was made and he officially retired from competing at Grade 6. I was sad about them both, but the dogs and their welfare are my priority.
Cove was on hit & miss form, but pulled one out the bag to win the Grade 7 agility! 4 clears, 3 of which were wins in 2 weeks. Cracking rounds too, and then George managed a 7th in jumping, followed by a 3rd and Twiggy had 2 clears. I was a bit down on the Sunday worrying about Lily & Olli, and the youngsters picked up on that, and worked steady. No setting the world on fire that weekend.
  

Last weekend and probably the nicest, and one of the biggest shows of the summer. Tuffley, which this year was amalgamated with Prestbury Park. It was a scorcher!! 28 degrees when we arrived Friday lunchtime, and it stayed that way for the whole weekend. Its the first weekend for a long time that we havent won a trophy between us, with Georges 5th place being the closest to it all weekend. However after my sadness and worry about Lily & Olli the previous weekend, Tuffley totally changed my mood. Olli spanner was entered in his first anysize jumping classes, and he had a blast!! Charging around a course of low jumps, with no weaves or contacts to worry about, and he was so happy!!! The other bonus was that Tuffley has a river right next to the rings, and Olli looooooves water, so he went swimming and playing in the river with numerous other dogs of all shapes and sizes, and was in his element. Happy happy spaniel :-) Lily also went into the ring on Saturday with a sparkle in her eyes, and before we knew it she had 2 clear rounds! the second resulting in an 18th place out of over 200 combined grade 6/7 dogs and I was very happy with that. Not ready to retire yet! Sunday was so much hotter and she isnt keen on the heat so I didnt run her. She doesnt need to be competing on hard ground against top young dogs when she is hot and bothered. We can be choosy, but at least I know she is happy and fit for now.






1 clear round unplaced for Cove, and no clears at all for Twiggy. Brought down to earth with a bump after our recent winning streak, but then these dogs are only "human". I still saw people, including some top handlers, treat their dogs very unfairly over the last few weekends, and have heard about some really harsh handling, which if its true will upset me not just because of the dogs but because I have always had a lot of respect for the person allegedly involved. There is no excuse for it. I am not saying I havent been firm sometimes with a couple of my strong willed dogs, but there is a difference between firm controlled correction, a reminder maybe to focus back with the handler, and the yanking, bullying, shouting that I see. Good grief its the handler and the training that are to blame 99.9% of the time for the dogs so called bad behaviour, or mistakes in the ring. A shame more people dont remember that.
Off to Rugby Champ show this weekend, and its a first for us. Too blooming far for a weekend but its Ferns first season in Champ so we are off early Friday. Looks like the weather set to stay hot so need to get the Air Con fixed on Roxy, and buy a new paddling pool( as we broke ours last weekend) and plenty of cider in the fridge. It will be a great weekend as Rog coming too and we are camped with the best crowd :-) people who have fun and remember what life is about and how lucky we are to have such wonderful dogs :-)

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Consistency, good training, happy, loved dogs.........Perfick!

Its halfway through the year, the nights are officially drawing in again and we have competed in more shows than we have left to do this season. Where does the time go?! 
10 days ago we were off to Golden Valley in Worcester. Lovely friendly show, with some great classes, good judges and its such a nice venue and we were camping with the Monday Nighters..........(who we sort of tag along with, hoping that their luck rubs off on us :-) ) Its good to be with positive happy people, who are competitive, but fun and genuine. Still way too many moody, stroppy  "divas" in this sport for my liking, but thats another Blog.
Saturday was good weather, warm, dry and breezy and Fern & I were looking forward to the first day. Grade 6/7 Agility was a good course, really interesting, a few traps but I liked it and it looked like it would flow well, if you handled it right. Fern & Cove were the second to run, and having only had 1 clear since going to Grade 7 a few weeks ago, they were like clockwork and went clear! (Lily & I had a fab run, but an over enthusiastic seesaw cost us 5 faults.) Just over an hour until the class finished and they had won!! Leading from the start, and they stayed there. Great start to the weekend!
We then had Twiggy & Cove in the pairs, our first this year, and they went double clear, Cove fast, Twiggy tight and ....... we won! George went on to get a 3rd in Grade 5 Jumping and a 5th in 5-7 jumping and Twiggy 4th in Agility!! What an amazing day!! 


Sunday and it seemed our luck was to continue. George 4th in jumping, Twiggy 5th! Then probably the best 2 runs of the weekend and Twiggy won the Agility, by 2 seconds, and Cove won the Grade 7 Agility again!!! We were floating on cloud 9, and as the trophies at Golden Valley are china apples, we came home with a fruit bowl full!! lol!

The weather held all weekend apart from 1 shower and it really was a fun weekend. I love catching up with distant friends, seeing how other young dogs are coming on and developing. 
Take Will for example. 
A couple of weeks ago we travelled to Swindon to a referral Vets to have a small op on his tooth. Although he has been lucky with his mis-aligned overshot jaw hardly affecting him, he did have a small hole in the roof of his mouth caused by the bottom canine, so it had to be rectified. It was awful leaving him there that morning, and tears were shed, but he was so calm and the perfect patient. We spent a few hours with our dear friend Jilly and did some training at her field to help the time pass, and then collected a very wobbly but happy Will, with a shorter tooth. They had removed approximately 3 mm from the top of his canine, and then shaped the tooth so it looks normal it is just a lot smaller and not protruding into his top pallet now. 

This 3rd photo of him shows how slightly wonky his bottom jaw is if you look at bottom canines in conjunction with his nostrils :-) However you may not notice as you will be too struck by his smouldering good looks :-))

He is currently full on, fab worky boy with no hang ups, spooks or issues at all. Quite aloof in that other people and dogs are not really that interesting, but when he stops focusing on work he gives the best ever cuddles!! Really love having him in our family. :-))
Business  is booming and I cant believe it will be 5 years next month since we started making a few bits of equipment for friends! It just does not stop, and its nice that we now get quite a lot of recommendations. It also helps pay for all these dogs! We do enjoy making the bits and pieces and meeting all the lovely people along the way. Even our fencing is now starting to pop up at most shows, and thats good to see. It does also mean that Rog cant come to all the weekend competitions, as somebody has to make all the orders ready for Fern and I to paint and rubber coat during the weeks, but he manages to take a break and come to the important ones, and we know he is 100% supportive of us even when he is not there. Dont know what I would do without him. 

 



So this weekend we are off to Lansdown and another attempt for me to get Twiggy and George through to the Olympia semis, although I have to admit I am not as obsessed with getting to Olympia as I was. Its an amazing experience, and I loved it last time, but sometimes these things take over and I ruin my runs with nerves when I think "qualifier" so what will be will be. There is also ABC semi for Olli. This is his last weekend for a while jumping full height, but he was flying round the field last week, like a 2 year old and jumping with ease so we will see what happens!! I dont get nerves running Olli, I am always laughing too much! Cove & Lily have a Crufts run so some interesting courses to look forward to, and another weekend with friends. 
Who knows what results we will get this weekend, but I do know that consistency, patience and reward based training, along with a lot of fun and play times with your dogs, does make for a happy family all round :-) 

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Its been 8 weeks since my last confession............

If I were you I wouldnt bother following me... I am useless!!
Sooooo where do I begin to catch up on the last 8 weeks? My dogs are still brilliant, George & Twiggy have gone grade 5, Georgie already a win at Grade 5, and Cove went mad and had 3 wins in 2 weeks to go grade 7!!! Olli is now team coach, and just running in anysize jumping, Lily is still having fun and working well but mad as a hatter, and not very schooled, Stan is getting old and senile, Dave is still a little sh1t, and young William is huge, gorgeous and well into his training.
I have had shingles, a kidney stone, 3 trips to hospital, a cancer scare and am still awaiting more scans (but its not the big C) and I dont have time to be ill. Business is booming, the show season is well under way and life is pretty ok. Roxy the van is still not what I would call "right" but she has had windows fitted, my lovely dogs photos on the side panels, and is doing a pretty good job of getting us everywhere reliably, so we have a love/hate relationship for now. 
So Fern & Cove have now had 2 Champ classes since going to Grade 7, the first was at Hinckley. Ferns nerves were steady as a rock until she walked to the start line, and her legs went to lead, her voice disappeared and Cove knew it. There were some lovely bits to her runs, and only simple little things let them down, but the pressure is on now. Last weekend her second Champ was Thames, and although she didnt get through to the final, this time both her runs were great. Cove was so tight and fast and just 2 simple tiny things cost them a clear round, but its looking more do-able now. They then went on to come 9th in the Olympia qualifier with their first clear in G7 :-) 
Twiggy should have gone to the rescue league finals on Sunday, but when we realised how far it was from Thames, and the costs and logistics of it all we decided to give it a miss. I was close to tears on Saturday as I thought she deserved to go, but she doesnt know what she missed, and she went on to have some amazing runs at Thames, just missing out on qualifying for Olympia by less than a second, and just out of a finals place in Camdwr Cup, which incidentally Georgie was second in so has qualified!
George is becoming Mr consistent, with places in every class bar a couple over the last few weekends. 3 2nd places , 3rds, 4ths and when he matures maybe in a year or so, he is going to be one to beat. I am not in any rush for him to grow up or win up the grades too quick. 
Thats a quick catch up, and I will write again after our weekend away in Worcester this coming weekend. The first show for a few weeks, that doesnt have qualifiers or Champ classes, and one of my favourite friendly shows so hopefully a relaxing fun weekend with our gang.
www.ferodaagility.co.uk

Thursday 11 April 2013

George not so Looney!!

The season has started, yet somehow it doesnt feel right yet. Maybe its the cold weather that still insists on hanging around, or the fact that I am not happy with the new van, and also 2 of my best mates are not camping and competing as much this season due to personal reasons and changes in circumstances, but I still havent got into the real swing of things........However!,,,,George has taken the new season by the horns and won into Grade 5 at his second grade 4 show,.......and just to prove his worth, won again the following week!!! My baby is Grade 5 already!!! Twice! ha! 

The other lovely part to the new season, is that Lily has come back all guns blazing!! At 7 year old, she is no oldy but she is hard to keep fit, and had gone a bit stale at the end of last year, so after they all had their 6 week break over Christmas, I decided to not train Lily in agility, but to take her running with me, and do some one to one walks with her, chasing balls etc and keep her fit but fresh. She has started the new season with a 2nd at UKA champ, some stunning 5 fault runs (which were my faults not hers) and then 2nd in Grade 6 agility last weekend! She is puppy like, mental, bright eyed and wild and its thrilling :-)
Olli has started the season........like he finished the last! Gobby, mad as a hatter, and can not see the point in stopping on contacts when he can jump from the top and beat me to the next jump! So again, I have decided to not run him in agility classes anymore, just do Grade 6 jumping with him, so he can have fun, I can have a laugh running him and there is no pressure. He got me to Grade 6 and an Olympia ABC semi and thats pretty damn good for a large spanner who was trained as a gundog. :-) 
Twiggy is more cheeky, more wild and has had some great places to start the year but also some really silly runs because she is now so confident! I love the fact that she is so gobby and naughty now thats she makes mistakes. :-) Mind you, she still has the ocassional weird freak out at odd things, which remind her & me that she has a scary past :-( She will always be my spoilt rotten princess, whatever she does.

Cove has started the season with a lot of top 5 places, and as soon as Fern realises she has nothing to prove, nobody to impress and stops feeling pressured I am sure he will win into Grade 7 this year, but whatever happens he is a joy, and a talented boy who we all love to bits, even when he is freaking and spooking at ridiculous things! Thats Cove :-)

Young Will I Am :-) He is a muppet. He is funny, bright and sooooo loving! Probably the cuddliest puppy we have had, yet he has a very strong urge to work. He has a wise old head on young lanky shoulders, and Fern will have so much fun with him, but I also have a sneaky suspicion he will go to the top because he is so genuine. I just love watching them develop and they are all so different. 


So the season has started......and hopefully in the next few weeks I will get in the swing of things, and learn to love the van but one thing is for sure, my dogs are still the best in the world and always will be.

Friday 22 March 2013

Dont mention the van :-(

Not talking about the van. One of the reasons I have gone another Month without writing. Just been too peed off to be honest, and didn't want to write a moaning grumpy blog as that's not really my style, and there are people worse off than me by a long way so just "hrumph" for now :-(
The only good thing about "the unmentionable" is my new gang pic on the side. Twiggy and George now added and I am pleased with this......

I am amazed at the amount of garages that are not interested in trying to help you out or find a fault, which is obviously there, but gladly take your money to change parts totally unnecessarily. Most of the help we have had trying to diagnose the issues, has been by telephone with a very lovely friend of ours who just lives too far away to actually have a look. Some other friends offered us financial help which was so generous, and makes you realise who real friends are, restores your faith in people, but still I am £400 down and the Van has the same bloody fault, so I am really not looking forward to towing next weekend for the first time :-(

Right enough about that, the show season has started, and 2 weekends ago I actually did my first show alone! Rog was working here on equipment and Fern had to work in Okehampton so I went solo. It was a UKA show, too local not to take advantage of and the dogs were all wonderful. Twiggy 4th in Jumping, Lily 2nd in Champ and Georgie 3rd in steeplechase and won the jumping! Not a bad start at all!
Last weekend was our first KC show, and again the dogs had fun. All of them clear on the same jumping course, less than a second separating them, but the order was Cove, Lily, George & Twigs. Then in Georges first Grade 4 Agility he did a lovely round and was 3rd! (Cove Lily & Twiggy all eliminated on the same course!!) 2 shows, 2 trophies for Georgie Pants, I am liking this start!
William is just scrummy. He fitted in so quick, and is so loving and easy to live with. Exactly what I wanted for Fern, a proper working dog, 100% temperament steady but with a real work ethic. He is  very keen to join in at these agility shows but will also focus and work with Fern near the rings, so a perfect balance at the moment. Not a bad bone in his lanky, leggy funny body :-) 





We took him to see a specialist Vet Dentist last night to assess his overshot jaw, and discuss how we move forward, and indeed if he is going to be requiring much interference with it. It doesn't affect Will at all at the moment, and he eats well, can pick anything up from the floor, and has a real strong tug. The issue may be that as his adult teeth are coming through, the bottom canines will dig into his top palet. They are behind his top canines, where as a normal dog has them in front. It could mean a bit of intervention as they grow, by a skilled Vet, just to stop him being in any discomfort but its a waiting game, and as long as he is happy and healthy that's all we care about.

Now its the damn weather that is on everyones lips again. Snow snow, rain and  more rain and already talk that the first few camping shows at Easter next weekend, may have to be cancelled due to soggy ground. Oh lets start this year exactly as we finished last then. In our waterproofs.....

Thursday 21 February 2013

The Scotland Trip and Roxy part 1

This month I finally found a van that met with my requirements perfectly. It was another Renault Trafic, 5 years younger than mine, bigger engine, better towing capabilities, and already had 4 cages. ................ It was however the other end of the country from us! Between Edinburgh & Glasgow, so I had no way of going to see it, try it out and I didnt know the seller but trusting other peoples opinions, and a whole heap of photos of the van, we decided to take the chance. Exciting stuff really. Bought tickets for me & Rog on a sleeper train from Taunton to Paddington, followed by a normal train from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, then a little train that reminded me of a Morris Minor, to West Calder to meet the new van.
Thanks to Mark & Karen Laker at this stage, as I had no idea how to sort the train tickets, and also thanks for Mark warning us the word "sleeper" is a very loose term. I think I managed about 15 minutes and Rog probably 5! Fast, bouncy, rattly and the word "reclining" is also a dubious term for the seats. "Tilt very slightly" would be a better description to be honest, but hey ho, we were on an adventure!






Paddington station, the Underground and Kings Cross were so clean. I was impressed with how smart and huge they were! Paying 30p just to go for a quick wee I thought was a bit extreme, but the toilets were so spotless and the Dyson Blade hand drier fascinated me!! Well worth 30p!


5 hours in a hard seat with some extremely rude, irritating American students sat just across from us, made the journey from Kings Cross to Edinburgh a tough one, but the coffee was good, and watching the sun rise and watching the changing scenery as we travelled through so many counties made it bearable. One interesting observation was how the whole country is waterlogged. Miles and miles of boggy fields, and half ploughed land everywhere we looked. Its been a tough time for farmers all over.

Meeting Peter & Tricia his wife, and all their lovely dogs was fun, and after a coffee there and a few papers signed, we left West Calder around 2pm and headed back downwards towards our great mates house in Rastrick Huddersfield for our overnight stop. The van drove really well, and was so tidy I was relieved, and looked forward to seeing our friends for some real food and a bed!

6.30 we walked in to the warmest welcome at Sharon, Chris & Samanthas and although dead on our feet from lack of sleep, we needed to unwind before we slept, and unwind we did. Gorgeous food, a few glasses of something pleasant and so many giggles!!! It was a wonderful evening, and after a hot shower we hit the sack around 10.30 and I dont even remember my head hitting the pillow!





We were up early and left Huddersfield at 6.40am Sunday morning for the drive home. It was another beautiful day and we saw the sun come up over the moors as we journeyed. Costa and Krispy Kremes at 7am, MacDonalds breakfast halfway home, and arrived back at ours at 12.30 with our lovely new Van. :-)
Loved spending quality time with Rog, and seeing the Mitchells and just seeing a bit more of our lovely country for a change. It was a great weekend...........................
Part two will follow....

Monday 11 February 2013

Not good at this now!

Blimey I am rubbish! May as well not have bothered saying I was going to make the effort to write this regularly as I have just got back here and its 5 weeks since the last one! Useless!
However, we have been a tad busy, and so much has happened I am not sure where to start but will try.







We have had a lot of snow, and rain, lots of floods and not much training really started with the dogs yet. We have all been very busy with the agility business, and the orders are flooding in! We would so love to able to concentrate more of our time building agility equipment and developing new ideas, but we just dont have the financial backing to do that. Rog has to put the Electrical Engineering first as it still pays our bills and just about keeps us afloat, and my job helping to run a haulage company pays the rent so for now we just have to work 25 hours a day.
I finally re did our Web Site and although still a few bits to add, I am a lot happier with it now and the counter is clicking up well! 
To the dogs..............
Young Will has settled in beautifully and has become such a cheeky, and happy member of our gang. Every dog is a joy, and its fascinating to me just how different they are, each having special little quirks or behaviours that make them unique, and I love them all. Will is no exception. He is very loyal to Fern, and within a few days of being here, took to trotting around by her  side, wanting to be with her and looking for interaction. He learns new things daily and with ease. Extremely intelligent and such a drive to work, yet also laid back and easy to live with. Compare him a lot to George, who was also instantly attached to me from a pup, and is very definitely my dog and mine alone, yet it took me months to get George to come back at me, bouncing and demanding I play with a tug or ball, whereas Will is doing it already at 12 weeks old! Will and George are both working lines, and it shows in the natural herding and chasing they have both shown so Fern has to work more with Will alone (a point I keep nagging her to listen to, but she is stubborn! and I am just a nagging Mum) I walked George alone for months to start with until we had a real bond, not just a loving one, which was there from day one, but a working relationship, an understanding of each other and that takes time and patience. Obviously George is a blue Merle so is much more mental than Will but they really are very similar.



Have started running now, on a program thanks to an app on the iPhone. Bought a decent Canix belt and double bungee lead and have Lily & George as my running partners. 2 reasons for this team. 
1. They are similar size, build and get on very well, with identical stride patterns.
2. Lily needs as much work as possible to keep fit, and George has more energy than the rest put together!
I did try Twiggy & George one day last week, as they are best buddies, but Twiggy was hilarious!!! She just gallops and bounces at the end of the line, so excited and mad keen. Poor George couldnt keep his stride and I was nearly bent in half the wrong way trying to hold her back!!! Not maybe the ideal running dog, but she is perfect in every other way Princess Twiggy, so can let her off that one. :-) Olli is a great running partner but only off lead. He will stay near you, is so close and trustworthy off lead, but on the bungee he darts across infront of you, hears a possible something in the hedge, runs backwards, and nearly had me A over T so many times I am afraid he cant do the roadwork :-)


All the dogs are happy & chilled and enjoyed the winter break but are now back on training. Had a couple of workshops with the youngsters and they are full on raring to go! I am looking forward to this season more than ever, as my babies are growing up and now we can really see what they have up their sleeves. 
The excitement starts with Rog & I travelling by train to Scotland this weekend to collect our new van!! Rex has been a brilliant van for us for 3 years but he needs a new home, so is off to Cornwall next week to be loved and to look after some new dogs :-) We will be taking care of our new "lass" and hope she will look after us and our gang for the next few years. First show is in 2 weeks and I cant wait!! 

Now to set my alarm to remind me to Blog again in a week!!! :-)