Seems a bit silly to give you a page long run down of last Sunday so a slightly shorter version goes something like this:
*LOTS to work on before Wallingford!
Thai was a very good boy, this was effectively his first Grade 6 show, we ran at Dartmoor in G6 but that was an indoor winter show and so don’t really count it. Thai had a pole in the SC, but a good time and came 2nd in the 6/7 Agility behind Nigel Hughes – who is a man and therefore could run up the hill from the bottom of the ring to the top!! And came 3rd in the 6/7 jumping behind Toni and Raq and Nigel and Miya again! So very pleased as Raq and Miya are both experienced Grade 7 dogs (shame they weren’t graded!!!!!)
Thai's DW wasn't very impressive - I won’t get away with a slow contact and a 2nd place at Newbury this weekend so that is my number one training priority this week. I was pleased with Thai’s weaves, Dan has been nagging me to stop managing his weaves so much and trust him to find the entries and although not the hardest of entries this weekend I left him to it and he put in his braking stride and got the entries well in both classes (unlike a certain other merle I will talk about later!!). I think Thai’s highlight of the day was probably his opportunity to come out and spend time with the humans and play ‘catch the piece of grass’. He can be such a clown sometimes and I do forget that he is really easy to have around the rings and enjoys a bit of attention away from the others.
Dan has been training Thai this week - I think they make a really good team and hope they do some classes together this year and see what happens :)
Magic would have had a very good day had she remembered all the hard work Dan had put in with her weave training over the winter. Eventhough Dan was very controlled and stood still for her entry, marked it, and encouraged – exactly how we have been doing it at training she came out 2 from the end - twice. We worked on this in training last week and think we may have discovered the cause - and hopefully a solution! Contacts were stunning in the Agility - hopefully they can achieve good contacts and a full set of weaves this weekend. Dan ran off down the field leaving Mag in her weaves yesterday - so we would like to think she might stay in them if he is running beside her this weekend - otherwise the person running in the next ring will get a shock if Dan has to recreate his training and proofing of the weaves!!
Birthday boy Cruze was a little exuberant for the whole day. SC was actually ok, I really pushed him on a tight fan and down a straight line of jumps downhill and all the poles stayed up. We then had to turn left tight to take a diagonal across a box; which Cruze stopped for very well; in fact a bit too well and I nearly fell over the top of him as he stood there staring at me and the jump. It always surprises me just how good this dog is at listening to body language and cues, he looks like he isn’t listening at all but you just have to make one tiny move and he is there with you.Having said that – he wasn’t with me in his jumping or particularly his agility round!
6/7 agility I was really pleased with Cruze’s dog walk speed…………..the course started jump-dogwalk, Cruze flew up the dogwalk and I thought oh good his contact training seems to be paying off……….as I then watched my dog fly off the side and land in a heap on the floor L. I hadn’t really accounted for the fact that the DW was slightly set to the side from the first jump or that it was going down hill, and obviously Cruze did not either!
I put him back over the dogwalk, and although not as fast as the original one to be fair it was still better than last years attempts as he drove to the bottom nicely. I pushed his Aframe and he stopped nicely.
This year I need to remember Cruze is not my baby dog he is now 4 years old and capable of doing some good work and I need to let him show everyone how grown up he is and what he is capable of.
Phaze had another fab day; I think she is certainly getting into going to shows. She thinks she can just get out of the van and throw herself at the nearest available people as 90% of the time that will either be Pat, Dani et al, Claire, Lolly or Chel and they will all be pleased to see her – a few people were a bit more shocked at a puppy coming in sideways at them for a cuddle from behind a van!! Too friendly those Harrjaks!!!!!!!!
This weekend we had no show to go to; Scunthorpe, Bedfordshire or Romsey - all a little too painful on the diesel front! So we had a lovely weekend at home; sun shining, BBQs, a little too much Vodka, some training - not necessarily in that order. We had a lovely walk by the river on Dartmoor today where we discovered if Phaze is no good at agility she could be used as a recovery diver as she decided swimming was too easy and thought she'd throw in a bit of deep river diving in to mix it up a bit and brought out some lovely big stones from the bottom of the river!
We also got the paddling pool out for the first this year, much to Thai's delight - there are a few things that really excite Thai but a paddling pool is certainly high up on the list (as are tennis balls, bits of grass, tiny tiny sticks and cheese). As quickly as I fill it with the hose pipe Thai throws it all back out again, we went through quite a few soft bottomed paddling pools before I cottoned on to the idea of buying a hard plastic one ;-) Phaze thought this might be fun and I caught her in there later having a go, at which point I'm not sure who threw the most water out of the paddling pool, me or her, while we were playing together :)
I was thinking about the rules to which we let our dogs live by whilst I was sunbathing and reading a book this weekend. Cruze appeared with a ball and placed it on my lap and I idly threw it for him and so the process began. It made me think about the books that tell you not to let your dog dictate when it's playtime or even to allow them free play of toys as this will lower the value of the toys when you want to use them as a reward. I'm not sure I believe this. So Cruze dictated at that moment that he wanted to play fetch - why can't he suggest this? We are having a lazy day and he is offering some interaction with me - is this a bad thing? Will my dog demand to play at other inappropriate moments? Maybe - but he also understands if I say 'not now' and he will go off and find something else to do or play by himself. I don't think any of our dogs regard their toy in training at any lesser value just because they have been playing with a toy they found in the kitchen 5 minutes ago.
Our dogs are pets first and foremost and i want them to enjoy life as much as possible. I like to let my dogs have a choice and I enjoy watching them all go about their day, chewing bones, playing in the paddling pool, playing with toys. They all live fairly easy going lives and get the chance to wander off in the field whenever they fancy. Although I use a cage for puppies, once adults they never see a cage in the house, Phaze loves her cage and demands to have her dinner in there so she may be harder to wean off her cage, but she hasn't been in her cage overnight since she was 4 months old, and never in there if we are at home, which is most of the time. I think it is just as important for a dog to learn that even if they have free run of the house they need to learn to settle and rest when they need to or when everyone else is.
I haven't yet had a dog that doesn't have a good recall, doesn't understand the boundaries of 'their garden', certainly none have ever refused to play with a toy with me - even if there is a mountain of toys to chose from sitting on the floor beside them. I think my dogs are happy with the way I have chosen to allow them their freedom and I certainly enjoy watching and playing with them.
