Skye

WBSDS was Skye's first KC show. I haven't do much training with him like I did with Sing and Saturn. He only do 20 minutes a week on lower jump height. I think he was a good boy.

some agility videos

pairs at the Sheltie Agility Show:

Saturn @ UKA Scrambles:

update on agility news

Finally, some agility news ...

UKA Scrambles (Fri 4th & Sat 5th April)
Both Sing and Saturn did very well. This was our 2nd time at UKA. The first time was nearly 2 years ago, me competing with Sing at GT!! Sing & Saturn were competing at the Beginners level, I am glad that Saturn got to do some simple flowing course, which he much needed to build up his speed. He was a real good boy.

Results:

Friday

Saturn

Steeplechase - 1st

Agility - 1st

Jumping - e'd (HA!)

Sing

Steeplechase - 3rd

Agility - 5 faults on the DW

Jumping - 1st

Saturday

Saturn

Steeplechase - 1st

Agility - 2nd

Jumping - 2nd

Sing

Steeplechase - 2nd

Agility - 3rd

Jumping - 3rd

Sorry no videos for Friday, Colin was at work and I was on my own!! I was very nervous when I have to take the all dogs on my own but the parking was very nice, close to rings. I will have to search through the video camera for some runs for the past few weekends.

Sheltie Agility Show (Sun 13th April)

I was so much looking forward to it and determined to win the Best Novice Trophy. It is a very nice trophy which every sheltie lovers would dream of! Unfortunately it was not my day. I'd received a bad news from my family the day before, so I wasn't up for enjoying myself but seeing so many agility friends made me feel better at some point.

Sing got a 2nd in the Novice Jumping and we've got a nice tea cup and Saturn got a 3rd in the 1-4 Jumping. Andy and Nancy put up some very nice handling courses, I wish I was mentally well enough to handle the courses. Videos to follow ...

Wallingford (Sun 20th April)
Certainly Saturn didn't do well at Wallingford. He started to hesitate again on the A Frame, at one class, he actually freeze on top of the A Frame, unfortunately there is no video to find out the answer but someone did say to me it could be the judge was standing too close to the A Frame but I don't think that would worried Saturn. He got a a 5th in the Grade 3 Agility (?).

Sing had a couple of places in the Agility classes and went clear in the Jumping.

The day passed in blur!!

WBSDS (Sat 26th & Sun 27th April)
The boys did ok. Saturn yet was another naughty sheltie!! We have friends came to visit us on Saturday with their show shelties and Saturn took fancy on the girls, can't remember which girl but he was crazy, real crazy that he could not concentrate. I tried very hard to get his attention back but his mind just drifted off. Unfortunately I have three dogs to run and I have four classes first thing in the morning, so there is no time for me to fool about, especially Saturn and Skye were both in the same class and you have to run according to your running order. I was so much hoping Saturn will do well in the graded jumping, and YES, he disappointed me!! He didn't even look at me at the start line and after he took off, he just shot in a straightline and would not listen to me at all!!! After we came out from the ring, I have to kindly tell my friend to "go away" when Saturn is in the other ring. Luckily I got his attention back (not fully but at least 80%) and he got a 4th in the Agility. Not a smooth round, his turn was wide and he hesitate on the A Frame a little. We then have to wait for few hours before his Jumping. He was much better in the morning but I worried about the 7 weaves and lost time in that, so he got 6th in the Jumping. Yes, funnily, on Saturday, the Agility and Jumping have 7 weaves!!! On Sunday, Saturn was much happier, no girls to chase, so he better pay attention to me. He and Sing were in the same classes, all the classes were 1-4 combined/graded. The Comibined Agility was the first thing, he started off fine until the A Frame, he didn't miss the contact but run through it and I decided to put him back, and that probably was my big mistake by putting him back. The judge told me to put him on the target point instead of doing the whole A Frame, so when came to the graded class, he actually freeze on top of the A Frame again. I was very frustrated at that point. I asked the judge if I could redo the A Frame and she was kind enough to let do that but bad Saturn hesitate and came down slowly, so I have to pick him up to do the last jump. We both were unhappy so at the end of the day, our jumping round was messy and got a 10th.

Sing was a good boy at both days. He is not a fast boy, so he only have clear rounds on Saturday. We did a tricky handly combined 4-7 agiltiy course. I really like that course (by Graeme MacGregor) but Sing got 5 on the DW. Most dogs got e'd in that class. I'll post the video for this later.

On Sunday, Sing got his beautiful running contact and got 3rd in the Combined agility and 2nd in the graded agility and clear in the jumping. More videos later.

I like this photo of Sing weaving by Nick Ridley

Sing and Saturn updates

I have been very busy for the last few days, almost burning candles both ends! Will post the agility news later but now just a quick updates about Sing and Saturn.

Last week, the Vet found an ingrowing eyelash in Sing's right eye and there was a discussion either to laser it or pluck it out. The Vet decided he will pluck it out to see if it grows back. I sent Sing in this late morning and collected him around 1:30. The Vet said the op was easier than he though and he was happy about it. Obviously Sing's eye is sore and is uncomfortable. He is so happy to be home! I have to leave him in the new room (the old garage) with Saturn as the others are not very good with him, especially Titan. Hopefully he will be well enough to compete on the weekend.

above: my poor baby feeling grogy

Saturn is the only dog that I can trust to be with Sing.

As for my Saturn baby, his stomach seems to be happy since last Tuesday. He hasn't has any loose toilet or passing blood. All the test results came back good beside the campylobacter. The Vet can't understand why this campylobacter keeps returning. He suggested to keep feeding him the Hill's ID for the next 8 weeks then thinking about changing to a highly digestive diet.

shelties for sale!!

shelties for sale!!

problems? Help!

Well, this is not an interesting post but I need some advices and suggestions, please.

Sing has an eye infection while we were on holiday (must be a good three weeks ago), he has been treated properly and I have given him the oilment as prescribed. Unfortunately he still have teary eye! The Vet has a closer look today and found a hair (eye lash!) growing inside his eye (the upper bit). The Vet suggested a laser treatment to remove the hair. I have never heard of this before and the laser treatment sounds "serious" to me. The Vet said this is an abnormal case, so could someone tell me is it ok to do the laser treatment or is there a better way to treat this? I did mentioned about pulling the hair out but the Vet said it could grows back again!!

Saturn has campylobacter a while ago and have been treated with three lots of antibioctic. This problem didn't clear up totally, it keeps coming back from time to time. I have changed his diet from Burns to James Wellbeloved, unfortunately it didn't clear up the bowel bacteria inside him!! He has been poorly (toilet wise) since last Sunday. He keeps passing blood and loose toilet for one whole week. We went to see the Vet again today and he has given him more antibioctic and pro-kaolin to temperary stop the diarrheoa and hopefully to stop him passing blood. He also took his blood sample, so it would be another 7-10 days wait for the result. For time being, I bought bag of Hills' Diet from the Vet as he recommended a reduced fat and highly digestible food for him. Could any bloogers recommend any food they know is HIGHLY DIGESTIBLE with possible reduced fat with high protein as well?

just a quick update

Yes, I have joined the bad blogger group!!

Sorry I haven't update my blog but most of my friends knew I have some family problem and understand that I am going through some emotional stages!

I've been to the Sheltie Agility Show last Sunday and enjoyed Nancy and Andy's courses, unfortunately I wasn't on form and let the boys down. We went to Wallingford today, again, I was emotional and that upset the boys and their performance were not brilliant either!

I am trying hard to put myself together, hopefully we will perform better next weekend.

April Snow

What a white surprised! I woke up pretty early this morning and moaning about NO snow! Obviously I have not pull the curtain to look out!! As I did, I was screaming and that scared the poor shelties, wonder what's wrong with their mad mummy!!

I really can't wait to take the boys out to enjoy the snow and take some snowy photos. We were out walking for three hours, unfortunately the batteries went flat in half an hour!! It was still snowing heavily while we were out in the Common. The boys love the snow, especially Sing and Saturn.

For those who knows Saturn, he loves to jump in the air to catch his toy in the hand and today, I tried to roll a piece of snow and threw and asked him to catch it, he did as told and it was so funny to watch he used his two front paws to catch the snow then eat them!! Colin tried hard to take the photos, he was too slow!

me and the boys in the Common

me sledging

photos from Crufts

I've just received these photos from Trevor Greenslade, he kindly let me post the photos on the blog:

Spring at Shuttleworth

Well, we left from the campsite in Peak District heading towards Spring at Shuttleworth on Friday afternoon. We got to Old Walden Park nice and early but the ground was too wet and we got stuck again. Unfortunately we got stuck on the slope, this means we spent all weekend sliding down in bed! I was very tensed and stressed, not knowing what to do with the caravan. I have my friend Jim expecting me home early Sunday to help pushing the caravan back into the front garden. I don't normally need him but because we have so many nails from the garage conversion and I am worried I am going to puncture the tyres!

Anyway, Saturday started off sunny in the early hours but the wind was very strong and kept blowing down the jumps. I didn't get a good sleep and I started off badly. I was running against the wind and unable to keep up with Saturn, so we made some silly mistakes because I am not fast enough to be able to switch!! Saturn was a good boy, he tried very hard and I think his contacts are getting so much better, eventhough we still need to get him to come down faster but I am very happy with his performance in this extreme weather. We've got a 6th in one of the runs, I can't remember which as I was too tired and don't know what was going on.

On Sunday, after another night kept sliding down, I felt exhausted. Luckily the weather massively improve and we were getting too hot by mid-day. Saturn again was a good boy, he still hold his contacts and to my surprised, we've got a 7th in the Combined 1-7 TFO, out of 109 dogs, that is good! In the last run, Combined 1-3 Agility, I tried to release him faster on the contacts and have realised he was too fast releasing himself on the A Frame and I will have to watch this in future. I don't want to blow away his good contacts after such a long period of getting it right. He got a 4th in that round.

Sing wasn't on form last weekend. Due to his eye infection, he tried very hard to get 2 clear rounds on Saturday but Sunday, he lost interest in the Agility and got 5 on the weave! He has seen the vet yesterday and been treated, he is much better today, at least his eye is mostly dry.

Thanks to the weather, the ground dry up on Sunday and we could pull away without any help. It took me 20 minutes to monouver to find the grip and finally we got to the concrete and drove up just before dark.

Here are some runs from Saturn:

mad O'roukes

This is the Bar counter at Mad O'Roukes (right hand side); the left hand side with the Board is where you order you pie and hot drinks.

This is the famous 4lbs Desperate Dan's Cow Pie

The Hardy Family

We have been travelling about 1070 miles since Good Friday! After we found out Dashin' Dogs is cancelled due to high wind, we checked in at our caravan park in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Woodland Caravan Park (http://www.woodlandcaravanpark.co.uk/). This is a new campsite, this is just their second season. It is clean, tidy and tranquil. We were surrouding by all lovely pine trees and the high wind didn't bother us at all! They even have a securely fence quarter of an acre land for the dogs to run free and just behind the campsite, they have a lovely country walk for miles!

During our holiday in the Peak District, we have expericed all sorts of extreme weather but it didn't stop us go out walking for miles and miles everyday in the snow, rain, high wind and sunshine. We have two walks a day, one in the morning, then hop in to a pub for nice lunch, then go for another walk then go back to our campsite.

Day 1, we went to The Roaches (http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/visits/roaches.php) in snow! It was a medium walk, a bit of climbing, not too bad but we managed just nice in the snow!

we are on the way up to the Rock

Colin and Sing and Saturn were brave enough to climb where I chicken out on the slippery rock!! I think the boys did better than their daddy!!

Don't think the boys enjoyed taking photos!!

After a warm pub lunch, we found Biddulph Grange Garden (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-biddulphgrangegarden/) to burn off the calories we have just taken. It was a lovely long walk in the snow, sunshine and rain!

Seagull can't cope with the snow!!

These two evil and wicked combinations couldn't care less!

Biddulph Grange Garden is a very big garden, you just walk miles and miles ... they have a few different walks, some are difficult and some are gentle ... this is a long road, which way now?

a miserable Seagull walking in the rain

Day 2, we thought after a long walk from yesterday, we should take the second day easy, I do not want to get over tired for Spring at Shuttleworth. We chose to find some water walk for Sing ... we found Carsington Water (http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/visits/carsington.php), since this was a not-in-plan walk, we decided to do a quick 20 minutes but this 20 minutes walk turned into disaster! We didn't know this Carsington Water is BIG, we just followed the route around and to realised you either carry on finish the route or there is no turning back!! As we do not want to pay the expensive car park, so we park a couple of miles away. Guess what, we walk and walk and walk, hungry, thirsty ... wander how far is this walk, but it seems endless ... again, in the snow, rain and sunshine, that made the walk a torture! We haven't prepare for food or snack, so we were really starving after 1.5 hours walk! But, we are not even half way round the lake yet!! The route include a walk through the village and we were so happy to find a pub, don't care about the quality of food, as long as they do food, we will go for it! We have the five shelties with us in the beer garden and have our Roast Beef in the snow!!!

After we got back to our campsite, we can't wait to find out how many miles we have been walking! The Water itself is about 8-9 miles and we park the car further, so it must be a good 10 miles we have been walking!!

By the end, we were all very tired!!

Monday, Day 3, we went a bit further into Walsall to visit the Tree Museum, it wasn't very interesting, it is quite a built up area and the dogs have to be on the lead. I don't think we enjoyed the walk as the boys can't run free!! We then went to Tipton, near Dudley for some mad pies! Colin found this place, the famous unique pie factory called MAD O'ROUKES (http://www.madpies.co.uk/). They have their own very famous "Desperate Dan's Cow Pie" of 4lbs, Colin was very interested but we don't think he will finish the whole 4lbs pie, so we both chose to go for a Ruby Murray Pie! I have some great photos of the pub and the pie on my iPhone but my old pc wouldn't let me download anything more than 2GB!! I need to find a way to post the photos. It is a lovely pub/pie place, we have to return to try the 4lbs Cow pie two days later!!

The famous Mad O'Roukes

Day 4, we went to Black Rock. It was a nice walk, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery, again, I was not brave enough to climb those rocks, Colin and the boys went up there but I decided I would just stay down here to take photos!!

The Black Rock that does not look BLACK!!

They wonder why I don't come up there with them!!

I like this photo, especially if you can spot Saturn, looks like he is eye spying me!!

Day 4, we went to Preston to meet up with Irene, one of my sheltie friends that lives in Cumbria. Preston is half way for both of us. We had a very long lunch to catch up with each other. It was very good to see Irene, unfortunately not with her three lovely shelties, the two girls were in season. After lunch, we took the boys out walking in Beacon Fell Country Park (http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/Environment/countryside/sites/beaconf.asp), again, in the snow and rain but no sunshine this time!! After the wet walk, we drove to Tipton again, so Colin can enjoy his Despearate Dan's Cow Pie!! I must get this 4lbs cow pie picture upload soon!!! Well, this mean we didn't get home till 10:30pm!

The Boys at Beacon Fell Country Park. This Park has a lot of sculptures.

Day 5, we went to Dove Dale, one of my favourite walks this holiday! It was a lovely day with a bit of rain but mainly dry. The attraction is the famous stepping stones! Colin and the boys walked on the stepping stones a few times on the beginning of the walks. The water was quite strong and some stones even under the water but the boys enjoyed themselves. On the journey back, I have a go and got all wet but we were very happy as we have all tried it!

we found this "money tree" on the walk in Dove Dale!

Skye on the stepping stones

Colin and Sing waiting for us

Bless him, he was so tired after the long walk, he fell sleep standing while we had our cup of tea!

Day 6, the last day of our holiday, we took it very easy, stay in the campsite, do the local walks. It was a lovely "sunny" day for a short while, so we can have our breakfast outside the caravan!!

Woodland Caravan Park

While out walking, Saturn practising his herding/stalking on the sheep!! I think he certainly has the potential to herd!!

We have some snow!!

This is Colin's fault, he chucked the ball in the muddy swamp and sent Sing to fetch it, of course he is a good boy, do as daddy told to, and he came back cover in mud. This is not funny as he got eye infection after that and he was bad on Saturday and worst on Sunday!!

At the end of our holiday, I came up with a new name, THE HARDY FAMILY for us. We walked miles in the snow, heavy rain, gales force wind ... and we survived!