The KNIGHTs Shelties

working wednesday #4

2012-02-01T10:47:00.000Z

I have been working on Sonic's "going around" something, like a cone, jump wing or even a tree(s) whenever we are out walking. I tried to do different things with him, either "going around", do a figure of 8, round twice ... etc. This video was taken on our New Year walked up to Pollards Hill. I was late rewarding what I want him to do. Luckily, I have Colin video me, so now I reward him sooner and we are better. Sorry, no recent video.

Fitness Friday

2012-01-27T15:42:00.000Z

I think I am getting a bit "too sensitive" on my dogs' health. Since Sizzle and I got picked for WAO Team England, the first thing in my mind is to get him and myself fit for this event. Unfortunately, things keep going wrong ... I fell ill just before Christmas and injured my arm and Sizzle has not been 100% fit. Everytime when I started to practice see-saw and polish his running DW in the garden, I realised he isn't running full power. Apart from him usual sensitive tummy problem which I think we are fixing it now by feeding raw. Took him to club training, he was on and off for 3 weeks and just yesterday, he started measuring jump! Oh dear Lord! I am going crazy! We haven't been able to train properly. I seriously hope we can get to some serious training in February!

I have been doing some "fitness" training with all dogs this winter, it is hard work and tiring especially I have to work all SEVEN of them. I can only do one dog at a time but I enjoy that. It is good fun and we all learned things together which I think that is brilliant to strengthen my relationship with all of them. The shelties love the exercise too.

I am running out of exercise ideas and I was hoping some blogger friends can join in with me to keep their dogs fit as well, so I would like to play a pass-on game, so hopefully we can have more dogs to join and have more exercise ideas ...

I am going to start off with my new fitness exercise, this is to strengthen the core muscle. I recently purchased this Dome Ball, it is very similar to Bosu Ball, so you guess it, it is not cheap at all but the shelties deserved some posh equipment :)

I have my week 1 model ... Little Miss Sipzie:

I am going to pick 4 of my shelties blogger friends to play this fitness game, you don't have to play if you do not wish to ...

Shelties No 1: Oreo & Chewy

Shelties No 2: Miley & Java @ 4 Dog Craziness

Shelties No 3: Ricky

Shelties No 4: Bentley & Lexi

working wednesday #3

2012-01-25T12:21:00.004Z

I took Sonic to a McTimoney Chiropractor to have him thoroughly check-up as I wasn't happy with his right hind leg. I didn't take him to the vet because I know he isn't in pain as he was running fine and tearing around like nothing has bother him. I know what the vet would said or suggest if I bring him in ... anti-inflammatory! Anyway, Susan Sargeant is highly recommended by our friend Lisa. Susan is lovely and she is only about 7 miles distance. I really like the way she treated Sonic, knowing Sonic is not "human-friendly". Sonic was relax and calm while treated, towards the end, he actually turned mellow! Mellow? Yes, I was very surprised of his reaction too.

Susan has a good assessment on him and told me his right side is very tight in many spots. I always think he is a clumsy dog. He is really crazy, although he didn't like people but he likes to jump up on me and bite my sleeve to tug and then landed badly on the side. Too many times that I can remember! Also, last Friday, I took him to train with Toni (because Sizzle wasn't well). He fell off the DW on the top plank. He was crazily fast (he loves contacts) and probably losing the balance. The good thing was he immediately run back up again with his usual speed without any hesitation. That is more reason that I would like to get him check over. The lovely Susan has done some adjustments (is that the right word?), so prescribed REST and QUIET! Damn! How can I keep this sheltie rest and quiet?

He was allow walk on the lead but Susan suggested not to take him anywhere he can run and chase squirrels/rabbits ... so we didn't go out yesterday. The weather was absolutely poorly anyway, bitterly cold rain all day, so there is more reason not to go out, instead, I decided to wash and blow dry the shelties. The boys were alright but the two girls were fighting with me in the bath and when blow dry! Hmmm ...

Also, I thought I could teach him a new trick or two to keep his mind busy. You all know how difficult he being a puppy, not liking me to touch his paw or any part of the body. I have done so much clicker with him, just to make him come and sit on my lap and all sort of things that you can think about but whenever we come to "touching", he runs miles! I always wanted to teach him tricks involving his rear end awareness and the one that I would like to try most is the to get him to give me his hind legs. As he is so sensitive about his body, I couldn't get close to him or even using a foreign object as a training aid, so I have left the trick once again. Yesterday, I thought it's about time I try that again. JACKPOT! He is so clever, and he picked that up almost immediately. I was really impressed.

This video was taken this morning and it's his second attempt. I used "leg" for his right hind leg and "kick" for left hind leg. When I first started it, it was the right hind leg and my automatic reaction is "leg" and when I watched back the videos, I've realised it should be the other way round. He looks more like "kick" with his right hind leg and "leg" with left hind leg. Oh Well!

confused dot com

2012-01-23T13:47:00.001Z

We got back late from Canada last evening ... nope, NOT that Canada, but the Canada in Hampshire, England. Sometimes these same names confused me A LOT. I remembered the first time I came across Washington in West Sussex. I've ordered some pvc jumps and weave poles for garden used. That was many years ago when I first started training Sing. I haven't got a Sat Nav, so I was rather confused this "Washington" is in America! This tells you how bad my sense of directions are! Then, later, I heard there is New Jersey and Little Hampton but they are in America!

I think English is a funny language, they repeat the same names so many times and too often. I've known a few Colin living in this area and there are about 10 of my friends named Patrick!!! Phew! Most Chinese names are unique and of course there are some common names too but the chances of same Chinese name is very rare!

I've booked a puppy/teenage dog training training day with Lesley Olden down in Romsey. She was very close to New Forest. We always like the walk at New Forest, so we took all the dogs down there. It was quite windy during training and the walk too. The sun was in and out, basically a good dry day but windy and brrrr .. cold.

I will make a separate post about Sonic's puppy training with Lesley Olden. This post is all about our lovely walk and some photos ...

this photo of Sonic chasing the tennis ball is slightly out of focus but I won't want to edit/crop as I think it looks very nice with the beautiful landscape behind him

Sonic is a very happy dog, just like his daddy Sing and mama Samber. They definitely has passed on the happy gene to him. I have never thought I will get a picture of him running this fast and showing his hind legs crossing the front legs ... if you are on Silvia Trkman's "running contacts January", you will know what I mean.

Sonic is having a ball :D

I like this photo of him because it shows he has COAT, in reality, he hasn't :(

As we walked along, we met so many wild ponies but this one in particular is VERY friendly. I am always scared of horses/ponies but I can feed her and stroke her and she was very calm and let me do everything. She even go VERY close to the shelties without scaring them or harm them. I guess all my shelties are very calm that helps.

This photo is of Colin and Sipzie trying to lure the pony to follow us back to the car. Hahaha ...

This reminded me many years ago when we only have Sing and Seagull, we went to New Forest quite a bit. We parked the car at the carpark. After our walk, we open up the car boot to fetch drinks and lunch, we have 3 gorgeous ponies tried to get into the car boot. It was hilarious and I was very scared then!

Sonic is such a brave little guy, he approached the ponies carefully, calmly, gently and he managed to get so close to the pony and they actually have a little "kiss" but it was too dark and my flash didn't work so I missed that LOVELY moment.

this is another picture of Sonic went up to a different pony to say his warm hello.

this is the lovely pony that I wish to take home :) maybe next time I should go with a truck so I can bring her home but how can I get her to come through the front door and not get stuck? Mmmm ...

and here are some of Little Miss Sipzie having fun ...

LOL! Yes, she still has the chewing gum stuck on her right ear, that is one very stubborn ear!!!

Oh! and Saturn also has a stubborn year after nearly 7 years! Hahaha ...

Water + Ball = Heaven for Sing!

always leading the way ...

always so agile!

I am really happy to have my camera with me yesterday, I have a lot of good photos but I can't post them all up here :(

Just before I end this post, I've mentioned earlier that I've joined Silvia Trkman's "running contacts" distant learning. We have our first assignment and it took me two weekends to complete as I need Colin there to video us and here is our Lesson 1 video:

Sonic - 10 month-old

2012-01-19T15:22:00.000Z

Mai handsome boy Sonic and his beautiful sister Brooke is 10 month-old today! Where does all this 10 months gone? Just like yesterday when Samber was uncomfortable ... all the midnight rushing to the emergency vet to have him, Brooke and "Charlie & Angel" out.

Thank you Samber for giving us these two beautiful babies, we are very proud of them!

New arrival

2012-01-18T08:37:00.000Z

We are pleased to announced Sing x Skye puppy dog App arrived safely on Friday, the 13th, born only 4oz. Although he is tiny at birth but he is very strong, he put on weight nicely and at Day 4, he weight 5.9oz! Skye is a good mama, as she always is.

He is full brother to beautiful Silky. I have quite a few people asking me if I am superstitious? The answer is NO. I feel blessed to have this little boy, although he is a singleton again! I think I can top the breeder chart of breeding "singleton" sheltie puppy!

Skye was scanned for two puppies, we can only think she reabsorbed the other one. For whatever reason. Skye is very content with this little boy. Both of them are still with Chris & Gail who own Skye, they will come back to me next week and I am so looking forward to have a puppy running around the house again for a few weeks. I am sure big brother Sonic would like to play with him.

photos on Day 4:

Sizzle update and a bit of Sipzie ...

2012-01-16T19:10:00.001Z

I THINK in general Sizzle is getting better. He started to perk up on the weekend after spending the whole week acting like a yoyo. He was good for an hour in the morning, then spent the whole day lying down and does not want to know anything. Although he is not a greedy dog but I can't get him to show any interest in his favourite treats :( He has been acting like that from Monday to Friday and I was beginning to get really worry. The vet suggested I walk him on the lead but I don't really need that, he walked really slowly, even a 10 year old Sing and 9 year old walk faster than him :) He didn't even want to chase the crows ...

On Saturday, he woke me up wanting to play with his toy. Good sign, I thought. We had a little play, he was happy and I was happy. We went out for a nice crispy morning walk. He was a little happier at walk, although not chasing rabbits/squirrels/crows. Same thing on Sunday. All good!

We went to Lisa for another Reiki today, thanks Lisa for making Sizzle and me feel better :)

See, not all my group photos are good. This is the time, when some shelties refused to look the same way! Obviously, Sonic and Sizzle got distracted as there was a dog running around that direction. It is good that they STAY and not moving at inch! At the end, I gave up taking the "good" photo.

You can see from this picture that Sizzle was so much happier. This photo was taken on Sunday morning walk.

After our lovely morning walk, we set off to Scrambles for Toni Dawkins' Training Day. I like Toni, she is one of the top handlers in the UK and is very successful in the Agility with her Border Collies. Toni used to have Sheltie, that was many years ago, well before I know her. Toni's mum got two lovely shelties. I only just came across the training day and was lucky to get a place. As Sizzle was not 100%, I decided to train Sipzie.

I am thinking to give Sipzie a little rest this year, not doing too much agility with her. I think when I got her at 9 months old, I lost the puppyhood and the bond/relationship with her. That time, I probably rushing too much to get her into competition and I have realised after one agility season, she wasn't very happy or confidence at some shows and her running Dog Walk has become a disaster towards the end of the season. I am hoping to continue doing training and doing tricks to build up her confidence and also decided to go back to 2o/2o on the DW.

Our DW is progressing slowly and I am rushing it. I think I want her fully understand the criteria and she is doing great at the moment. I am hoping when I get her on the full DW, I can start doing a bit of training with her at UKA shows as well.

She was a good girl, doing really well at Toni's training day yesterday. I am really pleased with her, although she can get a little wild and crazy but I like the way she is. Colin tried to film all our rounds/sequences but I think our little video camera is packing up. It sometimes get blurry and won't go back to clear screen for a long time. I think I need to invest a new video camera :(

Here are a couple of sequence we did yesterday. I really like to learn the European funny turn properly!

Sizzle update and a bit here and there ...

2012-01-13T14:10:00.001Z

Sorry I haven't been update about Sizzle. My right arm is still very stiff and sometimes painful is not helping me wanted to go anywhere near a keyboard. Sizzle is up and down. One day he is fine, bright as a button and the next day he could be all quiet and lay down on his bed, not wanted to know the world! I took him back to the vet for a check up on Monday where he got more pain killer and prescribed with longer rest! He is allow lead walking which I don't really restrict to as he is very slow and clam at walk these days, so that is fine with me. I haven't done any training with him, of course but we did some tricks to keep his mind stimulate while physically resting.

handsome boy at walk this morning, not very happy as you can see from his face :(

here is him with the energetic Sonic

My right arm is still not 100% function yet. Well, it is better than before. At least I can brush my teeth and brush the dogs slowly. I still cannot carry heavy stuff or putting pressure on it. Mixing the dog meat and biscuits is a struggle and I realise how "bad" my left hand is. It is absolutely useless. I just can't do what I want to do with my left hand. I can certainly feel for the disabled now. I get very frustrated with my right hand.

We have frost this morning, the first one of 2012! The weather has been very mild this winter, it didn't feel like winter at all but this morning, we woke up at -1c. I took the boys out and the sun was shinning. We had a little stroll in Mitcham Common and took a few photos. Taking photos with the heavy camera made my right hand ache so I didn't take that many but here are a few ...

Saturn found a stix

he is always the photogenic sheltie

and one from the proud daddy ... one of the pups have been born today :D

he is hoping this little boy will like ball as much as he does :))

Mai boy Sonic is nearly 10 months old now

I've taught Sonic Channel Weave back in October, not a serious taught really, just a play with agility equipment. I want to get him to get used to different type of equipments when he is young so he won't be afraid of anything in future. He's always been a brave boy and take things into his stride. He took on the channel weave very quickly without much help. I didn't do too much last year and soon the Channel Weave got put away. Last weekend, I pulled it out again. Sonic hasn't forgot what he learned in October and soon, I get to close it up to 8" wide. We have been doing on Monday and Tuesday on the 8" wide, different angles of the entries and swing around; then I closed it up to 6" on Wednesday and did the same things with him. He was really good and I am very happy with it. I have never been a Channel Weave person and I don't really know how to teach Channel Weave properly so I decided I should proceed to V Weave at some point.

Sonic on Channel Weave:

I took the V Weave out on Thursday, open it up really wide, the poles were almost touching the ground. I remembered when I taught Saturn, Sizzle and Sipzie the V Weave, they took the time, especially Sizzle. I even have to run Saturn over it so he saw him going through and realised it is safe for him to go through those poles and metal base. He never was an easy dog to teach weave with. Instead of 12 poles, we stuck on 6 poles for a very long time.

I thought Sonic will have issue on the V Weave because of the metal base that he has to run on but to my surprised, NO trouble at all and he proceed very quickly. I did the send on with the toy from 3rd pole, 5th pole, 7th pole, 9th pole and 12th pole, he did everything perfectly and even with the recall, he never missed any pole or popping out. Good sign! I close up bit by bit and I am happy to what we are now (still very wide). Sonic is not even 10 months old yet so I would not like him to do too much of weaving yet.

Sonic on V Weave:

The videos are not brilliant, imagine I have to throw the ball with my useless left hand and almost everytime I throw the ball at the camera! Doh! I've also noticed one thing that I haven't follow. I should have put the lead on Sonic to do the swing around on V Weaves, that is to restrain him to find the entry. He got the entry everytime but he just can't collect himself at the 2nd pole. I love video, that's how I can see my mistake! Oh, you noticed I haven't practice the right hand side? I did, it's just that everytime I throw the ball, the ball hit the camera!!!! I need my right hand back to normal!!

working wednesday #2

2012-01-11T17:56:00.000Z

Today, I am working on stretching out the "hind legs". I've only just realised after doing so much hind legs awareness exercises with Sonic, his hind legs are still not stretching out well, so we are going back to do more ... also with the others as well ...

this is Sonic reversing onto a low height box:

Sizzle update, Sonic TD and me cripple!

2012-01-08T21:46:00.000Z

Thank you for all your emails asking about Sizzle. He was very quiet on Friday and would not eat. Big Thanks to Lisa for offering Reiki to Sizzle. She was wonderful with him, Sizzle went away happily and content. Although he was quiet on Friday night but he perk up on Saturday. Back to his old self, very cheeky and playful. I was very careful with him, not to get him too excited but today, he was very happy in the morning and went all quiet in the afternoon :( He has to go back to the vet for check-up tomorrow afternoon.

poor Sizzle :(

Yesterday, I took Sonic to Hannah Banks' Co-Blanaced class. We wanted to attend this class for months but everytime it's on, we have something pre-booked and could not attend. Sonic's clever sister Brooke attended the November class and really enjoyed it and she was so clever and brilliant at it. Sonic was a good little boy, I am very happy that he worked through distractions (from other dogs) beautifully. I am so proud that when he putting his working head on, nothing could distract him. He just wanted to WORK all the time. Well, he many be crazy but I love him. We did ladder work to start with. Sonic was brilliant, he knew exactly what to do, he work through all his four feet. We then moved on to Cavaletti and Sonic again was very good at it. He didn't rush any of them and he walked through them carefully and lifting all his four feet. We also do figure of eight with cones. Sonic loves the wobble board. That is his favourite. I just can't get him off the wobble boards!! We also did "elephant tricks" to make him aware of his hind legs and the peanut shape wobble cushion to make him aware of his front legs as well as the hind legs. This is the first time he saw a peanut wobble cushion and I was really surprised how good he is with it.

Sonic on peanut cushion:

We didn't get many videos as Colin was busy making tea/coffee for everyone. He was so happy to has another job other than cameraman! You can read all about Hannah's Co-Balanced on here.

And lastly, I have an injured right arm. I don't know how I sprint/twist it. I've only realised my arm got heavier everytime I used it, that involved a small task like brushing my teeth in the morning to feeding the dogs and brushing them. It really got stiff lately and while I took Sizzle to Lisa on Friday, she gave ma Reiki as well. I have to say, since the Reiki, my arm feels freely a little bit, at least I can change/dress without a big effort but this morning, when I let Miss Zoombie out, BTW, that is Scara's new nick name because she only zooming around and not walking around, she knocked/trip me over and I lost my balanced. I fell onto a wall, so naturally I used my arm to support me but everything was a blur and I knocked my elbow hard. I ended up in the hospital on Sunday morning looking very grumpy and agony. The doctor gave me 10 days of high dose Ibuprofen and said I have "frozen shoulder"! Arrrggghhh ...

storm casualty

2012-01-05T17:08:00.001Z

We resumed training at Pachesham this morning. I was so looking forward to it. We had a good break in December, it does the shelties good to have a break after a full season of agility. I missed training very much. I know I can get very lazy once I've stopped.

We are training in the indoor sands school at the moment. We have had this stormy weather for the last couple of days. The HIGH wind speed has done some big damage and killed a few people. Our garden is right in the mess at the moment. The jumps were flying around and the garden plastic chairs were everywhere.

Sadly, Sizzle got injured today by the high wind. We were doing a sequence, one of the jump kept blowing down. Unfortunately, the jump wing hit Sizzle when he took the jump. He did a tight turn to take the next jump, so the heavy jump wing crashed into him. I didn't take much notice then because he carried on and I thought he was brave and quite happy with him not bother by it. Only when he took the last jump and he started limping back to me then I realised he got knocked!

He won't put his left front leg down for a while but didn't seems too bad then. After our class, we went walking in Oxshott Common, our usual routine on Thursday. He was walking slowly for a couple of hundred yards, then he got further and further back ... I beginning to get worry. I called him, he came to me very slowly, extremely slowly. I picked him up and carry him around. I can feel the heat coming out from the leg. I got concern. This is the last thing I want now! I rang the vet and made an appointment.

Vet Liz checked on him, she said nothing is broken (thank God for that!) but she is not happy with the toes area but she agreed with me the heat actually come from the arm area. She reckon is kinda of bruise, so she gave him an anti-inflammatory jab and 5 days of caprieve. Complete rest for him and recheck on Saturday. Poor boy is looking very sorry for himself.

working wednesday #1

2012-01-04T20:46:00.000Z

Although Sonic is weird meeting people, he is very interested in people who totally IGNORE him, he will want to jump up on them to say hello and let them pet him but when a dog friendly person wanted to say hello to him, he will back off! Sonic is a very clever little dog, he works things out very quickly and is a keen worker. He can easily switch from food to toy or toy to food. I bought him this Nina Ottosson Dog Interactive toy "casino" for Christmas. I originally wanted to get the "twister" but all places online have sold out or discontinued, so I ended up with "casino". I think this "casino" and "twister" are similar level of difficulty.

I show him how to work this on Christmas Day, we played for 10 minutes and put them away; then again on Boxing Day for 10 minutes; then on New Year's Day for 10 minutes and this is what I get this evening, without me interacting with him. He works it all out on his own.

End of holiday

2012-01-03T10:10:00.000Z

Colin took a week off work between Christmas and New Year. It was very good for him to shake the stressed off working in a very stressful environment and go out walking with the dogs. We were very lucky the weather has been so mild in December, although some days it was a big wet but nothing stopping us for some good long walks.

Also, it is very good for the shelties to be able to spend some quality times with their daddy. Colin goes out before 7am every week day and didn't come home until 8pm or 9pm, sometimes even later. The shelties really enjoyed having him, an extra lap to lean on :)

This is one of our lovely walks with The Hennessy @ Banstead Wood/Common:

Just before the end of 2011, we got to meet up with Savannah, aka Sweep, a Sing x Sunny pup @ Nonsuch Park to celebrate Seagull's Ninth Birthday. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't good that day. It was very gloomy and overcast and we did some spell of rain during our walk but all the shelties enjoyed it. It was very good to see Savannah, she just turned 13 weeks that day when we met up. She was very bold like I expect her to be. She was happy to meet all dogs, big or small in the park. Most of all, she was so happy to see her big brother Sonic. They had a lovely play together.

such an effort to take this photo, Savannah and Scara's wait is so limited. I've taken many too many with either Savannah missing on the picture of Scary. When I got ALL in the picture, they don't all look this way! Grrr ...

Savannah @ 13 weeks

meeting a pug

Savannah: I saw something big coming this way ...

Oh! He is huge!

playing with big brother Sonic:

funny enough, all Sing's babies like to chase crows!!!

To finish off Colin's holiday, we were so lucky to have a lovely sunny morning yesterday where we could take the shelties for another long walk. We walked locally, crossing Mitcham and Pollards Hill, we've walked for 3-4 hours, starting with Pollards Hill (very steep hill), then round to Mitcham Common, we've walked 3 pieces of the Common lands. It was very enjoyable until Scara started rolling on the fox poo, then soon follow by Sonic. YUK! Oh, to top it worst, Sipzie did her share at the end of our walk! WELL, three of them have a full bath which they hate! Sonic isn't bad but the two girls take a lot of effort to wash them. Sonic hates the blow dry bit but Sipzie loves it and Scary? Mmmm ... you know what I am going to say.

The KNIGHTs Shelties on top of Pollards Hill

Seagull and Scara, such a lovely pair :)

I always worried to have two puppies growing up together as I am sure one of them will have more attention than the others. I had experienced that once with Saturn and Titan, although Colin said that Titan is his dog. I never want to go down that road again but we did that again. This time, Colin is very sure Scara is his dog and he determined to train her his way :) To be honest, I think having two puppies growing up together is such a lovely thing, especially Sonic and Scara both getting on so well. They love and adore each other. It is so good to see them playing together. I don't want it other way.

two pups "bullied" uncle Seagull

Sing show off his jumping in the air catching ball skill

the only thing that makes him happy ... tennis ball

Sonic is getting obsess with ball like his daddy

... and this jumping in the air catching ball skill

Sonic is the clown in the family

... teasing uncle Sizzle

happy girl

Oooops! Not quite get the ball

Sonic: Don't worry Scary, I'll catch it for you.

Typical Sing x Samber baby ... prick ears like daddy Sing and rolling in the fox poo like mama Samber!

why holiday has to end so soon?

Colin is back to work now and I am back to my old routine. It's hard getting up this morning but I know it will get better and I have WAO to look forward to!

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T18:22:00.000Z

Happy New Year to all!

Wishing all a successful and bright 2012!

Our New Year eve was uneventful. No big-do like we used to. We had Colin's brother Russell and his wife Kyung over for a cosy evening. Poor Kyung has to work today, so they left before midnight and there is no reason for us to stay up. We were in bed by 11pm. That is a sign of getting old, I supposed?

My New Year resolutions is very simple ... getting fit and loose weight (for the last time!); and train hard for WAO.

and here is a compilation of The KNIGHTs Shelties' wish:

Leaving 2011 and Roll On 2012

2011-12-31T09:57:00.000Z

2011 has been a tough year for me, there were so many sad memories and bad lucks all around, the worst of all is I lost two lovely person that was very close to me, my mum and a good friend Jim. Mum wasn't coping since we lost my brother Patrick in 2008, she had so many strokes in three years but towards the beginning of 2011, she was bed bound. She lost her will to live. She was extremely frail and stop talking altogether when I visited her in March. She chose to leave us on September 10th, 30 years after my father passed away. It was a relief for us as we can't see her suffering all these years and we knew my dad and Patrick will look after her and she will be so happy to be reunited with her beloved husband and son. I miss you all terribly!

Jim, a very good friend of our was diagnosed brain cancer last Christmas and he was gone in June. It was very quick and sudden. Life is too short!

Dog wise, Sing's paw is not getting any better but I was glad to find a new vet that I can trust, Ann, a very good friend highly recommended her vet, New Malden Vets, they have done a good job in securing Sing's paw from going bad to worst. I can't thanks Ann and all the New Malden Vets enough to save my special boy. He's now enjoying his long walks without limping and he is still very active in jumping in the air to catch his tennis ball and diving in the pond!

Poor Saturn has to semi-retire from Agility due to his back injury. Mad Sipzie ran and jump onto his back the week after Crufts when we went for a walk. He never really come back good. Sometimes he is ok and most of the times I saw him suffering from lifting his back legs. He has been to doggy massage to make him better and took time off from Agility. The last time I ran him was at the Club training when Sipzie was in season. He was rather clumsy that he ran into the jump wing and then 2 weeks later, I noticed his back end was very stiff. I am considering a retirement for him but he is only young, so I would like to give him a chance to see if the lower jump heights at UKA is any good for him.

Sizzle had a good and bad year, his upset tummy been a real nuisance from time to time. We have done so many blood test and other test to try to find out what exactly wrong with him, all the results came back normal. Unfortunately, all his tummy upset happened on the weekend, so we missed out a lot of runs with him, especially those qualifiers. I couldn't care less, his welfare is more important than anything to me. The GOOD news and the BEST news of 2011 is that we made it to Team England for WAO 2012 in Belgium. My dream finally comes true. You can imagine how proud and happy I am for my little boy. This is our first International performance, I am really excited about it.

We had the tryout in October but they only announced the Team just before Christmas. To be honest, I nearly forgot all about it. I was impatient waiting for the news until December where Christmas was approaching, I was busy doing this and that and suddenly, I received the email. OMG! That was an extremely good surprised! And from the day I received the email, my diet and fitness starts. I thought I am doing well, I cut down the portion I was eating and also try to eat healthier food and sign up for gym. I go to gym at least 4/5 days a week. I didn't over eat at Christmas either! Mmm ... I don't seems to lose any weight :(((((

Apart from all that, we had two very successful litters bred here. Samber gave us my Super Sonic and his sister Brooke. I am still crying for the two we lost in this litter. Charlie and Angel, we never forget you!

Sunny gave us a super lively litter, all the pups gone to live with their lovely families, hopefully we will see them in the Agility circuit when they are ready.

Roll On 2012!

Happy New Year everyone!!

Happy 9th Birthday SEAGULL

2011-12-30T08:08:00.000Z

Happy 9th Birthday to SEAGULL, truly a veteran now :)

more long walk today to celebrate!

What have we done?

2011-12-27T18:56:00.000Z

The KNIGHTs Sheltie boyz (Shelridge relations) wrap up in tinsels, Christmas 2011

I am glad Christmas is over for another year. That was no celebration here on Christmas eve, all quiet and peaceful. I managed to take a few photos of the shelties wrap up in tinsels. I wasn't really in the mood but I thought this is Sonic and Scara's first Christmas and Colin insist I should take a picture of them for the Album ... so here we go!

two pups, Scara (11 months) & Sonic (9 months), first Christmas 2011

Scara and her uncle Seagull (Mohnesee relations) wrapped up in tinsels Christmas 2011

father and son, Christmas 2011

and here is Little Miss Sipzie, Christmas 2011

We got to watch a bit of TV with all the shelties curl up against us. We had a good lie-in on Christmas morning until Saturn decided he wants his breakfast, so we woke up, fed the dogs, open the presents, they are mainly for the spoilt shelties :D, then we went to Brighton to my in-law for the day.

Sing loves to unwrapped the presents

Saturn loves his new toy ...

... tearing the label of the toy! Can you see the label in his mouth?

why all dogs like the same toy when they have their own?

here is The KNIGHTs Family ... seven shelties + one whippet + a child (the others were hiding!!)

On Boxing Day, we decided we are going for a long walk! We walked from home to Beddington Park, it took us 5 hours round trip but it was very enjoyable and good fun. We haven't been for a long walk this year, so this was really good. We took my last Christmast present DoggyRide with us. That is for Sing. Poor Sing's paw is not coping well for a long walk like that. I normally walk them for about 1.5 hours. Sing is a tough dog, he will walk and walk and walk but that break my heart when I see him limping after he is quiet down. Keeping Sing in the DoggyRide is torture. He wanted to lead the pack so much and he hates to be confined in the buggy. We let him walk all the way there but insist to zip him up in the buggy on the way home.

Thank God the weather was dry and MILD but very cloudy! Not a good day for picture.

Merry Christmas?

2011-12-23T09:19:00.000Z

I haven't have any Christmas spirit this year, I don't understand why? It could be the weather being so warm? Unbelievable for this time of the year. Last year, it was freezing cold and snowing since October and this year we have none of this. Or, I am missing my beloved mum and brother? I know we don't celebrate Christmas with them but to me, Christmas is the time when you have family gets together and this year, they are not here to ask how is my Christmas. Also, I am missing our good friend Jim who passed away in June, he was such a wonderful man that loved his shelties very much. He helped us a lot around the house, he converted our garage into a spare room and he always look after our shelties when we have to leave them. He has a great sense of humour.

I put up the Christmas Tree three weeks ago, Colin always like his Christmas Tree but I haven't done much decoration on it like I used to do every year. And, I haven't take a group photo of the shelties in front of the Tree or dress them up with Christmas theme. I am just not in the mood of celebration. Everytime I saw a friend posting a beautiful Christmas photo on the facebook, I wanted to do so to my shelties but I soon asked myself, mum and Patrick and Jim are not there to see it, so what's the point? Sorry friends, I hope you understand why there is no The KNIGHTs Shelties Christmas photo this year.

Here are some normal/daily photos of The KNIGHTs Shelteis ...

Sing on a frosty morning walk in Mitcham Common

this is crazy Seagull playing with Sonic

Seagull soon turned NINE years old, in a week's time.

Always my Ray of Sunshine, the clever handsome Sizzle

Mai son, Sonic is now 9 months old!

Little MADam Scara

and big MADam Sipzie needs daddy'e help to work the Nina Ottosson puzzle

last but not least, the gentle giant and very handsome Saturn

Merry Christmas to you all

from Licosateria Shelties, aka

The KNIGHTs Shelties

may this season brings you joy and peace

Liebster Blog

2011-12-21T17:40:00.001Z

I haven't play any blogger game for a littler while and I think this is a good time to spread the love ... Thank you Eva for inviting us to spread this dearest game to our blogging friends.

Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. As with any award, there is a bit of ceremony involved. In order to accept the award, we must do the following:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award

3. Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.

4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs

And now, I would like to pass this award to my dearest friends ...

1. Diana @ 4 Dog Craziness. Hopefully, it soon change the name to 5 Dog Craziness :) I enjoy reading Diana's blog about her agility training and how she overcomes the problems she faces with her dogs and I am always impressed with Miley's enthusiasm in the Agility Trial.

2. The talented Ricky @ Ricky's Life. Ricky is a very talented tri-coloured sheltie. We always inspired by his new tricks and how clever his human is to teach him all these fantastic tricks.

3. Coco & Silky @ Coco Sheltie. Coco is the top sheltie model from Staines and Silky is the top athlete in Staines! They probably already have more than 200 followers but I am sure they enjoy this game.

4. Yvonne & her Bonnie Lassies @ Yvonne's Shelties. Both Khandi and Ellie are truly Bonnie Lassies. They enjoyed Agility as well as lots of good walks on the beach.

5. Rhoda & her Burdett Shelties @ Brodie, Brax and Brooke puppy. Rhoda is a fabulous dog trainer. All her BR ... shelties are very clever, intelligent and obedient. They are actively involved in Agility and Obedience.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sonic, Mai Nickelbocker Glory

2011-12-10T09:17:00.000Z

Sonic is such a joy, he is always happy just like his daddy Sing, never have a dull moment, he also act like a puppy puppy all the time. He really made me laugh a lot. He loves his agility training, I have never have a dog that loves agility as much as him.

He started his puppy pre-agility training at Sunniday with Lin Bergan in September, he absolutely love it, unfortunately we have to miss a few Saturdays due to the puppies. Sonic was very miserable not to be able to go and have some fun on Saturday. We then join Anju with Leah Gardner on Thursday evening, everytime we pull into the carpark, he drag me to get into the venue. This shows how keen and enthusiastic he is about agility.

He is doing very well (in my opinion) in his pre-agility classes. I am very pleased with him. Sunniday is outdoor and Anju is indoor, it is good that he has two different environments to work at. He is getting more and more distracted recently ... since Sipzie and Scara came into season, he became very friendly with all dogs he sees in the Common and at training. That is good for me as I know I have to work hard to get his attention back on me. There is only one little thing that bother him at Anju is there is a big piece of mirror on the wall, he is worried about the reflection when he ran close to the mirror. I need to work hard on that part.

Due to the weather, we haven't been able to practise anything in the garden for 3 weeks and he is really upset I fence the "agility" part of the garden up. He loves to run up and down the A Frame and Dog Walk whenever he is in the garden, this is one of the reason that I fence the garden up into 2 parts at this time of the year. I do not want any accident when I am not out there with them.

He is also go in and out the dog flap now, so that is a jackpot for me, I don't have to go to bed late and wake up early to let him go to toilet, he now learn to use the flap to go out to do his toilet as well as whenever he wants to go out.

He has turned into a very handsome boy, I am biased I know. He is getting more and more like Sing in many ways as well as Samber. He now ONLY loves his tennis ball, that is Sing. He will do anything for a throw of tennis ball, that is very Sing alike. If my throw gone bad, meaning I throw the ball in the air, the way he jump and fetch the ball in the air is so like Sing too. Indoor, he also did this little somersaults is very like Sing. The Samber part of him is ROLL in the foxpoo!! Grrr ... Sing never roll in fox poo, the only time he roll is when it is snowing! Whenever we take Samber out, she surely roll in fox poo! Oh, and the way he ran is very much like Samber :)

UKA Grand Finals

2011-12-06T10:34:00.000Z

So, we've been away to Clevedon, The Hand Equestrian on the past weekend for the UKA Grand Finals. Colin being a good daddy took a day off work so we can travel down to North Somerset on Friday. We booked in at The Bridge Inn in Yatton, which is about 6 minutes from The Hand Equestrian.

The Bridge Inn is ok for us, I guess any hotel that allows all our dogs in the hotel room, I should be grateful of. With SEVEN dogs, it is A LOT and I don't like to leave the dogs in the car, not in the cold winter night anyway. The Inn has a joined bar/restaurant so our dinner got sorted easily. We met so many other competitors and their dogs in the Inn too, so this is definitely a very dog friendly Inn. The only downside is I wish they have a bigger piece of green that we can take the dogs for quick toilet at night. I think having two young dogs, they can't really hold their toilet very long, especially not in the cold night but having say that, Sonic and Scara have been an angel. They hold their toilet which make our life a lot easier and I am so very proud of these two little ones. The good thing (for me) is I like the idea of having a small round table and two dinning chair in the room. Lodging with the dogs, I don't like to leave them in the room when we are not there because there will be other people walking in and out and with a strange place, I am sure they will bark, so with dinning table and chairs available, this means we can bring food in and eat in the room with the dogs, just like home.

Well, we have an early start, both days. Luckily, I only run one dog a day in one event. I have learned from the past, too many dogs and too many events in one day didn't do me any good, I only get stressed on which dog to run and which course to walk ... Sizzle was competing on Saturday in the CSJ Grand Prix. Sadly, he was one naughty boy. We didn't start off well at all in the Semi-Final. It was a straightline start sequence, jump-jump-tyre-see-saw, I knew he either flew the see-saw or get creepy but I thought he will flew than crept, so I led out to be able to stop/catch him but I was wrong. He creep half way ... definitely a bad start! Then, just before the jump into the tunnel underneath the DW, he pause for a quick second, I thought he will not take the tunnel and that will give me a bad position for the next jump, after the tunnel but he did go in the tunnel. Then, he turn slowly which I wasn't prepare for that pace but he went into the weave ok. For some reason, he pop out at 9th pole! Doh! He finished all 12th at 2nd attempt but after that, all went pear shape. He turned the wrong way at the jump after the weave but I save that, then from tunnel to the jump, he took the DW ... oh dear dear dear!

When we came out, I have some people who knew us well asked me what's wrong with him? I cannot answer that! I don't know what's wrong but the only thing that I could possibly imagine is the JEALOUSY! He used to be the best playmate for all my puppies, he loves them all, indoor or outdoor, always there to play with them, but with this litter, he hates them, he tried to avoid them by sitting on the settee, so the pups can't get to him (that is not true because later when the pups were a little older, they tried to jump onto the settee), when the pups got close, he will bite them! Mmmm ... also, I have been thinking he is jealous about Sonic as well. Everytime I train Sonic in the garden, he will do some crazy little antic to distract me from Sonic. Anyway, I think I need to give him some full attention to make him trust me and love me again :)

and this is our "horrible" run:

With a bad performance like that, we didn't make it through to Final. That gave me time to relax and unwind watching others run and enjoyed taking some photographs. It is a long day on Saturday, there were FIVE semi-finals and FIVE finals to be done. We tried to stay for as long as we could. I've heard that the last run was very late and they didn't finish until nearly 10pm. We left at 8pm because I was freezing cold and I want food and medicine. Yes, I caught a cold on Friday and have been headache all Saturday.

Sunday was even earlier for us, Sipzie was in the Beginners Steeplechase and that was the first thing on. We checked in at 7am and walking the warm up course at 7:20am and run just before 8am. Sipzie missed a couple of jumps in the warm up but I didn't want to put her back on, it was just a simple steeplechase course and that got me worried. I take note that I have to work extra hard on every obstacles if I want to be in the Final with her.

Not sure if I should blame that she just came off her season and still get a bit hormonal? But, we are trying our best. The Semi-Final was on at 9am, the Standard height dogs ran first. I was aware that after the 2nd tunnel, I have to catch her with my eye contact because that is a very short straight tunnel and the dog has to turn left. I saw so many fast dogs missing the jump, they ran too fast and past the jump, when the handler called the dog, either the dog already past the jump and back jump it or go round and round the jump ... or I saw some handler did front cross after the tunnel (handler actually between the tunnel and the jump), the dog did the jump but took the wrong jump afterwards as the handler wasn't facing straight, I guess they want to catch the dog. Anyway, I stick to the way I walk the course :)

Sipzie @ Semi-Finals:

We were lying 2nd in the Semi-Final, so we will be 2nd from last to run in her height. She was a second behind a fast cocker spaniel but I am glad we made it through to Final in the afternoon. The Final course was a lot more easier than the Semi, only a couple of jumps extra. It was a fast blast course. I was hoping to stretch her to maximum but things don't always go as plan! The startline was close to all ring parties. There were chairs and people moving behind her, she was feeling uneasy. She is not the bravest dog. She broke her startline wait twice, I couldn't put her back the 3rd time as I know that will totally freak her out, its either she will freeze and run on snail pace or run out of the ring, so I just have to run with her.

Sipzie @ Finals:

Oh well, the dog that ran before us beat us. All the top 5 dogs were in the 20 seconds zone and the time were very close between each of them! I am very proud of Little Miss Sipzie! I know she is trying her best and getting 2 clear rounds is good enough for her!

this is Little Miss Sipzie looking very proud and tall with her posh trophy and rosette :)

she is a funny girl, really. Ever since I thought her "beg", everytime I took a treat out, she will immediately goes into this position!!!

us at the presentation

Big thank you to Bernadette that took pictures of us :) Looking at these pictures, my New Year resolution is DIET, LOSE WEIGHT!!!!

Big thank you to UKA for this Grand Finals, it was very enjoyable eventhough it was very cold (especially on Sunday) and very long day. Thank you for their hard work and all the ring parties working so hard. I was really amaze with their electronic system. No scrimer to tell you: "Lian, in your own time" or "Lian, when you're ready" ... instead, there is this little electronic voice say: READY and on the timer, it printed GO. WOW! Superb! Really impress! The whole thing makes you feel like you are in a very important event! Good experienced!

Sheepdogs training at Downsview Park

2011-11-28T10:00:00.000Z

Well, now that the pups have gone, we are slowly (really?) moved back to our normal routine. Sonic is desperate for some 1-2-1 attention and the most needed training and so do Sizzle and Sipzie. Both Sizzle and Sipzie have qualified for the UKA Finals this coming weekend at The Hand Arena where the held the First WAO. I think it is about time to put my training shoe on for them.

I always fancy to try herding with my shelties, whether they have the natural instinct or not. Over the last few winters, I have tried herding with Sing and Saturn, both of them were keen on the sheep and we had a lot of fun. I remembered Sing as a puppy like to herd those wild animals he saw at walk. The most scary moment was when he was just over a year old, we went to Dartmoor on holiday, he herd the wild ponies; then he often jump into the pond in Wimbledon Common to herd the ducks (this is one of the reason we hardly go to Wimbledon Common); and then at Seven Sisters Country Park, he tried to herd the sheep ...

We thought about training him in herding, I was looking everywhere to find a place near us to take him herding. I cannot remember who we spoke to but he told us not to do it IF we do not intend to work him around the sheep. Oh, that is the time well before I know anything about Agility and Flyball, so that is many many many years ago ...

The first time we tried the sheepdogs herding was 4 winters ago, we thought we are going to have some fun. Sing (he was 5) & Saturn (he was 2) had a go and Saturn was the one that is really keen and was working really well around the sheep. Then, we tried again 2 winters ago and he still was very good but yesterday, he looked rather confused. We learned to try balancing the sheep, which means the sheep is between the handler/shepherd and the dog, and if the handler/shepherd moved to the left, the dog should move to the right and vice verser.

To be honest, I was disappointed, not sure why. I haven't done much agility training with Saturn. He was injured after Crufts and never seems 100% right again, he have a lots of treatments over the summer and we have been keeping up on the exercises. When Sipzie was in season, I took him to training, the 1st week, he knock the jump wing down and was limping was a little while; then 2nd week, I took him back training, his back hasn't got the strength to power up ... we are back to do more exercises to help him build up his muscle. But, I think I am considering to retire him from Agility. He is still a young dog, only 6.5 years old. I was hoping to find an activity to keep his mind occupied. I thought he work really well around the sheep, maybe herding suits him but now I have doubt. Also, I am not sure if it was the bitches in season affected him. The boys, to be honest are very good when the bitches are in season but of course, being an entire male, they are very interested in the bitches when they are about, so I was very strict and control them over their over excited behaviours. At the sheepdogs training, when we tried to balancing the sheep, I got him to lie-down and he daren't move! Good that he is obedient, Bad that he isn't moving!

We were very lucky to be able to get a space from Downsview Park, very well-organised by Lynn Parker and a super fantastic roast lunch with all trimmings and lots of different puddings afterwards! I don't want to move after a satisfying lunch! Robert Putnam, that trains handlers and dogs at all level was very good. Well, I think to put up with a crap handler like me needs a lot of patient! Many of you probably don't know that I am actually scared of sheep, I am alright if they stay at a distance but when they are close to me, I get panic. Trust me, when the extremely friendly sheep surrounding me, I really don't know what to do. How on earth I want to try herding? I know I sacrifice myself a lot for the dogs!

Saturn took the morning session, of course he wasn't any good, so after all the handlers had a go, I was called back to have another go with the sheep with one of Robert's dogs. When Robert asked me which dog I want to work with, being such a silly woman, I pointed at Seren, the most experienced sheepdog and also the best assistant sheepdog lie-down at the corner of the ring. Believe me, I was so embarrassed when I can't get Seren to move! Apparently, she is the most loyal dog to Robert, she only works for him! After a couple of minutes of embarrassment, Robert brought out his other sheepdog Sis for me to work. Hehehe ... Sis is probably a good sheepdog but me being zero knowledge about sheep herding, we had a lot of fun but it didn't last very long as other handlers have to had a go too!

After lunch, I tried it with Sonic. I don't know what to expect from an 8 months old puppy. I know I have to give him a chance to meet the sheep. He was kinda keen at one point and then lost interest, then back on the sheep again. Robert thought our "stop" is not perfect and him being young so we only tried him for 5 minute. I am quite happy, hopefully we get more chance in future to try herding with him again. All in all, I had a fab day.

here is the little clip of introducing Sonic to sheep:

And great thanks to Dennis Bay for this photo of Sonic

Bye Bye pups!

2011-11-26T18:47:00.001Z

Today, I wave good-bye to all pups. I know there are three very happy families enjoying their new pup today.

First one to go is the cheekiest little Scampi-man. He is going down south to Cornwall, to make Chloe very happy and hopefully to be in charge of three Border Collie and some other animals such as horses, ducks, chickens ... Have fun my boy!

Licosateria Mai Sunbeam, is calling Scampi at the moment, name might change.

Then, follow by Miss Fly Fly. She is joining the Booty family up North in Manchester. She has a big sister Beth to play with. Again, I have the feeling, she will be the boss :D

Licosateria Mai Sunflyer, aka Fly

Savannah felt lonely without her brother and sister and soon joining the big boys on the sofa snuggle to grand-dad Colin but not for long. She now go and in-charge of the Karyta family. Hopefully she learns some good manners from Honey & Spice.

Licosateria Mai Sunseeker, aka Savannah

I guess big brother Sonic is missing the pups the most!

I wish all the pups the best and hope they will make their

new mummy and daddy very happy

Sonic 8 months and first puppy training day

2011-11-20T21:28:00.000Z

Sonic and sister Brooke turned 8 months yesterday. Where all these time gone? I know I am bias but they both are such wonderful puppies. Brooke is well and truly loved by Matthew and Rhoda Burdett, she is a little princess and is very clever too. I am so very proud of her. You can catch up with her on her blog.

Sonic has grown into a handsome young man. He is growing through teenage stage at the moment ... the recall is not 100% but is 99.9%. He started to get distracted by other dogs at training but all under control which is very good.

He now has two puppy classes to go weekly; Thursday evening indoor school at Leah's and Saturday morning outdoor at Lin's. He absolutely enjoy his training. We are doing puppy foundation at both places and learn all different things from different environment. I think this will do him good. He is very confident and doing very well at home in the garden but at Leah and Lin, he didn't understand the plank on the ground. I am hoping to take him to other places to get used to the plank on the ground. To me, I believe, he SHOULD be able to do plank on the ground at anywhere. Hopefully when the puppies have gone next weekend, we can back to training and start working hard on that.

I didn't get a chance to take some recent photos of him, the puppies have taken all my attention. I feel very sorry that he has been neglected. This photo was taken yesterday after we came back from 3 hours training. You think he should be tired? NOPE! When he got home, he was playing ball for half an hour and then chase the puppies around the garden for an hour ...

a real daddy's boy, tennis ball mad!

playing with sister Sweep

Sonic went to his first proper puppy training day yesterday at Leah's. It was a 2 hours training day. There were two other shelties there, his sister Brooke and a very handsome tri colour Shark. Brooke and Shark were the great distraction for him. He wasn't too bother by Brooke as I have been training hard to get him to pay attention to me when Brooke is around and it seems to work rather well but Shark, oh Sonic loves little Shark. Shark is such a friendly little sheltie. They have met at the agility show when Shark was really little and Sonic loves puppy.

I was very glad to be able to watch Brooke work with Matt. I think they make a great Team. Brooke loves her daddy a lot and Oh My, she is so fast and furious! Her wait is fantastic, I am jealous!!! I thought Sonic is pretty good but not after I see Brooke. We are beginners in front of her.

We did some little exercises, working on control, drive and pre-agility foundations. I have taught Sonic Susan Garrett's "crate game", well, I haven't finish watching the DVD yet so our "crate game" is not up to that standard yet but we are working on it. It works brilliant for us especially when Brooke and Shark were next to him. Although he was so tempted to go and say hello to them but he was really focus on me and stay in his crate until I released him, and he drive to his toy! WooHoo! I am a happy mummy!

We did some ladder work, I've only done the "forward" ladder work with Sonic when he was a puppy puppy and have never try the "reverse" version. It was great to have learn something new with a ladder. He knows the reverse but its always gone sideway when he does his reverse. I am hoping to use the puppy pen to build the narrow lane to teach him to reverse in a straightline but he has to wait until the puppies have gone. For a first timer, I think he did great and I am going to practice that.

We then get to do the jump-tunnel-jump sequence. As we have done a bit of tunnelling so we get to do from an angle which is great. I am very happy that he beginning to learn to pick up the jump/obstacle in front of him. Also, proofing wait. I have been practising our "set up" routine, he isn't great yet, so I didn't do that a lot at the training day. I think he pick up some tricks quicker than the other and this one isn't the quick one for him. I want to make sure that he is very good at it before I reinforce the routine at training.

His wait is pretty good but not as good as Brooke. We will practice a lot of that, especially crossing behind him. He really dislike me walking around, so he either move or stand up to look what I am doing. Look like we have some homework to do.

One thing he amazed me was the "send on" exercise at the end of the training day. I know his "send on" is pretty poor at Lin's. He is not a human-friendly dog, he is reluctant when there is someone there chucking his toy for him or recall him. At home or at walk, we have been practising the "send on" and he is good but soon if there is someone out there, he will not go for it.

here is the compilation of some clips at training day:

Soon we finished at the Training Day, we have to rush to our Saturday puppy class at Lin's. I thought Sonic would be tired after the 2 hours training but he was still full of bean. He still going at full speed at Lin's. Then, when we got home, he was playing ball for half an hour and then chase the puppy for another half hour. He did sleep very well last night though :)

Sooty, Sweep & Scampi 7 weeks

2011-11-18T09:10:00.000Z

I can't keep up with the puppies anymore! Either this litter is very active or I am getting old! I am exhausted just looking after them. They are very fast and one always go different direction to the other two! They get to go out in the garden a lot more, thanks to the mild weather in November. We are very lucky. All pups enjoy the garden so much that I struggled to "catch" them and put them back in the pen. And they don't sleep anymore!!! They can go on and on and on ... for hours!

Licosateria Mai Sunflyer will be called FLY

Licosateria Mai Sunseeker, will be called SWEEP for now.

Licosateria Mai Sunbeam, will be called SCAMPI for now.

All three of them have great characters, obviously the girls are the boss but Scampi stands up for himself, which is really good. He won't let the girls bully him. He is really cheeky and fun. He responsed to his name the best. His recall is the best, of course :) He is the most inquisitive one, carry him around the High Street or anywhere we go no longer satisfy him, he wants to get down on the floor! He loves the cat just like Sonic. What's wrong with all the boys bred here? I need to try to get a video, it is hard as each time I took the camera out, the cat runs away! She is camera shy!

Fly is crazy ... she probably is the bravest of all of them. She loves any noisy thing. I gave them a "babble ball" to play, Scampi and Sweep weren't too sure about it but she loves it. She used her paw to hit it and chase/roll it and she even pick it up with her mouth and run away with it!

Other than this "babble ball", her other favourite is the empty milk bottle filled with coins. She loves the rattlling noise, that makes her go crazy. She such a funny girl and her tuggy skill is getting stronger each day. OMG! Can she tugs?

Sweep is a sweetheart. She is the cleverest of all of them. She will watch before she approach anything, she is not scared of them but she takes her time to something new. Having say that, she didn't take long, just a quick pause. She is a poser, everytime I take my camera out, she will sit and look pretty.

As they approach 7 week, I can see that Scampi and Fly are Sing juniors and Sweep is Sunny junior.

The pups also get to go out quite a bit this week, they travel well in the car together but not individually. Separation anxiety. They came with me to training, watching the horses in the stable yards and watch some agility as well. They were so excited each time a dog goes. All three are! They want to do agility as well. They've also been to supermarket carpark watching the noisy trolley; also the noisy children at the school gates ... we have visitors most of the times to help taking puppies out which is great too!

pups travelling in the car with uncle Saturn and big brother Sonic

Oh Blimey! Not easy to have the Family photo taken with some naughty puppies! There is always one that look away or do something naughty! As you can see, Sing is run out of his patient with his very naughty offsprings who thinking biting his fur is fun!!!

They are watching their daddy swimming in the pond, hopefully this lots will be another swimmer!

showing his children how to swim :)))

are you learning, kids?

not that I encourage them but these puppies are pretty agile and they seems to take on their daddy's diving skill :))))

mama Sunny has gone home and they are doing very well on solid food now. Daddy Sing and big brother Sonic has the responsibility to teach them good manners :D

Sonic

2011-11-11T21:36:00.001Z

I haven't posted much about Sonic. He is such a good big brother, he plays so well with the pups, all the pups love him, especially Scampi. He thinks the big brother is great and he always try to bull him :)

Our training is going well at the moment. He now also go on Thursday evening puppy Agility class. We are not doing a lot in the garden, but practice the basic like "wait" and the "set up" routine and a lot other little tricks. I've realised that he is not tunnel mad like a lot of other puppies/beginner dogs, so we do a lot of tunnelling this week, basically doing a lot of sending him into tunnel from various angle and distance and a lot of reward at the exit.

I also tried to be brave and put him on full Dog Walk this week, this is the result:

Sooty, Sweep & Scampi 6 weeks

2011-11-11T21:22:00.004Z

Sooty (aka Fly), Sweep and Scampi are 6 weeks old today! Where all the times gone? These puppies are so demanding, they are not happy to stay in the puppy pen anymore and they wake up a lot longer and sleep shorter. They got to go into the garden this week for quite a bit and they are loving the garden. I can't get them in easily. Scampi and Fly love tugging a lot, they just loved the toys, whatever you give them, they are happy to play with. Sweep needs a lot encouragement, once you get her going, she will not stop.

The puppies get to go on car ride daily, individually. They come on the ride with me every day to send Colin to work and pick him up from the station. Can they scream? I need ear plug to drive with the puppies! They also get to see busy and noisy traffic and crowd of people coming in and out from the station.

Sooty, aka Fly

Sweep

she is crazy about the baby slide, she loves to run up it and slide down

Sweep and Scampi

Scampi

OLD puppies and YOUNG puppies :D

2011-11-08T09:17:00.001Z

Matt & Rhoda with their Burdett Shelties came to play puppies on Saturday. It was good to have Brooke coming back to the "home" again, she definitely recognise the place, especially where the puppy pen is now. I am glad she is not confused like Sonic did. He sometimes think he is a puppy puppy again and went on the paper and do his toilet :( Thank God everytime, the baby puppies weren't in there.

We took the opportunity to practice their wait for the photo session. Knowing these two brother and sister are crazy to see each other but honestly, I was impressed! They are so good and I am extremely proud! Here is the proud daddy with his proud proud children. Excuse Sing for his poorly paw. He got a "no chew" bandage on but that doesn't mean he actually no chew! He did chew it! I was told the "no chew" bandage got a special scent that all dogs dislike but not my Sing :)

what a happy family, prick ears daddy and good ears children LOL

beautiful brother and sister, 7.5 months old. I know I am biased!

after the photos session, they are allow to play ... (daddy Sing in the background watching)

I am so glad to know that Brooke is just like her brother Sonic with their baby sisters and brother. They are both so tolerant with the bouncy puppies running over them and jump right in front of their face. Sonic is like their mama. Sunny couldn't care less, she had enough of the puppies! On the other hand, Sonic is nursing and teaching the puppies. I've watched them with a close eye and I have noticed that if one of the pups get too rough or too much, Sonic will interfere by gently lie on top of the pup and lick the pup, many times, it is Scampi the mischievous one! In the previous weeks, it was Fly or Sweep but this week, Scampi is the trouble maker, he is so active that he drain my energy off.

don't be fool by this cute picture of him snuggle up to his mama ...

this is the real Scampi, trying to boss around his sister Sweep

this is how Sonic get involved ... you can just about see Scampi's face in his mouth. He is every so gentle with them, he didn't bite the puppy or harm them.

sisters tug of war ...

I don't mean to teach Fly to "jump" her A Frame contact LOL

never too young to learn

the only think that keep him quiet for a little while

he is determined to work the treat out while the sisters gone off it. Result: HE WINS!

he also work out on this one :) clever little boy!

I am very cute! Give me high-five!

Miss Sweet-pea Sweep!

Fly meeting Vindi

I am very proud!

I am very sweet

I full of mischief!

Team Day

2011-11-04T09:50:00.002Z

We managed to get back to Leuven around 9pm, had a quick walk around the square with the dogs. It was very crowded and none of them wanted to do toilet. We even witnessed fight in the street. OMG! I quickly picked up Sizzle and run the different direction. Well, Colin and Sipzie just slowly stroll along :D This is the reaction between a man and woman!

One funny thing I have to mention here is ... I think Sipzie is reacting to Flemmish. I was checking with the hotel counter to see if we can get refund from the car park as we were unable to park the car in their carpark on Friday night and Saturday night. On Saturday night, we have to park the car even further! BUT, we insist to bring Sipzie's crate into the hotel room. Well, back to Sipzie. While I was talking to the hotel stuff about the carpark, then the two stuff were discussed in Flemmish (I guess). Sipzie over heard and she got so wound up and jump up and down to get to the counter. I really don't know if she thinks that is Miguel or is the Flemmish that reminds her of her home land? I tried to distract her but she just wouldn't take notice of me!

Thank God we have a good night sleep. Sipzie immediately settled into her crate that night. I didn't even bother to zip it up but she just went in there and lie down for the entire night! Not a twitch! The clock goes back on Saturday too. I wasn't sure my iPhone will automatically change, so I have to set the alarm at 2 different times, just in case! Of course, I was up an hour early! I couldn't go back to sleep because Sizzle asking to go toilet. Oh dear! I am not sure where to find a piece of green so I hope he will do it on the pavement. After 10 minutes walking up and down the square, finally he realised he has to do it there. He is such an easy boy. I can't get Sipzie to do her toilet! Look like I won't be going back to bed after all, so I went to pick up the car and bring to the front of the hotel so we can load our stuff in the car easily. Phew! What a nightmare!

Sunday is a Team day. Sipzie is running for her "Of The Five Colors I-Team" with her brother Ronin, sister Chiqi and mama Ypra; and Sizzle is running in the "International Sheltie Team" with Skye, Digger (Chiqi's big sister) and another sheltie from Czech that has not turn up. There is 4 shelties in a Team and the best 3 runs count.

Sipzie was working much better on Sunday, although she can't weave the first time but she managed the whole weave in the 2nd attempt and I am really happy with her. Sizzle ran clear in both the Team Jumping and Team Agility.

Sorry the video camera is playing up early in the morning :(. This is Sipzie's Team Jumping and in fact, this is her best run ever this weekend:

and this is Sizzle in the Team run:

They started with Team Jumping first (Large/Medium/Small) then work out the reverse order of the Team placings for the Agility. Sizzle's Team wasn't doing well, so we were quite early to run and follow by Sipzie's Team. In the Team Agility, as the Team can consist of Small/Medium/Large, so they want to run as a whole Team, so they took very long to run the course as they have to keep moving the jumps up and down! As you can see in Sipzie's Team Agility. While I set her up, the people are putting the jump for her height. I think this is ridiculous idea, so much hassle and trouble, oh and tiring too!!

Sizzle in the Team Agility:

Sipzie in the Team Agility:

Of all three days competition, I enjoyed Sunday the most. It is quite relaxing, during the break or course change. A group of Agility enthusiastic starts dancing like they did at the World Champ. Oh, I forgot to mention, they played music all day long, even when you are running. I don't think I do hear the music when I run but when you came out and calm down and you know there is music at the background! One thing I like about Belgian Dog Training is all training club has a club house that sells beer/drinks/food and they are dog friendly! I so wish we can have the same facility in the UK.

Knowing me, I did a lot of shopping at the show, including this, the tyre I mean, not that sheltie :D

and I enjoyed a bit of photography ...

Jolanda and Skye, first competition. I posted this photo on facebook and I like someone's comment:

Small dog handler go to the edge! LOL

Skye is very tiny, I think she is about the same size as my little Sizzle.

Skye on the A Frame. I am so proud of her. I am so happy to see her again and she hasn't forget me at all. It's very good to see your puppy being so well look after and trained and most of all a beloved family member!

oh ... and the family photo, almost ...

above: Sipzie, brother Ike, mama Ypra and brother Ronin

below: brother Ronin, Sipzie, mama Ypra and sister Chiqi

sister Chiqi is doing very well at the show. She won everything in the Small Grade 1 category. Watch Out Small dogs handler!

Oh, people who knows me knew how crazy I am over a bi-black sheltie. This is a very young sheltie from Italy, she is a little cracker. One day ... maybe one day I can own a bi-black!

Sadly, we couldn't stay for the closing ceremony as we have to catch the last train back to UK. There were engineering work, so they won't have frequent train on Sunday night. We have to rush off at 6pm the latest. Such a shamed but I've learned my lesson. I will not rush in the future. Next year is in Italy, its a long way to go but hopefully in 2013, if the competition is in Netherlands, we will go! I really enjoyed my experienced, although there were good and bad but seeing all the shelties always made me happy. They are some fantastic shelties and the standard over there is high!I am glad I am up for the challenge :D

Oh, I forgot to mention about their contacts. The surface is made by plastic/pvc with a strong grip. I was expecting to see "carpet" type of contact. The equipment was supplied by "favoriet" from The Netherlands.

The competition begin ...

2011-11-03T09:05:00.000Z

We got back to the hotel around 11pm on Friday night. Why so late? Don't ask me, we left around 10:30pm, the competition still going on ... we got back to Leuven, can't find anywhere to park the car, the hotel carpark is absolutely full up. We drove round around the square and the nearby street and finally found a spot 15 minutes walk away from the hotel. We were so tired that we only took with us the essential, changing cloth and wash bag.

We settle in almost immediately, apart from Sipzie. Colin and I were too tired, after a quick shower, we were in bed with Sizzle. Sipzie for some reason just wouldn't settle. I am not sure if she is still thinking of Miguel. This is not the first time she stays in the hotel with us. Anyway, the hotel room isn't carpeted, it is wood flooring. ALL NIGHT, yes, ALL NIGHT! Sipzie been tip toeing!!! I was regret not to bring her crate into the room and Colin definitely don't fancy a 15 minutes walk to get her crate! I've tried to take her in bed with us but she jumped off straightaway and begin to walk around like an idiot ALL NIGHT! To be honest, I want to kill her! I was too tired and finally fell asleep but I woke up at 4am to hear her walking again! I tried very hard to go back to bed but I just couldn't! At about 5am, I have enough of her, I shut her in the toilet! Guess what? She still walk around in the tiny little square!!! Arrrrggghhhh ...

We have to wake up at 6am to get ready to go, the open ceremony starts at 7:45am and competition starts at 9am. After not much sleep on Friday night, I was feeling very tired and couldn't concentrate. I really enjoyed the courses, eventhough with the Grade 1 course. You think it will be up and down? Yes, the G1 Agility is up and down but they tilt the angle of the jumps so slightly and for a real beginners, I think I will struggle. Having said that, Sizzle for some reason won't go on in his G3 classes.

Sipzie's performance on Saturday was absolutely awful. Her level of concentration was very low. She constantly looking for Miguel. At one point, I nearly leave her in Belgium with him but I am not that easily give up kinda of person. I decided to bring her crate into the ring and put in the crate until our turn to run.

You can see from this video that I let her leap off the DW and didn't want to put her back and then into the weave, she's looking for Miguel ... I just want to keep running.

and this is her G1 Jumping, I was so stressed with her weave that I forgot where to go after that!

On the other hand, Sizzle is such a good little boy. He has to wait for a long time before his first run and he gave me his best. Sadly, bad mummy didn't handled him well in the course and of course he jump off the see-saw too! Other than that, I am really pleased with how he ran the course.

Oh, and this G3 Jumping I sent him into the wrong end of the tunnel after the tyre :((((

After we finished all our runs, we went for a nice country walk with Skye (Sing x Samber pup) and Jolanda, Joost and baby Hidde. It was such a nice tranquil place. Then, we patiently wait for our "ordered" meal. I think lack of communication and announcement made it hard for us. We've waited and waited and I was so hungry, and we don't know where to get food, not until we saw people start eating! Arrrggghhh ...

Anyway, we found out where to get food and it was a long queue ... I am very disappointed with the food, we have a bowl of pumpkin soup because its Halloween, a tiny portion of meat with a few fries and a bowl of salad and a tiny portion of chocolate mousse. At the end of it, we left and we went back to the hotel and bought a big kebab to share!

competition continue ...

Outward to 8th International Sheltie Agility Show

2011-11-01T13:47:00.000Z

I've learned my lesson, IF I ever going to compete in Europe again, even in the closet country to the UK, I WOULD definitely want to go at least a day earlier. This past weekend was too much, too exhausting! At the end of our last day, I was like a zombie!

I went to bed at 11pm on Thursday night, not to my plan. When you have a litter of puppies, there is always something to do and puppies do not understand the clock! We woke up around 2am, sort all the dogs out (mainly to comfort then before we leave) and the puppies heard the noise and they seek attention too! We left home at 3am to Folkstone. We caught the 5:40am train to Calais.

Gosh! I must be so out-dated! The terminal is all machine operated, there is no man at the terminal to check you in. The automatic sensor sense the car and show up my details and booking on the screen, so we just have to touch the screen to check ourselves in.

We got there plenty of time, Sizzle and Sipzie were too tired to go on the exercise area, they are spoilt, they don't do early morning! Europe is an hour ahead of us, so by the time we arrived at Calais, it was only 7:20am. It was still very dark outside. Imagine I have to drive on the other side of the road! The journey to Belgium involved a lot of screaming from me and yes, I was the one who drive too! I was glad that I decided not to tow a caravan on the wrong side of the road!

Since we have time to spend, we stopped at a service station called Mannekensvere. That gave me time to feed the dogs and let them run around for half an hour. It was a nice service station with plenty of green. I ordered a "full English breakfast" (in Belgium), I don't think I can have a Belgian waffle in the morning, no matter how much I like my sweet. Had a little nap before continue our journey into Belgium. We stopped off to see the vet to sort out the pet passport; then drove on to our hotel in Leuven.

beautiful sunrise in Mannekensvere service station

To be honest, I was very disappointed with the hotel. It's right in the city centre, there's hardly any piece of green around, all pavement. On top of that, there is no kettle in the room. I am not looking for luxurious but after a long tiring journey or a day, I fancy my cup of tea. You can't believe how desperate I was to have a cup of tea all weekend long! The hotel carpark is a nightmare too. We have to pay for the carpark, 12euros per night. We parked the car there when we got in on Friday afternoon to check in. The carpark is very tiny, the ramp is very narrow and there is not much space to turn the car around. I was struggling to leave the carpark. I am not a bad driver at all!

Sipzie and Sizzle posing in Leuven Square

Anyway, we set off to the show at 3:30pm. I've entered the dogs on Friday too. I thought it's a good idea to get them to get used to the equipment and venue before the competition starts on Saturday. Friday was a fun class, so there were other breeds apart from the shelties.

The venue is good. The surface is good for running and the audience seats are good. The exercise area is brilliant. You can take your dogs to walk miles and miles or just run around in the field. All very safe from traffic. I like their camping that they supplied electricity, they have a portable electric thingy, they put one out and it can be shared between 6-8 caravans; but I dislike their camping allocation. There is no space limit, you either have a very close neighbour or extremely close neighbours. They didn't mark out per camping spot like what we do in the UK. We, Britons are spoilt!

The Friday competition supposed to start at 6pm but their timer (radio control timer!)'s broken. We HAVE to wait for them to fix the problem. There were a lot of moaning going on, I joined the moaning group! They took forever to fix the problem. Someone has suggested we could use manual timer but the organiser insist they will fix the electric timer. Well, the competition actually begin an hour later!

Sipzie was entered as Grade 1 and Sizzle in Grade 3. Sipzie was very happy to see her breeder Miguel, she went absolutely bonkers and lost control of herself when she saw him. You can guess the rest. I don't know how I will get her attention to me when we run ...

Our first run on Friday was with Sipzie in the G1 Agility. Actually, I was very pleased with her. She gave me her full attention. I knew I have to keep her happy and keep going if she went wrong. All weekend long, her weave was awful. She just can't weave at all. I wasn't sure if I should put her back on the plank if she missed her DW, all were too much for her to cope. I decided I will let her do whatever she will do, so long her attention is on me.

Sipzie - Friday, G1 Agility

How they organised the schedule was a guess, they can change the schedule as they wish, so we have to keep look-out on the window (notice board). My second run was with Sizzle in the Open Agility. Apart from our naughty see-saw, he did great. I am really happy that he ran well after a long tiring journey, stuck in the car most of the time.

Sizzle - Friday, Open Agility

After Sizzle's run, it was about 8:30pm. I was extremely tired and I so wish to go back to the hotel for a good rest before the real competition the next day. Thank goodness, Jolanda and Joost was camping with Skye (Sing x Samber pup) who moved back to The Netherlands cooked us dinner. At least, we don't have to worry where to find food and we can bully them to make us cup of tea/coffee. Thank you Jolanda and Joost! I managed to run Sipzie in the G1 Jumping before I decided I should rest.

Sipzie's attention beginning to drift away. She knew exactly where Miguel is and she keeps looking out for him. I just don't know what to do? To take her to see him before her run or to take her away? I can't quite understand her and judge her behaviour. From this video clip, you can see she keeps turning her head to look out for him but I was very pleased with her that she run with me and never look back. I did allow her to run to find him after her run though. I thought that is a good reward for her if she really want to see him that much.

Sipzie - Friday, G1 Jumping

After this run, I really can't stay up any longer, I really need my bed, so we drove back to the hotel and missed Sizzle's Jumping run. I don't think he needs a practice run, he really is a very good boy.

first night disaster at the hotel ... to be continued

8th International Sheltie Agility Show

2011-10-27T09:39:00.000+01:00

We are off to the 8th International Sheltie Agility Show in Belgium in less than 24 hours time! Phew! The dogs are not ready and I am not ready! They have not done much training, especially Sipzie, so we will see what she will do when she goes back to her homeland and see her breeder Miguel. One thing I am sure is she will go bananas when she sees him and trust me, I may not be able to bring her back LOL.

We haven't done much training due to puppies and me being under the weather; luckily, we went to Toni Dawkin's Training Day last Saturday, so at least both dogs had done a little bit of running and I've got to learn the "European Turn" which I wanted to learn for ages. Thanks Toni for a great training day!

I spent 3/4 of the times training Sipzie and only took Sizzle out for the last sequence, so I wanted to try to practice that "european turn" with Sizzle in the garden, sadly the weather didn't help, so hopefully next year, I get to put in some "european turn" in my runs.

We only take Sizzle and Sipzie with us, so the others and the puppies are staying. They are in good hand while we are away. Great Thanks to Ann for looking after them!

pups-date

2011-10-25T20:07:00.001+01:00

Pups are 3.5 weeks already! They are getting more active when awake and they now they form a pattern. Two pups asleep and one pup awake! Mmm ... so I am even more busier! All the pups are quite forward. Each time I let them out of the puppy pen, they go explore further! They jump over the puppy gate (the lower bar), so you can see they are quite an agile pup, and off they ran into the other room ... so I am constantly chasing puppies ...

so, this is the Big girl who we called Sooty but her new daddy is naming her FLY

she is very cheeky fat girl and she has a lot of attitude and she loves her toys ...

and here is a little video clip of Fly killing Mr Duck:

Oh, puppies teeth are growing ... so it's about time to introduce some solid food. Here is Scamble breakfast for the little ones ... they really like them and to my surprised, they finished it all between them!

It's sunny and warm this afternoon, so they pups get to go on the patio for the first time for quick 5 minutes. The sun didn't stay very long, so I took them in quick before they get too cold! I think they enjoyed their outing!

Mr handsome

... and this is what they do most of the time ... play fight!

look like the discussion went wrong here!!!

Scampi: I do love you sis

very handsome boy

no problem on the wobble board!

and the beautiful mama

this little sweet Sweep melt my heart!

butter wouldn't melt expression!

let's guess the butts!

Sooty, Sweep & Scampi 3 weeks

2011-10-21T19:06:00.000+01:00

Gosh! I've been so busy, hardly any time left for myself. The puppies still sleep a lot. They woke up and back to sleep all in 15-20 minutes! They spent very little time playing but when they do, it was quick and cute. No time for photography or video, I am too slow. Hehehe ... actually I just enjoyed watching them play. The two girls play fight and each time, they go "grrrr ...". Scampi is a good little boy, I have not hear him growl but he is very playful. He and Sooty both like tuggy a lot. Oh, these puppies do bark! Proper shelties! LOL

Sonic and his brother and sisters

2011-10-19T22:32:00.000+01:00

Sonic made me laugh so much. He is absolutely crazy, obsess with his brother and sisters. He nurse them better than Sunny. He keeps licking them and he is ever so gentle. I have not known him being so gentle before. He is quite powerful when playing tuggy and crazy when we train. He is always on the go but he is so gentle and calm with them. That's amazing! I've just managed to catch a video clip of him and the pups.

introducing Sooty, Sweep & Scampi

2011-10-19T09:44:00.000+01:00

Sing and Sunny's puppies arrived on 30th September. After much consideration, we decided to let Sunny whelps her puppies with her owner Marilyn because I have the WAO tryout with Sizzle and I would like have time to make sure he is fit and I am fit for the tryout. We picked up Sunny and her pups on Monday, after the WAO tryout on Sunday and the pups are already 2.5 weeks old. Their eyes and ears are open. They are still not very active at this stage, they spend a lot of time sleeping to grow ...

Sunny has two tri girls and a shaded sable boy. The first born was a smaller tri girl, Sunny didn't have a smooth birth so she has to rush to the vet. The smaller tri girl (I named her Sweep) was pulled out by the vet; then we all decided a caesarean is best for Sunny as we do not want Sunny to go through the hard labour any longer. We then have a bigger tri girl (Sooty) and a shaded sable boy (Scampi) by caesarean. All the pups were weighing between 8.5oz to 9.5oz. Scampi is the smallest in the litter. They all put on weight nicely over the last two weeks and they are fat and contented puppies!

Sunny is a good mama, she settled in straightaway the minute she walked through the door. Pups are great travelling in the car for a long journey, hopefully these puppies will not have car sick when the grow older.

introdusing Sing x Sunny babies, born 30th September

bigger girl, SOOTY

she is very cheeky girl

smaller girl, SWEEP

she is very sweet and cuddly

and the Boy, SCAMPI

he is the naughtiest (in a very funny way), cheekiest little monkey! Of course with a butter wouldn't melt face!

Sunny & Sweep and Scampi

Sooty trying her baby way of herding sheep ... BITE the sheep. LOL

chilled out time

Happy 2nd Birthday to Little Miss SIPZIE

2011-10-18T08:49:00.000+01:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to

our crazy Little Miss Sipzie

also Happy Birthday to her sister Chiqi,

and brothers Ike, Ice and Ronin

Happy 1st Birthday to SILKY

2011-10-17T23:32:00.000+01:00

Happy FIRST Birthday to Silky,

all grown up now!

Slobbery kisses from daddy Sing & mama Skye

xxx

more grown up photo, please visit her web page

catching up on some agility news ... Dundee

2011-10-11T11:55:00.000+01:00

We haven't done any agility (training or competition) since my mum passed away, I am just not up to it. I only just returned to my weekly training two weeks ago and I realised how much I missed doing agility with my dogs. The first week I returned to training, things didn't ran well, I wasn't concentrating and both Sizzle and Sipzie didn't understand what I want. I feel really sorry for them. I determined to go back to my routine and I tried hard. Last week, I was so much better, I handled the dogs well and I determined to train hard this winter for a much better season next year.

I was looking back some videos, hopefully they will inspired me ...

Here are some from Dundee, this was Sizzle last Champ class of the year as I missed Chippenham. I can't leave Sing at home or in the hot car that weekend after his surgery, so I decided we will stay at home and chilled.

I didn't do very well at Dundee, I got ill from the last day of our Scottish holiday. By the time we got to Dundee on Friday, I was very sick. I fell over seven times over the weekend, I just can't get my feet on the ground. The Champ was on Sunday and I make sure I save up my energy for that.

This is the Champ Agility, we got 5 faults on the very naughty see-saw:

Luckily, Sizzle got a good place in the Champ Jumping, 2nd place to give us a chance in the Final:

Final? I messed it up big time! All the dogs before us ran clear and I determined to go clear and fast but I am just not experienced in handling the course. I over look the jump after the cloth tunnel/chute. And I never thought if I am not ahead of him, he will take the wrong jump to cost us elimination! I was really gutted as before the elimination, his time was good enough and a couple of seconds faster that the fastest time then. Oh well!

Oh, what can I say about Little Miss Sipzie? She was on fire in Scotland, apart from the time she missed her Dog Walk contact, she won all her classes :D

Sipzie - Saturday Graded 1-4 Agility:

Sipzie - Saturday Combined 1-4 Jumping:

Sipzie - Saturday Combined 1-4 Agility:

Sipzie - Sunday Graded 1-4 Agility:

Sipzie - Sunday Combined 1-4 Jumping:

Sipzie - Sunday Combined 1-4 Agility:

Good and Bad of this week

2011-10-09T18:36:00.000+01:00

First of all, update on Sing. I have received so many emails from friends asking about Sing, sorry I haven't post an update after the operation. I was too upset. It is not a good news at all. The vet has done everything they could to dig/clean up his paw and the lab result has came back to say there were in-growing hair. What that means, I have not have a clue but the vet has explained that Sing will be cripple for the rest of his life, he will be on and off lame/limping; and his gland is badly inflame, although they have done to clean the paw but it will keep coming back on and off, so he needs medication, probably a very strong anti-biotic to control the inflame, also for the rest of his life. It is so unfair! He so well NOT deserved all this. He is one very special boy to me. He has never set fire to the Agility world nor the Flyball world but he has done a lot FOR ME. He is a wonderful dog to live with and a proud dog to take out and show off with. He has such a good temperament, he knows how to deal with elderly and young children, he is the most wonderful dog you can ever own. I was heart-broken.

It took him more than 24 hours to come off the anaesthetic, when he finally woke up on last Saturday afternoon, guess what he did?

This picture said it all. That's my boy!

Sorry for the blurry picture! My camera's bugged now and I haven't got a good camera anymore :(((

Since the surgery, we have been to the vet twice for check up. He was rather good not to rip off the 1st bandage for 3 days but then, he's itching. We managed to keep the trendy bandage on until we seen the vet but the 2nd bandage didn't last very long, not more than 24 hours! We had to rush to the vet as the wound is still sore and red but the vet wanted to leave it open to get the air circulate. Knowing Sing is a licker, that's hard work! He was good-ish but soon I turned around, he will lick his wound, which is not good. I put the buster collar on, he tried to take it off within a minute :(

He is not impress with his buster collar!!

how can I keep the wound nice and dry?

So, that's all the bad news and update about Sing.

The good about my week is our training was going on very well, with all the dogs, Sizzle, Sipzie and Sonic. Thursday has now become my busiest day of the week. I have training in the morning and then training in the evening. I haven't got a choice but I thoroughly enjoyed my trainings. The two black ones are doing really well, even Sipzie did some really good work. Our contacts still need sorted out. Whenever she gets excited, she will leap off her Dog Walk, so she still does not understand the criteria! Sizzle is getting really jealous about Sonic. He thinks I am HIS mummy ONLY. It's good to know he loves me very much :)

Sonic started his puppy training last Saturday. It was roasting last Saturday. He started off really well. He is toy motivated, I don't need any treat at all. He did get very tired at the end, must be the heat! Yesterday was nice, it was windy and a bit cold but it was nice to be outdoor. Sonic was fabulous. He is a worker just like his daddy and everytime, he drove to his toy. I've tried to use different toys and he works for any toy.

I've got Colin to video some clips and here is a compilation of Sonic's training week 2:

Look what I received in the post today!

2011-10-06T16:47:00.000+01:00

Goodness me! After a really good training this morning with Sipzie and Sizzle, I came home to this:

It seems a long time ago but having receive this, it helps build up my confidence again! I have been NOT wanted to do Agility since I came home from mum's funeral. I have missed all the Agility shows that I've entered and I haven't been training since. Today is the first day I finally pluck up my courage to force myself to go into training mood again.

update on Sonic

2011-10-05T22:13:00.000+01:00

I am so far behind from blogging again, I meant to finish posting our Scotland trip but never seems to get around to do it. Since we came back from Scotland, there were too many things happened ... so I have to post whatever that comes into mind now.

Sonic is 6.5 months now, I haven't done much with him compare to what I did with Sizzle at the same age. Consider how little I've done with him, I am very happy with his enthusiasm towards "working with me". He is toy motivated just like his daddy that makes training much easier. He will do anything for a throw of tennis ball. This part of him is so much like Sing.

He started puppy agility class last Saturday. I think he really enjoyed what he is doing. For the full hour of puppy agility class, I have not even needed a piece of food, he worked well with the toy. It was extremely hot last Saturday, after nearly 40 minutes, he beginning to feel very tired. Bless him! Although he has learned some of the agility obstacles at home but there are still many that I haven't introduce to him yet, so I think I better get my training shoe on again.

Whenever I have time, I will do a little bit of agility foundation with him in the garden. Unfortunately, I haven't been around much lately and also been poorly and the weather was too hot and other excuses ... he is a little character, I just loved the way he works, his head is down and is driven to the ball/toy.

I don't know what to expect from a 6 months old puppy but Sonic has now progress to full see-saw which I think he is doing very well with. I didn't push to train the see-saw but it just happened. I spent his last two months just to do the very basic see-saw training, only last week that we progressed to full see-saw and he is loving it and I am really happy with his performance.

Dog Walk wise, we are still running on the low plank. I have changed a different type of rewards to check his stride and I now will stick to just tennis ball. That seems to keep his stride nicely running across the plank.

Yesterday, I decided to pull out my dusty Channel Weave. I think it's about time he has to learn something new. It didn't take him long to go through the wide channel weave and I managed to close the channel up to 10" within 10 minutes. I think we will stick to that for a long while before I bring them even closer.

He got a little worried about the Cloth Tunnel at puppy training last Saturday. I don't think he really worried about the cloth tunnel but he just don't like people. If the trainer is calling him (I sent him over), he will not go on. At the end, I have to do a lot of recall instead of sending him on. I am not sure how to overcome this problem. I don't think I can really change him to LIKE people. He is interested in people when we walk on the pavement, he wants to sniff people and saying hello but he will not let people touch him. I suppose Agility is the one-man game, so I should be alright but I need to get him over a "judge" trying to judge his contacts too closely! Oh, one step at a time!

Luckily, I have some agility equipments at home, so I can practice whenever I need it. It seems that he is quite happy to run through the cloth tunnel without much help!

here is a compilation of Sonic doing a bit of puppy agility:

poor Sing

2011-09-27T22:05:00.000+01:00

For the first time today, in nearly 2 years of struggling to get poor Sing to walk normal; I finally felt relief that he is now properly look after by a reasonably good vet. And yes, I am moving away from my vet after 9 years to a better Veterinary. Although the distance to travel is further and not so easy to get to but I had enough with my vet, I cannot bare to take any of my dogs to him anymore!

Great thanks to Ann who highly recommend her vet to me. I took Sing to see the new vet and she has confirmed what Colin and I thought it was ...

For those who do not know what happened, here is the summary ...

It all happened in October 2009, the Thursday night before Shrewsbury Agility Show weekend. I was playing ball with Sing in the lounge that night while eating my dinner (our usual routine), he suddenly yelp in pain. I was shocked. He is a very tough boy, nothing could get him to scream unless he is extremely in pain, so I was concern. That night, he was unable to walk up the stairs or jump up onto the settee and our bed. There were no vet appointment on Friday and he was looking ok, so I carried on what I've already planned. To drive up to Shrewsbury on Friday night to stay in the Travel Lodge with the dogs. Sing didn't compete that weekend of course. I took him to see my vet on Monday. He was prescribed with pain killer. That time, the vet and I thought he must somehow strain his shoulder. We then have him look by a physio Ray Tent at a show, he did the flicking treatment and told me that he can carry on working after 5 days. Of course, I did. I did Dash 'n' Splash with him 5 days later. It was a 3-day event, on the last day, he slipped on the platform and I immediately see that he is not right and stop there and then. We were back to the vet and more physio ... it has been on and off for a few months and everyone thought it's his shoulder/joint problem. Then, in April 2010, I realised his paw beginning to change shape. I alert my vet, he said there is nothing to worry about, because he is in pain, so he tried to compensate the way he is walking, so he is developing a funny walking pattern and created an extra pad. I am no professional and I am not happy with the explanation BUT what can I do? I keep a close eye on that paw and I tried to massage the paw, hopefully it won't get spread out too much. Then in May 2010, Colin and I noticed he licks his paw more than ever and we sometimes see puss coming out through the pad. I told the vet, he gave him anti-biotic for that. He was on anti-biotic for a long time but there is no improvement on the paw. Sing is limping most of the time, surely there is something wrong with the paw. After a few months on anti-bioctic, the vet gave me a tube of Fuciderm Gel, it sounded like I will apply the gel on him whenever it is sore and basically is almost everyday. Anyway, it's been on going until we went to Scotland on holiday. Sing had to rush to the emergency vet because his paw was very poorly. I had a word with the vet and he said there is nothing wrong on Sing's shoulder/joint, it is the paw and he believe that there is a foreign object (grass seed highly possible) has been living in the pad for months or even a year. This is why he is constantly infected. He suggested I took him to my vet to have him x-ray and operated on it. I have been discussed this with Colin and both of us agreed that we will find another vet to look at Sing's paw instead of going back to my vet which we think he will just gave him more anti-biotic. Of course, I lost my mum and there were a lot of other sad things going on until just now.

Anyway, I am very happy to see a good vet with good knowledge and Sing will be treated and well look after by her. He is schedule to go in on Friday morning to have an x-ray then operation to get the pad sorted. After that, he will need another operation on the "extra pad", but we are doing one at a time. I am so happy that he gets treated properly and correctly and hopefully no more limp from my special boy.

this is his paw today

Over The Bridge

2011-09-26T13:18:00.000+01:00

It has been very sad over here in the last few weeks. Mum is now reunited with my dad and my brother over the Rainbow Bridge. She has been poorly for quite sometimes, every since I lost my beloved brother nearly three years ago. She wasn't coping. Eventhough she was living with us after my brother passed away but she wasn't happy, so we have to send her back to where she really belongs. She then suffered a few strokes and survived until early this year; she had 3-5 strokes within 2 months and left her paralysed. I visited her in March and she was stable then. Her condition was up and down, I knew deeply that she wasn't happy to be alive suffering from losing her beloved son. It was heartbreaking to see her suffering physically and mostly, mentally. I couldn't get her to talk to me but she will answer to my eldest nephew who looks just like my brother. We sometimes think that she must have mistaken Boy as Patrick.

I was on the phone to my cousin two days before she passed away. None of us were expecting to loose her that soon. I was awake by a phone call from my nephew back home to break me the saddest news. Everything was a blur since.

The thing that hit me most is to realise that she passed way the same day as my dad, both in Lunar Calendar and English calendar but 30 years apart. The chance of clashing in both Lunar Calendar and English Calendar is so slim and it happened! The journey to Malaysia was getting all of a rush and blur.

When I returned to UK, I was violently sick for a few days. I know it's the stressed. I am nobody's child!

I wasn't interested in Agility; walking the dogs has become a "duty" instead of something I really enjoy to be with the dogs. The dogs didn't understand the change in me, they all tried to be closed to me and demanding play but I just felt frustrated. Last week, I gradually feel a little better and the dogs were so happy to have the old mummy back.

I am slowly recover and regain my energy. Hopefully we will back to routine very soon.

Thanks to all my friends and family who email/sending cards/flowers. I really appreciate your support in this difficult time.

the most devoting mum in the world, sadly missed.

passed way on 10th September 2011

dad passed away on 10th September 1981. He was a wonderful father who I aodred.

my beloved brother who lost his battle with liver cancer on 10th December 2008.

He was the BEST man in the world!

R.I.P mum, dad & brother

you are sadly missed

xxx

Sonic - 6 months already!

2011-09-21T11:26:00.001+01:00

This blog has been neglected .. it has been very stressful and sad for the last couple of weeks, this is one of the reason that I haven't finish posting our Scottish holiday and the Agility news.

Sonic turned 6 months on Monday, he is not an easy puppy but we all love him to bits. He loves to play and work, he does not do cuddles. He always carry a toy around and demanding me to play. If I ignore him, he will come and tell me off; first, he will gently using his nose to poke me, if I still ignore him, he will pull my trouser, if I still ignore him, hmmm ... he will "bite" me! He did get his way though!

I am very happy with how he progresses, we do a little bit here and there, mainly some foundation work towards agility. He is a fast learner just like his daddy. I started to put some jumps in the garden with poles on the ground this week. I think its a bout time I strengthen his "working ahead/work away" from me. It didn't take me any effort to get him to work away from me. I set up four jumps in a straightline and he is happily chase after his tennis ball, he even do the run back (just like the Flyball). After two days of running up and down the 4 jumps, he tried very hard to take every jumps. If Agility didn't work out for us, I guess we can do Flyball. We are beginning to introduce "dead" toy at the end of the 4th jump and he is doing well so far.

I also set up a jump-tunnel-jump sequence with him and he absolutely love it. Our major problem now is the WAIT! He has no patient, just like me. He is so excited all the time when he knew something is going to happen. He just can't content himself, he just wanted to go go go all the time. We are working hard on that!

Such a happy boy!

Bonnie Scotland - Day Out ... finding Nessie

2011-09-07T12:07:00.000+01:00

We had a day-out to the most famous and beautiful Loch Ness. The scenery around Loch Ness is just plain beautiful. I don't think I will be able to explain that in words. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy all day, so photographs are not the best.

And, we determine to find Nessie ...

Colin is leading the pack ... through Urquhart Bay Wood

LOOK! What did the boys found!

Nessie Sizzle?

Nessie Sing?

Nessie Sonic?

Miss Nessie?

RUN!!!! Nessie is coming!!!!

Bonnie Scotland - Day Out ... Nairn

2011-09-06T10:47:00.000+01:00

We had a few Day-Out when we were holidaying in Scotland ... our first Day-Out was to Nairn. Nairn is about 18 miles from Burghead, where we camp. Compare to Burghead, Nairn is a big town. We didn't wonder very far, we took the dogs down to the beach and we don't fancy tie the dogs outside and walk into the museum or shops, so we will go to anywhere WITH the dogs or allow dogs.

Nairn fishwife statue

The KNIGHTs Shelties @ Nairn

Sonic and Scara having fun on the beach

handsome Saturn enjoys the cold breeze

Sing and his shadow ...

my leggy boy :)

Bonnie Scotland - hobble holiday ... Burghead

2011-09-05T14:29:00.000+01:00

I desperately need another holiday! We've only been back from Scotland three weeks ago and I am stressed already! Not just that, I am agility-out! But I am an agility addict. What can I do?

I am missing my relaxing time in Scotland. That was one very peaceful and relaxing holiday. We were supposed to stay at Burghead for a week then move on to Ben Nevis but we were too lazy and fell in love with the tranquillity in Burghead and didn't want to move on. At the end, we spend two weeks at Burghead Beach Holiday Park.

We were so lucky to have a pitch so close to the forest. We were about 50 yards into the forest and down to the beach. We were like living in the heaven. The shelties love it and we love it. To be honest, I wish we could stay there forever. We even looked into a few static caravans but they are just too expensive that we cannot afford.

We spent most of our time walking in the forest (try not to get lost) and running on the beach. The shelties were absolutely mad. They love the sea a bit too much. Sonic and Sing always lead us to the beach the minute we let them go off the lead. For those who knows Sonic that does not like puddles, let alone sea; he now is another great swimmer just like his daddy Sing. He loved the chase the seagulls and oyster catchers ...

We had so much fun playing frisbee on the beach every evening ... when the tie is high in the afternoon, all of them apart from Seagull when swimming in the sea.

Why hobble holiday? Well, Colin's sore toe didn't get better (his toe is still very sore at the time of posting this), he can't walk so he has to hobble along. For a change, I am leading the pack at this holiday and have him tag along slowly with Seagull ... he enjoyed his book, sunbathing on the beach and he caught a sea urchin!

to be continued ...

Bonnie Scotland - first stop ... KOF

2011-08-30T10:14:00.000+01:00

I think I better start catching up with all our news ...

We left for Scotland on Thursday, 4th of August, evening. We stopped at Preston to sleep over before continue the long journey. As we were towing the caravan this time, so the rest was good enough for me. I slept in the caravan with my four boys whilst Colin slept in the car with his three. We both have each duty to guard the caravan and the car. Hehehe ...

We got to Kingdom Of Fife around mid-day. Nikki was very kind to save me a space so I don't have to rush and still have a good spot near the rings. That's the best thing camping at an Agility show. Since Colin's toe was very bad, asking him to walk the dogs and take the dogs to the rings for me was a difficult task, I have to do all that myself, so having a spot near the rings is like heaven.

BTW, Colin got bitten by an insect before we set off to Scotland and his toe was very sore and painful. He can't even wear shoe/trainer, so for the entire Scotland trip, he was wearing my croc (which he always against it!!!) and hobble around. He even had to go to the A&E in St Andrews on Sunday. That was how bad he was.

The weather was OK on Saturday but rain all day on Sunday. I have entered Sizzle, Sipzie and Saturn at KOF. Each dog has three classes a day. Saturn was a little naughty on Saturday, didn't get any clear rounds but e'd in all classes. He won his G6 Jumping on Sunday and had a couple of placings in other classes. The two black ones did very well.

Sipzie got 4 x 1st at KOF. Two on Saturday and two on Sunday. I missed walking her first class, which is the Combined 1-4 Agility. I nearly miss her run too. I wasn't aware that the class was on and until I heard from the tannoy that they are closing the class, so I had to rush over and tell them not to close the class. I got to watch two dogs to run the class (luckily they are clear) before Sipzie and me are in.

I wasn't expecting to run clear with Sipzie as we still have issue on the weave and Dog Walk contact and training is in progress. It could be the Scottish air, she ran her heart out, eventhough it wasn't the smoothest, but she did her weave and just got her DW contact, WooHoo! A CLEAR round and she had the fastest time too. She won the class by over 9 seconds! I was very happy. Then, she went on to win the Combined 1-4 Jumping by another great margin. She must be on fire at the show, she went on to win two more classes on Sunday in the rain, also by a very good margin! The two that she didn't win were the one that she got eliminated.

Sipzie @ KOF, Saturday - Combined 1-4 Agility:

Sipzie @ KOF, Saturday - Combined 1-4 Jumping:

Sipzie @ KOF, Saturday - Graded 1-4 Agility (eliminated):

There are no videos on Sunday due to heavy rain.

Sizzle was a little star at KOF. Normally, if I've entered him in the Champ, I will not enter any other normal classes. Many times, we got eliminated in the first round and we didn't get to do many runs. This time, I decided I will enter him in the Champ as well as the normal classes. Poor Sizzle has to work extra hard. Our first class on Saturday was the Graded 5-7 Agility. I was hoping to take the opportunity to practice his contacts, especially on the See-Saw. Guess what? He missed the DW and SS and we went horribly wrong in the entire course! I got nervous about our Champ Agility already but he ran so well in the Champ Agility and won it by 2 seconds. Now, I need to do is to run clear in the Champ Jumping to get into the Final. I forgot how to stop to give him a rest so I ran him in another normal class, Combined 5-7 Agility, again, he missed his DW and SS! Soon after that, we ran the Champ Jumping. We were ok but so close to get eliminated but I managed to save it and that cost us a big time lost! We were 2nd from last to run in the Final. Sizzle was very tired after 4 runs. The Final wasn't that far away and he was dead tired when the Final was on. I had to drag him out and he wasn't looking very happy, not when it rain as well. Unfortunately, when he was on the startline, the rain was getting persistent too. I knew I wanted to win it but I am also worried about the slippery contacts, so I play safe. We ran clear and I was too nervous to watch the last dog run. We were beaten by the little schnauzer and Sizzle got his Reserve CC. I am so proud of my little man!

Sizzle @ KOF, Saturday - Champ Agility:

Sizzle @ KOF, Saturday - Champ Jumping:

Sizzle @ KOF, Saturday - Champ Final:

After what we had achieved, I didn't run him on Sunday, he well deserve a rest!

this is my proud little man showing off his RCC certificate, rosette and trophy

to be continued ...

we are HOME

2011-08-24T16:52:00.000+01:00

We got home from Bonnie Scotland on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, towards the end of our holiday, I began to feel unwell. Maybe too much sun (did you hear me complain?)! Oh yes! Sun and me don't add up. Colin got me out on week 2 twice to sun bathing on the beach with him. He obviously enjoyed it and I actually suffered from the "sun". The first time, I had a terrible migraine and the second time, I fell really poorly. It didn't help me at all as we were packing up to leave to Dundee. When I got to Dundee on Friday, I was very sick. The venue is not great for me. The ground is uneven and sloppy. We were camp on the slight hill and it definitely didn't help me at all. I lost my balance and fell over a couple of times. I didn't even have the energy to worry about running as I couldn't possibly imagine I could stand upright ... more about that later.

see what I've got? All flying ears shelties! Hahaha ...

Dogs were loving their holiday, its paradise to them. Did they miss their home comfort? I don't think so! They rather run and run around in the forest and down to the beach ... more about that later!

Happy 2nd Birthday to daddy's girls

2011-08-04T07:33:00.000+01:00

daddy Sing and mama Samber sends licks xxx

Holiday countdown!

2011-08-03T10:27:00.000+01:00

I am so excited and cannot wait ... we are off to Scotland on holiday! WooHoo! The long journey will begin on Thursday evening. We are towing our little caravan with all the dogs, we are hoping to do half way, if possible, then stop for the night and continue again on Friday morning.

Our first stop is Kingdom of Fife Agility Show; then on Sunday afternoon, we will move on to a campsite in Nairn. We will spend a week at the beautiful beach, Colin wanted to swim everyday and hopefully we will get Sonic to follow his daddy's step. I am sure water baby Scara will enjoy the beach. Then, after that, we will move on to Ben Nevis for a week. Hmmm ... Colin wanted to climb Ben Nevis, I think I better off stay at the bottom and wait for him. I don't fancy climbing mountain! I promised to take some good photos. On the way back, we will stop by at Dundee Agility Show. I guess with a walking holiday planned, I will be shattered before Dundee.

We always wanted to go holiday in Scotland but there is always something stopping us. The agility gets in the way; my brother was ill, so I had to travel a few times between China and Malaysia in 6 months; then we had puppies ... BUT we determined to put everything aside this year and WE WANT TO GO TO SCOTLAND.

We have been planning this holiday since January, we looked up for cottages but none of them will take ALL our dogs. Most places only accept two dogs and maximum three dogs. We found a place that will take all the dogs but they have to sleep in the cellar. WHAT? Excuse me? NO WAY I will leave my dogs in the cellar. You must be kidding! After so many unsuccessful attempts in finding cottages, we thought of hiring a motorhome to tour around. Goodness me, how much is to hire a motorhome for 2 weeks? £2000-£3000! That is an expensive holiday! That's not including the petrol yet! At one point, we thought we will give up.

Colin did suggested we take our caravan but I was too nervous to tow the long way! Anyway, I knew if we want our Scottish holiday, the only way is to take our caravan and GO. Luckily we found two lovely campsites that takes all our dogs, hopefully we will have a lovely holiday.

This picture was taken at St Andrews last year when we went to KOF

This picture was taken last year when we stop at Castle Douglas for a long walk

It's always good to see the dogs enjoyed their walk

Sonic is a good traveller, he will be 20 weeks old when we go to Scotland. Oh, how time flies! Scara is turning into 26 weeks and still a bad traveller, hopefully this long journey will break her car sickness. Titan was like her before and our Snowdonia holiday broke his car sick! I haven't done much with the puppies recently. The weather is too hot to go outside. I managed to teach the pups "ladder work" on Sunday. Sonic took it in straightaway but Scara took longer. She is not happy with it! This video was taken this morning, this is the second time the pups on the ladder work:

Interactive toys

2011-08-02T09:19:00.000+01:00

I thought I will make a post on our Interactive toys. Mack & Murphy asked which is the pups' favourite.

Well, I don't think there should be a "favourite". My personal opinion on the interactive toy is to get the dog's mind busy. The dog has to work out how to get the treats out, this is why I ended up with so many different type of interactive toys (... and more coming). There are different levels of difficulty, so I always give the dog a different one so they have to "work" everytime. Sometimes, the easy level is not necessary the easiest one for the dog; each dog has their own way to work the toy. In my pack, Saturn is the most intelligent one to work out all the toys. Personally, I think these three toys (picture below) are the hardest, as NOT ALL treats will come out if the dog used the nose to poke it or roll it, especially the little blue one. Saturn and Sonic are the only two that work out they have to pick it up and toss it to get the treats out. I called that CLEVER :) As for the purple one (as well as the bamboo one), the dog has to shake it! Oh, I love watching them working these out. So, not all puppies are time waster but older dogs too! And YES, you can teach an old dog new trick!

I found in my pack, the boys work it out very quickly each one of them, they will not take longer than 5 minutes to work all the treats out from each one of them. The girls took longer and they get frustrated too. I even found Scara sitting there staring at the toy and refused to work.

grumpy weekend :(((

2011-07-31T22:48:00.000+01:00

Well, nothing is going my way this weekend, I am grumpy. First of all, the weather is turning hot and I am suffering from the heat. I know a lot of people enjoys "the summer" weather but my body just could not cope with it. I keep having migraine and try to stay away from the sun. I can only take the dogs out very early in the morning and late in the evening when it is a bit cooler; during the day, I just stay at home and not wanted to do anything.

We went to Agility Club show yesterday, Sizzle had his Champ runs, Crufts Singles and Team run. We started with the Champ Jumping. It was a handling course. For some reason, I just could not register the course in my head straightaway. I had to walk it 7th time then I beginning to see the pattern. I never thought I could get around the course as I struggled to remember it. I am glad we ran clear and smooth.

Sizzle's Champ Jumping:

After Sizzle's Champ Jumping, I went to run Sipzie in her Graded 4 to 6 Jumping. I wind her up before we ran, probably too much as we have to wait for the judge ... she got tired and confused. At the end, I have to use the treat to get her going, so she lost her speed there but she was clear until the last jump. Yes, she completed the 6 weaves and everything was smooth but ran past the last jump! I think Colin must have fallen asleep as he missed the beginning of the run!

Sipzie's Graded 4-6 Jumping:

After Sipzie's run, everything went wrong. First, I realised my hand was swollen. I've got bitten by an unknown insect on Friday night standing in the garden to get the puppies to go toilet before bed. I took an allergy tablet as it was painful and put some antiseptic cream and went to bed. Soon after Sipzie's run, I felt like I had a slight fever and the hand got red and sore. I tried to concentrate on my Champ run with Sizzle. As I was getting ready to run him, there were two dogs before us, one of the Champ dog had a go at him. I knew this dog and this is not the first time he "got" Sizzle. He is always unfriendly to Sizzle and I tried to avoid him if I can. He is a castrated male so I am not sure why he is "nasty" to my Sizzle. There is no harm done to Sizzle but it blew my mind. I know I am always over protected my dogs, especially the little ones. Before I could gather my mind, I was asked to get ready to run Sizzle. I tried my best and of course I lost him at the bit that I am worried about, the jump after the DW and got us eliminated. Damn! So no Final for us!

Sizzle's Champ Agility:

After that, I was getting really grumpy, my hand was getting worst and I certainly feel hot in my body. I need some medication. I want to go home but Sizzle is running in the Team, so I have to hang on for it ... after lunch. I walked the Crufts Singles & Team during lunch but by the time I ran the Crufts Singles, I nearly forgot the course! I am not supposed to do a front cross after the see-saw but I did and it looked stupid!

Sizzle's Crufts Singles:

Unfortunately, in the Team run, Sizzle pop out of the 10th pole of the weave! That's such a shock to me. I've never think that he will do that and I couldn't believe he did that. Colin said he have been watching Sipzie too much! LOL!!! Sadly, none of our ESSC Teams qualified for Crufts next year. You can find the Medium Team video at: Brooke's later.

ESSC Small Team:

Because my hand is still badly swollen, I decided to miss the show today and stay at home and moan about it :(

my old puppy

2011-07-29T22:08:00.001+01:00

This post is all about Sipzie, my old puppy. Bless her, she is only 21 months. We have been through some tough time together, I mean agility wise. She is brilliant at training and at home in the garden. She completed all 12 weave poles in speed and she can do difficult entries, BUT, she cannot weave at competition! I have tried to relax myself and not put pressure on her ... well, no pressure at all. I have talked to some friends about her performance in the ring to get some advice. A particular good friend suggested "keep going" if she missed the weave or messed up the weave or even any part of the sequences, just keep going, to let her think she win that round. That will build up her confidence and take pressure of her. I have a good think about it and realised that she is RIGHT. Maybe keep correcting her weave in the competition is actually putting on pressure on her. From now on, I will try to ignore all the mistake and keep her happy in the ring for the rest of the season. I am sure whatever mistakes we make, we can fix that over the winter.

I also decided to go back and retrain her Dog Walk contact. Maybe running DW is not suitable for her. She easily get excited and when she gets excited, she leap off miles before the contact area. I have been trying to fix the problem over the last few months and we are getting worst and me getting frustrated. She is not a slow dog, so a stop DW hopefully won't cost us too much time and hopefully when she is more confident, we can convert the stop contact to quick release, we will see.

I have done a lot of ground work before this, basically putting a target out there and send her to it. Today is the first time I transfer the target to the DW:

Sipzie will be running with her mama Ypra and sister Chiqi and brother Ronin in the International Sheltie Agiltiy Show in Belgium in October. I am getting really nervous about it. Her mama is represent Belgium to compete at EO this weekend; her brother and sister are great agility dogs, pressure on, I suppose. All I want is a clear round, so we are training hard to get her weave and DW contact.

This month, I called it "interactive month", all our dogs, all seven of them are fed with an "interactive" toy. I would like to get their mind busy and active. I have about 15 different types of interactive toys, mainly they are those Nina Ottosson toys, Premier's Busy Buddy and some different shapes of food dispensing balls. They all have a different toy each meal, so they have to use their brain to work out how to get the food out. The above photo is Sipzie trying out one of the food dispensing ball. She insisted to hold the ball very tight with her two front paws and used her tongue to lick the food. It has been going on for 2.5 hours and she hasn't change her position ...

... I even tried to get the ball out from her crate to roll it BUT nope! She insisted she should lick through the hole!

Her relationship with Sonic has massively improve since Scara joined our family. Its very funny how she prefers Scara than Sonic to start with. She soon realised Sonic is more fun than Scara and now she and Sonic are best buddy. They play very well together, although a bit rough but he is a tough little man and he can managed.

pups-date ... and other news

2011-07-29T09:04:00.000+01:00

Our pretty girl Scara is 26 weeks old today! I can't believe she is with us for 9 weeks now! She is a joy to be with, always happy and crazy. There will be NO still moment when she is around. She only do cuddles with daddy but when she is with me, she is always on the GO. We both love her very much, she made us laugh a lot with her little antics.

It is not easy to take a still picture of her, I have to wait for her to run and run and run ... when she slows down, she may stand still for a second before she goes again. This picture was taken when she is 24 weeks old. Not much changes in her apart from she has more coat now.

At the age of six months, she is under 12 inches, she hasn't grow much since we have her! I thought Sizzle will be the smallest sheltie that we ever own but now Scara is even smaller than my little man, not alot though.

this is more like the "usual" Scara, always bouncing away

Our trick training is improving ... I have to wait for the right moment to train her. WHY girls are so difficult to train? She is always too enthusiastic, too eager, too keen ... isn't that sounds good? But, I need her to "settle" and be quiet for a moment to look at me and offer me a behaviour. Anyway, I finally found a way to train her! YEAH for myself and GOOD GIRL for Scara!

She is still extremely car sick! We have been travelled everyday, even just a 5 minutes journey, she will be sick all over. I have tried putting her in the car for 5 minutes and not even start the car engine but she will drool and drool and drool ... at first, I thought it was her teething but now all her adult teeth are coming through now, so I am not sure why she is still sick. I even feeding her in the car. She ate all her food while drooling and then she threw them all out. Mmmm ... I think our Scotland trip will be fun!

this is our two crazy girls after racing up and down the garden!

Mai boy Sonic will be 19 weeks tomorrow, he is all legs at the moment, no coat, lanky! He is still teething. I was playing tug with him at training yesterday and somehow I managed to pull one of this tooth out! He looked "shock" and I saw his tooth on the ground. He must be embarrassed of himself as he wanted to swallow the tooth but I was quick to pick it up! Poor boy! I thought he will gone off tug for a while but he turned around and ask for more. That's my boy!

this photo was taken at 18 weeks old in Mitcham Common

his retrieving skill is getting better each day and he loves his toy very much, any toy!

Our Caerphilly trip has been a big stepping stone for him. He is nothing like his daddy Sing, he hates water just like Brooke. Whenever we walked through a puddle, he could slam his break so hard to avoid the puddle and he never go near the pond or any open water! At Caerphilly, he saw his daddy, uncles and Scara in the river and he decided that's fun, so he went in with them. This picture was taken on Monday, the day after we came back from Caerphilly. Daddy Sing as usual, dive into the pond (when he is allowed) and he just could not content himself anymore. This is the furthest he will go but hopefully when we go to Scotland on holiday next week, daddy will teach him how to swim!

father and son

the boys' game

Sonic: hehehe ... I've got it!

watching the birds ... another bird chaser!

lanky stage

I woke up 4am on Wednesday to drive up to Norwich to pick up Sunny. Its 3 hours drive each way, so I am dead tired after we got home at 4:30pm. We met up with Sally who has Tig (Sing x Samber's first litter) for a nice walk in the forest. Tig is more and more like daddy Sing. Her coat colour is changing, she used to be a pale sable but now the colour richest and her marking is just like Sing's. Oh and she has a big coat just like Sing too. Poor Samber has no coat, hopefully she will grow in time for the winter.

what a perfect family!

I treid to get a picture of Sing & Samber and their pups from two different litters. As you can see, not very successful, why the parents are obedient and their children are not?

you can see Tig's coat is like Sing's.

father and son! Oh, I forgot to mention, Sonic seems to forgot Samber is his mama. He used to glue to her but when he sees her, I was really surprised that he is not interested in her at all. Samber didn't even think he is her son! Weird!!!

Water baby Scara loves every puddles!!!

what Lily likes the best? Jump into every puddle and play with it. Look at her?

Sunny is back to mate to Sing ... hopefully we are expecting some beautiful babies from them.

who fancy who?

snake-out, cake-out and sun-burnt!

2011-07-25T20:28:00.000+01:00

I love Caerphilly Show, its one of my favourites. Although its a long way to go but its worth it. The first time I went to Caerphilly was in 2007. That was Saturn's first season of competing in Agility. Super Saturn won me the most beautiful Welsh Dragon Trophy by coming 2nd in the Grade 3 Jumping. It was a big class and he was behind the World Agility Champion Natasha Wise and Dizzy then (am I proud?).

Unfortunately, the beautiful dragon got chipped on its arm before it was handed to me, sadly I cannot exchange it as they were all label, so I considered myself a little unlucky and determined to come back to win a "complete" dragon.

We were back to Caerphilly in 2008 and 2010 and has to miss 2009 due to our first litter of puppy Zap born in June then. In 2008 and 2010, we kept missing out of winning one of those dragons. They give the dragon trophy to 1st place only in small & medium classes and we came 2nd all the time!

This year, I was hoping Miss Sipzie or Saturn could bring back another trophy but it was just not meant to be! We got two dragon slipped away on Saturday morning. Both Sipzie and Saturn did a cracking Graded 4-7 Jumping but both dropped a pole! For once, Miss Sipzie was a good girl, her Jumping round was so smooth and she even completed the 12 weave in speed (these are the widest weave pole they used here, so we thought that probably made her complete her weave but I was wrong as this is the only time she can weave, so its not the width of the weave then!) and such a shamed that she dropped the 2nd last pole. Arrrrggghhh ... her time was the fastest in all the grades and she beat the winner for a very good margin! I was really gutted! But at the same time, I was so happy that she finally did a fantastic round! Sadly, it didn't last. That was the only good round from her all weekend, after that, everything went down hill.

Sipzie @ Saturday, Graded 4-7 Jumping. Sorry about crazy Sonic barking at the background and Colin asked someone to strangled him!! I thought it was good to take him out to see the agility and possibly get Sipzie jealous and it worked though. Look at the result:

Saturn also ran the same course and also dropped a pole, 3rd from last. His time was a good margin quicker than the winner in his grade. To my surprised, Sipzie beat him by a good full second! Again, I was gutted. The judge even feel for me! Well, it is just not meant to be!!

Saturn ran the same course as Sipzie and is one second slower:

Its funny how a dog run a class, in the Comboined 4-7 Circular Jumping, Sipzie was one second slower than Saturn. There was no weave and I thought she will do well but obviosuly she wasn't. Saturn just managed to squueze into a placing.

Sipzie's circular Jumping. Please excuse Scara and Saturn barking at the background:

Saturn's circular Jumping, please excuse Scara barking at the background:

We have to wait for a long time to do our last class with Sipzie and Saturn, it was nearly 6pm when we ran. Oh dear oh dear! I wish I have not run the class at all. Both Sipzie and Saturn were a "nightmare". We had six sneak (serpentine) sequence to start and the spacings were wide. For Sipzie, its all down to inexperienced, she missed all the jumps and only did jump #1 and jump #6 and of coruse she forgot how to weave. I would not post the video here as it was horrible to watch. I think we took about 2 minutes to complete the course!!! Saturn was good but he missed his Dog Walk contact so I asked the judge if I can put him back but it was a long day, I was asked to leave, so I put Saturn back on the DW and quick release and left the ring.

this is my own draft of the course, margin may not be right but just give you an idea what we ran. Jump #3 to #4 was a big gap and a lot of dogs missing out and went around the back of the #4. There were a lot of faults and eliminations. I am not sure how many clear rounds but surely not many. The weave entry was putting a lot of dogs out as well. I wish I could run the full course with Saturn. Oh, and it is a big course, you just have ot RUN!

Sizzle was a good boy, we did our Graded 4-7 Jumping first thing in the morning, there were pull throughs and snake sequence. I was very proud of myself to be able to handle the pull through from behind as I was miles away from him. He ran clear in that course, sadly no video as Colin forgot the camera. He was one place out of the placings. They only place to 2nd.

Then, later he did the Graded 4-7 Agility, mmmm ... naughty boy missed his DW!

After all the runs on Saturday, we took the dogs, all SEVEN of them to walk down to Wye Valley. The scenary is so beautiful. We got there late on Friday night and I was too tired to admire the surroundings. The dogs enjoyed a lovely walk and we cross over the bridge and went down to a field. We were the only people there and all the shelties having chasing each other. We even gone down to the river and all of them, apart from Seagull were in the water. It was good for the puppies. Scara is a water baby, Sonic dislike water but he was jealous about the others having fun so he was IN with them. WooHoo! Big step for my boy! I wish I have brought my camera. These photos are taken by my iPhone.

Colin and all our seven shelties:

Sonic in the water with daddy and uncles:

We were out walking and playing for more than an hour, you thought the puppies would be tired? Nope! When we got back to the exercise area, Sonic has his FRAP moment! He was teasing Scara and to play but poor girl was too tired! He then tease Sipzie and she also tired! What's wrong with all the girls? Now, Colin calls Sonic "power puppy"!! Hehehe ... I like it.

Sunday was a late start for us, we have no first class in the morning. I like my morning run! For a change, Saturn ran clear in the Graded 4-7 Agility. Well, it wasn't pretty but he was clear. He was leading all the way ... until the last dog came and pushed him down to 2nd place. Oh dear! Dragon ran away again!

Saturn, Graded 4-7 Agility:

Well, Sipzie forgot how to weave on Sunday!!! And we need to fix her Dog Walk contact as well!!

Later in the Graded 4-7 Jumping, I am not sure why Saturn wouldn't come to me to do the jump #3!

As for Sipzie, she forgot all about the weave again!

So, my dragon dream gone again! I didn't expect Sizzle to win me a dragon as there were a few good small dogs which are so much faster than him. Sizzle is a funny litttle guy, the ground wasn't the best ground to run and the grass was actually quite prickly for him. He refused to go to walk and I have to carry him or drag him to go to the ring ... so asking him to run, maybe I am asking too much from him?

We ran the Graded 4-7 Agility after lunch. It was a fast blasting course and I never dream he will win it. We ran quite early as I wanted to be able to leave around 4pm. You can see in the video that I slipped my foot at once, luckily I managed to stay upright. He was leading in his grade for a while, until I saw this little JRT. Eventhogh he is small, probably about the same size as Sizzle but hey, his speed is incredible! He ran fast and so do his handler ... they went all the way round clear but clipped the last pole! I feel for him but my hope went up. I was so nervous waiting to see the final result. Sizzle won the dragon! WooHoo! His time was also the fastest amongst all the grades and he beat the 2nd place by one full second! I am so proud of my little man! Finally, a complete dragon comes home!

this is Sizzle's victory run:

Then, we messed up our Jumping. I saw many dogs took the wrong jump in the box, instead of turning left, all dogs took the last jump, so I thought I will have to keep calling him and turning him but instead of taking the last jump, he took the right jump! Arrrggghhh ...

This weekend, apart from the Circular Jumping, all the courses we ran have sneak sequence! Then, I forgot to bring food, so I bought a couple of big cakes, home made at one of the trade stand, oh dear! Can you imagine me eating 2 big cakes? And for once, the weather was lovely, too hot for me though and I got sun-burnt and I am that sort of person that don't deal with sun and heat, so I am feeling a little poorly at the moment :(

Will do pups-date in another post later.

Working with the puppies ...

2011-07-20T11:42:00.000+01:00

Well, I have not teach the pups any new tricks this week. I'd like to give them a break every now and then, so we spent a lot of times playing different games (mainly tuggy and them chasing me in the garden) and going out walking on the pavement, watching traffic, school children marching ...

This week, I decided to stimulate their minds with Nina Ottoson Interactive toys ...

Both the girls, Scara and Sipzie are terrible eater, they eat so fast that they basically gulp down the food instead of enjoying their meal. I have tried feeding them with the special bowl design to slow down the eating habit but these shelties have tiny face and pointy nose, so it didn't really slow down a lot. I even tried adding water and it only slow them down by a fracture of a second! Mmmm ...

This is why a food dispensing ball is coming into use! I have four diferent food dispensing balls, I first tried that on Scara, she just stared at the ball and didn't know what to do with it. I started rolling the ball and let the food spilt out and she quickly learned that by rolling the ball, she will get her food! Clever girl!

And for Miss Sipzie, I have to say I was really shocked with her. I gave her the easiet ball to start with, it has a big hole and what she did is using her two front paws to hold the ball tight so it won't roll away and started to lick the hole. God! I got worried that her tongue will get longer after she tried so hard to get the food out! I have to change three different balls and at the end after 2.5 hours of trying, she finally got the idea!!!

Sonic has the Nina Ottoson "spinny" toy because I have gave him the food dispensing ball when he was younger and I would like to try something new with him.

And the others were very jealous that they didn't get any of these toys!!!

Here are some videos of the girls and Sonic getting busy with their minds ... first up, Scara and her food dispensing ball:

and this one is of Sonic and his "spinny":

and lastly, we have Sipzie struggled to get the food out. Sorry I did't managed to film the successful part. By the time she realised how it works, she was too quick or desperate to eat her breakfast!!! I also include Sonic with his food dispensing ball in this clip:

Agility ... Rugby

2011-07-19T14:57:00.000+01:00

Weather forecast for last weekend was rain all weekend and for the first time, the weatherman is right. I was soaked to my skin before Saturday afternoon. I have changed my cloth twice and at the end I have to wear short as I have no more dry pair of trouser!!

After looking at the weather forecast, I had two minds whether to camp or travel on the day. Travel on the day looks like more stressful as it takes us at least 2 hr 15min to get there with good trafic. Camping turned out to be a better idea, at least we have the awning to shelter when it rain. Camping at Rugby is also stressful as the camping area is quite tight. After putting up the awning, it left us no space for the garden, poor puppies got no way to run around and Sonic kept hitting himself running into the caravan! I guess he is growing up fast now. All legs and no fur!

Agility wise, Sizzle had the Champ on Saturday and Team on Sunday. We had quite a big class of Small Champ dogs, probably the biggest so far. Sizzle was draw to run late and unfortunately when we got on the startline, the rain turned heavy. As this is a Champ class, you have to run according to your running order. Colin couldn't video the run as the rain is too heavy. There is a cloth tunnel where a lot of small dogs struggled to push, some got stuck there for a good few seconds as the cloth is too heavy (rain non-stop all morning) and some came out to have a good shake (Sizzle is one of them!). Despite the heavy rain, he ran well but slipped his footing at the 3rd weave pole, so we got 5 faults on that.

Then, later in the Champ Agility he got marked on the see-saw. It was a "naughty" see-saw. I think I need to train harder, maybe Sizzle and I need to go to "see-saw" Camp :D

here is the Champ Agility run:

With 5 faults each run, we didn't get a place in the Final. I don't know how the Finalists were drwan as I knew someone with 10 faults in one round got into the Final and one with 2 clear rounds didn't get a place in the Final.

Apart from the Champ, I also ran Sizzle in the Crufts Singles first thing on Saturday morning. He ran well but we got a 5 faults, I guess that came from the Dog Walk contact. Hius time was very good in that run and I am pleased with that.

Sizzle's Crufts Singles:

On Sunday, we have three runs including the Team. First up for Sizzle was the G5-7 Jumping. My silly handling cost his the elimination. Poor boy deserves a better handler!

Sizzle's G5-7 Jumping:

Then, straight after that, we had C1-7 KC Olympia. Again, the pull through let us down big time! I think I need to go to "pull through" Camp next!!!

Sizzle's KC Olympia run:

And, the Final run for Sizzle on Sunday was with the Sheltie Team. We had to call in a reserve Sophie to replace Louise who is unable to come due to work commitment and bad weather. This is the only clear round from Sizzle this weekend :)

ESSC Small Team:

As for Miss Sipzie, she was working so much better this weekend. She still cannot weave at competition, don't know why as she is brilliant at home and at training. I sometimes wonder if I put too much pressure when she pop out of the weave at competition? Should I continue running and ignore the weave problem or should I reinforce her to finish/complete her weave everytime she makes the mistake? At least, this weekend, she didn't bark when I tell her to weave, good sign, isn't it? Everything went really well ... we had three runs on Saturday and three runs on Sunday. She did very good unitl the last run on Sunday. It was the KC Olympia run, her only agility run on Sunday. For some strange reason, she looked pretty uncomfortable on the startline and after she took the first jump, she got spooke and ran off. Oh dear! I hope this is not a new problem!!! I am very upset as I do not know if I done something stupid to spooke her or she got spooke by something else. I cannot believe there is such a big change within 20 minutes. She ran well in the Jumping and I praised her like craazy and gave her a lot of treats while we were queing for this run and I just cannot figure out why she suddenly lost herself? Also, because I cannot put pressure on her, her startline wait is getting very bad. Ideally, I want her to go between my legs and sit & wait but she keeps breaking it. I tried to make her sit & wait and she looked worried and woudn't sit. I thought to get her going, I will not put pressure at competition but we will try to do more practise at home. Unfortunately this is not the case. I am getting very frustrated myself. I find it very difficult not to be able to achieve something simple like that at competition.

here are her runs on the weekend, Saturday, G1-4 Jumping, in this run, she nearly got all the weave but I was pulling away too early so she pop out at the last pole:

Saturday, C1-4 Agility:

Saturday, G1-4 Agility, in this run, stupid me blocking her way up to the Dog Walk, I can kick myself for that stupid handling!!!

Sunday, C1-4 Jumping:

Sunday, G1-4 Jumping:

pups-date

2011-07-15T12:52:00.000+01:00

A quick pups-date ... Sonic is loving his "training", I continue to do a lot of switching from treat to toy and toy to treat games with him, so far, so good. He has no problem going from treat to toy, he is enthusiastic about the toy as well as the treat. I used treat to teach him a new behaviour then when he master the trick, I will change the reward to toy instead of food.

this is one of my many favourite tricks SHY. This photo was taken by a good friend of ours Priscilla when she came to visit. Since then, Sonic does not need the tape on his nose anymore to perform a perfect shy trick :)

this is "in the box" trick, to get him to aware of his four feet instead of the two front feet.

Oh, and we love this, the Rocker Board ...

After training 5 shelties of my own to do agility, I knew our weakest contact is actually the see-saw and not the weave. So far, my successful ones are Sing, Titan and Sipzie. Saturn after so many years, he is still worried about the big bang and I think this applied to Sizzle too. He could be too small for a big drop, it probably hurt him but we never give up, we still continue to do our best.

I started to teach Sonic the big bang this week. I think it will be a good idea when he is young, I found the older you get, the harder to teach. We are not going into doing the full see-saw for a long long time but I just want him to learn not to be scared of the big bang. We continue doing the Rocker Board/Wobble Board ...

I raised the tip end of the see-saw about 6 inches and click & treat, I spent the first 5 minutes to get him to hit the see-saw and go from there. I spent 3 short sessions on Monday just to get him to get used to the banging noises, each session is not more than 5 minutes. By the end of the 2nd session, he was one confident little pup.

Then, I started to teach him the position, instead of him jumping off, I want him to have four paws on the plank, I don't mind him sitting or standing but I want the pause. Yesterday morning and this morning, we only did 3 on the left and 3 on the right and that's it. I think that is good enough for now but I am not going to push and rush as he is still developing. We may do that once a week from now on but at least he learned not to be scared. Here are our little clips from Day 1 ...

Sonic's early see-saw training, Lesson 1:

Lesson 2, getting confident with the big bang:

Lesson 3, reinforce the position:

Lesson 4 & 5, looking good :))))

On the other hand, Scara continues with her socialisation. She is getting braver each day. We still go out to meet a lot of noisy children at the schools before they break up for Summer holiday; also to walk at different parks to see different dogs ...

videos update ... from East Lothian

2011-07-15T10:24:00.000+01:00

Here are some of our agility runs at East Lothian kindly captured by Rhoda, Brooke's mummy. Thanks Rhoda.

Saturday, Champ Agility:

Saturday, G5-7 Agility:

Sunday, G5-7 Agility with table:

Sunday, G5-7 Jumping:

Little Scottish Holiday Final Part

2011-07-13T15:46:00.002+01:00

Sadly, all good times has to come to an end. I checked out quite early so I can take the dogs for a good walk before another long journey home. The weather has been very good for us over the weekend and now it begiining to show the real Scottish weather, cold and rain! Luckily, both Sonic and Sizzle are tough shelties.

Sizzle is leaving his paw print ...

I took them down to the beach again on Monday morning, they have a good running around chasing birds. Sonic has learned his chasing crow skill from Sizzle this trip. He was so into it.

We left Gullane around 1pm and I got home at 11pm. I really miss Scotland, what a beautiful place to be. I can't wait for our proper Scottish holiday in August!!!

before you ask, these are Brax & Brodie's sheltie butts!!! I just loved this photo!

Goodbye Scotland, til August!