It's a bone day!

Well, the weather changed again! It has been cold, wet and miserable! The weatherman said we will go down to -9c this weekend and possibly SNOW! The shelties got a short walk each day and got stuck in the house most of the time!

Poor Seagull is not doing well. He has been limping a lot today. He is not an active dog and does not enjoy his walk when it is wet and cold. I think he shows the sign of arthritis, he got stiff waking up in the morning. We tried to keep him warm as possible but he is a big fur ball and he hates to get too hot! I hate to see any of my dogs go lame! He is not the oldest but he definitely show the sign being OLD :(

We had a great training last night with Sonic. We got to do a long jumping sequence and he ran clear everytime! He, for a change, was very responsive to my command/cue when I got stuck behind, his directional command was good. I was well impressed with him and of course myself :) Sadly no video. Why everytime when I did something good, there is no video! Colin was video us in the garden on Wednesday and since, the camera went missing (misplaced)! Sipzie was a very naughty girl last night at training. Eventhough she is always wild but last night was out of control. I've got bitten more! Colin was very worried that I am going to turn mad, so he actually told Sipzie off before I exploded. I did come home with bruise :( She can't see the tunnel underneath the A Frame, she ran like a headless chicken, did her own jumps/tunnels ... oh dear!

Sizzle is looking better today, bright eyes and cheeky! I hope the rest has done him good. I still will not take a chance to go to any show this weekend (we were supposed to camp yesterday and compete today until Monday). He will continue resting up until WAO.

As the weather has been so miserable, the shelties are not so happy to stuck indoor, to keep them occupy in their happy mode, the best way is to give them some bones :)  Since we go raw, the shelties get bones every 3/4 weeks but in this weather, they get treated more for stuck indoor :)  I love my raw feeding. I see a big improvement in them, all the upset tummy problems are not out of the window; their teeth are cleaner; their toilet is less odour, it's much pleasant for picking up (that's for Colin's sake). Their coat also change, I give them Lamb bone every now and then, as Lamb is quite greasy, so I guess that help with the sheltie coat.

 

 Sonic and Vindi are the best buddy! They keep us entertain all the time!

 Such a hard life!

crazy weather

We have some crazy weather over the last 10 days. It hasn't been stop raining since? ... (that I can remember!), it was wet, cold and miserable. One good thing, the shelties are pretty hardy, they don't mind going out in this horrible weather, that makes life much easier. Funny enough, they knew their "walkie time". Everytime, when the clock hits 9am and if we are still hanging around without showing any sign of going out, they will keep coming to remind us their walkie time. 

Poor Seagull hasn't been out much lately due to the weather. He is that kind of dog that won't go out when it is wet, not even in the garden. I don't know how he can hold his toilet for so long? Silly dog! If I "force" him to go out, he will turn around and come in! Crazy!

We have a lot of flash flood around here, lots of big puddles on the road and we have some temporary ponds in the Common. All our rain gear didn't get to dry up properly. We feel rather soggy everyday but the shelties enjoyed their walk, that's what matter. 

We had one dry day yesterday! All day, it was warm, sunny and a little bit of breeze. I woke up early to walk the dogs, thinking the rain will come later. I walked Sing and Sizzle mainly on pavement, on lead for about 40 minute; then I decided Colin and I should take Saturn, Sipzie and Sonic for a long walk and we didn't plan that the long walk has turned out to be 5 hours walk! Phew! I am sure they enjoyed their long walk. You thought after a good solid 5 hours walk, they should be tired? Nope! Sonic was still going when we got home. I was exhausted and has to lie down for an hour before I can move!

 these two photos were taken with my iPhone, I wasn't sure if I should bring my camera, just in case the rain come.

We made used of the good weather, we did quite a bit of gardening between us. I mow the lawn, it was much needed as I struggled to clear up the dog poos in the long grass and wet weather. Colin tidying up the willow tree branches and his "vegetable garden". Although the garden is not water logged but it is very slippery and muddy. I slipped a few times while training Sonic and Sipzie in the garden today. I did stand on my feet though.

After we finished with the garden last evening, the rain come again! Grrr ... it then went on to rain all night and this morning :( Colin was a good daddy, he took the dogs out while I stay in the dry! After 11am, the rain stops and sun came out. Such a crazy weather!!

Colin got to spend a few hours to do his gardening and I got to practice agility with Sonic and Sipzie. I've tried to reinforce Sipzie's 2o/2o on the DW. I still struggled to get Sonic to turn after the DW. Sometimes, I think we got it and sometimes we lost it altogether :(  I have an old see-saw plank which I used it as a ground work to teach him to turn. He is brilliant on that, my marker is getting smaller each time. I think we have a big problem that he is not responsive to me. He likes to do whatever he wants to do. Our garden is long but not wide enough, so he will spin himself to go up the contacts (which are his favourites) where I want him to do something else. It annoyed me sometimes. 

Away from Agility, I didn't stop practising for him to come to me using clicker and treat. He is great if I have his toys and clicker. If I have nothing, he don't always come to me. He is not a people friendly dog which sometimes make training harder. His recall is 101% when we are out. He still doesn't like people touching him, that including me. He sometimes come to me for a fuss and he will let me stroke him but if I call him over or go over to him, he will go away from me. 

I started to do heelwork with him, I must say, although we are very raw but we are very slowly getting there with clicker & food. I am not sure what I do is actually helping as I do not want him to always look out for me, he is still a little bit clingy, I want him to be able to go away to do the obstacles independently especially when there is a straigtline, I want him to tackle the jumps without looking back at me.

His verbal directional cue on the DW is hopeless! He is turning well on jumps and on ground work but once he is on the DW, all he sees is straightline. I keep telling myself don't give up, go back to basic ...

I've been practice some left turn and right turn after the DW. This set up with the tunnel underneath the DW is for Sizzle but we didn't get a chance to practice as he is on rest at the moment; so I thought I will practice with Sonic to see if we can do it. I have to say, that take a lot of effort to teach him to turn sharp right into the tunnel. Good job that he is not worried that the black tunnel is underneath the DW.

We also practice some "sending" on the V Weave and half way recall. I think we need a lot of practice on the sending as he seems slower toward the port.

and we practice some V weave with tunnelling:

Agility Withdrawing Syndrome

I think I am at the edge of Agility withdrawing syndrome!! That is not a good sign as WAO is so close now! As Sizzle is my only competing dog at the moment, due to this unknown problem, we are resting him for WAO. I've entered him for GT UKA, Vyne Champ and Beacon Champ in the next two weeks, I thought it would be a good last minute practice before WAO but I don't see we are going to any of them now. Also, my stamina has gone down hill. Don't know why but I have been puffing a lot in the last 3 weeks. I used to be able to run a full course without any problem.

Sizzle is doing great at the moment. Although I have to keep him quiet, lead walking only, he is actually doing fine. No crazy moment. I can see that he is very jealous to see me working Sonic and Sipzie in the garden but when I got indoor, I do tricks with him, so we are still bonding with no actual running. I don't think he appreciate that, he rather do Agility :)  Hopefully he will save up all his energy for WAO!

I am sure some of you will ask why not competing with Sipzie? Well, we have a little set back with her. Her re-train Dog Walk (from running to 2o/2o) is not perfect yet, so I rather not doing Agility with her at the moment. I need her to at least understand the criteria before I even practice that at UKA. Her weave is getting better but when she gets all hype up, she lost her plot and do whichever poles she will go in. I have tried exercise her before the runs, so she gets to calm down a bit, that didn't actually help. I think she is an excitable dog in general. Having said that, when she sees treats, her mind just blew! She will start drooling at the queue just watching other dogs got treat from their handlers. I've tried taking the crate with me, Phew! That proof a bit too much especially when I do Day Parking. If Colin is with me, I can stand in the queue while he takes her away from the queue until we are about a couple of dogs on the line. That works a little better but when she got back to me, she got really excited. She sounded like "separation anxiety". If I show her treat, she starts out slow and maybe speed up later but then she becomes very gluey. Unless I can run super fast, otherwise, I sometimes get a very frustrated Sipzie as I am slow and she will try to bite me in excitement! So, now, we practice a lot of little things like startline wait. Her startline wait was pretty bad, she broke her wait or released herself before I release her. We have been doing a lot of that lately and she is getting very good at it now. I've also practice a lot of weaving at home with her. As the V weave is slightly open for Sonic, so I gone back a step to train her with the V and she massively improve. Her weave entry is so much better. I think our only problem is she hasn't learn to collect herself on the 2nd pole, so if she is fast (she is!) from an angle, she will take the entry and then missed the 2nd pole. I have the guide wire out, so hopefully we can crack that problem soon. One thing I have noticed is with the new weave spacing, she weaves better. 

I haven't enter Sizpie in any KC Open shows but I am hoping to get her to do UKA, so we can start doing some Jumping along with the Steeplechase classes. She is due to come into season, although the boys show their interest in her but there is no actual sign yet. I so hope that she is on time (last week), so I can leave her safely while we go to WAO but at this rate, Mmmm ... she better wait until I come back!

Good thing that Colin is off work (not really) so he can video our training and any other runs that I've practice, so I get to study the videos and see the "problems/mistakes/errors" to improve my handling. 

Here is Sipzie at training. She is so much happier now.

Super Sonic has a lot, a lot to learn yet :) I've found that he is not a tunnel driven dog. Even at home, in the garden, I struggled to send him into a tunnel. His send on is ok-ish. I think I will have to struggle if we come across a straightline jumps home, I know he will not run fast ahead to finish. Well, I think I only have 2 dogs so far that is able to do at least 4/5 jumps home, that is Saturn and Sizzle. Sipzie will do 2.5 jumps then if I am left far behind, she will stop or even come to me. I don't know about Sonic. I must admit I haven't done a lot of sending him to a static/dead toy. I am rather disappointed that he is not driven to a tunnel. I think that is quite a big disadvantage if a dog is not driven to a tunnel, this means I have to run a lot more, take more steps towards the tunnel instead of positioning myself to the next obstacle. I swear, I done a lot of tunneling with him at home but he is just not a tunnel dog :(

Sonic at training:

pup-date:
I've received two little videos from Chloe and Tye (aka Scampi), isn't he fab?

more Sizzle update

Sizzle this morning, still groggy from sedation. His mind is very alert but body is still weak, poor boy :(

After much consideration, Sizzle was sent in for an xRay yesterday. As you can guess, it was a long dreadful day but it was all GOOD news! Vet took 7 xRays and they can't find any broken bones or spinal injury, Sizzle is in good form; so the vet thinks it's down to the muscular problem. We can only guess either the big collision from the girls back in December hasn't heal up properly or the wind swept wing at training back in January still causing the trouble. Liz, one of the vet looked at him then said she wasn't happy with the toes area (nothing broken) but agreed with me that the heat was coming from the shoulder. He was rest on and off and treated many times since. 

His problem at the moment is, he is not extending well when he was running. He is a good little man, he tried so hard. He has some good runs and some bad runs. Vet said anti-inflammatory and rest. I am keeping an eye on him for sure. 

Thanks to all kind emails/texts/phone calls. I will keep you all posted.

Sizzle the weasel

Well, there were a lot of discussions over the last few days about my little weasel. Colin, who is not as crazy as I am that jump into every little thing, he has a calmer attitude towards things (which is good and we do need a man like him in the house!). He asked me: Do you really think that the weasel needs the xRay? My immediate answer is: YES, Yes and yes! He said to me, if you don't think he has a broken bone or slip disc, an xRay won't really show up. That got me thinking. 

Yes, I know Sizzle is not right and the last Chiropractor treatment showed that he was in pain or discomfort which made him growl at her ... he has been doing agility on and off, although he has lost his speedy speed but if he has a broken bone or slip disc, he won't be able to run but he sometimes happily chase the crows in the Common and played ball with the others. 

I don't like to have my dogs going through sedation/anaesthetic if I can help. This morning, I have an open discussion with my vet to see what her opinion is. Jackie is a lovely vet and I am glad I have found a good vet like her. We talked through many possibilities and we both agreed that it could be a soft tissue injury, so for now, we will put Sizzle on anti-inflammatory tablets for 2 weeks and rest and see how gets on. That will take us through to May bank holiday then we will back to see Jackie again.

I know WAO is getting under my skin but I am so glad and proud that Sizzle and I are to be included in Team England. I know I cannot train my dog and be prepared like all the others are doing but I just have to trust my dog and myself! I learn to BELIEVE! WE CAN DO IT!

Please read small print: BTW, I hate this new blog layout :( I hate changes :((  

WAO

WAO is only a month away now! We attended the last Team Training on Sunday and collected our Team kit and I feel pressure coming!

Poor Sizzle is not terribly well at the moment. He was acting weird on the weekend and he wasn't on form on Sunday. I was rather concern.  I managed to catch our Team physio Tace to have a look at him when we had the lunch break. Sadly, Sizzle is very sore and tight on his lower back. I managed to get an urgent appointment with our usual Chiro today to have him thoroughly check out. She found Sizzle extremely sore on his back, while she was manipulating him, he growled at her 3 times! OMG! I have never seen Sizzle growl at anyone before. He is always the sweetest boy to meet people. When Sue manipulate him on one spot, I heard a gentle growl, then as she moved on, I heard a slightly louder growl and then a real growl. Poor boy must be very very very sore! Sue suggested I take him for an xRay and possible a MRI scan to get him check over for any underlying issue as she is worried that after 10 treatments, he only got worst instead of better! She also said, there might be nothing wrong with him. I can't tell you how stressful I am over this issue. I am waiting for Sue to have a word with my vet so that I can make an appointment to have Sizzle Xray/Check-up. I have considered to pull him out from the Team but I know how much I wanted this spot and we both tried so hard to get qualified ...

 Sizzle at training on Sunday

 

Sizzle got invited to EO Tryout this weekend, we have everything pack and ready for Saturday but now, we will stay at home and concentrate to make him better and fitter for WAO.

 poor Sizzle was so tired after the morning training and fell in deep sleep in the noise!

Changes are to come ...

Well, it looks like Colin is into early retirement. We are hoping that he will get another job for a couple of years ... but we will see. 

As for now, we try to minimise expense, the first thing we did is to NOT to drive the car unless necessary. The petrol prices is still very high in and around our area. We have been walking into the town to get our shopping with a granny trolley. To be honest, I am quite happy walking into Mitcham Town, it is not far from home, it is about a mile and to make the journey more enjoyable, we always walk through the Common where we walk the dogs but I hate that granny trolley. It makes me look so OLD taking a granny trolley! Luckily, Colin doesn't mind, so he is the one that take the granny trolley :-)

Since Colin is at home, we starting to eat healthier, home cook small meals/little snacks instead of big portion or pub meal. We do a lot of walking with the dogs. We are out about 4 times a day; 2 with the boys and 2 with the girls. We also spend time in the garden, Colin to tidy up the mess and I train the dogs :) Good deal :))

Well, I think the boys get a bit confused that "why daddy is on holiday for so long"? Saturn loves to sleep on Colin's pillow when he is at work (Don't tell him!). He doesn't get a lot of chance to do that now as daddy will "tell him off". Poor boy! The other thing is Sipzie and Scara follow Colin everywhere, so when Colin is doing something, the two girls are moving all the time, especially Scara, she moves like lightning! She doesn't do walking pace, she zoom! That gets rather annoying! If they boys are lying down on the floor, she zoom past them by knocking them over, the boys really hate her and they decided to jump on the couch to avoid her. She isn't happy. She will jump onto the couch to tease them, especially to Sonic, Seagull and Saturn. She doesn't bother Sing much as she knew he is the boss; and not to Sizzle as Sizzle is the only want that will tell her off.

We are hoping to move, where? We don't really know. Somewhere cheap with acres of land for the shelties to run will be idea! I would love a lake/pond so that Sing, Sizzle, Sonic and Saturn can still enjoy a swim in a hot summer day. I do like quiet countryside. We have an Estate Agent here to value the house yesterday, hopefully, it will be on the market soon. We are busy tidying up, putting things away in boxes. We want to clear up for the Estate Agent photographer to come and take some good photos of the house to put on the market. 

This is the 2nd time we move since I married Colin. Last time, it wasn't a big hassle as we lived in a ground maisonette, we only have Sing puppy and Seagull puppy, not many "rubbish" to take with us. Over the years, we built up more "rubbish". I can see we have a lot to go through and sorting things out ... I can't believe how much doggie stuff I had indoor and outdoor! Training books, DVDs, Rosettes, Trophies, Agility Equipments ... oh dear!

 

 Colin is helping me to take the rosettes down ...

 ... and they all go into boxes for now, the trophies, I mean. Not Sing :)

 ... some of my Sheltie books and training books collection, ready to go into boxes soon.

I beginning to miss going to Agility shows but I know we need to get ourselves sorted first and I am looking forward to our last Team Training tomorrow. 

Happy Easter

I wasn't in the mood to make a new Easter Banner for my blog ... Life is upside down at the moment, not knowing what future holds and our minds are busy with a lot of decisions making and changes.

Although the weather forecast isn't good (rain? snow?) but we enjoyed a lovely warm sunny day in the garden, doing the long needed lawn mowing and some weave practising. I didn't enter any shows, just wanted to relax with the dogs in the garden. I may try to do the UKA Master on Monday if it is not raining :)

I've received some lovely photos today from Mariska. App is 12 weeks old now. He is still looking very cheeky and handsome, of course :) He is doing very well and been out meeting a lot of people and animals. He will be starting his puppy class soon :)

 photos are courtesy of Erwin Bon

I've got my V Weave back from the blacksmith this week, so I get to practice the weave with Sonic. The V is still open up quite a bit for us to practice the weave entries, cross behind and even a recall through the full weave. He still need a lot of practice, he is so keen and fast and hasn't learn to collect himself, most of the time, he just ran past the poles. I am not sure if he is a single stepper or double stepper? From the video, most of the time he is single step through the poles. I wonder when the weave are fully close, if that is going to change his single step to double step? So far, Sonic is the only single stepper as all the others are double stepper, even a very fast one like Sipzie is a double stepper. Is single step weaves faster? 

Happy Easter

Savannah, Fly and Tye 6 months

I cannot believe Sing x Sunny puppies are 6 months old already! They turned 6 months last Friday. I've got to see Savannah almost every week since she left. I've watched her grows and grows and grows ... I am hoping she will stop now LOL

Savannah taken at 4.5 months.

Last Saturday, we met Fly at Wye Valley. This is the first time I saw her since she left the nest. I was really amazed how much she looks like Savannah, they are like identical twin, they look alike in so many ways apart from the size. Fly is so much smaller!

 Fly taken at 6 months old, with daddy Sing :)

and this is Fly playing tug with big sister Beth:

 And this is my little Scampi (aka TYE) that I haven't seen since he left. From the picture, he seems to have more coat than the sisters and he is very handsome, I know I am biased!

ALL three pups are doing well at training, they all have fabulous temperament, always happy, outgoing and bald. Nothing really worried them. I can't wait to see them in the ring and hopefully I will get to see Tye sometimes this year.

first champ show of the year

We woke up 4am on Saturday early morning to drive to Monmouthshie to compete at our first Champ show of the year at Wye Valley. This is my first time competing at Wye Valley; although the weather was a bit too cold, brrr ... a very long drive, didn't get home until 10pm. I really enjoyed the show. 

I've entered Sizzle in the Champ and the Grade 6/7 Agility; Sipzie in all her 3 classes. I managed to run Sipzie in the Jumping class but it was a disaster ending. She was starting very well but pop out at 10th pole. I've make sure I shut my mouth (instead of telling her to weaveeeeeee ...), but I don't know why she pop out? I've also make sure I don't look at the next obstacle but she just can't weave. After the 3rd attempt, she gave up and start sniffing air :((( I've picked her up and walked off. She recently got the habit of sniffing the air if she got asked to redo the weave a couple of times in the competition. Look like we have a new thing to fix now :)

Sizzle ran the Grade 6/7 Agility first. It was a real challenging course. I wasn't confidence about getting clear running the course but I thought that would be a good warm up for me before our Champ run. I drafted this course map for my own record, not according to the judge's scale.

To be honest, not many handlers and dog get around this course. I was having two mind how to do the #2 and  #3. If I want to play safe, I will pivot left, taking the longer way up to the A Frame but that give my dog a bad line so I decided to take the risk of turning his the way facing the A Frame, like a fake pull through. Knowing how bad my pull through is, I wasn't sure if Sizzle will respond to me calling "in in in ..."? That was such a tiny gap as well and Sizzle was a good little boy. He turn so tight and didn't even look at the other jump. Then, I was in a bad position after the A Frame, I should have trust him more to take the tunnel but I baby him and I was left behind and can't get to a better position to do the layering for #6 to #7. I was in the box and rushed too much before he go into the weave. That fraction cost us a 5 faults on the weave. He took the entry and I move and he missed 2nd pole! Arrrggghhh ... that's me! Of course, after I went wrong on the weave, things got bad :(  from #12 to #13, Sizzle took #12 and wanted to do the weave again :( Such a bad handling :(((

the video camera didn't work first thing in the morning, luckily a friend Bev video us and kindly sent it to me:

Soon, we were running in the Champ Jumping. Again, this is an interesting course. It didn't look complicated or tough but that course put a lot of people out of Final. You really need a good wait dog to recall from #1 to #2 to give yourself a good position but I saw many dogs that have no wait still do it ok, although hairy but clear is what you need. Sizzle ran well and got his weave entry which I was really happy about after my failure in Grade 6/7 Agility course earlier.

Now that I ran clear in Champ Jumping, I want another clear in Champ Agility to give myself a chance to get into the Final. What can I say? It wasn't a beautiful clean run, a bit hairy but we were clear and we made it to the Final. 

Having have 2 clear rounds, we ran at 10th position. I didn't like the start, it is a flat start and I knew Sizzle will be slow and have no speed up the DW. We always struggled with a flat start like that and thank God I got to talk to Steve who owns Fly (Sing x Sunny's puppy) before I ran. He gave me a good tip and it works! Sizzle was starting well and that gave me the confidence and I really want to do my best to get the ticket. I know there are a few very good fast strong dogs after Sizzle and all I can do is to push the limit. Again, I was moving a fraction too early that Sizzle missed the weave entry! He went into the 2nd pole! Oh well! I was very disappointed of myself! I know Sizzle is a brilliant little dog, he tried so hard for me everytime and I know I have the BEST dog!

We didn't ran clear in the Final, so this is my own draft, not according to Judge's scale:

And who is this pretty little sheltie I met at Wye Valley? More about her in my next post ...

Sing and a bit of Sonic training

Poor Sing has a bit of skin problem, we think! Not sure what happened and how he "got" it. Colin spotted it last Saturday while we were at NADS show. He called me over so I can have a good look. I was really surprised that I have not noticed/spotted it before. As he grew older, he likes to snuggle up to me in the evening and I normally run my hand all over him like you usually do. I found some dry skins and tried to peel it off, bad move! Unfortunately there is one particular one was nasty, when I got the dry skin off him, there was yellow puss inside, so that really concern me, so I rushed him to the ring side vet Ed. He was treated straightaway. We cannot understand why or how he got so many spots on his back, all at different areas. The only thing we could think of he probably got caught it some bushes but Sing is not a hunter, he won't go into shrub to chase rabbits! Anyway, after nearly a week, he is looking so much better and the nasty spot is also drying up nicely after lots of TLC. Phew! Sadly, he has to lost some of his fur :(

Sing obviously is not happy as we have a gorgeous week, all the others were swimming in the pond and I have to keep him on the lead. Poor boy was crying, screaming, barking when the others were in the water! Hopefully, he will soon he the King of the Pond again :)

We have a fantastic weather this week, really warm and sunny. Me and the dogs enjoyed our days laze around in the garden, doing nothing. I think we deserved garden agility off, just enjoyed this beautiful weather. I know soon I will have to get the lawn mover out to do some gardening. The grass needs to be treated :(

Today, we went to train with Toni Dawkins. I worked mostly with Sonic and 15 minutes with Sizzle. Sonic was great-ISH. He is coming along very well. He is still a baby and I am really happy with his performance and most of all, the enthusiasm in agility. He so far is my only dog that will work all the way though without needing food/treat. He is highly motivated on toy, if there is food/treat involved, he is happy and if you take the food/treat away, it didn't slow him down. One big improvement for me :) I did work very hard with him as a puppy and I am so happy that my training is getting better. 

We varies the jump height now when training Sonic. Sometimes, he jumps really low, pole on the base height or UKA toy height and every now and then we move the jumps to KC small height. Also, we varied different heights altogether. He is doing well on KC small height today. 

My problem now with him is he does not turn after the DW! He does not respond to my directional command at all when doing full DW let alone body language! He is very good with his directional command while doing jump or ground work but just don't applied on the DW! My homework now is to go back to very basic turning left & right after DW. It probably will take me a while but there is no rush :)

We've also started on  V Weave. I've just loved this dog, he is so enthusiastic on learning everything! My V Weave has sent in to be mended to the new KC spacing, hopefully I will be able to get it back before Easter, so I can practice during this period and have Colin to film it. 

Very sadly, Colin lost his job yesterday, so a lot of our plans for this year is changing ... with petrol prices hitting the record high, we are unable to attend many shows. Also, we consider to move away ...

working wednesday #9

Well, this is not really a working wednesday but I have been working on getting Sonic to swim voluntarily and willingly without me keep using my verbal command to "push" him to swim. Thanks to this lovely sunny weather, we got to swim in the pond nearly everyday! Sonic is like suddenly "click" on Monday evening when we had our evening walk. Daddy Sing was on the lead because he had problem with the skin on his back (this will be on a separate post), so Sonic and Sizzle were both "in-charge" of swimming :D

I wasn't plan to get them wet in the evening so I didn't bring a ball, Sizzle found a nice stick. It was a real good one, no side branches or rough end, so it is safe to play. I decided to chuck the stick in the water and Sonic suddenly came from nowhere and straight into the water. WooHoo? He was very keen and fast, poor Sizzle was left behind, and luckily I found another one to entertain both of them. 

I thought that was a one-off from Sonic but he proved me wrong! Basically, he spent most of the time in the water that evening, fetching stick :) He is definitely a daddy's boy <3

another birthday!

Happy Birthday to my little ray of sunshine, FOUR today!

No crazy celebration, we have a nice peaceful walk in the morning, had a bath, then spent the whole afternoon chilling in the garden with lots of sunshine. 

 Sizzle loves rolling on the grass when we have a lovely weather like this

 he is camera shy, doesn't like his photo taken :)

some agility updates

I've entered Sizzle and Sipzie this weekend at NADS. The weather was absolutely perfect for Newbury. Normally, Newbury is very windy and cold but yesterday was brilliant. We woke up at 5am, fed the shelties and quick toilet trip and ready to set off at 6am. We got there nice and early and to my surprised there were so many day parkers already! We got to park quite a fair distance but it was close to the exercise area so which is good.

I've entered Sizzle on Saturday and Sizzle & Sipzie on Sunday but we didn't go today. I think we deserved a good day like this at home, enjoy the garden with the shelties. I like UKA shows, you can enter on the day which is perfect. I've decided to give Sipzie a chance, so I've entered her in ONE class only and I picked the Steeplechase with no weave and no contacts. I think she needs a confidence boost. I've also entered Saturn in one steeplechase class. Bless him, he will be 7 in June and he loves to work for me. Good thing about UKA is he can jump lower and we can take it easy. 

I have not done any training with Saturn since Crufts 2011, that was a year ago. I am glad we are not rusty and he still response to my command like he used to. He is a very good boy when we competed. He always tried so hard eventhough he has no contacts. He is a really good jumper dog. Sadly, the back injury has taken him off from the sports he likes.

this is Saturn in Senior Steeplechase 1:

I've trained Sipzie hard this week, nothing agility related but since we have a lot of "biting" issue, I think we should sort that out before anything else. I don't think she wants to "bite" me but she is extremely hyper and excitable dog. Many times, she nip me hard and it drew blood and it is not a nice experienced at all. Sometimes, I've just got frustrated about it. I was glad I've got to talk to an agility friend Chris last weekend at AJAX about it. She suggested that I threw her toy/treat if I knew she is coming to nip me. I am quite experienced and knew when exactly she is coming, so we have been practising this a lot during the week and I have to say, I am 90% jackpot!

I chose to do one class with her if I go to an UKA show, I am hoping to build up her confidence in the ring slowly. I don't think I can rush with her and I am going to take it really slowly. This is her only class, Novice Steeplechase 2. We've got 2 refusals but I got to practice my "european turn"! She is really good at this turn, maybe because she is Belgian :)

Sizzle was a good little boy, he won all his 5 classes. Compare to last weekend, we certainly has improved! I was very keen to get on with the snooker and Sizzle did me proud, we scored full mark (51) with 6 seconds to spare! That really build up my confidence for the WAO. I have done a few Gamblers, so I am getting better but this is the only Snooker I've done so far. I wish I can get to practise more before WAO.

Sizzle in Senior Snooker:

big boys update

I am not very good in keeping up with news lately ... the weather has been amazingly glorious with lots of sunshine and spring breeze. I have been out with the dogs a lot; I now walk Sing, Saturn, Sizzle and Sonic in one trip and Seagull, Sipzie and Scara on a separate trip. I used to take all seven out together but the girls are pretty naughty, they like to collide into the boys, especially Saturn and Sizzle. Saturn and Sizzle were very sore on their back after a big collision last December on a separate occasion. They both been treated and are well now. I do not want to go down the road again with stressed and frustration, so walking 2 separate trips in this weather is not bad.

The boys got to swim a lot in the last few days, I am sure you are fed-up with Sing's diving photos :), so no more Sing's diving photos. Sonic is very good now with open water, he actually beginning to dive yesterday. I am not sure if that is a one-off but it is very good to see another diving sheltie apart from Sing. He is very keen to swim just like Sing which is good. 

such a gorgeous pair!

Sonic's agility training is coming along very well. We've done some training last week and I really enjoyed working him. He is always keen and eager to learn. He is probably my only sheltie that will work switching between toys and food without losing any enthusiasm. 

this is one of the exercise we did at the training at AJAX:

We were at AJAX UKA Show last weekend, I was competing Friday and Saturday. Friday was dry but the wind was bitterly cold, I nearly freeze to death. I took all the dogs with me as Colin is at work. I was rather stressed as walking back and forth to fetch dogs to run and then have to take the dogs out for walk. I didn't do well. Between Sizzle and Sipzie, we managed 10 eliminations!

I was so glad to have Colin with me on Saturday. Sizzle was a really good boy, he managed all 5 clear rounds and won 4 classes and came 2nd in one. Unfortunately, Sipzie wasn't up for it on Saturday, she was rather miserable to start with and got better at the end. It was a long wait in between runs. The weather was very poorly as well. It rain on and off, I had to run in the rain with Sizzle. I wasn't going to but Colin said it is a good practice for WAO if it rains, so I did but I was very worried that either Sizzle and I got slipped and injured so we went steady, that's the class we came 2nd as I constantly shouting at him ... STEADY in a steeplechase class. Believe it or not, my last 2 runs with Sizzle was at 6:30pm! I need a flood light to run! I was so wanted to go home but I know I need the points to go up to Champion Level and I've been waited for so long ... luckily, I've got to train Sonic in between. I think having to train in a ring in a competition environment is very good for him. He is advanced compare to other puppies but I am very pleased with him to be able to work in the ring.

This is Sizzle's Senior Gambler, we've got picked to do Games at WAO, so I need to practice to do more Games before WAO. I was a little lost after the 2nd tunnel as I thought the whistle should blow by then but it didn't so I was really lost and don't know what to do ...

Happy FIRST Birthday to ...

Mai handsome boy Sonic and his gorgeous sister Princess Brooke! I still cannot believe they are ONE today! I can still remembered clearly that Samber's temperature changed since Wednesday and she was unsettled for so many days; we then had to rush her to the emergency vet on Saturday at 3:30am to have the pups born by Caesarean. I've never forget the two beautiful pups, Charlie and Angel we've lost, I've treasured even more for these remaining twosome!

As you can see at Day 2, Brooke already is very active. She's always crawl to the top of the milk bar and suckle one by one ...

Sonic and Brooke met up at Sheltie Camp last May @ 10 weeks old

first long trip for the pups together to East Lothian last July @ 17 weeks old

and this is their greeting when they see each other 

Sonic & Brooke @ 11 months old

Sonic will have a good long playful walk today, follow by a training and some very nice treat and doggie birthday cake! Thanks to Aunty Rhoda and Uncle Matthew for his presents :)

Happy 10th Birthday to my one and only SING

Happy TENTH Birthday to my one and only Sing, dog in a million! He is a little dog with big attitude! He taught me so much in the last 10 years and I am nobody today without him. He is always closely by my side since the day he walked into my life. We learned everything together, we failed; we succeeded; I cry, he licked my tears away; I laugh, he barked with me to share my joy and laughter! I am so happy to have share my life with him. 

We were at AJAX UKA show today to run Sizzle and Sipzie. I thought it would be very nice if I can give him a run. I know he will love it. I've checked with the judge and she is happy to let Sing wears his little protection sock to run. WooHoo! Sing was so excited. He hasn't done agility for 2 years and he was so excited that he gets to run! I can't tell you how happy he was and we managed to captured his birthday run on the video. Thanks to Aunty Rhoda! Bonus = he won it!

Thank you, Thank you, 

Thank God for you, 

The wind beneath my wing! 

working wednesday #8

Now that App has gone, I can put my training shoe on again (is that an excuse? LOL)

I have been wanted to teach Sonic to turn after the Dog Walk but was a little afraid about it. I do not want to confuse him if I am not sure how to teach a perfect turn. I have been struggling about it. He is very different to Sizzle; he has much longer stride and powerful running across the plank. He isn't a year old yet, I try to avoid any sharp turn at this point, hence no weaving yet too (only channel where he is still running straight without wriggly his body).

Just a couple of weeks ago, after watching Silvia Trkman training the turn with her young Pyrenean Sheepdog Le, I was inspired by her and decided I am going to teach the turn now! 

Sonic has been brilliant with the straight on, at home, it is 100%. Anywhere else, it's 98%. We haven't got a lot of chance to do full DW at anywhere else. The two puppy classes we go to, one is not doing full height yet and one only do full height every now and then. At the puppy classes, they are concentrate on jumping only and occasionally do some low contacts or bottom of the contacts for those who do 2o/2o.

I spent a week, that is 7 days, everyday doing 5 minutes (I timed myself with an alarm watch, so I am not over doing it) on the basic turning. He is good on turning left but not right? I did exactly the same training on both side but I have not have a clue why he can't do right?

P/S: you can turn down the volume of the video as I have no time to edit them, it's very noisy :)

this is the clip of us doing basic turning Left:

this is the clip of us trying to run a sequence turning Left:

I can't find a video of us doing the basic learning turning Right when we first started but it's identical to the one I did on the Left. But this video was taken yesterday, we are now going back to the beginning, I think I have to stick to this for a long time as he has't "click" yet. I tried to remove the marker pole every now and then and funny enough, soon the marker pole has gone or making that smaller and not obvious, he will turn sooner which I would not accept that at this point. That is just in case he misses the contact all together when he gets confidence.

In this video, you can see the failure of him turning Right :(((((