Broadband?

I've been suffering from Broadband problems for the last few months. We were with Blueyonder since God knows how many years ago!! They were very good to start with, then we have to pay more and more and slower and slower and more breakdowns and it took them ages to send a tecnician over ... etc. We then decided to give up on them and try something new.

Colin read something about ZEN, he thought they have a good review and we should have a go. Unfortunately I have problem with them too, not they are no good. We bought a package with 2GB download a month and we only got connected last Friday afternoon, then we went to Agiltiy Club for the weekend and didn't get back till Sunday after 8:30pm. When I switched on the Internet, a window pop up to tell me my access is restricted due to over usage. What? The computer was switch off for Saturday and Sunday and the statistic showed that there were a high usage on Saturday and it was exceeding 103%. I cannot figure it out what happened!

Anyway, I think we have to give up on Zen (what a shamed! I do like the name Zen because of ZEN) ... now desperately searching for an UNLIMITED download Broadband!

I like the "Hit It" board

We had a good time at Agility Club this weekend. All Sing's Agility runs (3 runs) were CLEAR, this means his running Dog Walk is working and getting better each time!! Hooray! This make me more confidence when running him, so the idea of retiring him has to be postponed! His best achievement so far this weekend is a 3rd place at Combined 3-5 Agility on Sunday. With all the good handlers and fast dogs there, a 3rd is VERY good to me.

Saturn was a very good boy too eventhough he got 2 e'd on Saturday but he did his best and his mummy let him down again and again! He kept his nice speed and enthusiastic eveytime which I am very happy. He performed better on Sunday, he had 4 runs, 2 clear rounds in the Agility (eventhough I've been very naughty with his contacts!), his last Jumping round was so fast and sharp until I messed him up by blocking his way, so we got a refusal on that course but after the mistake he picked up his speed again and did a beautiful weave.

One thing that made me happy this weekend is ... both boys got a place in the KC Olympia, eventhough not a high place but with such a high entry and I am still in the learning stage, I feel really good about it.

Gone!

Bischon, Coffee and and the puppies are GONE, left me with an EMPTY nest and

a BROKEN heart!

Goodbye and au revoir

I finally heard from Coffee's owners today ... they've just landed and they are coming around 4 ish to pick up their dogs and the PUPPIES! It is very sad to let the little ones go at this age as they are still little and need a lot of handling ... but there is nothing I can do about it and I get very stress and frustrated and made myself into a terrible state, this is how I realised how much they meant to me and how attached I am to them!

As I know the girls are going and I tried to do as much as I can in the next few hours with them ... I took them out in the garden when the sun was out and both of them did their toilet, what a clever girls they are? Hopefully when they go to their new home, they are partly toilet train. Pictures below to prove:

These girls are very playful and active and outgoing ... I sincerely hope they found the right home to settle down.

Scribble

Ann and her three children came over this afternoon to see the pups and their parents. They spent a good few hours handling, cuddling and playing with the puppies. These kids are ever so gentle and it is good for the puppies to handle by them. The kids absolutely adore the pups and I think they fell in love with them, including Coffee.

If the owners would let go of the pups, Ebony will go to stay with the Hennesy family and will be forever known as SCRIBBLE. I know Ann and Dave and their children will give her a very good home and I will get to see her around, hopefully in the agility circuit in the future.

These kids are ever so gentle with the dogs.

even mum can't resist to have a cuddle from Scribble

Ivory remains to be the laid back one, she likes to sit on the girls' lap for cuddles

Isn't she lovely?

Scribble is only the size of a kiddy shoe!!

Scribble is going to be Ryan's agility dog

the girls handled the puppies very well

"Hit It"

I've ordered a "Hit It" Board from America a while a go to improve Sing's running Dog Walk. It finally arrived this morning and I was glad that the weather is still dry and little sunny to do some practcie in the garden.

I wasn't sure if Sing finally understand there is a touch point after Billinghurst. He wasn't quite right then, he was slow and I guess that's probably why he GOT the Dog Walk. Anyway, we have a go on the Dog Walk this morning with and without the "Hit It" Board and my good boy got 6 out of 7. The time he missed the contact was when I was running away from him. I have to remember not to do that in competition until I FIX the problem. BTW, I need to paint the board WHITE!!

I would not push him too much as he is supposed to rest but it is good to know that he is still maintained his speed and GOT the contact. He will have a rest at Agility Club and install his energy before the KC International Festival.

Glorious puppies day out

I was supposed to go training today but judging at the weather yesterday, I postponed it to next week, and guess what? We have a super sunny day!! Oh well, I have to do my own practice at home and spend time with the pups.

The owners are supposed to come home tomorrow but I have not heard anything from them about the arriving and collecting the dogs ... I assume they are going before Friday. I am worried about how the owners and the pups are coping and I hope to do as much as I could before they go and thank God we have a lovely day today, so these two lucky girls are going for a day out into exploring the garden.

You can see the pictures below how they enjoyed their time in the garden:

Ivory, always the cheerful and jolly one. She can't stop running up and down the garden!!

Ebony, she likes to explore everything in the garden and she does not want to go in!!

These two pups are not sure about the patio, they prefer the grass.

everything starts from young, whether they go to an agility home or not.

She is outgoing, playful and fast little doggy, make a good agility dog.

a good WAIT at the start line but the jump is too high!!

playtime

who said the new generation of Shelties can't herd?

Who said the new generation of Shelties do not know how to herd?

I think all shelties have their natural instinct of herding, eventhough most of the British shelties are now bred for showing. When I first have Sing, at the age of 10 weeks old, he already showed us he can herd, I took him for puppy training, obedience training, working trial and HTM ... but no one would take a small sheltie for a herding training!! I rang up a few places, all my requests were turn down ... mainly because sheltie is SMALL to herd a sheep!! What?

I took the boys for our usual walk in the Common this morning, we saw a man walking his daughter's big Rottweiler and he was struggling to get the Rottie to put him on the lead. I asked him if he needs help to "catch" the big boy and he smiled at me to say: I don't think you will be able to. Then he tried to lure the Rottie by telling him to come and meet his friends (my shelties), of course the poor soul would not take any notice. I thought for a while and told Saturn to "get it", off Saturn went up to him and I then use another word "round", surprisingly, Sing quickly went up there, so both of them were rounding the poor Rottie, they then joined in by Skye, so three shelties were rounding the big boy, he does not know what to do and Titan was barking mad outside the ring, I thought he looked like a handler in this herding situation. Guess what, the boys push the Rottie closer to us and I asked the man if this close enough for him to "catch" the dog, he was obviosuly amazed by the little shelties. I told the boys to lie down and thank God, they did and being very good. I thought the man should have catch the Rottie by now but he seems lost and don't know what to do, so the Rottie started to chase Skye, then Titan, then Saturn, my poor shelties were scared and three of them suddenly jump up on my arm at the same time. I wish I have a big arm to carry them all!! Anyway, we CATCH the Rottie at last!

Growing Up

I've tried to tidy up some of the old folders and found some photos of the boys when they were young ... I thought I've just made a comparison of their growing up photos:

Here is SING, 11 weeks old and 4 years old.

Here is SEAGULL, 4 months old and 4 years old.

Here is SATURN, 6 months old and 20 months old.

Here is TITAN, 12 weeks old and 20 months old.

Here is SKYE, 15 weeks old and 15 months old.

5 weeks today

The pups are FIVE weeks old today. They will be gone by the end of this week ... it is sad to let them go BUT I have no rights over them, they are not my pups but I love them dearly, the first ever litter born here! The time I spent with them, the time to see them grow into little young lady ... I am sure I will be missing them, the noises they made everytime they see me walking into the lounge ...

Ivory (Snowy, Snowball) is still the boisterous one among the two, she is very active and energetic, very easy to train (she can gives her PAW and SIT on command now, sorry no video to prove it as there is no one around the house!) and she is definitely a toy oriented dog, she loves to play more than the treat you give her. She will make a very good agility dog, she also has a very laid back attitude, cuddly and passionate.

Ebony (Blacky, Becky) has her very own character. She is a stubborn dog, not very cuddly, she wriggles everytime you put her on your lap, she nevers stay still, always on the move. She is quite a reserved dog, she likes to stay close to her mother and not sure what's going on around her. I hope she will grow in to a confidence dog. I think she is a slow developer and she needs a lot more time to adjust.

Saturn at Newlands

As Sing was lame since last Sunday at Billinghurst, he is now having a good rest, and Saturn is in charge for the next couple of weeks' show. I think Saturn did rather well today at Newlands eventhough he came back with two 5th places. They were both Combined Grade 3-5, both courses has some tricky bits but we managed them alright, especially the Agility class. The judge thought we did a cracking round and he was disappointed we only came 5th! Thank you David Clare for your good comment!!

OBay stars at Newlands today

Here is the video clip of Zen and Chi running the Grade 6-7 Jumping at Newlands today, more reports from the show, please visit: OBay blog and Chi's blog.

Also, found this video clip of HEX in my camera, please visit the OBay blog to find out how sexy Hexy done in the Jumping.

Father and Son

The HANDSOMEST Father and Son in the UK

Todd (OBay One Helluva Charmer) and Chi (OBay Truly Focused)

Ebony and Ivory

Well ... as time goes by ... the girls have some posh names given by their admirers. Jim and Joan came over this afternoon to visit them and they decided to call Becky (Blacky) EBONY and Snowball (Snowy) IVORY. Now, it makes me think about POSH names for the girls ... what about "Perfect Harmony in the Ivory"? "The Sweet Melody Ebony"? ... any ideas, folks?

They have a play with them and they were both very happy that these two pups are very outgoing, not hand shy or nervous. They were very surprised to see Sing & Saturn were so gentle with them and it also show the pups are not worried about any BIG dogs beside their mother.

I continue to interact with the pups with different things. Today, I have introduced CLICKER to them and they seems quite happy with the clicking. I then tried to lure them for a sit, both girls did it. I think these two pups are very easy to train.

Alison came to visit them this evening and she gives me some interesting homework ... try to groom the pups as well as try to use the clipper on them!

Is she going to be a little yappie?

Snowball is very happy to see me when I came back from training this afternoon, she was making a lot of noises ... she wanted to come out from the puppy pen and have some fun with me and if you watch the clip carefully, she learned to give me her PAW!!

I missed the clip of Becky ... she was very playful and hyper today, she has been charging around, play with the toys and made a lot of noises ... I have a friend around to see them and it is a real shamed I missed the good time from Becky.

Sing and his Agility Warrant

Sing has been placed most of the shows this year and he has gained his AW (B) in June.

SNOWBALL

Yes, I now call Snowy ... SNOWBALL. She is so fat and round, absolutely a FAT girl (she reminded me of FATBOY Toddie), I think Snowball suits her the best! She is very active at this age, whenever I am sitting on the floor, she will straight up on my lap and start "biting" me. Ha! Very cute. She started to take notice of the toys I provided to her, she prefers stuff toys than tuggy and she is amaze by a rolling tennis ball! I am a happy mum when I see her playing. See! I am easily motivated. She is now spend less time with her mother (Coffee) as she always rush to me when she hears me around. Here are some clips taken this morning ... I spent half an hour or more to play with her:

Sorry ... there is nothing to update about Becky, I mean Blacky, I now call her Becky as I always slipped my word, Blacky becomes Becky! She still prefers to be with Coffee than me, I think she needs more time to adjust ... so let me spend some precious time with Snowball and I will update more about her later in the week.

things ...

... few things to update here ...

Billinghurst was not Saturn's day, he didn't go clear in any of the courses, I put it down to the humidity as well as he was not feeling too good. He was sick and diarrhoea on Saturday and slightly off colour. He was flat when he did his first jumping round in the morning, and at one point, I was thinking to driving home without doing the agility. Both the boys had a good rest (at least 3 hours!) after their first run. Saturn looked much better in the afternoon, so I decided to run him. He was very fast to start with, I wind him up until he was barking and ready to go, unfortunately he freeze on top of the A Frame again (I thought we get rid of this bad habit!), so when I tried to get him down for his contact, he missed it and got fault. Anyway, we carry on but I knew I am taking this as a training round, as we went up the Dog Walk, he was really happy and with good speed, as you can see the picture below, the jolly Saturn run with confidence:The puppies are FOUR weeks old today (already!), they are becoming quite a handful. They are still not used to the toys but I am going to try hard, never give up! Yesterday, when I fed the mum, Snowy poke her nose into the same bowl to share Coffee's food, so I thought I can start feeding them a little bit of puppy food ...

This morning, the puppies are very active, when I arrived in the lounge, they were all looking up at me immediately, I greet them and decided I should take them to try a different flooring, so off they go to explore the kitchen with tile flooring ...

Here, Snowy and Blacky busy exploring the surroundings ...

We've got the Dog Walk, AT LAST!!

Today has been a very "funny" day for me, we don't have to wake up early to go to Billinghurst but yet again, I don't want to miss my run (as I nearly did in Supadog), so we left home around 8:30 and get there about 9:45. Still plenty of time before our first Jumping round. Both Sing and Saturn did not run too well, they looked very tired and there is no energy in them, basically, they just WALK through the course rather than proper jumping. It was very depressing running them! I do not know why they have not show their interest which I think it was a bad sign. After the jumping round, I wanted to go home, I thought they boys had enough but then I started to chat with friends and watched other people running their dogs ... as time goes by ... I decided to stay back to do the Agiltiy round and suddenly it was pouring down with torrential rain, thunder and lightning, all the classes had to stop for half an hour and I was in the middle of the field watching, guess what? I was soaked through! In the Malaysian way of explaining ... wet chicken!! Don't ask me why a wet chicken as I don't know why they called it wet chicken!!

I am glad I did stay back to do the agility because Sing got his Dog Walk and won the class! How wonderful! I've been waiting for this moment long enough. I have to say I don't think he did a smashing round (which I think he could run much faster and turn better) so when we finished the last jump, I wasn't over joy, I thought just another clear round. Saturn was the last one in and I was working very hard, hopefully to push him to go faster and get better time, unfortunately today is not a Saturn day, he missed the weave entry in the morning and now he freeze on top of the A Frame again! As I tried to get him down, he missed the contact and I knew I blow the whole thing up and decided to do a training round with him. It was a messy job, it was not an easy course, there were a couple of tricky bits especially the weave entry and many of the dogs got fault on that. With Sing, I swing him around which we lost a lot of time but with Saturn, I just sent him over the jump to ask him to find the weave, the poor soul found the weave pole but went into the wrong side!! One thing I am proud with both of the boys are the tunnel after the weave, it wasn't an easy entry, is either you have to take your dog all the way up there to see the entrance then ran back the other way or you trust them. I choose to trust them, so when we finished the last weave pole, I took a step further and tell them BACK, go tunnel, both Sing and Saturn found it no problem.

Well, as I finished with Saturn, all the crowd was cheering for me, I thought they were rude as I was very disappointed with his performance but then I only realised that they were actually telling me SING has won the class! Ha! I love you agility pals!!

quick update

I put some toys (anything, from stuff toys to squeeky toys) in the puppy pen and spent some times with each of them today. Snowy is very interested when I made the squeeky noises, she always try to "rush" to me which made me very happy. She is trying very hard to walk on the newspaper, eventhough she slipped but never gives up! I like that attitude! Blacky seems to be very laid back. At one point, I was worried that she may not see very well but I think I am wrong, she definitely move her head to find the squeeky noises but LAZY to come to me. When I put her on the newspaper, she always has a wee (what a good girl! Should be easy to toilet train?), she did try to walk and when she slipped, she will be frightened to go further, she would crawl quickly to the ramp and back to the whelping box! How fast these little things learned? I only put the whelping box there last night!!

I want to go back to where I belong!

Blacky looks so small next to the toy!

Snowy: I am going to kill this pink octopus!!

Very tiring! The pinky thing has too many hands!!

Blacky: I will come and join you for a quick nap, sis.

The mother is not sure about the new intruders!