Is Saturn's weekend

We had a crazy agility weekend. We had to wake up extra early on both Saturday and Sunday!

Saturday is the Downlands show, the venue is about 1hr 30min from home, judging starts at 8am and we have the first class, so we were up at 5am to get the dogs out for toilet and their morning routine. Samber came into season on Friday, this mean, extra work to separate her from the boys! We left home just before 6am and got to Golden Cross around 7:30, so that give me some time to walk the course and Colin can take the boys for a walk.

Our first class is the Small Olympia Stake. There is a wall in the course (after the DW). My fear was Sizzle might not jump over the wall as he has never seen one before. Sizzle can be a sensitive dog but who knows, so I knew I have to work hard on that. I quite like the course, it was flowy but I found it a bit too crowded after the A Frame. I knew from the beginning I have always stay from a distance while training Sizzle, so he doesn't really like me running close to him and especially on top of him while he is weaving. The finishing is Weave, jump, jump, but the jumps are too close to the weave. I can't be sure how I am going to handle him. Also to have him weaving on my left then flick him into the jumps or cross behind and let him weave on my right?

Anyway, we ran quite early eventhough our running order was much later but there is no dogs in the queue. Sizzle started off well and he jump over the wall no problem. I somehow decided to cross behind the weave as the jump after the blue tunnel is kinda off angle. My worried is if he comes out fast and he will miss the jump but if he is not that fast, then he will take the jump, so I go behind the jump before the blue tunnel to catch him and send. Apparently he had a little tumble in the blue tunnel so he came out slower than I expect but it was too late for me to change my handling, so off we go by me crossing behind the weave. I do not know why he pop out the weave though? I wonder is it me trying to catch him up that he saw me and pop out or something else, I really don't know. He usually ok with me crossing behind him. 

Then, we have the jumping. He wasn't power on but went clear and got 6th. Later in the Helter Skelter, it was a real disaster. He jumps and stop, jumps and stop. I am sure is my handling. It was a big course. I knew I was lazy and hoping he will go ahead but he didn't, he hang back for me, so we got eliminated!

That's the three classes we were entered, so he finished all his runs before 11:00. Then, they set up a course for Pay On The Day. I don't normally do POD class but they set the course exactly the same as the Olympia, so I determined to get it right this time and wanted to see what kind of time he would finish. He ran very well and I decided this time I will pick him up from the jump after the blue tunnel and send him into the weave. He went clear in a very good time, 27.127!

I only entered Saturn in the Jumping and Helter Skelter. He got a 3rd in the Jumping which made me very happy, I managed the pull through, a bit messy but I did it! Also the wrong end of the tunnel caught many dogs an elimination. Then, in the Helter Skelter, I forgot the course! Arrrggghhh ...

this is our Downlands run:

On Sunday, we went to UKA Waverunners. The clock put forward one hour at midnight, this mean we lost an hour in bed! Colin and I were so confused about the new time, we weren't sure if our mobile phones will jump forward automatically or not, so we both stupidly set the alarm to ring an hour earlier, so we were up at 4am! You can see how tired we are!

Waverunners is also 1hr 30min from home, judging starts at 8:30 but I have 2 classes to walk before the judging start, so we got there about 7:45 with me non stop yawning! Not a good sign! I sometimes found UKA show a little bit stressful for me as you have to walk the course at the same time with all heights. It is ok if my classes spread out but if I have to walk 3 or 4 classes together and didn't get to run til much later, I normally just forgot the course especially when I ran one class and waiting to run the others. That really confused me.

Sizzle started off the morning badly. It was my handling. When I walked the Agility course, I was supposed to start him on my right. I was worried about the split jump. It looks a big gap to me and I haven't got much room to set him up further back, so I decided not to lead out too far ahead but just before I went in, Colin passed me my mobile to answer a call and after I finished the call off quickly, I was lost. I started him on my left instead of my right and my body was facing the wrong end of the tunnel so clever Sizzle follow my body and went into the wrong end of the tunnel. Arrrrggghhhh ... who wants a bl**dy mobile phone? Other than that, I think he works beautifully. I decided to put in a lot of switches to see if that works as my plan to run him is exactly how I ran with Saturn later.

Since, our Agility went wrong, our Jumping also went wrong. He missed the weave entry. I wanted to do crossing behind the weave but I don't know why I ran all the way up into the tunnel with him? I guess my brain isn't working at all.

Saturn for a change ran very well, he got placings for all 5 classes he entered. No faults, No eliminations! WooHoo! This is the first time I did a Snooker class. I don't play snooker so I really have no clue what to do in the Snooker class. Luckily I've got my Snooker Guru M to walk the course for me. Thanks M! I know Saturn's contacts are not perfect. He did very well at training for the last 2 weeks, really fast and go into the position but I was very disappointed he didn't perform that at the show. I paid  the practice ring to train his contacts and he was perfect. Go all the way down in speed and stop in position. I praised him like crazy. We did that for 90 seconds. I thought we were ready but I was wrong. He hesitate in the Agility. I have noticed I have my stupid finger pointing the position again when he comes down slow. I must cut off this bad habit!

I didn't realised our Agility and Jumping round are adding up together to enter the Tuff e Nuff performance, Saturn got 1st in the Jumping and 2nd in the Agility and he became an Overall Winner for the Tuff e Nuff. This mean he qualified for the Final in July. Oh dear! We must sort his contacts out before then!

I thought Saturn to "smile" and he looks really funny smiling with his winning from the weekend

he always like to do his "target" position when posing for photos!

a very tired Saturn after this weekend

this is our runs from Sunday:

Sizzle and all his birthday pressies

and this lots from aunty Yvonne, sis Ellie and Khandi

Happy Birthday Sizzle

Happy Birthday to my little sunshine, 2 years old today! 
Where's all the times gone?

Also Happy Birthday to his sister Ellie

Sing

Sing is not limping so badly now but you can still see him limps every now and then. I have been very hard on him, restrict him on lead walking only, short distance, absolutely no ball games. Can you imagine stopping an agile sheltie not to be agile?

Chippenham was quite an emotional show for me. I knew I won't be able to run Sing, for a long time! He is the one that got me into agility, my very first agility dog. We went to our first agility show back in 2005. We only did two to three shows in a year then. I have never not run him when I go to an agility show, he is always healthy and we have been running as a team for years together.

I felt very strange that I am unable to run him at Chippenham. Colin told me that Sing was so very upset each time he fetch me Saturn or Sizzle to run. He cried and cried and cried ... it breaks my heart! I do not want to think that this is the end of his agility career. 

I have retired him from Flyball after we came back from our European Champ in Belgium to prevent him from further injury. I know he is a little dog that always wanted to please me.

Today at training, he tried to jump out from the car to get into the indoor school. I felt so bad.

I was talking to a friend at Chippenham about Back On Track dog coat. I am going to try that on Sing to see if that helps him healing up quicker. Here he is borrowing Sizzle's coat until his one arrives.

you can see he doesn't like to have his coat on!

updates

There were a lot of things/news going on here last week, hopefully I will try to update all news in one post!

Agility training in full swing

I am so glad that my agility training is now back into full swing again. WooHoo! I just loved my agility training. That is the only thing that I am so much looking forward to in a week. I used to train on Thursday morning at Pachesham but now I have an extra class on Wednesday afternoon! Since Sizzle gone Grade 5, I know we can't stay in the beginners class anymore, we need to work on more advance stuff, so I asked Eleanor to slot us in an advance group but I still keep the beginners class to practice on basic stuff. Sing is on the rest, he won't be able to do any exercise for a few months, so I have to run Saturn and Sizzle in three classes in a week but that is good for us.

The weather has improved quite a lot, we get to go into the garden more often to do some practice.

There are a lot of things that I need to improve with Saturn and Sizzle. For Saturn, mainly contacts. We retrain the contacts over the winter. We did a lot of ground work and still doing a lot of ground work. I have withdraw all his agility entries until I am confidence he is going to do his perfect contacts in the ring. 

With my secret Santa's help, we are progressing nicely. I have tested his contacts at training first time last week. His DW was perfect. No hesitation, in full speed and perfect position. His A Frame and  See-Saw are still iffy, so we need to work hard on those two.

Sing

Poor Sing is still limping. I tried so hard to restrict his movement. I know with his problem, he needs to keep absolutely STILL for at least TWO weeks. I cannot cage rest him, he gets very stressed when I put him in the cage. He is the only dog that I have not crate train with. He thinks cage is a punishment, this is why he looks so miserable at Crufts! He is an easy dog to live with. He normally lie down by my feet but he is also a very much of mummy's boy, so everytime I move, he moves! He is like my shadow, he will follow me wherever I go. 

I did try to restrict my movement just to help keeping him still (I lie! I am just being lazy!!). Sing is a lively, agile dog. I have hide all the tennis balls so he cannot get to them. The more I restrict him, the more he will tease Sizzle and Saturn to play with him! Can you imagine Saturn and Sizzle are on top of him rumbling? I have tried to separate him in a different room, either I stay with him or stay with the others, one of them is definitely unhappy about that, so more stressed and chaos!

Maybe Sing and I need to go away for a quiet holiday somewhere, just the two of us! Do a lot of sleeping! I still haven't recover from my cold, it has been 6 weeks now. I really had enough of it! Sing and I are both ruin, we need to hibernate for two weeks!

Thank you Matt & Brax

A BIG thank you to Matthew & Bracken for sending us this lovely gift set as a lovely memento from our First Crufts:

Saturn and I are very proud to be able to pair with super Matt & pocket rocket Brax. The four of us have a very good understanding of each other. I think that is so important to do the pairs. Matt & Brax have been brilliant all the time! We can't wait til our next pair!

Also, I have to send our HUGE congratulations to Matt & Brax for winning their last Grade 6 Agility at Chippenham yesterday, this take them up to Grade 7. This pair is going strong all the time. I can't wait to cheer for their first Championship class!! Go Matt! Go Brax! 

Bloody pull through!

We were at Chippenham Agility Show yesterday. For a change, we don't have to lodge in the night before. My first run won't be until about 140 dogs later, so we can get up nice and early and drove on the day. It was very early in the morning when we left home, so the traffic was very good and we got there just over 2 hours.

I was very much looking forward to this show, this would be Sizzle's first Grade 5 show. Our first class was Graded 5-7 Agility. I walked the course in hoping we can do well. There were a pull through which is always my worst nightmare. I already struggled this with my experienced dogs Sing and Saturn. To be honest, in my opinion, I knew I cannot handle this pull through with Sizzle, especially the two jumps were set very close together, so there isn't much room for me to try hard! Sizzle started very well and I managed to stay back to send him to find the weave entry then catch up with him in the weave. The pull through is after the weave. I think to start with, I wasn't in the right place and we didn't managed the pull through and got eliminated straight away! I determined to try the pull through, so I actually did 6 attempts and each time I failed! BooHoo! I wish I could try till I success but I knew I took up too much time so I have to carry on. Sizzle did his beautiful running DW to finish the course.

I never thought I will be unlucky enough to have more pull through but I did! In the Combined 4-6 Agility class, there were TWO pull throughs! Arrrrggghhh ... Of course, we went horribly wrong in that pull through sequence again! After that, I determined I want to be able to handle pull through, so this week is my PULL THROUGH WEEK. I am going to practice a lot of pull through!!!

On the good note, Sizzle did well in the Combined 5-7 Jumping. I know he is not a fast jumper but coming 6th is not too bad at all. The best thing was, we both managed the flat weave entry! WooHoo! A lot of dogs took the longer route to go into the weave but I told myself, I have been practicing the weave entry last week and I want to make sure he understands it and I am glad I did try and succeeded! That really made me very happy!

Sizzle then paired with Brodie. This is the tri boys first time pairing with each other. They ran really well together, with their time, they should have came 3rd but we didn't hear the briefing, I dropped the baton before Brodie finishing and that cause us 25 faults! What a silly rule!

I only entered Saturn in the Jumping, so he only had one Combined 6-7 Jumping class to run and the pair with Bracken. In the Jumping, we managed to do layering and I also got to send him to find the weave entry. I was behind a jump and flick him right to find the weave. I was standing in the middle of the weave, so it was very good for him to find the entry and weave independently. He got 7th in the Jumping.

Unfortunately, Saturn and Bracken didn't do well in the pairs. Saturn missed the weave entry!! Poor Brax must be so confused with all the pull throughs, she took the wrong jump! We don't care! Both Saturn and Bracken have a lovely time!

these were our runs at Chippenham:

and this is our pull through practice this morning:

After the show, we let the dogs run around the exercise area with Brodie and Bracken. 

We only took Sing, Saturn and Sizzle with us:

Phew! It is over for another year!

Phew! Crufts is over for another year! I was too ill to be nervous but I knew I was very excited to be able to compete at Crufts with my lovely boys. I maybe biased but I think they did amazingly well and I am so very proud of them both.

my lovely boys with their ribbons

I decided to run Sing that morning, he didn't look bad but I know I will not push him for speed. I just wanted him to go out and enjoy. He is a very good boy, he always made me feel so proud! He got 3rd in the Jumping; 2nd in the Agility and Runner-Up overall. Not bad huh?

he is always my special boy

Saturn and Bracken did very well in the Small/Mixi pairs. Normally, the small dog course was little harder but this year for a change, the big dog course was harder. It won't be too bad if the big dog go first, so you get a wait and do the tricky bit. Unfortunately that is not the case! Brax started off well, just looked at the little legs run in an 11" body. She shot off like a rocket, with Matthew's perfect handling, they went clear in a very fast time! Again, I was too ill to be nervous, after Matt got my baton, I just ran with Saturn. I knew I did a stupid handling there by going out to push but I wasn't sure if I was able to beat him to the 3rd jump to do a front cross, so on the safe route, I lost a lot of time. Saturn was a good boy, he never lets me down, he went clear in his steady way. We came 4th in the end. I think this pair is just brilliant, both first time at Crufts and have no fear of the big atmosphere!

I just loved this pair ... way too cute

I managed to do some shopping in between runs, mainly to shop for my friends. I did get something for the boys though ... Nina Ottoson interactive toys! I know Sing will be having a long rest after Crufts, so to keep his body rested but mind active at the same time, these Nina Ottoson toys are a must! I tried to keep the two toys for his birthday, isn't sheltie too clever? He cracked the toys within seconds! Duh! At the end, I have to go on the internet to buy a couple more for him!

here is our runs:

Happy 8th Birthday to Sing

Happy Birthday to my very special boy SING

8th today!

he is one special little dog,
the dog of my heart.

he taught me a lot, 
my life is not complete without him!

Sing update

Thank you very much to everyone who email/text me asking how is Sing. We tried to have a quiet day yesterday. Sing was very clingy, he wanted to follow me everywhere while I tried to organise/pack stuff ready for Crufts. At the end, I have to give up packing and sit down with him so he can rest. It was very stressful for me. I wanted him to get well for Crufts but I can see that would a slim chance that he is able to run. Let's hope for a miracle!

After talking to a few people about Sing's injury, a lot of people suggested different things and to my surprised, it wasn't his paw/pad that is bothering him! I found a heat spot on his shoulder and he would not put his weight on the shoulder, hence he keeps lifting his paw. I took him to an Animal McTimoney chiropractor this morning for a quick treatment, hopefully he will be better tomorrow. Finger crossed!

 

Sing

Poor Sing injured his left front paw this morning at walk! Arrrrggghhhh ... Why this time? This is the last thing I want before Crufts! He is such a tough boy but he struggled to walk, so I have to carry him home and rush him to the Vet. Kevin can't find any dislocated joint/bone, so there is good news but we also can't find any thing that might stuck in his pad or anything in between. He wouldn't show any sign of pain when Kevin tried to work his way through but when he was put on the floor, he would not put his paw down and became limping quite a bit. The walk from the vet clinic to the car park proved to be difficult to him! Kevin suggested to give him the anti-inflammatory jab, hopefully he will put his weight down tomorrow. For now, CAGE REST! I will have to decide on the day whether to run him or not. Finger Crossed! I  hope this is not the sign for an early retirement? I cannot wrap this dog in a cotton wool, he is one happy dog that enjoys his walk/ball/swim!

unhappy Sing force to cage rest!

On the other hand, Saturn is fit and ready for Crufts!

Good Luck to everyone competing at Crufts 2010

Crufts is approaching fast! Four days to go! I can't wait! 

Here to wish everyone competing at Crufts the very best of luck!

... especially Bernadette & Zen; Louise & Smudge; 

my partner Matthew & Bracken; 

Sophie with Gabi, Scrappy & Smo in the YKC; 

Ryan with Inky, Tippex & Fizz in the YKC.

Oooops, nearly forgot ...

Johanna & Soda competing in the Freestyle! 

Pat & BeatBeat in the Medium Team!

 

Is it Spring?

I can't believe how the weather changed so fast! Last week, we haven't had a dry day but yesterday and today are lovely sunny and warm! I even found some flowers in my garden! WooHoo! I am not a gardening person but I do like to admire flowers sometimes!

I found this lovely crocus growing in one of the flower pot:
 

I thought I better took a picture of those that grow on the ground before the dogs run over them. Unfortunately, Sizzle had destroyed these purple crocuses while chasing his ball :(

  

 

  

 

Sizzle: are you talking about me?

We also got to play agility in the garden for a change!
 

 

rainy Sunday morning and a stupid game!

You can't believe how much rain we have this week! I cannot think of a day this week that is dry. The ponds in the Common are over filled, most paths are under water and we also have some new ponds! My garden is water logged! The pond is nearly filled up to the top and can you imagine the mud my shelties bring in? YUK! Go away rain! Give me some snow! If this rain continues, I think I better start thinking to build an Ark!

this is one of the over filled ponds in the Common:

the paths under water:

and some new ponds made this week:

The dogs still get their walk everyday in the rain and mud, you can imagine everytime when we got back from walk, I have hell out of job to clean them up!

Luckily, our usual Tuesday and Thursday training is indoor, part of the indoor school in Pacheham had a pool of muddy patch! So, we had a course set up to go around the swamp but I nearly fell in the swamp once!

Yesterday, we had Dawn Weaver's training day in the rain. I've booked to train in the morning and afternoon with three dogs. I came down with a terrible cold on Thursday evening, so I am not in the best of health but I am agility addict. I love to train with Dawn so I go ahead and train in the rain. The weather in the morning was not good at all, we have patchy rain here and there and at one point, we have to stop for about 20 minutes because of the heavy rain pour! We were a bit lucky in the afternoon, it was mainly dry with a bit of drizzle here and there.

It was an interesting training day, we learned pre curving and layering. Dawm set up some easy sequences to start with but I wasn't fit enough to concentrate so I made mistake all the time. Sizzle is an honest dog, he tried so hard for me and I think he did so well in the rain. I have to put his rain coat on and kept him under the DW from rain. Poor little soul wasn't happy at all. I was very surprised and happy how he handled the layering. We have a sequence that we have to layer a jump and the dog have to weave independently, Sizzle did that beautifully and stayed in the weave all the way through. For a young dog like him, I am amazed. Then, we have a sequence of round the three jumps into the weave but DW in between, so we have to stay this side of the DW and the dog has to weave on their own. If you know how much Sizzle loves his DW, you can imagine how hard I have to push him to take the weave instead of the DW. He finally got my message at the thrid go, so not bad at all and I, again, very impressed with him staying in the weave while I run along the other side of the DW.

The pre-curving exercise probably is the hardest for me to handle. It is so much depend on the handler's shoulder. I made so much mistakes with Saturn but I am learning. I just wanted this rain to go away so I can practise more!

and this is the only video we had from training as it was too wet to take the camera out:

This morning, we have a heavy down pour again. The weatherman said we will have 3cm of rain! I haven't get the dogs out yet. I am hoping the rain will stop at some point so I can quickly take them out for a quick stroll. At the mean time, me and the dogs are practising some new tricks and this is one of them:

Rain please stop!!

Little Miss Sipzie

I received this beautiful picture of Sipzie taken last weekend in Germany. She was away with her mummy Ypra and all aunties and uncles to an agility show. We also received the good news that Ypra won the Agility and auntie Jaimy won the Jumping. WooHoo! Up the Shelties!!

I cannot believe she is 4 months old already!

I am counting down the time for her to join me ...

friendship

I am blessed with all the shelties I have owned. Each one of them is unique. They thought me so much in life and they also bring me new friendships ...

Yvonne is one of them. Sizzle brings us closer than ever. Yvonne owns Sizzle's litter sister Ellie and they live in Scotland. Eventhough we are so far away from each other but we feel so close in heart, we share our joy and sadness, we support and cheer for each other.

I want to say a big thank you to Yvonne who send me this beautiful and meaningful picture frame, it is such a wonderful present.

Thank you for being part of our life

delay, roadworks, traffic cones ... 500 miles round trip!

I had a mad weekend!

I have entered Wimslow, Ribble and Newton Heath and only to realise they were far away to travel for one day show! SO, please do not ask me for directions advice. I have once read the map upside down while Colin was driving! This is why you never see Colin driving anymore!!!

Anyway, back to my MAD weekend. I got to cancel Wimslow and Ribble in time and forgot about Newton Heath. When the running order arrived last week, I chuck it aside, never thought I will go that distance to compete.

As you all know, I was busy with two Skyes staying, they really kept me on my toes. Baby Skye went home with her mummy on Friday afternoon ... I really miss that lunatic. She is a joy to own, such fun and always running around when she is awake and I do miss the crazy tuggy game!

After she has gone, I felt so empty and quiet! I rang Colin at work at 4pm asking him if he thinks I am crazy to go all the way to Preston? Well, the answer is YES but he said to me: I bet you want to go and let's go! Ha, you really have to love this man. He is very supportive eventhough he doesn't understand why I enjoy agility so much. He keeps telling me he wants to find me a cheaper hobby!

I picked him up at 6:30pm from the Station and drove straight up to Preston. According to my sat nav, we should be there by 10:30pm but it took us 1.5 hours to get through Central London, then we got caught in the roadworks on M1. At many areas, we were merging into ONE lane and speed limit was down to 40/50 mph! After one quick toilet stop, we got to Preston at midnight. We stayed in ibis. It is very nice and clean and have a good area for the dogs to run around. The boys settled in very well especially Sizzle. He almost went straight to his bed after we settled down. This is only his second time away staying in the hotel.

Luckily, Myerscough College is only 12 minutes from ibis so we got a bit of lie-in on Saturday morning. This is our first time at this venue so it took us a while to find the place. The indoor arena was brilliant, the surface was very good to run. They have 4 rings running, I thought we will finish before mid-day but I was wrong! We were actually the last ring and my last run with Sing was at 3pm!

We got there slightly passed 8:30am, Sizzle's Graded 1-4 Agility run is after the Medium dogs. I got to watch some Medium dogs ran, the course has some tricky bits and I have seen so many dogs making mistakes. It wasn't long before they put the jumps down for small dogs. We only have a short time to walk the course. I knew I have to work hard on the jump-tunnel-jump-jump-tunnel-jump- DW (after the A Frame). I have seen most dogs did jump-tunnel-jump, then straight up the DW. I have to say the jump before the DW was very close together, so I was very worried Sizzle will go straight up to the DW and I was very proud that he was very responsive and I think we did that part very well.

By the time I went to the car and got Sizzle in for the run, the queue was long! We have a long wait and watched some small dogs go around. Some fast small dogs also make a mistake in the jump-jump-jump(right around)-jump-weave (after the see-saw), what they all did was ... jump-jump-jump-tunnel! I never thought of that!! Sizzle almost went into the tunnel but he was very good to come back to me when I called his name. That was the only detour that cost him time but I was glad that he still win the class by a big margin! Also, there were some small dogs found it hard to tip the see-saw. I remembered seeing a tiny breed stood there ages waiting for it to tip! Sizzle is only 4kg and we sometimes have that problem too!

Our second run was Sizzle's Graded 1-4 jumping. I was very disappointed there is no weave in the course. Again, Sizzle surprised me by winning that with a good margin too! This is his first jumping win! WooHoo! I am so happy!

500 miles, 27 hours away from home, TLC (Time Lock in Car) spent most time stuck in the traffic and roadworks, all over within a minute! That's worth it though as my little Sizz man gone Grade 5! I am over the moon!

To top that up, Sizzle's playmate Zev won the Agility and Jumping in the Medium with two superb rounds! Mega Congratulations to Christine and the handsome Zev!

Thanks to Marc (Zev's daddy) for this wonderful photo of the boys and their winning

Sing and Saturn's first run was at mid-day. Unfortunately the medium boys got eliminated! I was very glad with Sing, this is his first run since October. He seems happy to jump medium height again. We started training two weeks ago but he was jumping small height. I was worry that he may not cope with the medium height but he was happy. I don't care him making mistake as bringing him back to run again is a big achievement but I have learned that never takes your eyes off the dog eventhough he is one experienced dog! My Saturn plan went wrong, I wanted to do a front cross before the long jump, I guess I forgot so I was way behind him when he shot through the cloth tunnel, I knew there is no way I can turn him then, so I lost him and he went off course! Hahaha ...

After the jumping, we had a long wait for the agility. Saturn is still not allow to do agility so I was wondering is it worth waiting for that? I decided to stay as we came all this way and I want to run Sing to see how he is coping. We took the dogs for a good long walk and Sing found the stream and went for a quick swim! I think he is fit now, I haven't seen any stiffness in him but I know he is a little over weight at the moment but he is lively.

We got eliminated in the Agility! Again, I forgot to do the front cross which I plan, so he went in the wrong end of the tunnel but his running DW was beautiful and I am very pleased with him.

We didn't hang around after the last run. We knew it would be another awful long journey home. Luckily we set off quite early as I have heard they have some heavy snow that night! Phew! Lucky escape! We got home 10pm on Saturday night.

Funny, I wasn't tired, I was still hyper! I guess I am going crazy, agility addict is my new name! I didn't get to bed till midnight. I was playing with the other dogs as they were left with my nephew and Ling while we were away.

We have to wake up early on Sunday as we have the Sheltie Club Working Section AGM. I am a committee so I have to be there. So, off we went early in the morning, stuck in the roadworks and traffic cones again! I think Britain is being converted into one giant roadworks site, the traffic cones stretch from London to Preston!!

We left all the dogs behind this time, the boys were very tired and fed up travelling in the car!! I think it is fair to give them a good rest at home.

The AGM went well, Brax (Saturn's pair partner) won all the trophies!!! And so do Brodie! Congratulations to Matthew & Bracken and Rhoda & Brodie!

here is our runs, the music might not be right but I just loved this song, it was on the radio most of the time when we stuck in the traffic this weekend:

from Skye to sis Tiggi

this one for sister Tig:

chasing hoover

I was hoovering the house this afternoon, baby Skye came over to attack the nose of my hoover. I quickly got the video camera out to film it. She is so much like Sing in this way as Samber always hide away when I have the hoover out. I wonder is Sadie and Tiggi are the same?
 

trick 'n' treat Thursday

baby Skye is such a joy to live with, she is so much fun and full of life. Having her around made me young again! She is full of beans, I am amazed how fast she learns a new trick and she does think in speed as well. I have been observing her for the last few days, and I can see she is 90% of Sing and 10% of Samber!

Her mummy and daddy are coming back tonight, so she will be going home tomorrow. The boys will be so glad that she is gone and I will feel so empty without her! Well, at least she keeps me moving all the time, I must have lost some weight running around with her!!

this is Skye's TT Thursday:

 

 

 

 

wild Wednesday

We are a MAD house at the moment! I have two Skye(s) staying, a black one and a brown one, the brown one I called her baby Skye. Both Skyes are a handful, they are both young and crazy. It is fun to have them around. I really enjoy their company. They keep me busy all the time, I forgot how busy are you when you have a young one, let alone TWO!

I wish the weather is better with the girls staying. We had a lot of rain yesterday, tons of it! This is the first time our garden is waterlogged! Can you imagine having 8 shelties running in and out? I seems to constantly mopping the floor!! :(

The boys, other than evil Titan are not impress with the new girls. Sing, Saturn, Sizzle and Seagull trying to stay away from these mad Skyes. Little baby Skye is the combinations of Sing and Samber. She has Samber's madness and Sing's intelligent.

the wild kid:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

she is a mad tugger like her daddy, she can tug on her lead for the entire walk!

moody Monday

this picture said it all

St Valentine & CNY!

GONG XI FA CAI 恭禧發財 to my friends who celebrate Chinese New Year. It is the first day of Chinese New Year today and I believe this is the year of the Tiger. We are not allow to celebrate CNY as I've just lost my beloved brother last year and according to tradition, we cannot celebrate any festive seasons for three years. To be honest, any festive celebrations didn't mean a thing to me anymore! 

Today is also St Valentines Day, Colin and I are still very much in love but we don't celebrate. So, what  are we doing then?

Well, we woke up early today, drove down to Dial Post to do "sheep herding" with Saturn! Colin and I agreed that this is possibly the best way to celebrate our love as I love training my dog and he loves watching Saturn "stupidly" (don't ask me why but Colin thinks he is so funny when he herds the sheep) herd the sheep!

The weather wasn't too kind, very cold and miserable. It was snowing while we herd sheep! Saturn couldn't care less, he loves rounding the sheep up and he was very good to bring back the "lost" sheep. I left my doggie car in the garage for repair and they don't have the parts till Monday so we have to drive the convertible. We can't take all the dogs so we managed to squeeze Sing, Saturn, Sizzle and baby Skye in.

here are the series of photos of Saturn herding:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

youngsters watched and learned:

  

 

baby Skye is here to stay for a week, her mummy and daddy is on holiday. She is settling very well and love to play with her mama and uncles:

Happy Valentines Day!