what a lovely HOT weekend

Is roasting here! Yes, I am complaining! It is too hot for me! I haven't have a good night sleep for a few nights. I have been toss and turn, the heat is constantly giving me headache! I wish I have a swamp cooler like the dogs! 

Sizzle & Sing still dislike their swamp cooler, so I thought I will put them on when we go out walking to make sure they get used to it. I purposely took them out late morning on Friday so I can put the swamp cooler on.

the boys displayed their swamp cooler

As it was so HOT, the boys just wouldn't want to get out from the water! The funny thing was, I never thought Saturn will swim in the pond. I guess it was too hot so he actually jump in the pond and join Sing and Sizzle for a good swim before I can remove the swamp cooler so silly boy swimming with the heavy swamp cooler!!!

Samber's coat is looking lovely now, she is a little madam, taking her out has become a nightmare as she likes to roll in the fox poo!!! Arrrggghhh ...

Temperature seems to increase everyday, Saturday we went to BATS. I have never been to this show before. The venue was nice, we had a nice enclosure walk for the dogs. It was a big show, 10 rings and there were more than 200 dogs in the small KC Olympia class! And there were about 100 dogs in Sizzle's other classes, so you can imagine we have a long wait!

We still got to get there early as I have classes to walk. I didn't run Sing at all. I only ran Saturn in one Jumping class. Sizzle's Comb 5-7 Agility was first thing but our running order was towards the end of class so we have to wait. I really wish I could run early as the heat was increasing fast! I sat by the ringside watching the other dogs ran, it was a tough course, lot of traps. It took me a long time to register the course in my head!

this is the comb 5-7 Agility, 

I draft the course so scale may not be right but just gave you an idea about the course:

A lot of dogs got eliminated from #5(tunnel) to #6(weave). All the dogs wanted to take the jump in front of the tunnel. When I put Sizzle on the startline, I was worried that he will take the jump too, if he does come through the gap, I was worried that he will go up the DW again instead of the weave. I told myself I need to work hard on it. I was very happy that I stood my ground to call him through the gap and took his eyes off the DW, I knew I can run smoother by not stopping too long but PHEW, I clear that area! The other trap was from the see-saw to the tunnel. The jump in front of the see-saw was really close to the see-saw. That was my biggest worried! You all know I have re-trained the see-saw and I need proofing in the ring. I was very confused on that Saturday morning. I wanted to have an easy sequence up to the see-saw so I can be sure we both did good. I walked the see-saw in a recall manner and hope to catch him if he flew off or even try a front cross and flip him into the tunnel but I have a bad feeling about it. I knew I need to trust him to give me a good see-saw. I also walked crossing behind (my last option) the see-saw which give me better position and to get his attention to turn his head to the tunnel instead of the jump in front. Hey, all in all, I feel really good about this course. I managed to cross behind the see-saw and he ran all the way up to the see-saw with no hesitation! What can I ask more? I was so happy! I was over the moon! All my hard work has paid off, that counts! Even better, we went clear! WooHoo! Coming 3rd is VERY GOOD for me, just behind two top handlers and heyho! My first clear round with Sizzle after so many weekends of eliminations!!! I feel good! REALLY GOOD!

Then, I have a long wait for my other classes. Two of Sizzle and one with Saturn, all happened at once!

Sizzle's KC Olympia course was another challenging course. The DW-Tunnel-Jump sequence got a lot of dogs eliminated and faulted. I saw many handlers/dogs crossing behind the tunnel and when the dogs came out, the exit is pointing to the start jump, they can't see the handler, they went back to the tunnel again or they were about to go over the start jump and got refusal. I've heard there aren't many clear rounds in the Medium class. There were more than 200+ dogs in Sizzle class. I wanted to beat Sizzle to the tunnel so I ran like hell. I wans't too happy with the long jump-spread-DW, I think I am asking too much from my young dog to stretch then turn to find the DW entry. The DW entry was a bit slight angle. I knew Sizzle likes DW so I trust him to find the entry but there is a small chance he will miss the entry. I guess I was running like hell  to beat him to the tunnel exit and he wanted to chase me and he missed his stride and miss the DW contact. Other than he missed the DW, I really think our DW-Tunnel-Jump sequence was perfect. Then, SS-Cloth Tunnel-Jump(PT)-Jump. I wanted to do a front cross after the SS this time so I will be on the other side of the cloth tunnel but I didn't get a chance. I was at the same level with him, so I didn't get my front cross. With a front cross that will give me a better line to do the pull through. I did walked the other way if I can't do the front cross, I will take a longer route to swing him instead of pull through. I think his directional commands confused him, I told him to turn LEFT, he turned right! This is not the first time and it did happened a few times, so I need to make sure we strengthen our directional command. Also, we need to work harder on the PT as well. Other wise I am happy and his see-saw was definitely good. Our last run was the Comb 5-7 Jumping. I knew the tunnel is a trap and yes, the tunnel caught us! Hahaha ...

Yesterday was very hot too but we went to visit a livery yard then went to Tilgate Park to meet up with Colin's family. It was good fun to picnic in the park. The shelties behaved beautifully. They were all off lead, lie down/sitting around us. They did wondered off the cock the their legs but never far and definitely no trouble. There were so many families with young children around playing football and running about. These didn't bother them at all. They were content and happy to stick around us. I am so proud of them all.

 Sizzle meeting Honey

 yes, we do like to make fun of Seagull