WAO 2012 Belgium Part 1 - before the competition

What a FANTASTIC experienced and WONDERFUL time we had at WAO. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute out there with Team England. Sizzle and I are so proud to be a Team England member. Team England made us feel very welcome and all our team-mates were ever so supportive to each other through the good times as well as the down times. They are a nice bunch of people with some International experienced and some beginners. 

We started off our journey very early on Monday, 14th, dropping Sonic to Nicolina who kindly look after him for us while we travel to Belgium. The journey was uneventful to start with, everything goes as planned ... until we hit Brussels. We got stuck in car accident after car accident ... we finally arrived in the Hotel in Roosteren in Netherlands 6:45pm, their local time. We have been travel 11 hours to get there! Phew! I was exhausted. Sizzle was a good little traveller that made the entire long journey so much easier. 

Sizzle has a little stretch at Folkstone Terminal before the start of a long journey

Some of our team members arrived shortly after us. Some of them arriving on Tuesday. I've learned from my experienced to International Sheltie Championship show last year in Belgium, so I'd like to give myself and Sizzle plenty of time to settle down before the competition starts. We have Tuesday free, so we walked around Roosteren to stretch our legs and to get familiar with the surroundings. We also gone into the nearby big town to stock up some food for the week. 

 we visited the local SPAR convenient shop a lot during our stay at the Hotel. This is Sizzle looking up for some bread rolls :)  photo taken on my iPhone

We are so lucky to have a Nature Reserve closer to the Hotel, so that the dogs get to stretch their legs off lead. There was a little green area in front of the Hotel where dogs had their quick toilet trips. Sizzle was a lucky boy that got walk a lot at the Nature Reserve with me and Colin. 

Sizzle at Nature Reserve walk, photo taken on my iPhone

I thought I would struggle to drive on the "wrong" side of the road but from Roosteren to Neeroeteren (the venue in Belgium); the roads were so quiet and hardly any traffic, although there were road work here and there but my Sat Nav got us there with no problem at all.

 this picture was taken with my phone on Tuesday when we went into Maaseik for food shopping. There were a lot of colourful paper statue around. The dragon on the background was HUGE! It was a dull rainy day, so I didn't bring my good camera. Sizzle was a good boy to let me take a photo of him in the rain :)

 you can see more of these colourful animals on the photos

Our first visit to the venue De Warre was on Wednesday when we had our first Team training. We had a two-hour training for the Team but Sizzle and I took it very easy, only do a little bit here and there to warm him up and get used to the venue and surface. We had a 30 minutes official training on Thursday. This is our first time participating Internationally, I was very lucky and glad that I have so many friendly friends that help us and guide us through. 

 Sizzle's first visit to the venue

 Team England's Kennel area

a very tired Sizzle resting at the Team England Kennel Area after Wednesday training

We also had our Team meal at the Hotel on Wednesday evening. It was a buffet but we had the hotel stuff serving us :)

 this is only part of the meal, those little beef bomb :) I am not sure why there is a pineapple and some other vegetables there. We never get to eat those veg/fruit, I think it is for display only :) I have to say the meal was really yummy. I guess we were all very hungry after 2 hours training. We burnt a lot of energy! I particularly like the seafood, king prawn and fish! There were absolutely scrumptious! I kept asking for more!!

On Thursday, everything look very official. The Team is checking in, we were all given the official paperworks such as Car Pass, competitor wrist band for security purpose, welcome kit ... etc. After the Official Training session, we went back to the Hotel to have our Team England photos taken before the Opening Ceremony.

this is our Team with dogs

very professional looking :)

 300 height Division:

L to R: Lee & Bonnie, Marilyn & Tia, Dave & Caeyn, me & Sizzle, Tamsin & Albie

 400 height Division:

L to R: Nancy & Zeki, Gwen & Mud, Bernadette & Zaz, Gary & Ellie

 525 height Division:

L to R: Martin & Flash, Jo & Bitz, Leslie & Fizz, Karen & Puzzle

 650 height Division: 

L to R: Katie & Cooper, Ian & Bobbie, Nikki & Yam, Leah & Herbie, Shaun & Phix

 and here is the Shelties Power from Team England :)

Team England needs these three very important persons to make us a GREAT Team!

L to R: Team Manager Jo Rhodes, Team Therapist Tace Allan-Hunt, and Team Coach Anthony Clarke.

 and here we are, me and sizzling star!

 WE ARE READY!

 

Part 2 - competition 

coming up soon ...

We are ready!

Sizzle is all bath, groom, packed and ready to travel to WAO! I am getting very excited about this trip. For a change, my nerves is gone for a little while. I have been chilled and relaxed with Sizzle over the last few days, we did our last bit of "fitness" on Friday, road walk on lead and little jog up the steep hill and some circle work. Phew! I feel good!

 our silly fitness routine :)

We went to Sheltie Camp yesterday instead of Beacon Champ. The weather was perfect, partly sunny, partly cloudy, dry and breezy, absolutely perfect weather for the Camp. Over the last few years, it's always been roasting hot. I did little bit here and there with Sonic, very short sessions. Last Sheltie Camp he was only 12 weeks old. Ahhh!

  Sizzle on daddy's lap watching and learning :) getting ready for WAO!

Sizzle was very keen to join in but he is on a strict rest :) I did the Good Citizen with him which he passed! Sonic also passed his Bronze Good Citizen and sadly Saturn "NOT READY" :), he did good until the down stay, it was a 2 minute down stay and he stood up at 1min 45sec! There were this Team of Bees people letting the bees nest at the back of the field and whole lots of bees were flying around :( Last year, Saturn did his 1 minutes down stay on Bronze Good Citizen. There was a wasp landed on his hip, Indira who did the Citizenship and I exchange eye contact. It was half a minute gone, I don't know what to do. To shoo the wasp off Saturn and continue the stay? Saturn's eyes were on the wasp but he didn't move and I was secretly hope that he can continue to stay put for another half a minute and he did. He didn't get stink by the wasp but it was a very funny and scary experienced. I should have taken Colin's advice to do the down stay test somewhere else LOL

Sonic amazed me by passing the Good Citizen. I am really proud of him. Apart from Agility, we got to try "tracking"! It's really exciting. I remembered years ago, Sing was a very good "tracking" sheltie, he used his nose well and I was very close to venture into Working Trial at one point but I was hook on Agility. I am glad that Sonic is good with his nose. At his 3rd attempt, he knew exactly what to do. I am well impressed!

 Sonic tracking

 Sonic doing a bit of Agility:

I will write up more about Sheltie Camp when we come back but for now, I am going to do my final round of packing! Wish us Luck!

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 ...