Just pick up and start where you left off

Well Mum forgot about doing this blog for a week or so what we going to Super Trainer Live at Absolute Dogs and everything but I'll just start again today.

What went well yesterday.

1. Training at Amy's - good jumping weaves and seesaw.
2. Training from Pups to Perfection at the gate by Amy's so we generalised a bit from this morning's session.  Ponto was a bit cheeky and kept just wanting the purple toy but I knew about toy switching okay.
3. Mum finished planning the trick show for 4 December.

Plan for today.

1. Ponto and I are going to do the Trick Show for the old people at the home today.
2. I get to do my washing line trick again - we hadn't practised so I had a quick go this morning and was just brilliant at it.  How on earth did Mum think I might have forgotten even if it is more than six months since I did this.
3. And this afternoon we're going to have a good long walk no matter what the weather is like.

What went well today?

1. Mum put up four jumps in the garden so we could practise the handling we did at Amy's and I got it first time!
2. We went to the beach for a walk with Barbara and Charlie.  I tumbled over on the pebbles and have a small cut underneath my left eye - but the whole walk was fabulous - had loads of fun.
3. Mum ordered the DVDs from Richard Curtis's site.  She is getting really keen on doing more HTM with me and I just love it.

To do tomorrow:

1. Practise our suitcase trick and start writing the plan for the Christmas tricks show at the Home on Dec 4th.
2. Have a lovely 1-2-1 walk with Mum.  Dylan was very stiff on his front legs after our walk at the beach today so he will be going out with Ponto on lead tomorrow.
3. Practise our start line stays and the handling from Amy - also do it from the other side - Mum will need to move the jumps round.

What went well today?

1. The sun was shining.
2. Mum seems to have figured out her mechanics for the blueprint backside with fc. So we are getting better at that.
3. I was great at getting in my suitcase then doing the ringstack, four feet in the bowl, jump on Mum's back.

Also we had a really good long walk at Hengistbury Head, just me and Mum today, she took the others out before we went out.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Go to agility training, but while there rehearse our trick for Saturday.
2. Mum needs to do both her housework and Grandma's as Grandma's home help is on holiday.
3. Have fun.

What went well today?

1. We had a great time at Chris and Barbara's and I did my suitcase, ringstack and four feet in the foodbowl tricks.
2. First thing Mum stayed on the patio and sent me to the weaves (a little way away) and I pushed through to the end at speed all inependently.  Mum was very pleased but as it was pouring with rain we didn't do anything else in the garden early.
3. Later on when it was sunny before our beach walk we played blueprint games.  Mum needs to watch the video again when she says come and I wrap around the backside then check and join her.  Good thing about this is that we tried.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Work out tricks routine for the fun show and practise it.
2. Mum to watch that video and we will try that blueprint exercise again.
3. Ponto to continue with NBN exercises and PNU work.

What went well today?

1. I went to the rest home with Mum and did my suitcase trick, four paws in a small food bowl and the ringstack amongst many other tricks as well as saying hello to all the folk there and putting big smiles on their faces.
2. Mum gets irritated if I yap a lot but tonight I went into the kitchen and I barked loudly three or four times.  Mum got up from the living room to see what the matter was as she thought that maybe I needed to go out to potty.  However, when she put the light on in the kitchen she saw me standing near Percy who had the paw on the empty water bowl.  I knew Mum hadn't heard Percy banging on the bowl so I needed to tell her to refill the water.  As soon as she understood and picked the bowl up to fill it with water, I ran back into the living room and settled on my bed.
3. Barbara from across the road telelphoned to say Chris wanted to see the dogs tomorrow, so that gives us another chance to play the suitcase game in another location before the fun show where we are going to use this in the best trick competition.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Like this morning we will do some more blueprint work.  Mum evaluated my understanding of Jump today and was pleased how I ran ahead and extended myself over the jump and forward to the PNU (well upturned dustbin).
2. Go to Barbara and Chris's with Ponto and play the suitcase game.
3. Mum needs to do the housework.

What went well today?

1. I am getting excellent at getting in my suitcase both at home and away.  Did this trick at Amy's followed by my ringstack and then putting all four of my feet in a small food bowl.
2. Also my check turns to 2 pnus were good at Amy's.
3. Ponto had a lot of fun, especially when I was naughty and didn't come when Mum called so she left me alone in the field and trained Ponto in the barn - until I did come back of course.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. I'm going with Mum to the rest home to visit the elderly people there and cheer them up. This is quite hard work as, as well as getting cuddles, I do all sorts of tricks too.
2. Mum is going to do the weekly house blitz cleaning . . .
3. We are going to try the threadle to backside blueprint game.

What went well today.

1. Mum and I have now really got a handle on the first three exercised in the Blueprint so we move on a bit tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be nice and dry in the garden at breakfast time.
2. I am doing just great at getting in the suitcase again after a small blip last week.
3. Had a great walk in the woods today.

Plan for tomorrow.

1. Mum is going to review my training records and make her plan for the next month.
2. Mum is also going to do this for Ponto.
3. Mum will remember to cut up the liver cake.

What went well today?

1. Had loads of fun playing for my breakfast and got right inside the suitcase first time.
2. Great walk in Mudeford Wood with Mum and Dylan.
3. Going backwards nice and straight now, just need to add going a bit further.

Weather was bad later today though so we didn't do much in the garden.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Depending on the weather, set up a sequence in the garden similar to that which we were practising at Amy's on Wednesday.
2. Get Mum to write out plan for the tricks competition.
3. Have fun!

What went well today?

1. Agility training at Amy's, turns out that Ponto is good at teaching Mum so she is better at handling on my turns.
2. Recallers 5.0 coaching call really inspired Mum and gave us a chance to play the bacon and eggs game.
3. Mum was very pleased at how I stayed calm and quiet on my bed while she showed Barbara how to play the first IYC games with Charlie.  His first choice of behaviour was to turn his head away, and it was fun.  Charlie is 12 and has never done any shaping at all before.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. I got a bit nervous in the suitcase today so we are going to take it back into the den tomorrow.
2. Mum is going to set up the sequence we were doing at Amy's and we will practise that.
3. I'm going to work on getting my stand at a distance when I'm not on a bed or in the crate.

What went well today:

1. Blueprint games in garden first thing.
2. Followed by videoing morning fun in the living room (see below).
3. Two and a half hour hike along the beach and cliffs.

To do tomorrow:

1. Mum has to go to the hairdressers first thing.
2. Go to agility training at Amy's.
3. Practise trick sequence for end of November.

So what went well today.

1. I won two out of three Senior Steeplechases at UKA in Cheltenham today!  Woo Hoo.
2. It rained a bit but not on us when we were running.
3. Mum thought I was a really good boy, and I know I was.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Directionals.
2. Blueprint
3. Trick Sequence

And here is a picture of me with my rosettes from today.

What went well today?

1. We played Susan's Retrieve Game first thing this morning.  I got a bit distracted by the squeaky but for the first go at this Mum was pretty pleased with me.
2. Had a lovely walk on the beach doing some retrieving of the tennis ball from the sea.  Charlie and Barbara came with us too which was fun.
3. Mum sold a painting.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Watch Retrieve Video again and check the list of games and choose five of them to play over the day.
2. Practise trick routine.
3. Have a good relaxing walk.

Oh and here's the video of my first attempt at this particular retrieve challenge:

Oops - Mum has missed a day or two again but I forgive her.l

Best thing happened for her yesterday was the H360 Coaching call.

Best three things that went well today.

1. I went to the Rest Home with Mum and everyone loved me.  I was also very well behaved and Mum was so proud of me.  We kept being asked to do cop-cop - seems to be a crowd puller that trick.
2. Then we went out for a walk with Ponto, Percy and Dylan. It was lovely and sunny and warm.
3. When we had had a rest back home we played the first Blueprint games in the garden. Mum has videoed this but has not watched it yet.

Plan for tomorrow.

1. Blueprint games.
2. Get the painting ready for the guy picking it up.  Mum was glad she sold this one as it has funded lots of fun training camps and stuff for next year.
3. Practise our trick routine for the upcoming fun show "Best Trick" class.

What went well today?

1. I have perfected getting in a suitcase.
2. I ran and jumped onto my Mum's back and she managed to crawl along with me still there.
3. I did my ringstack all the way through in order to get a yummy treat.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum is going to continuing making her video of us for the H360 Course.
2. We are going to agility training at Amy's and I always love that.
3. We will practise the suitcase, ringstack and jumping on Mum's back and cop cop to make a short trick sequence for at a fun show on 22 November.

Mum missed doing the blog on Saturday and last night because we had a visitor, Alan, for the weekend and yesterday we got up very early and drove him back to London so we could look for his cat who had disappeared on Saturday evening before his girlfriend went to work.  Luckily Kitty came back after we wandered around calling him.  After that we went for a walk under the river to Woolwich, we sat and had cups of tea or coffee at a cafe, then did some shopping, then walked about three or four miles along the River Thames to Greenwich.  At Greenwich we went for a ride in the Emirates Cable car over the Thames.

The Emirates Cable Car

Me and Alan on the path along the Thames

The Thames Flood Barrier, 02 Arena and view of Canary Wharf

Along route I did some lalas, waits, sit pretties and other fun games.  I looked out over London on the Cable Car and then because we had walked a long way, we took the Dockland Light Railway back to where Alan lives.

The drive home took us ages as we decided to go through Central London and there was an awful lot of traffic and masses of people, however, I was so tired I slept the whole way home.

What went well today?

1. I can now put the coins in through a smaller gap in my money box.  Mum is very pleased as I picked this up easily, but then I am very good a my ringstack and can also balance a ball on a cone so this type of thing is familiar to me.
2. We played contact games, running along a thin long flat plank in the garden.  Alan, my Mum's youngest human child came to visit (he is a grown up) and he held me lightly in a restrain while Mum called me.  Loved that game.
3. I also went for my walk to the beach with Percy today and we played on the sand.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. A long walk for me on my on with my Mum.
2. Practising the little routine we are going to do as "best trick" in a show near the end of November, including the suitcase.
3. Have a quick weave game too in readiness for the trial on Sunday.

What went well today?

1. This morning we had loads of fun in the den, there are some videos of what we did below.
2. Then we had a lovely walk and I played check check and lala round some posts and trees and Dylan and I both played "on" on a tree stump and then some retrieve on the playing field.  We also met our friend Charlie while we were out.
3. Mum bought me a money box when she took her Mum out for lunch today.  It is a tin shaped like a London bus.  At the moment she takes the whole lid off and I pick the coins up from the floor and drop them in.  The first time the noise startled me for a moment but then I realised I'd done good 'cos I got a nice fishy reward so I did it again.  Now I am expert.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum is going to make the entry to my new money box a bit smaller so I will start to learn to find the hole to drop the coins in.
2. Play matwork for our contacts.
3. And, of course, we'll have a lovely walk where we will also play retrieves, waits and all sorts of other games.

Just look at some of the games we played for breakfast today:

Pick up my Toys (and a spoon and allen key)

Get in the suitcase

Walking backwards onto a wobble cushion

Going forwards round my Mum

What went well today?

1. I am now running really fast round Mum forwards in both directions.
2. Practised NRMs while at Amy's for agility training and I got it!
3. The new local fun dog show told my Mum they would add a "Best Trick" class to the novelty classes just for us.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Lots more fast sits, downs and stands.
2. Proofing contacts - well that is Mum's job to make sure she is similar to how she is in the ring so I don't get confused.
3. Have a really good long hike along the beach and cliffs.

What went well today?

1. Mum says I'm getting really fast going from sit to down to pretty to stand now.  
2. I say that she is making the criteria much clearer for me.
3. We played lots of contact games today.

Plan for tomorrow

1. Mum's getting up early to do the housework upstairs.
2. We'll have a shortish walk in the woods in the morning and play recaller games and practise various tricks and lalas etc.
3. Going to agility training in the afternoon and Barbara and Charlie are coming to watch.

What went well today?

1. We played our breakfast games on my bed, really fast response sits, downs, stands and pretties.  Love playing these games.
2. I relaxed after my walk on my bed.
3. Mum has found a training partner to help with our NRMs.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Lots of mat games for our running contacts.
2. Crate Games
3. NRM games.

What went well this weekend?

1. We had great fun at the Wicked Weaves Camp at Devon Dogs.  Mum thinks that my contacts are definitely better than she had realised.
2. Did lots of my favourite things like handstands and other proprioception tricks.
3. Great visit to Alexis, Lucas and Fiddy.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Practise mat contact work.
2. Go for a really good chill out walk.
3. Mum needs to make a poa for how to get me to run independently on the dog walk if she is hanging behind.

So what went well today?

1. I held the wooden spoon nicely while my Mum put some of my breakfast in it.
2. We walked all the way along the beach and cliffs and I played fetch with my tennis ball running down the grassy bank from the cliffs all the way onto the pebbles of the beach.
3. My friend Charlie and his Mum Barbara visited this afternoon, I showed her how I can now get into the suitcase.   She asked Mum how to start teaching Charlie this and he managed to put all four feet in the suitcase before he left us.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Drive to Devon Dogs for the Wicked Contacts Weekend.
2. Visit Fiddy, her pups and her Dad in the evening.
3. Then back to Devon Dogs on Sunday for the second day.

So what went well today?

1. I held the wooden spoon nicely while my Mum put some of my breakfast in it.
2. We walked all the way along the beach and cliffs and I played fetch with my tennis ball running down the grassy bank from the cliffs all the way onto the pebbles of the beach.
3. My friend Charlie and his Mum Barbara visited this afternoon, I showed her how I can now get into the suitcase.   She asked Mum how to start teaching Charlie this and he managed to put all four feet in the suitcase before he left us.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Drive to Devon Dogs for the Wicked Contacts Weekend.
2. Visit Fiddy, her pups and her Dad in the evening.
3. Then back to Devon Dogs on Sunday for the second day.

16 October

What went well today:

1. Crate Games after I had stopped shouting at Mum.  Oops my naughty spots were playing me up a bit this morning, but then I settled down and we had loads of fun.
2. I walked around my Mum while we were out in the park, both directions, getting the hang of that now.
3. I was really good at keeping all four paws on the ground to say hello to people today.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. We haven't had the weaves up in the garden for a while so we are going to play weaves tomorrow.
2. We'll play at "dead" again as we haven't done this now for a couple of days.  Hope I remember what to do, but I expect I will.
3. Mum is going to start planning our routine for the Christmas Tricks Show at the Care Home as we now have the date for that.

15 October

Well Mum forgot about us doing my blog yesterday - oops!

But what went well today?

1. I am now going round my Mum like she's a post - she had taught me to go backwards round her - that's a cinch for me, but had totally forgotten about teaching me to go right round. I go behind and in between her legs, but I hadn't learned just to go round.  It was our fourth session today and the video of our playing is below.
2. We went to Amy's for agility training.  Luckily it wasn't raining so we were out in the field rather than the barn.  Amy thought that my turn on a check check was good and Mum practised picking me up on the other side of a jump after I had raced through the tunnel.
3. We watched an interesting programme on TV all about the secret lives of cats.

Monday 13th October

What did we do today?

1. Well we did what you can see on the videos below this morning.  It was great fun.
2. I got into a suitcase, I rolled onto my side, "dead".
3. I also did some check checks and lalas in the garden, very early but it was beginning to rain.

So our plan for tomorrow:

1. Hopefully we'll go for a really long hike, yesterday we only went a short way as it was pouring with rain all day.   Mind you, we posted our letter off to book our Richard Curtis Camp too - I am very excited about that.
2. Practise our dead tricks again along with lots of the other things I do.
3. And Mum has to do the shopping, so that means she'll buy sausages and cheese and liver and make up some lovely treats with them for our playing over the next week.

Just look what we did this morning

Zoom Zoom

Jump over Mum's arms

Reverse between Mum's legs

Lie on my side "dead"

11 October

What went well today?

1. I went across the road with Ponto to play with our neighbour.  It was pouring with rain and there was lightning and thunder as we crossed the road.  Neither Ponto nor I care about that at all.  The reason Mum took me across the road was so that I didn't have to stay with Percy and Dylan who get a bit upset by the thunder.  Grandma stayed with them.
2. I did some really nice tight turns with check check at the jump.
3. On our walk Mum added a couple of zooms round things after recalling me to her - that was great fun - because then she sent me straight off to see what interesting things there were to sniff out again.

Plan for tomorrow

1. Mum has found out where we can go for a camp doing HTM - I am excited about that so we are going to continue practising me walking backwards and between her legs.
2. The weather man says that at last we are going to have a day without heavy downpours in between the sun so Mum has to mow the lawn, then she is going to set up one of the H360 blueprint exercises for me to do out there - can't wait.
3. We haven't decided where to go for our walk yet - I hope it is somewhere exciting, like Uddens Woods.

10 October 2014

What went well today:

1. I am getting really good at getting into the suitcase and hiding myself completely except sometimes my tail still sticks out.
2. I am going much more tightly around my PNUs.
3. I had a lovely walk at the beach with my Mum and completely ignored a dog that insisted on following us.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum is thinking about going back to HTM so is going to look into this.
2. Ponto is going across the road to be a therapy dog for our neighbour.
3. We are going to practise checks and lalas on the jump wings.

9 October

What went well today?

1. Me getting into the suitcase.
2. Ponto, Dylan and I went with Mum to Badbury Rings.   Not many dogs there so Ponto wore her muzzle and ran free with me and Dylan.  We had a great time and only got a little bit wet in the rain.
3. My PNU - Mum thinks I am getting far tighter going round this now.

Here is a video of me getting into the suitcase.

Our plan for tomorrow:

1. Play the suitcase game again and take it downstairs to show Grandma.
2. Mum and I are going out on our own today as Dylan and Ponto had a good time with us yesterday.  Percy, Dylan and Ponto will go out together later.
3. Mum is going to bring a jump into the Den so when it is dark and/or rainy at breakfast time we can use one jump indoors.

What went well (8 October)?

1. I did suitcase really well so tomorrow will be pushing lid up to get in by myself.
2. Ponto began touching the edge of the food bowl with her mouth.
3. Had fun at Amy's, practising serpentines.  I got a little bit distracted by the piglet in the crate in the corner but once I had walked past him and taken a good look it was fine.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Get in the suitcase!
2. Lots of PNU work to tighten up my turns.
3. Mat work.

What went well today (7 October) - Mum is late doing the blog?

1. We played get in the suitcase and Mum held the lid today so I had to push it to get in.  Here is the video of that. 
2. We also practised me doing control behaviours at a distance, first in the den, then when we were out for our walk.   I am getting good at this but have a bit of trouble with "stand" at a distance - I understand "stand" but once up I want to go back to Mum.  We will have to think of a smart way of me holding my stand at a distance.
3. Ponto is also learning to get in the suitcase and is doing quite well.  She puts all four feet in and a sit, and she has tried to lie down in it once.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. We are going to try doing the suitcase with me pushing the lid up.
2. Ponto is going to start learning to pick up a food bowl and put it into another food bowl.
3. Dylan is going to start learning to get in the suitcase.  And I am going to agility training at Amy's.

So what went well today.

1. After the rain Mum took me out for a walk through the woods and to the shop so that we could get Grandma some cash.  We played retrieve with my tennis ball and plenty of RZ. When we got to the prettily planted trees we did check checks and la las and a few nanas too. And we did 15 recalls during our off lead walk in all, which together with the seven or eight at home means we did about 20 odd recalls definitely today - aiming at doing 100 one call recalls this week.
2. Percy, Dylan and Ponto then went for a walk with Mum and I stayed with Grandma.
3. We also played walking backwards with me between Mum's legs.

Plan for tomorrow.

1. Do another 20 recalls including some collar grabs.
2. Play mat games, suitcase games and roll in a blanket games.
3. Mum to watch some more H360 videos and make notes.

As promised, here is the video of Percy and Dylan's visit to church.

Well today went well:

1. Both Ponto and I demonstrated how we are learning to get in the suitcase, and the other trick of walking backwards between Mum's legs to Grandma in the living room - so new H.
2. Mum thought I was extremely good when out with Dylan at Stanpit.  We played a lot of Recaller games and did at least 10 good recalls including collar grabs and stopping and running past each other.
3. Percy and Dylan were the stars in the afternoon - they went to church, to the Animal Blessing at Holdenhurst Village Church.  Mum has taken a video and will upload this to my blog for you all to see when it is ready.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Rain and storms are predicted so we will do a lot of playing in the Den I expect including getting in the suitcase, PNU work and other such tricks.
2. When the rain stops we'll go on a hike to the beach perhaps.
3. Mum needs to do some reading for a new course she is starting on psychology.

What went well today for us?

1. We woke up late but the rain hadn't started and we played in the garden, checks, lalas, contacts and starts and lots of balance breaks between so great fun.
2. The rain then started and it poured and poured which Mum says will be really good for the camellias as this September has been very dry.
3. When the rain finished the sun came out and we went for a lovely walk round Mudeford Wood where we played lots of games as well.

We also practised the suitcase trick and I started learning to pull a blanket over me.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum thinks this three things each day is getting a bit boring so we may do something different with the blog although incorporating the three things.
2. Mum is taking Percy to the Animal Blessing Ceremony.
3. Mum and I will do all sorts of tricks, Recallers games, and agility practice and I'll let you know what we did tomorrow.

Journal Day 8

Well this week we have been resting a bit, but still doing quite a lot.  So what went well today.

1. We started by playing a few shaping games for breakfast including my first go at getting inside a suitcase.  In the end I think my Mum wants me to hide in the suitcase with the lid down.

We also played putting my toys away in the basket.  Now I am usually very good at this but at the beginning I got confused and thought I had to get in the small basked with the toy - however, I soon realised what I was doing.

2. Our walk to Hengistbury Head was loads of fun, and we met a lady with a dog who thought I was really good.  Mum explained that we use Do Land type training and IYC and we gave her a card for Absolute Academy too.  Her dog was a mongrel, and seven years old, she thought he was too old to start training, but we let her know that wasn't so and Dylan and I enjoyed ourselves with him.

3. My Mum's new polo shirts arrived and she was very pleased with them.

Plan for tomorrow

1. Work some more on hiding in the suitcase.

2. Work some more on lalas and checks and jumps.

3. Work some more on contacts.

And Mum might also take either me, or maybe just Dylan, to a fun dog show.  As we don't know if there is a best trick there, she might just take Dylan so that he has a nice 121 outing with her and feels important.

Journal Day 8

What went well today?

1. My Mum's and Ponto's visit to the elderly at the Rest Home.
2. My start line wait games, and my la las and check checks as well as my jumps and my seesaw and A frame contacts.  In fact Mum thought I was very good today.
3. Percy was feeling really well today and joined Dylan and me in our walk at the woods.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum and I will do mat work.
2. I am also going to do my washing line trick as I haven't done this for a long time and we will be doing this as part of our Christmas show at the home.
3. We're going for a lovely long hike at Hengistbury Head again.

Journal Day 7

What went well today?

1. Bob's training for breakfast. We did balancing a ball on top of a cone, standing up against my back.  Four feet on four pods, racing from one crate to another, tug drop and run.
2. Training at Amy's - Bob did not even think of going off sniffing and did a couple of really nice turns.
3. We also had fun playing calming markers.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum is going to watch some more H360 and Absolute Dogs Videos.
2. We'll train according to the videos.
3. We'll also do our mat training.

And, of course, we'll have a great hike together.

Start Line Waits by Sarah

My Mum's daughter, Sarah, drew this for us.  Sarah obviously believes I am perfect, but sometimes I just cannot wait as well as in the picture but one day . . . .

Journal Day 6 (30 September)

Mum forgot to do our blog last night so she's doing it early this morning.

What went well?

1. We had a lovely walk, just Mum and me, to the beach and the cliffs.  I was pretty cool on my lead and walked beside my Mum.
2. Before Mum moved the jumps and tunnel to cut the lawn, we played start line waits, then some distance, me racing over two jumps and into the tunnel then back. Love fast games like this.
3. Mum received a card from Sarah with a cartoon about start line waits, very funny, I'll ask her to scan it and put it up on here this evening.

Plan for today (1 October)

1. Play calm markers with me and Ponto.
2. Take me for my 121 training with Amy.
3. Continue shaping me to put my paws on Mum's back and walk along with her.

Journal Day 5

What went well today?

1. Dylan and I had a great time with Mum at the park.
2. At the vet's I got rather excited on arrival because I know the receptionist will always give me a treat.  I was good in the consultation room while the others had their vaccinations.
3. Ponto was brilliant at looking at the other dogs at the vets then turning straight to Mum when she said "Yes".

Plan for tomorrow:

1. We will play some zooms, lalas and checks with a PNU and a jump.
2. Mum is going to take me for a walk all on my own to practise my loose leash walking.
3. Mum is going to watch some more of the videos on Absolute Dogs and decide what else we might do.  We always do lots of tricks anyway because we both love that.

Journal Day 4

What went well today?

1. Had great fun at the show, no clears, but no huge disasters, just Mum having a flappy arm - oops.
2. Great weather too.
3. Helping a man and his grandson by giving them a new bag to put their conkers in, they were cycling past the house when Mum was watering the new pansies and the conkers all fell out of their bag and over the road.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Mum and I are going for a good long walk and relaxing after the weekend.
2. In the afternoon Mum has to take us all to the vet's for our yearly immunisations.
3. We'll play some fun shaping and Recallers Games.

Journal Day 3

Well we went to the trial today . . . .

What went well

1. The drive there.
2. Our games in the practice ring where I did a few great start line waits and some lovely weave entries along with a bit of jumping.
3. My Mum kept to her determination that when she has made a plan for our run she sticks to it.  We were to have a great start line wait so that we would have a lovely entry into the weaves at obstacle 4. I didn't wait and I faffed around so Mum took me by the collar and we left the ring.  Now that might sound like something didn't go well, but it did.  It gave Mum great information that I find the overexcitement distracting, and also that she can keep to her determinations.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. Go to the trial.
2. Do two runs.
3. Have fun! (Mum gets too serious sometimes and it puts me off because I know what she is thinking all the time).

Journal Day 2

Well we nearly didn't get to post on here tonight as Mum had computer problems with her video software but we got there in the end.

So what went well today?

1. Check Checks and Lalas were good fun today - a few failures to help me learn but I did much tighter turns.
2. A great walk in the woods where we also played One Call, Collar Grab and then did a bit of body awareness on a strangely shaped bench (video of this below).
3. Start line wait practice.  I was still a bit yappy and determined to train Mum.  Oops, she repeated a command so I got my reward.  However I also did two or three nice ones just to please her.  Mostly on watching the video she realised her mistakes so that should help us a lot.

Plan for tomorrow:

1. We are off to a trial and I am just doing one run in Jumping.  
2. As there is a training ring at the trial, we will practise our start lines and contacts in there.
3. And, of course, we will play lots of Recaller Games to get from A to B, and just for the fun of it anyway.

Journal entry 1

Hello again

Mum and I are going to try and keep this journal daily for at least three months.  We'll see, I know my Mum, she gets lazy sometimes.  Each evening we will tell you three things that went well today, and three things that we plan to do tomorrow.

Three things that went well today:

1. This morning, although we didn't video it, I did some great start line waits in the garden, and a couple of close turn checks around the wings of a jump.  I also did a nice couple of lalas.
2. Then Dylan, Mum and me all went to the vet's to pick up our advocate, and then we went on a long hike over Hengistbury Head.
3. Later on today I played zoom zoom round my PNU, Mum was lazy and sat down while I did some weaves, and then all of us, even Percy who is old and not very well played crate games, racing from the bed (not visible in the video) to the crate and then back again.

Here are our three videos from this afternoon:

Lazy Weaves

Close up PNU

Crate Games Fun

Our plan for tomorrow is:

1. I will practise start lines for my breakfast.
2. Mum will take us out for another hike through the woods.
3. We'll practise our mat work.

Record Keeping

It's a long time since I wrote anything on here but now Mum has decided that we will use this blog as our training journal.

Just an update since I was last here.  This year I have moved up to Grade 2 in Kennel Club, and up to Senior in Steeplechase at UKA and have a lot of red rossettes to show for this.

We also had a fantastic time at Devondogs Camp with Lynda Orton Hill, and then again at the Dash to Devon Camp and a Handling weekend.

Here are two pictures of me jumping at the Dash to Devon Camp.

and

here is me having been shaped to jump into the wheelbarrow at the Handling Weekend

This evening we will start our journal, so come back later to see what went well today and our plans for tomorrow.

Vision for 2014

As it is the first day of the New Year, Mum and I have been thinking about what we would like to achieve in 2014.  My Mum envisions this:

By the end of 2014 we will enter the ring, focusing nicely on each other, I shall happily stay on the start line even though I am trembling with the excitement of taking the first obstacle.   During the year our weaves will be brilliant and I will be as good at waiting on the contacts (I am learning 2o2o) as I have become on the startline.  Mum will have improved her inconsistent handling so that I understand just where she wants me to go - she really needs to work on this one and not run me like I am Ponto as I go far faster than she ever did and need to know where I am going even if Mum isn't by my side.

Our goal is by the end of the year to be having clear rounds in agility, jumping, steeplechase and games at least 75% of the time.

So this month we will be playing the following games:

1. Amazing Stays from Susan Garrett's brilliant Ebook.
2. Doing our Critical Core Games, that is Crate Games, Collar Grab Games, One Call games, RZ games, Tug, sit, tug and take off and stand games every day.
3. Proofing my weaves and contacts.  

This first week we will:

1. Mum will read through Chapter 4 of Amazing Stays - Ten games to grow my confidence at home.
2. When it stops raining and the wind gives up a bit we'll play weaves in the garden.
3. We'll also practise our contacts, but those we can do inside on the steps and travel plank if it is too wet to go out.

And today:

1. Critical core games.
2. Tricks - we do these for my job visiting and doing shows for the elderly.  Today, trolley and weave backwards through Mum's legs. 
3. Have a lovely loose leash walk with my brother,Dylan and sisters, Percy and Ponto.