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.

Hi there

Mum has decided that before we make our decisions for what we'd like to achieve in 2014 we should look back and consider how 2013 went.

1. On New Year's Day in 2013 Mum had finally decided that she was really fed up with me pulling, being a Houdini with regard to removing any form of gentle leader or headcollar and that she would just use my collar and lead and stop if I pulled so that I could learn that if I wanted to get where we were going - to the beach or the woods usually - I would need to walk nicely by her side.   We did this and a walk that now takes me ten minutes walking beside my Mum took us almost an hour that day!  So that is one success, I am about 95% there in not pulling when going somewhere really exciting.
2. Mum helped me learn to weave using Susan Garrett's two by two method.  In total we only spent about an hour training over the couple of months and look at the results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veV-ss-8Yf4 
3. We continued going to Amy's for our agility training and in the summer I competed for the first time in the summer.  This is a video of my first competition (my sister Erin goes first I start at 0.30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BOPVZv6dyE
4. We went to the Isle of Wight for a fun show and I won my qualifying round and the Final for Best Trick, that is me taking the washing off the line.  I also won Best Trick and three other companion shows either with the washing line or jumping onto my mum's back.
5. At the UKA Nationals I competed again but still didn't have a clean run and got very distracted at times although we did some lovely distance work at times.
6. In August we went to the UKA Hawbridge and HADs shows just one day at each and now I was getting my act together and listening to Mum and paying attention to her body in the ring.  I won the Steeplechase twice and I qualified for the Ultimate Agility Beginners' Steeplechase Finals in December. I also now had 24 points so I am no longer in Beginners and have moved up to Novice in Steeplechase.  I won the jumping, but non-qualifying because I picked up 5 faults, however, I was the only one not eliminated and there was a wall and a long jump and I had not done either of these before so Mum was really pleased with me.
7. At Mapledurham in September I managed to win the Jumping Qualifying!  Mum was very pleased with my weaving.  However, I've not managed to go clear again in Steeplechase yet.
8. As well as playing agility I have learned even more new tricks and continue learning them. These I use to entertain the elderly at the Rest Home where I go to say hello to the residents.  This Christmas I did one show at my Rest Home along with Ponto and another at the Dementure Group - everyone loved the shows and you can see the videos of one of these here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lgLIFT8asU
9. We went to the UKA Finals in December.  This was exciting.  Mum and I stayed overnight in a hotel.  I'd never done this before and at first I thought I needed to guard our room from other people so I barked when I heard doors opening and shutting but Mum convinced me that this wasn't necessary.  The Finals were exciting, in a big Equestrian Arena, lots of dogs, lots of noise and I had my turn.  Unfortunately, I missed jump No. 3 and went through the tunnel so we were eliminated and then when I was half way round the course I thought it was the end and ran straight on, although I came back as soon as Mum called, but it was so much fun.  Not our best run and loads to learn, especially a start line wait, but if you want to see the run it is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhPZosB7rLU
10. But most of all in 2013 we had fun playing Recallers Games, Weaves, Contacts, and going for lots and lots of long hikes in the Forest and at the beach.