Introducing Roxy!

Well sometimes its just meant to be.... i happened to come across a photo of Cai's mum with two pups on the Internet. One of them a blue merle bitch and the other a sable bitch. I know she is getting on a bit now so this would probably be her last litter and as my next dog was going to be a bitch it got me thinking. So after chatting to Caroline (Cai's breeder) i drove all the way to Wales to pick up my new blue merle puppy.

Only i didnt come home with the blue but somehow ended up with the sable! She's nutty, fast and bossy and love her to bits already. She is super clever and very fast to learn and can already do sit, down, paw, speak, spin right, spin left, put head on floor and touch a target with her nose. Im having so much fun with her and she has been such an easy pup... so far! Hopefully she is my little flyball star of the future.

Stour Valley Agility Show

This was a lovely show last year and had a good selection of classes this year so i was really looking forward to it. Both Chico and Campbell were entered both days but something came up on Saturday so i only made it over on the Sunday.

Campbell only had 2 classes today as i didn't want to waste my money on the combined 1 - 4 border collie helterskelter as he wouldn't be fast enough to make the placings if he had gone clear and i really don't need another clear round rosette! First up he had graded 1 - 3 Agility. This was a nice testing course which i was really looking forward to. He missed his weave entry though and them he got confused when i called him back and back jumped the jump before. I was gutted as he flew round the rest of the course and really felt like he was giving it his all. This is just the kind of course he will win out on, but today was not the day. Next up he had graded 1 - 4 jumping. Again a testing course which i couldn't wait to do. Campbell always does so much better on the harder courses as he turns so tight and saves seconds. He did a fantastic round that really felt like one of his best and we got some lovely compliments when we left the ring. Unfortunately we had 1pole down. Stupidly i went to check my time to find out where we would have come to find out we would have won the class :-( He is so close now to winning out but we just keep missing out for one reason or another!

Chico had three runs today. Combined 1 - 4 helterskelter was first. I got lost but Chico went well! Next up was graded 1 - 3 agility. Annoyingly Chico had the first pole down as he was getting stressed and kept looking at the dog queueing behind him so didn't take off properly. After that he did a perfect round if a little slow in places. Last up he had graded 1 - 4 jumping. It was not really a Chico course as it required too many turns and her hates turning and always goes very wide when i make him. I was determined to get at least one clear this weekend though so just took it slowly and didn't rush him and he did a nice steady clear 4.5 seconds slower than Campbell but still finished 7th. I really don't know how he does it, all his placings to date have been top 10 but he really has some rubbish times!

Ive decided that this will be Chico's last show for a year or so though (other than the odd class) as i find it really hard having both him and Campbell entered as they are so different to handle that i end up messing up my runs. Also Campbell is just about to turn 4 and i feel he will probably only be at his best for another year or two so really want to concentrate on him while he is doing well. Hopefully with a bit more focus he will win me out early next year. Most of his placing in the latter part of the year have been top 10 with many top 5 so i know he has it in him now. I was going to put him up on points but think ill wait a few more months now to see what happens! Also i think Chico could do with a year to mature a bit and will hopefully come back more confident.

Prestbury Park Agility show

A lovely show and our first time camping this year! I'm not entering Chico in all the classes he is able to do anymore as he switches off so quickly so two classes is enough per day.

Saturday

First up Campbell had Grade 1 & 2 agility and he did a cracking round in a very fast time.... with 5 faults on the dog walk! so annoying as he would have had a very high placing with that. Next up Chico had Grade 1 - 4 collie jumping. Now when i entered this a few months ago he was enjoying jumping courses much more than agility. Now that's not the case and this was a very interesting course that i would have loved to run with Campbell but knew Chico would hate. He tried but had one pole down but didn't enjoy all the nagging i had to do to get him round.

Last up they both had Grade 1 agility. Chico went first and did a nice round with just one pole down. Campbell is really on top form right now and did a fantastic round although i did slow him on the dog walk to make sure we got the dreaded contact. I went to check his time to find we were in 1st! we stayed there most of the class but ended up 2nd which I'm really pleased with although i now realise how close he is to winning out!



Sunday

Campbell had Grade 1 & 2 agility. It was a very testing course that not many people were getting round and i wasn't surprised when we ended up with and E! Next he had graded 1 - 3 agility. This was basically the course from the morning but in reverse so again quite testing. We managed to get round this time with 5 on the dog walk and 5 for a missed weave entry. Chico was a bit switched of and did a very slow steady round but went clear in a painfully slow time of 41 seconds. We ended up 10th which surprised me! Last up they both had grade 1 jumping. Campbell got 5 for a missed weave entry and Chico got E'd for jumping the tape round the ring although he did come straight back in and complete the course without any faults in a nice fast time.

Prestbury Park Crufts Flyball Qualifier

Well what an odd day. We went along to give the Crufts qualifier ago. We have not done one before so really just went to see how they do things as all the rules are a bit different and there is not usually much run back room. 8 Teams were entered and there was only one we didnt really want to be drawn against in the first round and that was Wimbledon. Well it was not our lucky day and we were drawn against them! We went into the ring already a bit confused. The judge had said he would allow 2 minutes to warm the dogs up the first time we go into the ring and nothing after that. I sent Cai and the next thing i know a dog from the other side crosses over and crashes into him. Now anyone who knows Cai knows this is not good news for the other dog! Well Cai was such a good boy. He just started hunting for his ball as it had be knocked out of his mouth. He then found it and returned back over the jumps with the other dog chasing him but he didnt touch it.

Crufts flyball is best of 3 and if you win the first 2 you only race 2 legs. We then ran our first leg and Wimbledon's 4th dog crossed the line first. Then in the second leg it looked like our dog crossed the line first but everyone started leaving the ring so i assumed they had been awarded that leg too. It was all very messy and confusing not like BFA at all! When we got out of the ring Wimbledon didn't look very pleased and someone said well done to us and we realise we had actually won as they crossed too early in the first leg so we won both legs outright.



After more confusion in the second round we were awarded the win there too and had qualified for Crufts 2010! The final was against a fast BFA team the Kiddy Monsters who really pushed us and although it was close they took the first two legs so we came 2nd overall which is great for our first Crufts qualifier. For a made up team that never train together we did really well and still cant believe we qualified at our first show. The dogs in the team were Cai, Loki handled by Steph (from the Swifts) Flash and Breeze with Michelle (from The Dream Team) and Magic with Kerina as reserve. Now we just have to wait till March next year and see what happens.

Shooting Stars Flyball Tournament

I always like to enter the Shooting stars tournaments as it was all thanks to them we got going as a team so even though we weren't really ready we headed off down to Kent with 2 brand new dogs, Barney, Angel, Maddie and Campbell. First race in was a bit of a mess, Onyx wouldn't go down and get her ball so we had to run Maddie. She is not running well at the moment as she is really slowing down on the way back from the box since being attacked. She did better this week than last week but still no where near as good as she should be. Thankfully Onyx decided flyball is actually fun and ran fantastic from the second race onwards. Harvey who is Maddie's brother got quite distracted by the dogs in the other lane. When he was running well he was great and when he wasn't.... well he was a pain in the bum! i can really see he has a stubborn streak too like Maddie but also shows so much promise.

Barney was good again this week but has really lost his confidence on the way back. He used to be much faster coming back than going out but that has all changed now. Hopefully with more practice he will get his confidence back. As Maddie was running so slow we had to call in the reserve reserve Campbell. I dont like to run him much as he gets tired quickly and then switches off and isn't really into flyball. He just does it because i ask him nicely! Well apart from dropping the ball once he was actually quite good today. He did some nice starts and also ran in 2nd and 3rd position fine. Hopefully he is starting to enjoy his flyball more and will have more drive and speed as he does more shows.



I really wanted to give Cai a run today as he hates missing out so entered him and Angel into the Mini/Maxi pair just for a bit of fun. I wasn't really bothered about getting a good time as Angel had already run 17 legs in starters and she is not used to crossing tight with Cai. Well we did our three legs in what felt like an ok time and i went and put Cai back in the car. Suddenly after about 10 mins they are calling us back in as we were through to the next round. I hadn't realised it was a knockout so was not ready at all. I managed to grab Cai quickly and leg it back to the ring and couldn't believe it when we went and won again 3-0. This put us through to the finals against Janice and Roger from the Shooting Stars who had two very experienced dogs. The racing was very close but we lost the first two legs and then won the third. As it was best of 3 we came second overall with a best time of 10.34 seconds. I couldn't believe our two managed to pull it off so well. Angel really was best dog of the show this week.

Hailsham Lions Agility Show

Well i didnt think i was going to make it this year as i had planned to do flyball this weekend but the team i was running Cai with had to pull out so i managed to squeeze a last minute entry in. All three got to have a run today as the rings were netted although i am feeling more positive about Cai by the minute as he is really focused and just loves to work and i feel he will be ready to run out of netting by spring 2010.

First up Campbell had grade 1-3 agility. It was a nice flowing course without any weaves and he did a cracking round to finish 5th. Chico was up next, he didnt put that much effort in but got round without any sniffing with just 5 faults on the dog walk. Last up was Cai. Well what can i say! hes a little star and he managed to pull a clear out of the bag... yes it was messy but he has only had 1 proper training session this year and one other agility show to date. I was very pleased to find out he had come 3rd! not a bad start to agility shows for him.

Last up was grade 1-3 jumping. Campbell did a messy clear to finish 6th, my fault not his! Chico should have been eliminated (as he jumped an extra jump) but the judge wasn't looking so just gave us 5 for a refusal! And Cai was just a bit mad! i tried to get him going like i know he can and went a bit far as he was totally mental and i didnt have much control so really need to keep him a bit calmer until he is more responsive in the ring.

Four Paws Flyball Tournament

We took one starters team today made up on Skye, Barney who has had to go back to starters after his big crash in Kent, Maddie, Chico and Campbell as reserve. Skye was a star and didn't make one mistake although slowed towards the end. Barney just ran out once but that was probably the handlers fault and my 3 well they were just naughty! Maddie did her usual thing of going to the box and lying down, Chico started well but got bored quite quickly and Campbell was like a rocket for a few legs then kept slowing down to have a nose in the other lane! Its very frustrating having 3 dogs who are very very hard work and then Cai who is a star and lives for flyball. We did well though with the dogs we had available and finished 2nd with a very slow time of 27. something seconds! Not our usual standard but we all had fun and cant wait for next weekend.

Cai did the singles and was back on top form today. I had to run him from 53 feet as anything closer and he got a false start. He did 3 runs over 7" getting 3.955, 3.971 & 3.976 to finish 1st. I then asked to run him over 14" to see how much the higher jumps slowed him down and he did 4.247, 4.143 & 4.144 so not a huge difference. These times would have also put him in 1st even with all the other dogs running over 7" so im very proud of my boy today.

Dundee Flyball

Well i must have been mad. Michelle offered me a lift to Dundee in thier van for the two tournamnts this year and i said yes! 550 miles EACH way and a total of 12 hours driving... but it was worth it. First up on Saturday was the Clatto Clangers tournament. It was our first time camping this year and ive really missed it. It makes such a difference to just get up and roll out of bed and you are there! It was a really lovely venue and all the other teams were friendly and it was great to see another southern team the Wimbledon Wizzers make the journey. Cai was on the lights again and he is getting better each time out. He was running very slow for him(around 4.5 seconds) but didnt put a foot wrong. We lost one race on speed to finish 2nd.

Maddie got to have a go in starters pairs and actually did it! i really didnt think she would because she can be quite spooky and stubbon at times. We only made it through to the second round but it was nice to know she is ready for starters now.



Sunday saw us travel a few miles up the road to Caird Park for the Tayside Roadrunners tournament. Wow what a lovely big park with huge trees dotted about, it was great for dog walking. All the dogs were tired from the day before but ran really well and i was pleased as Cai's average was about the same. We had sorted out our crosses more as a team and ended up winning all our races to finish 1st.

MAADH Agility Show

Well today was a first for Cai he actually got to have a go at an agility show! Ive not trusted him up till now as i dont think he will stay in the ring if there is something more exciting going on in a ring next door but today was only a small local show with one ring and netting all round.

First up Campbell had 1-3 agility he did a nice round but has got really naughty with his contacts in the ring and missed the A frame and didnt get the dog walk and see-saw as well as i know he can. I have forgiven him though as the a frame had been set at the old height so was very steep making it hard for him to go to the bottom. Next was Chico again he did a nice round just missing the dog walk contact which was naughty as he hasn't missed one before now! Finally Cai got a go. I waited till very late on in the class so that there were not too many dogs around but shouldn't have worried as he worked lovely and didnt look at anyone in or outside the ring (apart from at the start when he ran over to say hi to Angela who was judging!) Ok he was very slow and hesitant and had a few poles BUT he stayed with me and didnt bark non stop which is his usual style. Also i need to remember he has never had a proper agility lesson other than one with Leah last Thursday and i only do bits with him maybe once a month. He could be really good with more work and experience. Im hoping to enter him at some of the winter shows indoors as most of them have netting between the rings and then hopefully start him outdoors without netting next season.



Second up Campbell had 1 - 3 jumping it was a lovely flowing course but not just straight up and down. Val Clarke was judging and i always like her courses as they are usually very sensible for the grade but not just up and down. Campbell worked well but didnt feel that fast but i was surprised to find we had come 2nd! Chico was being a monkey and somehow managed to find a tunnel to go in that wasn't even facing towards him so got us E'd. Cai was really good again, he missed the weave entry but got it second time and ran past one jump but the rest felt really good so a promising start.

Aces High Flyball Tournament

Well today was fantastic, some how we ended up being put into division 1 (seeded 7th) on a declared time of 19 seconds! We had one dog in the team who has never run in open, Barney who has done one open tournament then Cai, Flash and Breeze. I though everything would go smoothly but how wrong could i be! Barney got interfered with in the very first leg of the very first race and refused to run after that. Bizzy was in a world of him own and pretended he had had no flyball training so he was out too that left us with 3 dogs.

Luckily we had put one of Michelle's veteran dogs as reserve 'just in case' well they ended up running every leg but at around 6.5 seconds. Cai ran start dog for the first time and was amazing. It took me about half the day to get the lights sorted but by the end of the day i was only 0.1 sec late. They were showing the dogs individual times and Cai ran quite a few 3.8 - 3.9's so im very very pleased. His turn was fantastic all day too and he didn't let the other dogs bother him. We ended up 7th but i was not surprised as we really shouldn't have been racing in Div 1 with a 19 second time. Cant wait for Dundee and the British Champs now!