Yesterday saw Cassie's first ever run in the novice agility class. On the drive there I was feeling a little apprehensive about my decision to enter her. Firstly she had never done any agility at the Cloverdale grounds so she had never been on their equipment before and secondly it was her first day trial and the weather forecast was for 30 degrees. Needless to say there were many "what was I thinking moments". Aside from that I was keen to see how she'd go. I've done so much work on her contacts and her confidence that it was hard not to be excited to see how she would handle it.
All in all I think the day was a success. No clear rounds but she was happy, fast and confident. With the warm afternoon a lot of the little dogs were barely breaking out of a trot in the jumping course but she ran just as fast as she normally would. Her contacts were very good in the mornings agility class and no slowing down as I thought might happen when she realised it was all new. The only piece of equipment that she didn't do well was the weavers. She just didn't switch onto the entry at all and wanted to enter half way through. We made a second attempt for the same result so I kept going and we'll endevour to get a load more work done on those in the next couple of weeks. She is still running past jumps and sometimes I feel like I'm really hanging around to make sure she fully commits but in saying that I made some dumb handling decisions with her and I can't help but think that contributed towards it.
We have the State Agility Trial in two weeks. I have no idea how that is going to go and I'm not overly confident that it will be a roaring success but I like the fact that we get more than one go in both agility and jumping with three classes of each up for grabs to try and qualify for finals. She will only improve the more she's out there. That will be the last trial we do before Colin and I make our way back over to Europe for this years World Agility Open so Cassie will have a big break until June when we are back. I think that break will likely do her good and it wouldn't surprise me if she comes out even more confident.
Speaking of the World Agility Open I have to say I'm very excited about competing in Spain this year. I have been very lucky in being given the opportunity to run a dog by the name of Hydro who is owned by Lizzie Langwade in the UK. Hydro is a lovely four and a half year old border collie beautifully trained by Lizzie and is currently competing in Grade 7 agility in the UK. Hydro and Lizzie have been doing really well themselves, recently winning the Senior Agility class at Crufts. It is great to know that I just have to focus on running him well as he certainly knows his job thanks to Lizzie's great training. Here is the video of Hydro winning at Crufts.
Sonic the Border Collie and Friends
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Attempt Two
The weekend saw Cassie and I hit the ring again in our second novice jumping run. Unfortunately not a clear round but pretty damn close with only a refusal at the tunnel. I had finished Sonic's runs for the evening so it was nice to be able to totally focus on her and get my "papillon handling skills" embedded in my head! That part of it went pretty well. As she was approaching the spread I could see that she was a bit hesitant so I really had to push her to commit. It was after the spread that she went to the side of the tunnel (and over the ring rope). She seemed to relax a bit more after that and had a lovely run home. So again I was really happy with the run and as with all baby dogs each one will only bring more confidence to her. I can't wait until I can just run and know that she has the confidence to take what's in front of her. Next up I have entered her in agility and jumping at the Cloverdale trial on 4th April. That gives me another three weeks to finish off her A-Frame training. When she does the full height A-Frame she skies it every time but there are legs flying everywhere so it would be nice for her to get a bit more control over what she's doing so she can make better decisions about her body. Doing her first agility run I think will be one hell of an adventure!
Sonic was a very good boy at the trial with his first double Q of the year. I'm still working on getting his body back to full capacity. I thought he looked nice and powerful but I'm a bit concerned that he's not jumping quite right. Hugely happy with the way he's handling though and hopefully if I can keep him sound we'll have a good trialling year. He certainly enjoyed himself.
Sonic was a very good boy at the trial with his first double Q of the year. I'm still working on getting his body back to full capacity. I thought he looked nice and powerful but I'm a bit concerned that he's not jumping quite right. Hugely happy with the way he's handling though and hopefully if I can keep him sound we'll have a good trialling year. He certainly enjoyed himself.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Cassie's First Trial
Finally the moment arrived last night with Cassie's very first run in a competition. I was surprised by how much more nervous I was than normal, mainly because I just didn't know what to expect. So I'm very glad I only entered novice jumping as I don't think I could have mentally coped with running in the agility class as well! I felt pretty confident she would stay with me because she's been training so well but you never really know what's going to happen when you get out there. I needn't have worried though as she was fantastic. She was with me all the way, totally focused and enjoying herself. I think it helped that we had a lovely open and fast course where the dogs could just stretch out and have fun. I had been telling myself that I had to run with her the whole way and be as close to every jump as possible. Unfortunately when I got in the ring I went into a bit of auto-pilot and reverted to my border collie handling and of course she came off the tunnel entry and a couple of jumps. I was pretty annoyed with myself but I just kept going though to make sure it was nothing but fun for her.
So mission accomplished, first one is done. I learned a lot and have plenty of things to work on. I wasn't going to trial her again until the States but I've decided to enter her in novice jumping at the Dobe Club trial in two weeks just to get a bit more ring experience under our belts. I'd prefer not to leave it all to the States and blow our chances by not being prepared enough. Then hopefully I can get this A-Frame finished off and she'll be right to hit the agility ring too. Just so much fun, I can't wait to get out there again with her.
Sonic was a good boy and went clear in Masters Agility. He is running so well for me at the moment and is handling like a real pro. Unfortunately the poor bugger has been sore in his back all week. He looked OK but would not drive through the weavers so I can only assume that he's still not 100%. I wish our dogs would listen to us when we tell them to slow down. I hate to think what his body is going to be like in another couple of years when he takes so little care of himself. More treatment this week and hopefully I can get him right for the States.
So mission accomplished, first one is done. I learned a lot and have plenty of things to work on. I wasn't going to trial her again until the States but I've decided to enter her in novice jumping at the Dobe Club trial in two weeks just to get a bit more ring experience under our belts. I'd prefer not to leave it all to the States and blow our chances by not being prepared enough. Then hopefully I can get this A-Frame finished off and she'll be right to hit the agility ring too. Just so much fun, I can't wait to get out there again with her.
Sonic was a good boy and went clear in Masters Agility. He is running so well for me at the moment and is handling like a real pro. Unfortunately the poor bugger has been sore in his back all week. He looked OK but would not drive through the weavers so I can only assume that he's still not 100%. I wish our dogs would listen to us when we tell them to slow down. I hate to think what his body is going to be like in another couple of years when he takes so little care of himself. More treatment this week and hopefully I can get him right for the States.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Getting Fit
A couple of weeks ago when I caught up with one of my long time girlfriends she totally inspired me with both her physical and mental transformation. She had struggled for many years to return to her pre-child (and twins I might add) bearing sized body of thirteen years ago. Out of the blue she made a decision that she'd had enough of accepting things as they were, signed up for a twelve week diet and exercise program and has never looked back. Not only does she look great but she is the most positive I've ever seen her. Just brilliant. So I came home and raved to Colin how fabulous she looked and next thing you know we are now doing the same program ourselves. We both have different goals. Colin is keen to lose some extra kilos that have crept up and I want to be both fitter and healther. It's hard work keeping up with a papillon. It's only week 1 and it is hard work both in doing an hour of exercise every day (especially when your knackered after a long day at work) but also completely changing our eating habits. But we are both determined and of course there to support each other. We've both already started losing weight. It's amazing what can happen when you eliminate crap from your diet and stick to calorie limits!
I'm more than anything looking forward to be fitter. It's going to be of great benefit when I travel to Spain to compete at the World Agility Open this year and of course my main goal in all this will be to keep up with Cassie. It's only one week until Cassie's first trial. I've been very much up and down about whether to run her or not. I have no doubt that she will easily manage a novice jumping course but getting her focused is a bit of a work of art. I'm getting much better at understanding what I need to do to have her in the zone but given the pressure of having to have her spot on mentally ready at the point in which we walk up to the start line is going to be challenging. At least at training if I don't think she's ready I can spend another couple of minutes getting there. We won't have that luxury at a trial. But you know, sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and just have a go. If it's a disaster then we'll keep working on it.
Cassie started her A-frame training a couple of weeks ago after I took delivery of our magnificent brand new A-frame courtesy of Brian Cowling. Cassie approves and is loving it. With her already solid understanding of the mat she has picked it up very quickly. I'm expecting to get her up to full height by the end of this week. My biggest aim with Cassie is to have her ready for the State Trial in April. I think we'll be OK. Again, it's really about her focus with her understanding of the equipment pretty good at this stage. It is hugely exciting. She's such a talented little dog and just so much fun. I feel so lucky that she's come into my life and brough with her a new level of excitment for my favourite sport.
I'm more than anything looking forward to be fitter. It's going to be of great benefit when I travel to Spain to compete at the World Agility Open this year and of course my main goal in all this will be to keep up with Cassie. It's only one week until Cassie's first trial. I've been very much up and down about whether to run her or not. I have no doubt that she will easily manage a novice jumping course but getting her focused is a bit of a work of art. I'm getting much better at understanding what I need to do to have her in the zone but given the pressure of having to have her spot on mentally ready at the point in which we walk up to the start line is going to be challenging. At least at training if I don't think she's ready I can spend another couple of minutes getting there. We won't have that luxury at a trial. But you know, sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and just have a go. If it's a disaster then we'll keep working on it.
Cassie started her A-frame training a couple of weeks ago after I took delivery of our magnificent brand new A-frame courtesy of Brian Cowling. Cassie approves and is loving it. With her already solid understanding of the mat she has picked it up very quickly. I'm expecting to get her up to full height by the end of this week. My biggest aim with Cassie is to have her ready for the State Trial in April. I think we'll be OK. Again, it's really about her focus with her understanding of the equipment pretty good at this stage. It is hugely exciting. She's such a talented little dog and just so much fun. I feel so lucky that she's come into my life and brough with her a new level of excitment for my favourite sport.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Tribute to Murphy
How do you say goodbye to your best mate? There are no words I can find that explain the feeling. Questioning yourself constantly but knowing that it's the right decision. Dreading it till the very last moment. Knowing that you can't take it back once it's done. Once the tears abait realising that you have given the gift of peace and that no more pain will be suffered. It has to be enough.
I picked Murphy out when he was three days old. He had a "thumb print" on his head just like his mother. It seemed to me a good sign. I had my heart set on a chocolate and white border collie so when an ad appeared in the newspaper for a choc and white litter to be born it seemed that it was meant to be. I had not always been a border collie person. When I was younger my favourite breed was the German Shepherd. But somewhere along the way I decided I wanted to do obedience and agility and I knew that a border collie would be the perfect partner.
He was for the most part a gentle soul. He was my shadow from the very beginning and would never have left my side if he'd had a choice. For a big softy he had quite a tough side and was extremely protective of those that he loved. Over fifteen years of wonderful memories that I'll never forget.
I'll miss you so much my big man. Gone to join his best friend Soda at the rainbow bridge.
I picked Murphy out when he was three days old. He had a "thumb print" on his head just like his mother. It seemed to me a good sign. I had my heart set on a chocolate and white border collie so when an ad appeared in the newspaper for a choc and white litter to be born it seemed that it was meant to be. I had not always been a border collie person. When I was younger my favourite breed was the German Shepherd. But somewhere along the way I decided I wanted to do obedience and agility and I knew that a border collie would be the perfect partner.
He was for the most part a gentle soul. He was my shadow from the very beginning and would never have left my side if he'd had a choice. For a big softy he had quite a tough side and was extremely protective of those that he loved. Over fifteen years of wonderful memories that I'll never forget.
I'll miss you so much my big man. Gone to join his best friend Soda at the rainbow bridge.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Summer Training
So finally here we have it, another video of the gorgeous wee Cassie. I certainly think we are getting there. Her confidence on the equipment is growing and some final tweaking like weaver entries at speed will need to be done before she goes in the ring. But otherwise I'm pretty happy with where she's at now she's reached 18 months of age.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Getting my green thumb on
I've been feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend after spending most of it working in the garden so I decided to look back at some old photo's of my agility areas humble beginnings.
When I first started my agility area it looked like this;
Today it looks like this;
Did I mention that ALL of it has been painstakingly hand planted by me! At this point in time I recon it's about two thirds done. So if the weather is kind over the next month and I can get the rest of it weeded, then get some more runners in the ground, by next summer I should have the whole area to play agility on! It's definitely been my saviour with Cassie. I don't know how I would have gotten her running dog walk trained without it (and of course my speccy dog walk).
I haven't really done that much dog training since the end of last year. Mostly because of our usual summer heat which makes it impossible to get more than five minutes of training done before your lathered in sweat. I decided over Christmas and New Year that we would all have a break (puppies included) and of course then we went to New Zealand for a couple of weeks to go to Kriszty's wedding and have a bit of a holiday while we were there.
New Zealand is a great place. If I didn't want to live in Perth anymore I could easily live there. Huge open spaces everywhere, so green and picturesque. Did I mention they don't have snakes! I think we'd only been there a day when we drove past a lady walking her border collie's out in hills. We did all the touristy stuff. I think Queenstown was my favourite place. Even though it was busy and full of tourists like ourselves it had a real atmosphere and vibe to it. And no I didn't go bungee jumping... I did however go white water rafting and loved it. We had massive rapids thanks to the huge amount of rain they'd had. I only fell out once and it was very dignified. Just don't ask the german girl sitting behind me who I appeared to have kicked in the head on my way overboard....oops!
However all good things must come to an end and I'm back at work and back to full training with the dogs. Cassie is going well and if we can overcome her over arousal issues we'll be hitting the ring hopefully sooner rather than later. My plan is to enter her in Novice Jumping at the Classic which is on at the beginning of March but I will run her only if I'm satisfied that her running off has resolved and I can run her through sequences without it happening at training. Then if her jumping run is successful I will look at entering her in agility as well. I just want to walk up to that start line 100% confident that she's going to stay with me and it's not going to be too much for her to handle. It will certainly be very exciting if it comes off!
Little Fizz is going well. She's in the middle of her first season. Riot her father has had to go on "holiday" for the next couple of weeks as he can't handle having a girl in season at home. Boy brain doesn't even begin to describe it. For all our sanity it was best that he's not here until it's over. She won't leave poor Sonic alone and of course he's quite bambozzled as to what's going on... I'm not doing much with her agility wise other than having a lot of fun getting her to chase me and just learn to play. She's not hugely confident so I don't want to put any pressure on her at all. I doubt we'll do anything much equipment wise for quite some time to come. Which is really good considering how much work I have to do with Cassie yet! Hopefully I should have some video coming very soon....
When I first started my agility area it looked like this;
 |
| October 2010 |
 |
| January 2013 |
Did I mention that ALL of it has been painstakingly hand planted by me! At this point in time I recon it's about two thirds done. So if the weather is kind over the next month and I can get the rest of it weeded, then get some more runners in the ground, by next summer I should have the whole area to play agility on! It's definitely been my saviour with Cassie. I don't know how I would have gotten her running dog walk trained without it (and of course my speccy dog walk).
I haven't really done that much dog training since the end of last year. Mostly because of our usual summer heat which makes it impossible to get more than five minutes of training done before your lathered in sweat. I decided over Christmas and New Year that we would all have a break (puppies included) and of course then we went to New Zealand for a couple of weeks to go to Kriszty's wedding and have a bit of a holiday while we were there.
New Zealand is a great place. If I didn't want to live in Perth anymore I could easily live there. Huge open spaces everywhere, so green and picturesque. Did I mention they don't have snakes! I think we'd only been there a day when we drove past a lady walking her border collie's out in hills. We did all the touristy stuff. I think Queenstown was my favourite place. Even though it was busy and full of tourists like ourselves it had a real atmosphere and vibe to it. And no I didn't go bungee jumping... I did however go white water rafting and loved it. We had massive rapids thanks to the huge amount of rain they'd had. I only fell out once and it was very dignified. Just don't ask the german girl sitting behind me who I appeared to have kicked in the head on my way overboard....oops!
 |
| On the way down (I'm camera side second from the back) in my oversized life jacket. |
 |
| Yes that would be me doing the splits....what a wonderful moment to be caught on film! |
However all good things must come to an end and I'm back at work and back to full training with the dogs. Cassie is going well and if we can overcome her over arousal issues we'll be hitting the ring hopefully sooner rather than later. My plan is to enter her in Novice Jumping at the Classic which is on at the beginning of March but I will run her only if I'm satisfied that her running off has resolved and I can run her through sequences without it happening at training. Then if her jumping run is successful I will look at entering her in agility as well. I just want to walk up to that start line 100% confident that she's going to stay with me and it's not going to be too much for her to handle. It will certainly be very exciting if it comes off!
Little Fizz is going well. She's in the middle of her first season. Riot her father has had to go on "holiday" for the next couple of weeks as he can't handle having a girl in season at home. Boy brain doesn't even begin to describe it. For all our sanity it was best that he's not here until it's over. She won't leave poor Sonic alone and of course he's quite bambozzled as to what's going on... I'm not doing much with her agility wise other than having a lot of fun getting her to chase me and just learn to play. She's not hugely confident so I don't want to put any pressure on her at all. I doubt we'll do anything much equipment wise for quite some time to come. Which is really good considering how much work I have to do with Cassie yet! Hopefully I should have some video coming very soon....
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