The Dixie

What can I say, the Dixie continues to be so very cute, incredibly strong herding drive, oh so smart and great fun. Mandy who breed the Comebyanway Border Collies and who owns Dixie's sire has sent me some photos so that people can see her 'mum and dad'. Why did we end up with a Nedlo pup, well actually another Nedlo pup. Well, the reason being I instantly liked Dot (mum) when I first met her when she was six months old and said, "ohhh, if she has pups in the future can I have one?". Then Will the Sire, is lovely too. A promising combination. Needless to say the timing was always wrong for me and I did not end up with a Dot pup, but Marc has!!!!!!


 With thanks to Mandy and Lesley, who put the combination together

2 down 2 to go...for Zev

Last weekend was our agility club show - we have small/mediums on the Saturday and then large on the Sunday. Zev continues to amaze me with just how he is. At Shrewsbury the weekend before he won grade 6 jumping, and now the following weekend he has won grade 6 agility. So that is two wins towards grade 7.  He also did his first team run for the ESSC and the team came second. Zev and I ran 4th. I luv running last, I like the game on aspect since if the first 3 team members go clear, you know you need that clear and its 'step on up' time so to speak. See Lian's blog for the team run. I am very grateful this was videod as it was our club show, there was simply no time for Marc and I to video.
Biggles was on freebies and Rivi was superb and I was still slightly out of sync - however I am progressing which is very pleasing - bring on Nottingham in a couple of weeks.

This and next weekend is home time. I have new taps in the kitchen...I am easily pleased and it has just been great being outside in the garden and getting stuff done, planning and dreaming for the future.....The photos are just a record of some progress we have made with the garden and little Dixie sneaks in a couple. I will post about her soon...

Just a picture...Bank Holiday Weekend

Well, another fab if crazy and surreal weekend. Luv'd this beautiful picture taken by a friend, who has one of those super duper cameras and wanted to try it out. Thank you for a super photo.
It was a crazy weekend for sure. Big won into grade 5, Zev won a grade 6 jumping, which was great for me as I watched the grade 6 mediums and some were so fast and whizzy, we went to check if he had scrapped in with a place and he had won it. It was a great boost. Rivi had some great results including a win, however in a couple of classes she back jumped a jump and I don't teach this. Analysis, she is getting so responsive and tight when I cue her to turn. She is literally doing it there and then and thus coming back over the jump! Her contacts are coming back after a spook at a previous show. (She froze on dog walk, a few dogs later the down plank had bounced out of its hinges!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Then in a combined 6-7 class she came 3rd, it was a fab course designed by Lee Gibson. The trouble with running his courses, they are so well designed and challenging and fast, you just wanna run it again and again. As they are just exhilarating.
 

That is why agility is additive, its the sheer thrill of doing well over great courses.

I've told a fib..............

I told a fib in my previous posting, oh horror....not like me at all. But I thought about Rivioli and why did I not notice that she was going up a gear and realised actually it had been brewing for a couple of weeks. That totally reminded me of a seminar I went to by Dr. Ian Dunbar - years ago, and one of the points made that I remember is dogs always give information it is about how we interpret it and indeed if we interpret it at all? So I mulled a little more and thought back to Easter and training and yep the 'indications' were there, I was just so busy being so darn positive.  I had cheerfully disregarded them rather than be positive and solution driven? Big 'whoopsie oops' on my part and therein the tale of......."I've told a fib"


Dogs invariably tell us, we just have to be prepared to interpret!

Lincoln and Rivi changes gear

What weekend, it was me and Rivi on a crazy weekend. Rivi has change gear and forgot to tell me!!!! She was so fast, so far gone and ping ping ping. More pings than a ping ball machine! We only have 2 runs where I looked remotely like a co-pilot. We were apparently hugely entertaining to watch due to this, and why is it your crap moments are noticed and the hundreds of beautiful moments go largely uncommented? Still hopefully all the e’s are now out of our system. I don’t think I have ever had so many 'e's. The advantages of selective memory ;-) My timing was so far behind this new gear she has found I was saying tunnel at the point she had already been there, done that and wanting to do the next thing and then she is so good and helpful she was pinging over everything. Still thats agility the crazy rollcoaster ride of partnering the Rivioli. A beatuiful smooth uphill climb and then woohooo we tilt over into the crazy downhill part.

Zev was just fabulous, I can just read his expression and it’s like ‘game on’, I live in hope that he will pass the tip on to Rivi to let me know about gear changes!!! He got progressively faster as the weekend went on. How I wish we had our last grade 5 run on tape. With this earlier agility run I took the long way round to the A-F to ensure a straight approach in light of the wet ground conditions and made myside do a rear cross rather than a front cross.



Next weekend sees Zev in grade 6 and Bigs in grade 4 and an upward climb back to smooth for me and the Rivioli. The determination is kicking in.....