It was yet another dramafull weekend!!!!
Swift Flight ran on Sunday - Ollie ran in start and was his husual reliable self. Merlin, thanks to Lyns' hard work didn't drop the ball once. Jake and Poppy on the other hand played "I can do more wrong runs than you" for most of the day!!!! When Jake got it right, Poppy did it wrong and vice-versa!!!!
They got their act together once in the entire day and got a time of 31 somthing and only came 5th because a team went NFC!!!!!
We kept being told by box judges to "put the ball in the other hole" which when you have an 8 year old dog with mild Hip Dysplasia that you have taught to turn properly so as not to aggravate his hips, is the last thing you want to do!!!
Anyway, Swifts ran on Monday..... Kes ran like a superstar, Loki and Ice need their heafds banging together as the light fiasco continued.... Ice was continually running up to the start line looking over his shoulder at Kes!!!! The one time he didn't, he got a light!!!!! He is being very inconsistant at the moment!!!
That said, we still managed to come 4th :-0 and got a new best ever time of 19.25!!!!!
I am now going to have to figure out how to do release training with the boys!!!!!
Our next show is Frimley at the end of June and I have to decide which dogs to run as Swift Flight is only 2nd reserve!!!!!
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Friday, 15 May 2009
Catch-up time!!
The tournament at FairView Farm on the May Bank Holiday was full of drama.
Swift Flight ran on the Sunday and Merlin decided to play drop the ball on the line, so on the two occasions in the mornig when Poppy ran properly, it didn't count!!! Rita had her starts down to the wire and Kes was flying. Grace ran her usual, very reliable and steady.
In the afternoon we found somthing that had Poppy riveted, so sorting out Merlin and Poppy had the team winning the last race of the day and coming 5th!!! So not a total disaster, and they now have a seed time.
On Monday it was The Swifts turn and once Kim and Nik got their changeovers sorted (for some reason both boys were being silly!!!) the dogs ran very well all day and got a time of 19.57 running Ollie, Loki, Ice and Lottie! Best ever time is 19.52, so we are getting there!!
Our next competition is the Mutts show at the end of May bank holiday, we have two teams in again, Ollie is going as start dog for Swift Flight this time and we have Jake running instead of Grace.... it will be interesting.
Swifts will be Kes, Loki, Ice and Lottie... this will be Ices first show racing with Kes - so anything could happen!!! He's good now in training, but the show atmosphere......
In training we are now working on Ollie running second to Kes. This will take a while as Ollie has gone first for so long!! I think this will be easier than trying to get Kes to do a changeover going out - she can take tight changes coming back.... we'll see.
The new dogs are coming on very nicely and are progressing well. Hopefully they will all compete when ready.
Swift Flight ran on the Sunday and Merlin decided to play drop the ball on the line, so on the two occasions in the mornig when Poppy ran properly, it didn't count!!! Rita had her starts down to the wire and Kes was flying. Grace ran her usual, very reliable and steady.
In the afternoon we found somthing that had Poppy riveted, so sorting out Merlin and Poppy had the team winning the last race of the day and coming 5th!!! So not a total disaster, and they now have a seed time.
On Monday it was The Swifts turn and once Kim and Nik got their changeovers sorted (for some reason both boys were being silly!!!) the dogs ran very well all day and got a time of 19.57 running Ollie, Loki, Ice and Lottie! Best ever time is 19.52, so we are getting there!!
Our next competition is the Mutts show at the end of May bank holiday, we have two teams in again, Ollie is going as start dog for Swift Flight this time and we have Jake running instead of Grace.... it will be interesting.
Swifts will be Kes, Loki, Ice and Lottie... this will be Ices first show racing with Kes - so anything could happen!!! He's good now in training, but the show atmosphere......
In training we are now working on Ollie running second to Kes. This will take a while as Ollie has gone first for so long!! I think this will be easier than trying to get Kes to do a changeover going out - she can take tight changes coming back.... we'll see.
The new dogs are coming on very nicely and are progressing well. Hopefully they will all compete when ready.
Monday, 27 April 2009
TRAINING 26/4/2009
We only had 6 dogs at training this week, which was a shame as we really needed to work with Swift Flight for next weekend. Ah well, never mind.
Those that were there worked hard and we recorded some good times with the team we will be running at the Mutts Oxford show at the end of May. The times were very consistant, so our stamina work is paying off.
Box and stamina work at the end of the session showed that Jet, who will only ever put 2 feet on the box, can do a beautiful swimmers turn, but only with a cone in front of the box!! He is faster then too!!!!
Hopefully, Poppy has done her messing areound bit and will get her head in gear for the weekend, and, fingers crossed that Ice has done his "oooh it's outside I can't cope" bit at Easter, and, as we train outside, will run properly next weekend!!!! Time will tell.
Those that were there worked hard and we recorded some good times with the team we will be running at the Mutts Oxford show at the end of May. The times were very consistant, so our stamina work is paying off.
Box and stamina work at the end of the session showed that Jet, who will only ever put 2 feet on the box, can do a beautiful swimmers turn, but only with a cone in front of the box!! He is faster then too!!!!
Hopefully, Poppy has done her messing areound bit and will get her head in gear for the weekend, and, fingers crossed that Ice has done his "oooh it's outside I can't cope" bit at Easter, and, as we train outside, will run properly next weekend!!!! Time will tell.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
FAIR VIEW FARM, HANTS. Easter 2009
The weekends racing was full of ups and downs!
On Sunday The Swifts were racing. We had Ollie, Kes, Loki, Ice and Lottie in the team and were seeded 6th in division 4.
It was Ices’ first tournament outside and being very young still, he was a bit overwhelmed by it all and kept putting his “stupid” head on!! It didn’t help matters that poor Rita who was running Kes was at her first tournament and got completely overtaken by nerves, which Kes picked up on and used this to wind Ice up – which made things even worse!!
The weather wasn’t that nice and drizzled all morning, which upset Lottie as she does not like wet mud to run on. The lights used had screens which showed the individual dogs times and Lottie was running 6.9s all day – which is very slow!!! We did a 19.88 and I wonder what time we would have posted if Lottie had been running the times she did the next day on dry ground!!!!
Despite all the problems, Ice got his act together in the afternoon and we ended up in 3rd place, which was a nice surprise.
On Sunday we had a team in the Multibreed which consisted of Jake (BC), Merlin (ESS), Grace (POINTER), Lottie (JRT) and Loki (BC) as reserve in case Jake, who was at his first show, got overwhelmed.
A phone call on Saturday to say that Merlin wasn’t well meant that Sunday was spent trying to find another dog. Which we got in the shape of a lab cross collie called Kelpi from the Bassett Allsorts.
By Monday, Merlin was much better, so we ran him for the first leg of each race, which worked well for him. Jake wouldn’t come back over the first jump from the box until we discovered his agility jump command, which Kim (who was boxloading) practiced till she sounded just like Pennie. This made the difference and in the last race of the day, Jake got it right.
Lottie was much happier as the weather was much better and the ground was drier and every time I remembered to look at the times, she was running 6.09!!
The team came 4th from 6th seed. So, it was in all, a fantastic weekend. Our next show is in three weeks at the same venue.
On Sunday The Swifts were racing. We had Ollie, Kes, Loki, Ice and Lottie in the team and were seeded 6th in division 4.
It was Ices’ first tournament outside and being very young still, he was a bit overwhelmed by it all and kept putting his “stupid” head on!! It didn’t help matters that poor Rita who was running Kes was at her first tournament and got completely overtaken by nerves, which Kes picked up on and used this to wind Ice up – which made things even worse!!
The weather wasn’t that nice and drizzled all morning, which upset Lottie as she does not like wet mud to run on. The lights used had screens which showed the individual dogs times and Lottie was running 6.9s all day – which is very slow!!! We did a 19.88 and I wonder what time we would have posted if Lottie had been running the times she did the next day on dry ground!!!!
Despite all the problems, Ice got his act together in the afternoon and we ended up in 3rd place, which was a nice surprise.
On Sunday we had a team in the Multibreed which consisted of Jake (BC), Merlin (ESS), Grace (POINTER), Lottie (JRT) and Loki (BC) as reserve in case Jake, who was at his first show, got overwhelmed.
A phone call on Saturday to say that Merlin wasn’t well meant that Sunday was spent trying to find another dog. Which we got in the shape of a lab cross collie called Kelpi from the Bassett Allsorts.
By Monday, Merlin was much better, so we ran him for the first leg of each race, which worked well for him. Jake wouldn’t come back over the first jump from the box until we discovered his agility jump command, which Kim (who was boxloading) practiced till she sounded just like Pennie. This made the difference and in the last race of the day, Jake got it right.
Lottie was much happier as the weather was much better and the ground was drier and every time I remembered to look at the times, she was running 6.09!!
The team came 4th from 6th seed. So, it was in all, a fantastic weekend. Our next show is in three weeks at the same venue.
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Fairview Farm Easter Weekend
Tomorrow (12th April) we are racing at the Maple Leafs tournament. Hopefully all the dos will be running well and Ice has fully recovered from his illness the week before last!
On monday we are runnng a team in the multibreed so that Lottie could run as height dog for both teams as Poppy isn't available.
Today I got a phone call to say that Merlin isn't very well, so unless I can find another dog to run with the team...... we will be able to field only three dogs. Hopefully there will be someone who wants to give their dog a few more runs!!! I'm not holding my breath.
On monday we are runnng a team in the multibreed so that Lottie could run as height dog for both teams as Poppy isn't available.
Today I got a phone call to say that Merlin isn't very well, so unless I can find another dog to run with the team...... we will be able to field only three dogs. Hopefully there will be someone who wants to give their dog a few more runs!!! I'm not holding my breath.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Mad Mutts Show
Earlier this evening I had to pull the team out of the Mad Mutts show on Sunday because Ice is ill. The vet thinks it's Gastritis. All the tests they ran came back clear, but the poor little mite is not happy, wont eat and only started drinking today. Not wanting the possibility of passing anything on, even though the other dogs he lives with are fine, I decided that it would be safer not to go. I was really looking forward to going too!!!!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Last Training before Easter...
Yesterday was our last training session before the Easter tournament at Fairview Farm!
Next weekend we re the Mutts tournament at Essex, which should be very interesting as this will be Ices big test - will he run with Kes or not.....?
We have some very nice dogs on our latest course, so if they stay and want to compete.... we should have some nice dogs to come out next year!
First we worked on Loki and Ice, this was to get Ice into "being good" mode, which seemed to work, so we then put Kes and Lottie in to the team - Ice ran really well - until he needed to cock his leg when he played up. But as soon as he'd been, he went back to Good mode!!! He is learning!! Then Ollie went in in Start, so all 5 dogs in that team were running. Then Kes sat out to give Ollie practice at coming back to Loki. Ice started to loose concentration, so he took a turn out and Kes ran again.
They did six runs at a time, then had 10 minutes rest whilst we ran the old course dogs. Rufus is doing very well and had a go over 12" jumps for the first time - he didn't even notice they were there!!!! Last time he trained, we only had net by the box, again he didn't notice and kept to the lane!! Although he's not done full runs yet as his box isn't 100%, he has done changeovers with most of the team dogs and isn't bothered at all. I hope his owner will compete with him.
By the time the Collies had run all their combinations, the last of the multibreed dogs had arrived so we could work on running order and changes. This group, for one reason or another haven't trained together at all!!! 3rd and 4th dogs were sorted out straight away and by swopping 1st and 2nd, we found that Merlin the springer prefers to run in second spot, so that sorted the running order out.
I am really looking forward to Essex and Fairview farm. It'll be nice to be competing again. Last year and the year before were ok as it helped some of the newer dogs to run properly, but two years of not really competing ( not that it was anyones fault, these things happen) but it'll be good to go to the start line with an equal chance!!!!
Next weekend we re the Mutts tournament at Essex, which should be very interesting as this will be Ices big test - will he run with Kes or not.....?
We have some very nice dogs on our latest course, so if they stay and want to compete.... we should have some nice dogs to come out next year!
First we worked on Loki and Ice, this was to get Ice into "being good" mode, which seemed to work, so we then put Kes and Lottie in to the team - Ice ran really well - until he needed to cock his leg when he played up. But as soon as he'd been, he went back to Good mode!!! He is learning!! Then Ollie went in in Start, so all 5 dogs in that team were running. Then Kes sat out to give Ollie practice at coming back to Loki. Ice started to loose concentration, so he took a turn out and Kes ran again.
They did six runs at a time, then had 10 minutes rest whilst we ran the old course dogs. Rufus is doing very well and had a go over 12" jumps for the first time - he didn't even notice they were there!!!! Last time he trained, we only had net by the box, again he didn't notice and kept to the lane!! Although he's not done full runs yet as his box isn't 100%, he has done changeovers with most of the team dogs and isn't bothered at all. I hope his owner will compete with him.
By the time the Collies had run all their combinations, the last of the multibreed dogs had arrived so we could work on running order and changes. This group, for one reason or another haven't trained together at all!!! 3rd and 4th dogs were sorted out straight away and by swopping 1st and 2nd, we found that Merlin the springer prefers to run in second spot, so that sorted the running order out.
I am really looking forward to Essex and Fairview farm. It'll be nice to be competing again. Last year and the year before were ok as it helped some of the newer dogs to run properly, but two years of not really competing ( not that it was anyones fault, these things happen) but it'll be good to go to the start line with an equal chance!!!!
Monday, 23 March 2009
Training 22/3/09 - interesting discoveries!!!
We couldn't do much in the way of "team" training as quite a few people were not able to come training because it was Mothering Sunday!!! However, we still got a lot of work done - and made an interesting discovery!!!
The dogs we had were Ollie, Kes. Loki, Ice, Lottie, Jake, Jet arrived later.
We started with the big dogs doing their recalls over 14", then went onto getting time for all the dogs over 14" then over 7". Inspite of working the dogs over full height all over the winter, the difference in speed means that they are still faster running over 7" with a 6 second height dog than if we ran the 4 faster dogs over 14"!!!! This has shocked me greatly as we were all convinced that we would be way faster without little Lottie!!!!! I think that part of the problem is that all the dogs look to Lottie as pack leader and she has always beeen there on the start line with them, and it is her mouth that winds them all up.... we need to go to a tournament with all 5 top team dogs so we can put my theory into practice!!!!
We also discovered that all Kims hard work with Ice has paid off and as long as Kes runs first, Ice can run on the same team with her, so we can go to the Mad Mutts tournament and have a good chance of completing the whole division!!
We also have a nice groups of starter dogs on our new course, so next year we could have some nice teams running - but I must not count my tennis balls before they're marked!!
2009 is not looking too bad after all. I thought it was a major disaster when I had to retire my Grace after her collapse, but the new dogs are looking good.
The dogs we had were Ollie, Kes. Loki, Ice, Lottie, Jake, Jet arrived later.
We started with the big dogs doing their recalls over 14", then went onto getting time for all the dogs over 14" then over 7". Inspite of working the dogs over full height all over the winter, the difference in speed means that they are still faster running over 7" with a 6 second height dog than if we ran the 4 faster dogs over 14"!!!! This has shocked me greatly as we were all convinced that we would be way faster without little Lottie!!!!! I think that part of the problem is that all the dogs look to Lottie as pack leader and she has always beeen there on the start line with them, and it is her mouth that winds them all up.... we need to go to a tournament with all 5 top team dogs so we can put my theory into practice!!!!
We also discovered that all Kims hard work with Ice has paid off and as long as Kes runs first, Ice can run on the same team with her, so we can go to the Mad Mutts tournament and have a good chance of completing the whole division!!
We also have a nice groups of starter dogs on our new course, so next year we could have some nice teams running - but I must not count my tennis balls before they're marked!!
2009 is not looking too bad after all. I thought it was a major disaster when I had to retire my Grace after her collapse, but the new dogs are looking good.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
ICE is now a proper "Flyball Dog"!!!!
We made the trip up to the Live Wires/Dolphins tournament at the Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry on Saturday.
The venue is fantastic for an inside show, with plenty of runback (except for Loki who would find 200 feet of runback too small!!!) and a fantastic cafe!
We were in division 2 and on a declaired time of 20 seconds (our seed time having lapsed just 2 days before the paperwork was done) we were actually in the right division. Our fastest time was 20.38.
Ollie was running in his first tournament since last June, and he did not put a paw wrong all day.
Loki ran well, but he's not teribly happy running on matting, so considering, he did well.
Grace (Pointer) didn't get that many runs, but she ran well.
Kes was there as back up to little brother Ice, just in case. So she only got a few runs in the afternoon when I ce got tired and started spitting out the ball.
Lottie (Charlotte Rose in flyball circles) was her usual dedicated little self. She now has a fan club from the Wilmslow team!! Lottie hopes this will bring her lots of extra food!!!!
The star of the day has to be Ice. He is just 18 months old and has only done one starters competition. But, he ran like an experienced dog and as a bonus, he got 225 points which means he has his Flyball Dog title!!!! He also drew blood on Kim, his handlers finger, which means he is a real, proper flyball dog!
Our next show is at Easter, in Hampshire. So, between now and then it's lots of hard training to get their speed, fitness and stamina up to scratch!!
They don't call me Mic Martin for nothing LOL
The venue is fantastic for an inside show, with plenty of runback (except for Loki who would find 200 feet of runback too small!!!) and a fantastic cafe!
We were in division 2 and on a declaired time of 20 seconds (our seed time having lapsed just 2 days before the paperwork was done) we were actually in the right division. Our fastest time was 20.38.
Ollie was running in his first tournament since last June, and he did not put a paw wrong all day.
Loki ran well, but he's not teribly happy running on matting, so considering, he did well.
Grace (Pointer) didn't get that many runs, but she ran well.
Kes was there as back up to little brother Ice, just in case. So she only got a few runs in the afternoon when I ce got tired and started spitting out the ball.
Lottie (Charlotte Rose in flyball circles) was her usual dedicated little self. She now has a fan club from the Wilmslow team!! Lottie hopes this will bring her lots of extra food!!!!
The star of the day has to be Ice. He is just 18 months old and has only done one starters competition. But, he ran like an experienced dog and as a bonus, he got 225 points which means he has his Flyball Dog title!!!! He also drew blood on Kim, his handlers finger, which means he is a real, proper flyball dog!
Our next show is at Easter, in Hampshire. So, between now and then it's lots of hard training to get their speed, fitness and stamina up to scratch!!
They don't call me Mic Martin for nothing LOL
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Westonbirt Display
After yesterdays debacle trying to get the organisers to move the back fence of the ring so we could have more than 25 feet of runback, todays display went really well!
We had 6 dogs in total, so put them in 3 pairs and did a race where each pair raced each other twice. It worked well and Ice, who was doing his first display and only his second "competition", didn't put a paw wrong at all.
Ollie, Merlin Lottie and Grace Pointer ran well as expected, and Poppy, bless her, didn't let us down and played to the crowd whilst doing it right just enough to prove that she can do it!!!!!
Richard Curtis was there also, doing his Heelwork to Music display - he is fantastic! If you get a chance to see him, do, it's well worth it!!
Next Saturday we are up at Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry, for a flyball tournament! We are running Ollie, Grace Pointer, Loki, Ice, Kes and Lottie.
As they say "Watch this space"!!!!
We had 6 dogs in total, so put them in 3 pairs and did a race where each pair raced each other twice. It worked well and Ice, who was doing his first display and only his second "competition", didn't put a paw wrong at all.
Ollie, Merlin Lottie and Grace Pointer ran well as expected, and Poppy, bless her, didn't let us down and played to the crowd whilst doing it right just enough to prove that she can do it!!!!!
Richard Curtis was there also, doing his Heelwork to Music display - he is fantastic! If you get a chance to see him, do, it's well worth it!!
Next Saturday we are up at Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry, for a flyball tournament! We are running Ollie, Grace Pointer, Loki, Ice, Kes and Lottie.
As they say "Watch this space"!!!!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
New Year, new blog
After the rain and snow wiped out much of Januarys training, it was with trepidation that I started training last Sunday.
The beginners hadn't forgotten anything and their turns were excellent.
The team dogs were full of energy and couldn't wait to get started, so maybe the lay-off had done them good!
Most of the training was taken up with running through our display for Westonbirt Arboretum on Saturday 21st. This is the 4th year we've done this display.
Then we worked on the team we are taking to Deeside on the 28th February. This should be interesting as we are running a brand new dog on the team. Ice is just 18 months old and very immature still. Hopefully this tournament will be the making of him!
The beginners hadn't forgotten anything and their turns were excellent.
The team dogs were full of energy and couldn't wait to get started, so maybe the lay-off had done them good!
Most of the training was taken up with running through our display for Westonbirt Arboretum on Saturday 21st. This is the 4th year we've done this display.
Then we worked on the team we are taking to Deeside on the 28th February. This should be interesting as we are running a brand new dog on the team. Ice is just 18 months old and very immature still. Hopefully this tournament will be the making of him!
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