'Come on in the water's lovely'
'Look Mum I can lick my own nose'
Whatever was up there was obviously more exciting for the dogs than Jo.
How many dogs can you see, I thought there was only four :)
Thursday, 1 December 2011
West Wittering Beach October 2011
The 'Bananas'
'Come on in the water's lovely'
'Look Mum I can lick my own nose'
Whatever was up there was obviously more exciting for the dogs than Jo.
How many dogs can you see, I thought there was only four :)
'Come on in the water's lovely'
'Look Mum I can lick my own nose'
Whatever was up there was obviously more exciting for the dogs than Jo.
How many dogs can you see, I thought there was only four :)
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Where has that 10 months gone?!
Tyler is now 10 months old and continues to grow upwards but not outwards much.
I've not done much agility training with him past a 6 week puppy course where we started contacts, going on to a toy and running through realy wide channel weaves to a toy. I have also taken him on 5 foundation workshops, 3 were excellent, 1 was good but a bit advanced I think and 1 was not so good but the thing I have learned is that everyone has a different idea of what is puppy foundation :)
The 3 that were excellent were what my idea of foundation work is, lots of play with some waits, tunnels and more play and helping your puppy understand what you want it to do. They were great fun for everyone and the puppies weren't asked to do too much so had time to rest and take it in between exercises.
He's now got to the 'teenage' stage and can be a bit naughty sometimes with his recall and Tom and Suzi get a bit fed up with him and try to tell him to calm down which just makes him worse but all in all they get on really well and make a good little group.
This is my favourite picture of him at the moment, it was taken when we were on holiday on October and he was having fun with his mates the 'bananas'.
I've not done much agility training with him past a 6 week puppy course where we started contacts, going on to a toy and running through realy wide channel weaves to a toy. I have also taken him on 5 foundation workshops, 3 were excellent, 1 was good but a bit advanced I think and 1 was not so good but the thing I have learned is that everyone has a different idea of what is puppy foundation :)
The 3 that were excellent were what my idea of foundation work is, lots of play with some waits, tunnels and more play and helping your puppy understand what you want it to do. They were great fun for everyone and the puppies weren't asked to do too much so had time to rest and take it in between exercises.
He's now got to the 'teenage' stage and can be a bit naughty sometimes with his recall and Tom and Suzi get a bit fed up with him and try to tell him to calm down which just makes him worse but all in all they get on really well and make a good little group.
This is my favourite picture of him at the moment, it was taken when we were on holiday on October and he was having fun with his mates the 'bananas'.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Long overdue update
I love training Tom and he works like a dream doing everything really well but we just can't seem to transfer that to shows, I'm not sure what we are doing differently except that at training he does sometimes bark when other dogs are working. Normally at shows I try not to let him just bark when queueing as it's a pet hate of mine but I've been trying to encourage him to do it to see if this could be the trigger for him to work as well as he does at training.
Not sure how successful this has been as we have had some clear, but not very fast, rounds and also some faster but sniffy rounds. I've also tried to stop saying ready, ready, ready on the start line as I've now realised that when I throw his ball with the chuckit I shout ready, ready, ready and he starts running before I throw the ball so I think it may be a bit unfair to expect him to wait in the ring while saying the same thing. He does wait but his head goes down and he tries to avoid looking at me, I can't believe it's taken me so long to realise this, poor Tom no wonder he does his sniffy evasion thing when I'm giving him such mixed messages.
The last run of the day at Keston on Sunday was our best for a long time, everything seemed to come together like it does at training and I didn't have to get over excited and shouty in the weaves to keep his nose up. We didn't get placed but we weren't that far off the winner and creeping slightly on the seesaw and a couple of wide turns accounted for that but it felt great.
I'm not counting my chickens and next weekend I'm sure will be full of challenges but I'm looking forward to it anyway.
Tyler continues to be a real pleasure to have and is a real cuddle monster, he loves people and dogs but I was glad that Nancy & Andy were parked near me at the weekend as I had to ask Andy if Becky could reassure him after a load of collies charged their garden fence barking at him. Becky was so sweet with him and it made a huge difference. It was my fault as I just wasn't concentrating after a long day ring partying and just wanted to get back to caravan but should have seen what was going to happen.
I can't believe he's four months now and is starting to look like an adult rather than a puppy but his ears are a worry as they seem to move around his head and at the moment are sticking out at right angles, I'm massaging them like mad into the right position but I have a feeling I may end up with a wing nut :) He's also discovered his voice and may actually out bark the shelties we know!
He starts basic obedience training on 23rd June and although he does most of what we will be learning I'm hoping that it's another string to his bow but will be assessing the other dogs when we get there to make sure I don't undo all the good socialising we've done up to now.
Not sure how successful this has been as we have had some clear, but not very fast, rounds and also some faster but sniffy rounds. I've also tried to stop saying ready, ready, ready on the start line as I've now realised that when I throw his ball with the chuckit I shout ready, ready, ready and he starts running before I throw the ball so I think it may be a bit unfair to expect him to wait in the ring while saying the same thing. He does wait but his head goes down and he tries to avoid looking at me, I can't believe it's taken me so long to realise this, poor Tom no wonder he does his sniffy evasion thing when I'm giving him such mixed messages.
The last run of the day at Keston on Sunday was our best for a long time, everything seemed to come together like it does at training and I didn't have to get over excited and shouty in the weaves to keep his nose up. We didn't get placed but we weren't that far off the winner and creeping slightly on the seesaw and a couple of wide turns accounted for that but it felt great.
I'm not counting my chickens and next weekend I'm sure will be full of challenges but I'm looking forward to it anyway.
Tyler continues to be a real pleasure to have and is a real cuddle monster, he loves people and dogs but I was glad that Nancy & Andy were parked near me at the weekend as I had to ask Andy if Becky could reassure him after a load of collies charged their garden fence barking at him. Becky was so sweet with him and it made a huge difference. It was my fault as I just wasn't concentrating after a long day ring partying and just wanted to get back to caravan but should have seen what was going to happen.
I can't believe he's four months now and is starting to look like an adult rather than a puppy but his ears are a worry as they seem to move around his head and at the moment are sticking out at right angles, I'm massaging them like mad into the right position but I have a feeling I may end up with a wing nut :) He's also discovered his voice and may actually out bark the shelties we know!
He starts basic obedience training on 23rd June and although he does most of what we will be learning I'm hoping that it's another string to his bow but will be assessing the other dogs when we get there to make sure I don't undo all the good socialising we've done up to now.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Tyler - Gotta Move to be Smooth
Tyler arrived on 20th March and it was as if he'd always lived here, he's settled in so well and although the other two took a while they now play with him all the time and toys fly in all directions.
So much has happened so I'll just post pictures :)
The first time I saw him - typical man didn't do much other than eat, sleep and poo!
The day he came home - straight on Dad's chair.
Half the size of Suzi! - they are now the same size.
These were all taken in the first week.
He's been camping three times which he loves and will be able to walk round the rings at BATS where he'll be able to watch the agility.
I'll try and be a bit better at updating my blog.
So much has happened so I'll just post pictures :)
The first time I saw him - typical man didn't do much other than eat, sleep and poo!
The day he came home - straight on Dad's chair.
Half the size of Suzi! - they are now the same size.
These were all taken in the first week.
He's been camping three times which he loves and will be able to walk round the rings at BATS where he'll be able to watch the agility.
I'll try and be a bit better at updating my blog.
Monday, 31 January 2011
New addition.....
the patter of tiny pawsteps will be heard in the Kingswood household soon :)
Jeanette Tandy's Border Terrier Billie gave birth to 8 puppies yesterday and all being well one of the little boys will be coming home to join the clan towards the beginning of April. I'm so excited but have no other info other than that she had 6 girls and 2 boys and that everything was going well last night when Jeanette phoned me but I know that it's still very early so I'm not buying anything yet.
Once I get some photos I'll post them on here.
Jeanette Tandy's Border Terrier Billie gave birth to 8 puppies yesterday and all being well one of the little boys will be coming home to join the clan towards the beginning of April. I'm so excited but have no other info other than that she had 6 girls and 2 boys and that everything was going well last night when Jeanette phoned me but I know that it's still very early so I'm not buying anything yet.
Once I get some photos I'll post them on here.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Louandi Show 24/10/10
I didn't get Tom's first run on video but I wish I had as it was great and he would have come 7th but they only placed to 6th and that was against all the large dogs. I think he was also the fastest small/medium in that class.
His next agility run wouldn't have been bad either if I hadn't put him in the wronng end of the tunnel as you can plainly see below. If it wasn't on film I would have been convinced that I hadn't flung my arm out. The bit after the dog walk was him going to have a look at the number for some reason which was straight in front of him.
His next agility run wouldn't have been bad either if I hadn't put him in the wronng end of the tunnel as you can plainly see below. If it wasn't on film I would have been convinced that I hadn't flung my arm out. The bit after the dog walk was him going to have a look at the number for some reason which was straight in front of him.
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Walks with my dogs - Shoreham Woods
This is a good walk but really muddy in the winter so not one we do much between November and February unless the ground is really frozen. I don't park in the public carpark but in the layby at the top of Polhill by the now closed Polhill Arms pub and take the bridleway around the back of the pub and across the M25 via the really high footbridge. It takes about an hour and once you are through the woods the views across Shoreham and back towards Sevenoaks are lovely. Once across the bridge I turn left and walk through the woods until it opens up and there is a field with a stile in the corner and follow the path diagonally across admiring the views on the way down plus trying to prevent Suzi from rolling in the sheep poo that always seems really fresh but I've never actually seen any sheep in the field ever. 
Unfortunatley today was not a good day for stopping her and this is what she looked like after I had taken the picture above. 
In the far corner of the field there is another stile and a path that follows the valley and overlooks the village of Shoreham and eventually passes just above the white cross carved into the hill in honour of villagers lost in WW1. 
If you follow this path until you get to a gate you can turn left just after it and follow the path back to the motorway bridge and back to the car. The trees are taking ages to change colour so hopefully we'll get some frost soon which may encourage them a bit as I would love to take some pictures across the valley showing all the gorgeous colours. Took a few piccies of Tom looking as handsome as ever. 
Plus one quenching his thirst after eating some horse poo (what lovely dogs I have) 
Went to a training session with Mac & Wendy Card yesterday, it was just for small dogs and was great fun, everyone enjoyed themselves enormously and even more so when the home made cakes came out at half time.
To start with Mac and Wendy wanted us to run a complete course so they could get some idea of how we and our dogs ran. The video below is our first run and ignoring the obviously crap handling out of the tunnel see if you can see the other glaring mistake.
Tom is really creeping his dog walk at the moment so at a suggestion from Wendy I have started using his target lid again but it's now placed further away from the contact to encourage him to run through before stopping. I know it was only one session but it really seemed to work so I will be using it all this winter and we will see where we go into next season.
Unfortunatley today was not a good day for stopping her and this is what she looked like after I had taken the picture above. 
In the far corner of the field there is another stile and a path that follows the valley and overlooks the village of Shoreham and eventually passes just above the white cross carved into the hill in honour of villagers lost in WW1. 
If you follow this path until you get to a gate you can turn left just after it and follow the path back to the motorway bridge and back to the car. The trees are taking ages to change colour so hopefully we'll get some frost soon which may encourage them a bit as I would love to take some pictures across the valley showing all the gorgeous colours. Took a few piccies of Tom looking as handsome as ever. 
Plus one quenching his thirst after eating some horse poo (what lovely dogs I have) 
Went to a training session with Mac & Wendy Card yesterday, it was just for small dogs and was great fun, everyone enjoyed themselves enormously and even more so when the home made cakes came out at half time.
To start with Mac and Wendy wanted us to run a complete course so they could get some idea of how we and our dogs ran. The video below is our first run and ignoring the obviously crap handling out of the tunnel see if you can see the other glaring mistake.
Tom is really creeping his dog walk at the moment so at a suggestion from Wendy I have started using his target lid again but it's now placed further away from the contact to encourage him to run through before stopping. I know it was only one session but it really seemed to work so I will be using it all this winter and we will see where we go into next season.
Monday, 23 August 2010
Dogs in Need
This was my first DIN as I've never been able to bare the thought of spending a week in my old campervan but now I have my super dooper caravan so I thought why not.
I have to say I loved the show and just two runs a day suited me as it meant I had time to just chill out with my dogs and read loads of books and drink a few G&Ts.
I didn't have any places but Tom only sniffed once in the ring and got 2 clear rounds the other rounds were things I did wrong as he worked really hard for me and Suzi was clear and in time in all her jumping rounds.
I've also come to a decision about my next dog!
I also promised myself that I would update my blog more.
Here are a few pictures that I took during the week.
I have to say I loved the show and just two runs a day suited me as it meant I had time to just chill out with my dogs and read loads of books and drink a few G&Ts.
I didn't have any places but Tom only sniffed once in the ring and got 2 clear rounds the other rounds were things I did wrong as he worked really hard for me and Suzi was clear and in time in all her jumping rounds.
I've also come to a decision about my next dog!
I also promised myself that I would update my blog more.
Here are a few pictures that I took during the week.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
New addition to the Kingswood household
No not a new dog (yet) but a new to me caravan.
I hadn't noticed that Suzi was in the picture until I downloaded them but she seems to approve but Tom needs to learn how to use the step and not keep launching himself over it and nearly missing the doorway.
It's a Mardon Saffron and and the layout means I can leave a bed made up at the back if I want so no more making the bed up and finding that I need to get something out of the fridge like the campervan.
I'm very excited as you can imagine and can't wait for our maiden voyage to Colchester at the beginning of May.
I hadn't noticed that Suzi was in the picture until I downloaded them but she seems to approve but Tom needs to learn how to use the step and not keep launching himself over it and nearly missing the doorway.
It's a Mardon Saffron and and the layout means I can leave a bed made up at the back if I want so no more making the bed up and finding that I need to get something out of the fridge like the campervan.
I'm very excited as you can imagine and can't wait for our maiden voyage to Colchester at the beginning of May.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Mid Downs and such like
I have to say I enjoyed Mid Downs even though I came home with 3 Es and one 5 faults, both dogs worked exceedingly well and Suzi even got her dog walk. She was so excited about being back at shows that I was left standing at the start of her agility and had to do a mad dash to catch her, she flew round with much more enthusiasm than I have seen for ages, the seesaw was her downfall as it didn't tip when she thought it was going to and her momentum slid her off the side but she charged back up it and finished the course. Tom was not at all sniffy looked as if he was really enjoying himself in both agility and jumping, our downfall was having to turn sharply from a fast straight line as he powers on and doesn't always here my panicy commands of 'Tom, TOM, TOOOOMMMM'. Suzi, once again, flew round the jumping course and if I hadn't got over excited, and tried to get somewhere too soon thus pulling her into the wrong end of the tunnel, would have got a lovely clear round.
The van has been gone so I'm now looking in ernest for a caravan, seen a really nice one but it's over my budget so I'm either going to have to do some haggling, not my strong point, or try and find some more money from somewhere or keep looking. My first caming show is the beginning of May but that will come round so quickly that I have a feeling I wont have found anything by then.
I went for a lesson with Leah at her new outdoor paddock last night, my first thought was 'what a nice place to be able to train', my second was 'God that equipment is spread out'. We worked on Tom turning off a straight line (must remember that he actually knows right & left and use it at shows), going on, and me cutting corners slightly without him coming in to me. I had to do lots of running!
I was so pleased with him as the temptation of sheep poo was very strong but he didn't even attempt to stop while he was was working and if he did wander he came back as soon as I called him let's hope this bodes well as Spring at Shuttleworth usually has sheep poo in the rings.
I'm supposed to be doing Chippenham and Downlands but I now have to go to Boulder, Colorado for work on 20th so will miss both of them :(
The van has been gone so I'm now looking in ernest for a caravan, seen a really nice one but it's over my budget so I'm either going to have to do some haggling, not my strong point, or try and find some more money from somewhere or keep looking. My first caming show is the beginning of May but that will come round so quickly that I have a feeling I wont have found anything by then.
I went for a lesson with Leah at her new outdoor paddock last night, my first thought was 'what a nice place to be able to train', my second was 'God that equipment is spread out'. We worked on Tom turning off a straight line (must remember that he actually knows right & left and use it at shows), going on, and me cutting corners slightly without him coming in to me. I had to do lots of running!
I was so pleased with him as the temptation of sheep poo was very strong but he didn't even attempt to stop while he was was working and if he did wander he came back as soon as I called him let's hope this bodes well as Spring at Shuttleworth usually has sheep poo in the rings.
I'm supposed to be doing Chippenham and Downlands but I now have to go to Boulder, Colorado for work on 20th so will miss both of them :(
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
New plans
I've decided that my campervan is no longer big enough for agility shows, and that's with one less dog, so I'm selling it and looking at caravans. I would love a brand new one but know this is impossible so it's 2nd hand here I come. I don't need anything huge as even the smallest ones seem to have 4 times more storage space than the van and even a loo which is really my main reason for changing, plus the extra cost of insurance, tax and MOT of having basically two cars. The van is on ebay so hopefully I'll be able to start looking in earnest for a caravan very soon. I can't believe that once I used to say that I would only do one show a month, then only one day a weekend and I would never camp!
My diet is going well but the need for new clothes is looming so more expense, lets hope the van gets people's interest and really brings home the bacon.
Tom's training is still going well with less and less sniffing but we have the big test this weekend at Ardingly, indoors in a riding school that has been used all winter for show jumping so will no doubt be very interesting. I'm taking Suzi and will enjoy running her but however positive I am I really think that contacts may be our downfall :)
My diet is going well but the need for new clothes is looming so more expense, lets hope the van gets people's interest and really brings home the bacon.
Tom's training is still going well with less and less sniffing but we have the big test this weekend at Ardingly, indoors in a riding school that has been used all winter for show jumping so will no doubt be very interesting. I'm taking Suzi and will enjoy running her but however positive I am I really think that contacts may be our downfall :)
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Catch up time - sorry no piccies or video
I have loads of photos and video but my laptop is currently refusing to download it so I'm using this as a sign that I need a new one with more memory and a bigger hard drive hopefully I will then be able to add some of the stuff I've got.
Tom's training is coming on well after the Christmas break with sniffing at a minimum especially when I'm able to see the signs and get a call in to get his attention back. I'm continuing to use a target at the bottom of the dog walk, sometimes with a treat and sometimes without. If it's there we get good speed to the contact and he hits and stops but if it isn't he still creeps down, at my first show I'm going to try and get him looking while I walk the course and pretend to put something there hopefully he's as clever as I think and will remember me bending down.
A bitter sweet development of losing Dudley is that Tom is turning into a real Mummy's boy, he's got much more cuddly and appears to want to be with me more than before rather than playing with other dogs. I would never have wanted to not have Dudley but am taking advantage of this with Tom as he is much more interested in where I am at training than what the other dogs are doing and Wendy has pointed out that he watches me all the time when I'm walking courses etc. I'm actually really enjoying this as Duds was always one for everyone else and would forsake me for someone else without a backward glance and am seriously wondering about putting off having another dog until 2011 rather than the end of this year as planned. I will wait and see what happens this summer.
Tom's training is coming on well after the Christmas break with sniffing at a minimum especially when I'm able to see the signs and get a call in to get his attention back. I'm continuing to use a target at the bottom of the dog walk, sometimes with a treat and sometimes without. If it's there we get good speed to the contact and he hits and stops but if it isn't he still creeps down, at my first show I'm going to try and get him looking while I walk the course and pretend to put something there hopefully he's as clever as I think and will remember me bending down.
A bitter sweet development of losing Dudley is that Tom is turning into a real Mummy's boy, he's got much more cuddly and appears to want to be with me more than before rather than playing with other dogs. I would never have wanted to not have Dudley but am taking advantage of this with Tom as he is much more interested in where I am at training than what the other dogs are doing and Wendy has pointed out that he watches me all the time when I'm walking courses etc. I'm actually really enjoying this as Duds was always one for everyone else and would forsake me for someone else without a backward glance and am seriously wondering about putting off having another dog until 2011 rather than the end of this year as planned. I will wait and see what happens this summer.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Count down to Boot Camp
I've decided that I need to lose weight for Boot Camp and the coming season and have even added a diet ticker to my blog.
I'd like to lose 3 stone so I can get up and down that steep hill to exercise the dogs :)
I'd like to lose 3 stone so I can get up and down that steep hill to exercise the dogs :)
Monday, 21 December 2009
New Flip video camera
My Christmas present to myself arrived today and I thought I'd have a play and see what happens. It's very easy to use and comes with software that uploads when you plug it in to the usb. You can edit it and add titles and music, the only thing I would say is that the videos seem to be huge this one was 4mb before I added anything to it, I added some titles and music and it went to 36mb!
Putting it on here has lost some of the quality but on facebook it looks quite good.
Putting it on here has lost some of the quality but on facebook it looks quite good.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Walking in a winter wonderland
Woke up to loads of snow this morning and it doesn't matter how old I get seeing snow when I pull back the curtains always makes me very excited.
Luckily Tom had his new coat so after wrapping both of us up nice and warm we set off for the local rec then walked through the woods to Dad's.
Dudley used to love the snow so it was bitter sweet today BUT he never got snow balls like Tom does, poor little lad was so funny trying to walk with great big clumps of snow hanging round his legs. When I was getting them off he even had them hanging from his little boy bit.
Luckily Tom had his new coat so after wrapping both of us up nice and warm we set off for the local rec then walked through the woods to Dad's.
Dudley used to love the snow so it was bitter sweet today BUT he never got snow balls like Tom does, poor little lad was so funny trying to walk with great big clumps of snow hanging round his legs. When I was getting them off he even had them hanging from his little boy bit.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Bits and bobs
Lots of training since my last post plus Tom and I went to the New Forest for a week. I was really nice to get away and just chill out plus we had a couple of lessons with Lesley Olden while we were there.
I didn't get loads of photos as I forgot to take the camera to the beach the day we went to Poole needless to say I missed some really cracking shots of Tom especially the one when I thought I'd lost him and he was in fact at the top of some steps up to some beach huts with the cheekiest look on his face.
He's also been to see Julia at Galen Myotherapy and has been given a clean bill of health which is brillient especially with his patellas which is more that I have, I mentioned that I had a stiff neck and she had a prod at me and said is was my shoulder causing the problem and that I need to get sorted out before my shoulder freezes completely. No wonder I've been struggling to pick up the equipment at training :)
I didn't get loads of photos as I forgot to take the camera to the beach the day we went to Poole needless to say I missed some really cracking shots of Tom especially the one when I thought I'd lost him and he was in fact at the top of some steps up to some beach huts with the cheekiest look on his face.
He's also been to see Julia at Galen Myotherapy and has been given a clean bill of health which is brillient especially with his patellas which is more that I have, I mentioned that I had a stiff neck and she had a prod at me and said is was my shoulder causing the problem and that I need to get sorted out before my shoulder freezes completely. No wonder I've been struggling to pick up the equipment at training :)
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Downright bloody naughty!
Not sure what got into Tom last night, apart from perhaps the devil, but at training he was not sniffy just very naughty. He ran around the arena completely ignoring me, Mac and anyone else that tried to catch him. Ran through the tunnel looked at me then ran off again, ran up the dogwalk did a perfect contact (right to the end two on two off) ran off again. In despair I just walked out of the school he ran from one end to the other to follow me out then ran around outside in the dark. I came back in and sat in the corner, he ran in looking around for me then after spotting me came dashing over and looked at me as if I'd been cruel to him by leaving him out in the dark at which point I gave up on the agility.
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