It's not often that I say that I'm super proud of Nancy, so I thought it warranted a whole blog post all of it's own.  Nancy or Naughty Nancy as she is affectionately known, can only be described as a character.  She loves everybody and is a fantastically sociable dog with other dogs; she's super smart but she is also a challenge at times.  She has her own agenda, that doesn't necessarily fit with mine.  Training her at agility can at times can be frustrating - she runs off with toys and won't bring them back, likes to chase birds and isn't particularly food motivated.  And yet at home teaching her tricks she is fantastic and is a pleasure to train and is usually the first of my dogs to pick up new things.

I can't remember where I read it but I remember reading a training book that explained if you kept on getting the same results (which were results you weren't happy with) that you needed to change your training process as carrying on with the same processes would keep producing the same results.  And I guess that summed mine and Nancy's training up to a tee.  It wasn't that what I was doing was wrong as clearly I managed to train my other dogs to do agility with reasonable success, but this method of training wasn't working for Nancy.  Some dogs make you think differently as a trainer, Gertie taught me a lot about clicker training and how to work through her fears and hang ups, so it was time to rethink how I was going to train Nancy.

So for starters I stopped training Nancy at agility, until I had a new training plan there was no point in carrying on with the training route we were going down.  More than anything I wanted training Nancy to be fun for her and me which it wasn't.  Over the last couple of weeks I've bought Nancy back to agility training, although it's not really agility training, it's doing all her favourite tricks on the agility field with maybe an odd set of weaves or contact thrown in, but mostly it's about having fun.  At home I've changed how I train her too, we've added more challenge and she really has to give me her all in training.  I've even noticed a difference out on walks too as she's actually coming to me wanting to engage with me instead of being the "free spirit" she was.

Having not done any real agility training with Nancy for a couple of months and then taking her to a show I wasn't expecting anything results wise, just could we take Nancy's new found enthusiasm and my new found enthusiasm for training her into the ring.  Even our queuing routine was different, Nancy was watching me and offering tricks (unheard of previously) and we were able to play tug and I could get her ready for her run.  Well I have to say she did 3 of the best runs she has ever done in competition and although we didn't win any competitions, it felt like we had taken major steps forward in actually becoming a partnership.  Hopefully we'll keep building on that partnership now.

           

Wow, seems a slightly inadequate word to sum up the club at Bishop Burton at the end of December.  We had lots of dogs and handlers making their competition debuts, several partnerships on their second or third shows and a few seasoned competitors.  It was an absolutely amazing atmosphere, lots of smiling faces, people helping each other out, walking courses together and new agility competitors being shown the ropes of running a ring.  I want to thank each and everyone of you for making the show such a success for our club.

I think we can all take a lesson from Jacob our youngest member when those agility rounds don't go quite as planned.  It was Jacob and Pip's first show; Pip got a touch of nerves and didn't perform as well as we know he can do in training.  Jacob never gave up trying to get Pip round the course and encouraged him all the way round. Jacob left the show telling Pip that he loved him and that with a bit more training that maybe Pip wouldn't be as scared next time.  What a fantastic attitude for a young lad and I'm sure at your next show Jacob Pip will show everyone what a cracking dog he is and how well you've done at training him.

Although several of our other partnerships didn't manage a clear round either, you were still absolutely fantastic, I saw some amazing runs, with super handling and even better than that happy enthusiastic dogs.  Those clear rounds are really not far away and for some handlers just getting your dog in the ring and working with you deserves a medal. Another one of our young partnerships deserves a mention too - Elise and Darcy.  It was this pairings first show and although we still have a bit of work to do on the weaves the rest of their runs were flawless, even when it came to trickier sequences.  Once Darcy's weaves are perfected they'll be no stopping this partnership, who have been an absolute pleasure to teach and the fact that Elise has put a lot of time and effort in with Darcy away from the agility field really shows.

I think the club went away from the show with an impressive haul of rosettes.  Jason and Ruby were on fire at only their second show and impressively won out of grade 1, and just to prove it wasn't a fluke added another couple of wins to their tally too.  Ann-Marie and Jemma added to their every expanding rosette collection with several wins. Cassie and the lovely Charlie won their agility class, taking them to Grade 5 and I saw Charlie do some lovely, fast, enthusiastic other runs too.  Alice and Merlin won their agility class, taking them to Grade 4.  I was a nervous "back seat driver" watching Alice's run, willing him to get his weave entry; to hit all his contacts and keep all those bars up, I needn't have worried, it was a fantastic clear run that went into the lead and there they stayed.  And also a well done to my very own Hector who won two of his agility runs taking him to grade 4.  Another special mention must go out to Pauline who is an inspiration to all of us, I don't think Pauline managed any clear rounds but Pauline does fantastically well running both Tia and Harry and we love having her as part of our club, showing those young whipper snappers that agility really is for everyone.

Really sorry if I've missed anybody's achievements out, I'm sure you'll give me plenty of opportunity in the future to blog about your successes.  Roll on the 2016 agility season.   

​



​   

Well it hardly seems like five minutes since I bought Hector home for the first time, he was that tiny that for a good couple of months he fitted in a cat carrier and yet here we were at his first ever competition, and yes I was more than a little excited.  Hec learnt a lot of his agility foundations in my living room; turns were practiced round cones; waits were practiced with the carefully engineered distractions of my other dogs (well that's what I like to think of them as); his contacts were trained and proofed on a contact trainer and after finding that I had enough room for six weaves in the living room he learnt to weave there too.  We supplemented that with whatever training we could squeeze in before classes started, but those 5-10 minutes each week at the agility field soon started to add up.  Along with agility training, Hector learnt lots of tricks, some obedience exercises and practiced how to run as fast as he possibly could on walks and obviously get himself fit.  So that was it we were ready for our first competition, Hec handled the noisy atmosphere without a care in the world; all his foundations were solid, he waited on the start line, listened to all his commands, his contacts were perfect 2 on 2 offs and he even managed to weave!  We didn't manage any clear rounds mainly because we are still a new partnership and I am learning where he might need an extra bit of help but to say I am pleased with his debut is an understatement, I can't wait for his next competition.

Running five dogs in competitions was exhausting, especially when one of them is Rufus who seems to require so much more energy than anybody else!  Nancy gets better with each competition, and thrives on the noisy atmosphere of indoor arenas, sadly this is the opposite to Connie who finds the whole atmosphere very stressful.  Connie did a lovely run in her first jumping course but found the enclosed environment difficult to focus in for her other runs.  Still we have a plan to help Connie cope inside so hopefully at Connie's next show she'll be back on form.  Although Connie and Nancy are both at a similar stage in their agility careers and have trained together since they started their agility foundations, they are both very different dogs who have different needs, so need to be trained and handled differently.  Please always remember that your dog is an individual and so what might be appropriate for somebody else's dog, may not be right for your dog.

I remember saying to Ann when we first started up the club, that wouldn't it be fantastic if one day we'd have handlers/dogs trained by us that were competing.  Well a few of you have already made your debuts in unaffiliated shows or anysize classes, and now we have several of you entering your first grade 1 show.  I guess I'd better start thinking up some new hopes/plans, as that one is firmly ticked off the list.  And we've got lots more agility debuts to look forward to over the next coming season.     

​              

One year on from our last visit to South Durham and what a lot has changed - both good and bad.  The previous year I had nervously stepped into the ring with Nancy for the first time; a year on with a bit more experience under her belt she collected a 2nd and 3rd place in grade 3.  Connie is now old enough to compete too and also managed to gain a 2nd place.  Both Nancy and Connie narrowly missed out on winning by hundredths of a second but we're more than happy with that as both the young girls still have so much more to learn and work on for now and they both need to build up their confidence so the nice flowing courses that they "should" get in grade 3 are perfect for them.

Sadly Winnie was missing her partner in crime Whisky since his retirement, although he did come and queue with her just for old times sake.  Winnie is my comfy pair of slippers when it comes to agility, we just seem to get each other and she makes me so proud.  We managed 2 out of 3 clears including a 4th place, and I'm sure we'd have managed 3 out of 3 clears if Winnie's handler hadn't had a brain fart at obstacle number 17 and directed her over the wrong jump!  Gertie was back on form after some time off with an injury and managed a 1st and 4th, it's great to have her back competing especially as she's nearly 9 years old now and I always worry that any injury might be an injury that she doesn't get over so I'm especially enjoying every mad, noisy run we have together.

Glen and Rufus are probably our most difficult dogs to run, not that they both aren't talented or good at agility, but they both seem to be the most unpredictable - each of them have been known to like throwing you a curve ball every so often, still at least they keep us on our toes and if we do manage to get them round a course clear it always feels well deserved if we end up gaining a placing with them.  Sadly neither of them managed any clear rounds but they did work fantastic and Rufus even managed a 7th place with 5 faults.

I managed to leave the fitness app on my phone switched on all day while at the show and reached a new high as far as my daily step count was concerned, 22338 steps 16.02 km walked, no wonder I feel shattered when I get home from a show.  So apologies to everyone in our classes on Sunday if we seemed a little weary.

We're really trying to make sure that you and your dog have a really solid set of foundation skills as far as agility is concerned, so excuse the fact that we keep nagging at all of you to get your commands right - that commands are clear and are said in a nice voice; to make sure your contacts are solid; that you don't use your dogs name all the way round the course but only when you need their attention and most importantly that you build that relationship with your dog - your agility partner, so when you step on that start line of a course your dog is working with you.  You won't go clear on every single course but if your dog is working with you and having fun, then at least you haven't got to worry about whether your dog will stay with you in the ring or will they go chasing the dog in the next ring; will they sniff the floor looking for rabbit poo or will they go and investigate that nice smelling catering van just on the edge of the field.   Your foundation skills are so important, there will always other skills and techniques to learn but if your foundations are solid they're what you will fall back on time and time again, the nuts and bolts of your agility.  Some of our previous agility dogs had gaps in their foundation skills and we are really trying to make sure that you all don't have to battle with those gaps in your foundation skills too.              

​  

Well it's been a long time since our last blog update; apologises but with classes becoming busier and busier; weekends away at competitions and that thing called "life" getting in the way there barely seemed any time for sleeping and eating let alone writing blog posts.

We are still absolutely loving teaching classes and I know we say it all the time but you are all doing fantastic, each week when we plan courses we wonder if we've been too ambitious in what we are asking you to do and then you make it look easy.  It's so exciting watching you all progress and seeing handlers and dogs being bitten by the agility bug.  Our puppy group are amazing and what a mix of breeds, I don't think I've met a Dutch Shepherd before but I could happily steal Effie ;-)

We've been away at shows for several weekends recently.  The youngsters Connie and Nancy are really settling into competition life now, still lots to work on with both of them but they are showing how much potential they both have.  Sadly the last couple of shows Whisky hasn't been able to compete due to an injury that is under investigation by the vet and at the last show Gertie decided to join her best buddy in the invalid corner as she wasn't jumping properly (hopefully she's on the mend now).

It hardly seems possible that we are approaching the club's first birthday, where has that time gone?  We still have so many plans and ideas when time allows!  We also think we should do something to celebrate our 1st birthday, so if you have any ideas let us know.

As time marches on our dogs and us don't get any younger and sadly I had to say goodbye to the eldest member of my pack a few weeks ago.  Stanley had been my constant shadow for the past 13 years, he was the kind of dog that thought you really needed his company in whatever you were doing which meant that actually going out and not taking Stan with you was similar to escaping from Alcatraz as every door had to be double bolted to foil his latest bid for freedom.  So as me and my pack adjust to life without Stan around, give your hound(s) an extra big cuddle as they really are with us for far to short a time.  Run free at Rainbow Bridge Stanley xx 

Otley show saw myself and Ann joined by Caroline, Philip, Owen and of course Rex. The weather forecast didn't look promising but it actually turned out drier than predicted so I only needed to wear half the number of waterproofs I'd packed!

Both Connie and Nancy managed to gain their first rosettes in Grade 3, plenty still to work on but they're both looking more confident in the ring.

Lots of good runs from the more experienced dogs, including a 1st and 2nd for Gertie. But the star of the weekend had to be Rex and Caroline, who gained a 9th on the Saturday and after being talked into hanging around to run Rex's last class on Sunday only went and won the class!!!! Well done and thank you for the doughnuts at training in celebration of your win.

Really looking forward to more of you being ready to compete.

Well done Pauline with Tia and Harry who also managed two wins at the weekend.

As more and more of you are getting close to making their agility debuts I thought it would be a good idea to note a few things down.  First of all dogs cannot compete at Kennel Club licensed shows until they are 18 months old.

If your dog is not already registered with the Kennel Club, they will need to be registered on the Kennel Club activity register.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/registration/how-to-register-your-dog/activity-register/?gclid=CJvissnlmMYCFSHkwgodWTYALA

You will receive a regsitration certificate with your dog's unique Kennel Club number and registered name, you will then need to get your dog officially measured to determine whether they will jump small, medium or large jumps.  We have a set of measuring hoops at training so we can practice getting your dog to stand for measuring, this will be important if you have a dog that is going to be on the borderline of jumping two different heights or if you have a nervous dog or a slippery eel!!!!

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/activities/agility/new-to-agility/agility-measuring/

Your dogs jump height, KC name and number will be recorded in their agility record book, which are available for the Kennel Club or can usually be purchased at the time of measuring.

http://www.thekennelclubshop.org.uk/products/record-book-agility

Once your dog is Kennel Club registered, measured and old enough to compete, your ready to start looking to enter your dogs first show.