Bromsgrove update

So this weekend I took Maisy, Summer and Rupert to Bromsgrove agility competition, I always take Rupert along with me to get him used to the sights and sounds of the competition environment, and he is a good hot water bottle for the girls sleeping in the awning!. And I am pleased to say I didn't see any signs of his teritorial behaviour, however he has now started to cock his leg and doesn't seem to care where!! so again a little more training and a few verbal reminders should sort that issue out. On the training front I have continued with his hoop training however he is so excited by it that as soon as I set it out he starts racing back and forward through it!!! Hhmmm I may have overcooked it a little, so now he is only allowed to do it when it is at the end of the contact plank and will only be rewarded for his efforts if I have queued him to do it - this probably makes a lot of sence to most of you! however Rupert is a smart cookie and has taught himself new behaviours without me even knowing about it until I evaluate his knowledge and see the flaws, which luckily up to now have been quickly ironed out. He still has his Mali infatuation which could become a problem (currently it's sweet) whenever he sees a Mali he getsw excited but if by some miracle it has Jo on the end of the lead he just cannot contain his excitement! a couple of times at the weekend he saw them at a distance and just decided to take himself off to say hello! although there was one moment where we were standing by the ringside watching a class, Rupert was getting very excited watching the dogs as the jumped the line of jumps nearest to us, but then Ronny came into the ring and Rupert just sat quietly transfixed by his idol!! lets hope he was taking all the skill in..

Updates

So Rupert is now fast approaching 8 1/2 months old, where has the time gone? over the past few weeks we have minimised training session in obedience and Agility in exchange for a few lifestyle lessons! as he approaches adulthood he has decided to test his boundaries a little, I first noticed it at dashing dogs where he became very territorial in our temporary garden, getting quite aggressive towards any dog who entered, he has also started at our training field to show the same signs, but only with the entire male dogs, Luckily he soon backs down once I tell him this is not appropriate behavior, so hopefully he will grow out of it in the future, apart from that he is turning into a very happy chap, not phased by anything or anyone he meets. Last night we began training with our new invention Le Hoop, this is basically a square shaped hoop that stands on the ground, I began by shaping him through it until he was eagerly running freely backwards and forwards, I then placed it at the end of one of the dog walk planks while it was on the floor, and again he was happily racing along the plank and through the hoop, so this is the basics of running contacts! (all seems a bit easy at the moment) I had also put a small course of jumps out with the poles only one end up on small height 4 jumps in a line with a star at the top, and whilst I can leave him on the start get to jump 4, release him, negotiate the star and an "In" I am unable to run fast enough to get to the last jump where he turns to see where I've got to, thus the need for a "Go On" command and the confidence from him to use it.
I'm really loving training this dog, with every session there is an obvious progression programme that follows, I really can't wait for our winter training to begin with Jo and I promise to get many more pics.

Updates

Well what an exciting few weeks Rupert has had, Amy and Steve took him off bright and early to the breed show at Builth Wells, where they met up with Sheila and Hills who were also showing. Rupes was first in the ring and although he was "flying" his tail managed to qualify for Crufts 2011, Summer and Ruperts Mum Folly were in the ring next and Folly qualified but Summer just missed out by one place! so mother and son had a great day.
On the training front we have been away camping at shows for much of August so not much to write about, his agility training seems to be comming along nicely and I have just started to put one side of the poles up onto the smallest height which hasn't phased him at all, he can string a sequence of jumps with turns and going on into the tunnel quite nicely and his contacts are still very nice although he isn't really sure he likes the big dog walk so I have decided to keep it at medium height for a few more sessions. I still haven't looked at the see saw and A frame as there is plenty of time for that, but Jo and I were teaching him the "Box" whilst at Dashing dogs which we are going to use on the A frame in the future.
Whilst we were away we took 9 dogs to the beach, luckily we had the whole place to ourselves and managed to have a lovely walk, it was funny to watch the two packs playing so nicely together, Rupert slept very well that night.