Royal Wedding

We had a lovely non-dog related day on Friday celebrating the Royal Wedding with friends, and we were supposed to go to Dordale both Saturday and Sunday, but it was such a lovely weekend we decided to only go on Sunday, it wasn't a good show for us, i don't think we really got into the swing of it and decided to call it a day at lunchtime - Maisy had some great moments and really is powering into some very fast weave entrances but her contacts are going backwards! really don't know what to do about it now, so I'm just not going to worry about them for now, it's so frustrating though because it just highlights the fact she isn't listenng at all at that poing on the round so I am very dissapointed with that as I thought we had at last made a breakthrough. Summer had a nice clear in her agility, but it was slow! she is so up and down, one class she is really driven and the next she gets her nosey head on and trots around without a care so Amy wasn't in the mood to see what she was going to offer after lunch and I had had enough so we called it a day. Yesterday I took Rupert to an obedience training day, It was really nice to be doing something completely different with him, and he was as always a star, I have plenty to work on and already this morning have started to put it into action. he has a little UKA show on Saturday, he's only in one class which is first in the ring, Masiy is also entered but I may not bother with her so i could be home really early! then on Sunday it's Darian Day, something we all look forward to.

Happy 18th Birthday to Ellen, we hope you had a great day XX and another well done to Jo with Zippy & Ronny for their ABC qualifier - you really are on fire at the moment, I can't wait till July when hopefully some of your luck will rub off X

Wonderful Weather

Well what a difference a bit of sun makes! Rupert has now mastered the weaves, I'm still keeping his guide on the first and last poles to help him get those entrances, but I'm really pleased with Rupert and myself for working through the method and getting a great result in a little over 4 weeks. We were at Jo's yesterday after a long break, she had put a short course up using all the contacts and weaves and he was very good, but it did highlight our problem areas which we shall be working on over the next couple of weeks - the dreaded pull in's and his see saw, I haven't really done much with it as I've been concentration on his weaves so it's nice to have another area to work on, including full courses.

Crufts on Friday, we have to be up really early as we want to be in Hall 1 for 7am giving us plenty of time to settle both Rupert and myself before we go in the ring, Sheila has trimmed him to perfection so all that remains for me to do is make sure he has a good bath the night before, luckily he has swimming on Thursday night so thats half the job already done!

MUD

I am getting a bit fed up of this dreary weather now! Rupert goes from being lovely and clean to filthy after every walk!
We have had an eventful weekend, at the MBCC breed assesment day on Saturday Rupert was a stooge dog, Amy was meant to handle him in preparation for Crufts, but unfortunately he had other ideas! he found the whole experience without his mum a bit too much so we had to swap, after which he settled down and worked quite nicely, however this does mean that I will now be showing him at Crufts! this was never in the plan.
At training on Sunday morning I decided to try him on closed weaves, he did them without a hitch, not only once bu 100% of the time, so after the training classes I decided to put his guides on the upright set to see how he went on those! not good, he failed every time, I think it's because they weren't quite level so I put them back on the swivel ones and again 100% success, maybe I rushed so a few more sessions on the swivel before I try again.
On the swimming front, we had a brilliant session on Friday, Jane used the underwater camera this time to watch his back end, I had said last week he didn't seem to be using his back legs and the camera proved he was being lazy and relying too much on his floatation jacket, so this week we motivated him with a tennis ball and he soon started zooming around the pool using his back legs to propell himself along. Next week we might try taking his jacket off to see how he goes.

Weaves again

Well I've now managed to close up weaves 1,2,3 & 4 leaving just the slightest of angle on the others with a slightly bigger angle on 11 &12 still with the guide bands on the first and last 4 poles. He is taking them from any angle and any distance, steadying himself on the approach and then powering through, there is even signs of single footed action so it's all good. Hopefully they will have the swivel weaves out at training tonight so we can proof it in a different environment.
Today I recieved his new dogmatic leather headcollar, he already had a Tuff stuff one, but I never thought it looked all that comfortable, so I decided to go for the soft leather one, it certainly looks and feels very nice so I'm hoping it fits properly and will give it a go at training tonight, and make a start on his control and patience while waiting his turn.

Bit of a handful!

I'll start off with a weave update - I've purposely left his weave training for a few days but this morning I went down and tightened up the swivel bases so he can't push them open on his way through so easily, then I closed them up so there was only the very slightest of angle left open. I was expecting a lot of fails, but I was mistaken, he not only got about 80% success he has also started single footing. Still getting all the silly angles and i've even started putting jump sequences in front just to make it more interesting for him, and still he gets it right, so I'm very happy with his progress and will slowly continue adding other obstacles and close them completely over the next few months.
Last night we had training at Deena's and someone said to me "he's a bit of a handful isn't he" don't get me wrong, this wasn't a comment made with any malice, just an observation, and it made me think. I have made both my dogs excited, it's just the way I am, and I like to have a dog who is rearing to go on the line rather than one who has to be motivated into action, however unlike Maisy who will then take this uncontrolled excitement onto the agility course once Rupert is on the line I have complete control, so where's the harm - Well the reality of the situation is that I want control walking from the car/caravan to the course so this is an area I am going to have to work on, and sometimes it takes a comment to make you think and redress your training stratergies. So watch this space for updates.

Hip Scores

So yesterday the big brown envelope arrived containing Ruperts hip scores. he was scored at 3:3 which I am delighted with.

His weaves are really starting to shape up now, hopefully in a couple of weeks we will be fully closed, we are almost there now, but the tighter they get the more fails we get, so I'm determined not to move on until we get 80% success, His entrances are spot on from any angle even after a tight jumping sequence he is still making the entrance, so I am very pleased indeed.
Because our training with Jo has now come to an end for the winter I have enrolled Rupert with Deena Freeman's Foundation class on a Tuesday evening, this week was the first one and we really enjoyed it, It's really usefule to prove his skills in different environments, this venue is an outdoor all weather arena with spotlights so it's something completely alien to him, but i'm very pleased to say his starts were rock solid and his directional skills and tight turns were lovely, so we must be doing something right!
He has swimming lesson number 3 on Friday, I'm not sure which one of us looks forward to it the most! It's like having a school child with all the afterschool activities he has! I must remember he is NOT a child.

Ups & Downs

I can honestly say i'm really pleased to have got the past 2 weeks out of the way, not only have Amy, Steve & I had a nasty bout of flu we very sadly had to have our beloved Dylan put to sleep! So no training and all dogs have been on rationed exercise.

Luckily I've now started to feel much better and began training properly again this weekend. I gave up with the 2x2 weaves in favour of the swivel channel weaves and have been really pleased with the results so far. Rupert is very good at finding the entrance from any angle so I have now started to close the gap, he is almost at the closed stage, however this morning I came accross out first real failure, He works the first 6 weaves brilliantly, but then seems to get a bit lazy or crafty I'm not sure which and slips out to get his toy! he did this a few times this morning and I was just about to open them out again when he got it! and I did a couple more, still he got it, so I moved onto a jumping sequence and went back to it and he still got it! He was just reminding me to be patient!

He's also started swimming lessons at our local canine hydrotherapy pool, at first he was a little unsure but not he loves the whole experience from getting his warm shower to being blasted dry at the end. It's a great form of stamina training, and hopefully will give him the confidence to swim with Maisy when we go on holiday later in the year.

Thinking it through

When you are training a young dog, unless you have one trainer whom you totally trust, and you ignore all the advice which is offered freely by well meaning friends and aquainances! a lot of trial and error comes into play. With Ruperts training I wanted to "get it right" an expression I hear a lot when someone gets a new dog to train. Is there such a thing as "Getting it right"? which is where thinking it through has come into play quite a lot recently, The See Saw for example, and now the weaves, I was determined to train the 2x2 Susan Garett method, I purchased the DVD, watched it over and over, made notes and even had Steve make me some very nice 2x2 sets, but in reality it didn't seem right for Rupert and I, and we have now gone on to Swivel channel weaves and are making great progress, we are still at the widest setting and are currently working our war around the clock face, and have decided to use a wing wrap at the start, my only problem is that at the beginning I used the command GO to send him through the channel to his toy, I now want to change that for Weave which will be the command I use in the future but this seems to have confused him a little so tomorrow I will use GO Weave and then eventually drop the GO word.

Last thursday Ruperts Breeder Sheila and I took him to have his Hips X-rayed, when the plate came back the vet seemed very happy with the reult so now we just have to wait for the BVA to send the score back, fingers crossed we should be getting very good one.

Clever Puppy

Our first Puppy class was good fun, it was very basic as Sarah wanted to see at what level everyone was working, Rupert behaved well appart from getting a little over excited waiting for his turn, but settled down as the evening went on. He maintained all his waits and executed both left and right turns nicely so I was very pleased with his progress.

On Saturday we met Toni Dawkins, there are some trainers who just inspire you without really even having to say much, and Toni is one of those people. Again this was a foundation course and we learnt some good tips, we also did the dogwalk which we haven't really done away from home but Rupert didn't faulter, he ran all the way to his 2 on 2 off position while I ran wide not moving until I gave him his release command, I was well Chuffed!

Yesterday we had our weekly session with Jo, these sessions are getting more like a workout with the SAS every week!! only joking Jo LOL!!! what can I say, Rupert was brilliant, I sometimes think the agility fairies have been training Rupert while I sleep!! he did start off by knocking poles, and thinking about it at both Puppy classes he was jumping small which must be quite confusing so from now on I'm going to ask for him to be on medium.

Today my legs are aching!

This week Rupert is having his hips X-rayed for his hip score, this will determin if he will be acceptable to go to Stud, although I have no plans to put him to stud, if the opportunity arose with an approved bitch at lease we would be ready. So fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Mud Glorious Mud

I hate this mud! Rupert had a lovely groom last night but after his walk this morning looks like a mud monster again!

On the training front things are progressing really well, I gave the see saw problem some thought and decided that I would release him over a jump and throw his toy gaining some distance between him and the noise of the bang, this has worked a treat, we started at Jo's on Sunday and I held his collar for the tip and let him find the contact which worked well, then at this mornings session I held his collar for the first attempt and then let him have a go on his own from both sides - result, he didn't give it a 2nd thought, happily working the tip on his own and confidently finding the contact (still without command) I released him onto a jump and threw his toy - Excellent. So the plan is just to let him have a go each time I visit the paddock to keep it in his mind.

Our homework this week has been flick flacks and pull ins. the flick flack training is going ok, only faulting with his enthusiasm with me trying to race to get into position, however he actually works much better when I drive from behind, and I must make sure I work on both directions which I am very lazy at! Pull ins on the other hand are a little more difficult, especially as I am doing them straight after a flick flack! maybe on Friday I'll do the pull ins first. He is getting the first two, but then his speed takes him over the jump rather than through the gap, still plenty of time to perfect them, and its a lot for him to take in all at once.

Tomorrow night is his first night at Club, I'm really looking forward to working him in a group, although I know he will be over the top to begin with, having to work on patience will be a good thing.

Happy Birthday Rupert

So on 30th December 2010 Darian Snow Bear (Rupert) became a year old. Where has the time gone? My sister Sara collected her puppy on 29th December who is Ruperts half brother (same Mum) his name is Teaser and is such a cutie, but I don't remember Rupert ever being that small!?!
I started Ruperts weave training and am very pleased with the progress so far, however letting him set that pace may have been a mistake! he just wants to learn more and more which although a good thing in many respects is a bit of a problem when I'm still getting my head round whats the best way to progress! so I've only done the basics until I next see Jo on Sunday.
Before Christmas Rupert was only doing the dog walk on small height as he wasn's sure when I raised the planks, but this week he wasn't bothered at all by the height and was zooming over it into his 2 on 2 off position, I also introduced the A frame and in only one session he is confidently running a lovely A frame into his contact position, the See Saw on the other hand is a different matter! I have only done it holding his collar and managing the tip for him, but he gets spooked by the noise it makes after he has been released so I plan to use something to muffle the sound for a week or so, but I'll keep you posted how that goes.
We have booked ourselves onto a Toni Dawkins training day on 15th January so we are really excited about that.

Darian Snow Bear

Rupert's Kennel name is Darian Snow Bear and as you can see he lives up to his name very well, It's very difficult at the moment as we have about 1 foot of snow settled everywhere we go so Rupert rather likes it outside and as a preference will just play and roll about in the snow rather than sit by the comfy fire! Because of the snow there hasn't been any agility training for a couple of weeks but Steve has made me 2 sets of 2x2 weaves so from Friday onwards our indoor weave training starts. I have decided for the first few sessions to really work on the entrance to the first two weaves from any angle and hopefully increase to 2 sets of 2 weaves and so on until we have a full set of 12 but hopefully by the time we get to moving the first two sets closer together we will be back to training outside. (fingers crossed).
Rupert and I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and New year and hope Santa brings you all you wish for - Rupert is wishing for more snow GGgggrrrrr..

What a Star

I'm so Pleased with Rupert's progress, last night at Clubs Christmas Party was the first ever time he has performed in front of a crowd! and he didn't let me down, he was slightly nervous on the start line, but once I reassured him he was rock solid. I thought I would be nervous with people watching but not at all, I had my mind totally focused on Rupert and never gave the spectators a second thought and he rewarded me with 2 super cross behinds and his first ever pull in! it was a little messy but that was me panicking rather than him and it resulted in a pole down! but what a star he was. I have to say it's all down to Jo and her time and patience which she gives for free!
Rupert will be 12 months old at the end of December and although rather earlier than I had anticipated I have decided to begin his 2x2 weave training during the Christmas break - the reason for this is purely a time issue, I have 11 days off work it's that simple! Ideally I would have left it a few more weeks, but I think he is more than ready to have a go, obviously if I feel its too much I'll just practice the basics but I have a feeling as usual Rupert will set the pace and it will be up to me to keep up. I hope to keep a diary of our progress - good and bad so keep watching, and feel free to add any comments which you feel may help.

Training plans

Unfortunately we haven't been able to get to Jo's for training over the past few weekends but very kindly she has emailed me some training plans to work on, these just include getting him to work on in front, he absolutely adores his space hopper toy and when strategically placed he is working brilliantly, the trouble I have found is that he is fast, and by that I mean very fast! Maisy is a very fast nimble dog but because she is confident at working in front, will take a line untill she hears a command without question, but Rupert obviously has no idea what I really want, he likes me not to crowd wings and will take a line happily but when I get too far back he has a little look over his shoulder taking him wide of the jump (unless his toy is at the end of the line and then he would jut 100 jumps to get there) you would think the obvious answer would be to run faster! obviously this is not the correct answer I am no Linford Christie, so the answer is to slowly build up his confidence so that he too will take the line whilst listening out for a directional command from me. In Jo's email she does state quite clearly that there is no rush for Rupert to perfect the patterns, and I'm sure once there is any height to the jumps this will slow him down to a more comfortable speed. (well thats what I'm hoping)
Yesterday we were at Earls Court for Discover dogs, Amy had entered Rupes in the handling as a practice for Crufts, he took the atmosphere in his stride and although they didn't gain a place Rupert looked the part well and Amy was thrilled with his performance.
No training for Rupes during the week at th moment due to the dark nights so I've gone back to some obedience indoors, we are back at Jo's on Sunday (weather permitting) so I hope she can see some improvements, he sure was pleased to see her at Earls Court yesterday, bless his little furries..

Agility Training begins

So now Rupert is 9 1/2 months old I have started his agility training properly!, On Sunday we went to see Jo and had a really great training session, with him working independantly of me. We used a line of 4 jumps and by the end of session 1 he is now waiting on the line to be released and then taking the jumps overtaking me in the process. He had a really great time, not only because he loves agility but also because he got to see his friend Zippy for a game. On the home front his testosterone has kicked in a bit more now and the poor boy isn't really sure what it's for! he has been scenting over the clean washing which is hung to dry on our clothes airer!! not really naughty as he doesn't understand, but he needs to learn that we can introduce whatever new smells we like into the house and he must accept them, I must do a little more research on this one, but I'll keep you posted what methods we decide to use.

Just for Chris!

Not much to report on the Training front really, the weather has been too awful for outdoor activities so I've just played around with Retrieves!! and I can now say that Rupert really does not like his dumbell!! He will hold it nicely and pick it up by going around it first but it's all in a really cringy manner! so I've stopped using it for the time being and reverted back to his agility toy! I get the feeling he doesn't understand that sometimes you need to pick something up and not play with it, so I will have to work harder to find the right motivator for it before I try again, after all there's no rush.

A little birdie has told me that Grandad Chris has been having withdrawal symptoms from his fave grandson so here are a few pictures just for you XX

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.

bits and bobs

So we spent last weekend at the KCI agility festival, the weather was very WET and muddy (Ruperts Favourite) Rupert really enjoyed trotting around the rings saying hello to his public but was a little put out to find himself in the companion ring with all the other puppies, especially when a strange man didn't even ask before checking him over!! "How Rude" but just like everyone else he obviously couldn't resist his cute face as out of 20 puppies Rupes was pulled in 5th even with a very muddy tummy!! good job Nanny Fols wasn't there to see it ;-))
It's been a bit quiet on the training front again with us just pottering about with what we already know, I need to put more effort into his on the move heelwork as although we do have it he is lagging a little, I'm sure this is just confidence and once he knows how brilliant he is he'll be prancing with the best of them. Once again we are off in the caravan to Dashing dogs a week long agility show next week, we get the Monday off as a rest day so Jo, Amy & I are taking all 10 dogs to the beach, I promise to get some photo's of Rupes with his Mali mates. Have a great weekend everyone see ya soon..