Mother's Day

We went over to visit Matt's mum in Swinstead on Sunday afternoon.  What I had assumed was going to be a quiet visit, turned into a 2 hour dog walk!  We didn't even go inside the house, straight away Matt's mum got 2 of her dogs, Chelsea (a Miniature Poodle x Lhasa Apso) and Cilla (Chelsea's daughter), and Matt's sister Katie and her fiance Brett brought their gorgeous Labrador Codie. 

I hadn't quite expected this, so I was absolutely freezing cold in the chilling wind, only wearing a pair of combat trousers, flat, strappy sandals and a long top!  

The dogs had a great time and they all got on really well.  Codie had a hoop toy that she carried, and wanted thrown for her, constantly.  Trent thought about trying to steal it from her a few times, but all it took was a little growl from her for him to decide it wasn't worth it.  On a couple of occasions, Indie lay down on top of the hoop so Codie couldn't pick it up, and there was a slight "dominant bitch face off", but it never lead to anything.

We eventually reached the big lake at Grimsthorpe Castle.  Codie and Indie were straight in the water, swimming off to fetch sticks.  Trent and Ash paddled around up to their tummies but refused to go any further, and Cilla and Chelsea would not even leave the bank!  Prissy girls!  

We had a slight panic on the way back, as Cilla and Chelsea decided to disappear off after pheasants, which could have got us in huge trouble with the gamekeeper, had we been seen.  They eventually came back of their own accord, as it seemed no amount of us all calling and shouting was going to make any difference.  

Despite my inappropriate footwear, and my discomfort (especially when walking through stinging nettles!), we had a great time and I can't believe we haven't all walked together before!

The dogs were absolutely out for the count when we got home, they all slept really deeply!  That may have ran over slightly to today, as when I got home from work at around 10.30am, Ash was fast asleep on top of Trent's crate, with the cats on top of him, and he didn't even notice I was there until I went into the conservatory to let them into the garden!  Bless!  It was absolutely adorable, I even managed to snap a photo on my phone through the glass doors, although sadly my phone is not co-operating and I can't get it onto the computer!  

Not really done anything of particular interest today.  I took Ash and Trent out for a walk together and took Indie seperately.  If I take Indie out with the boys then I can't focus on her enough to ensure she is constantly walking on a loose lead.  I'd rather take two lovely, relaxing and enjoyable walks than just one where I am being dragged down the street!

Been a bit rubbish at updating the blog this week, but I'm back at work now so much more exhausted!

Had a great time at dog training on Wednesday.  We found out that we will be doing a display at the Belton Horse Trials at the end of April.  A display team has been set up and it is likely we will be doing some kind of obedience to music group routines.  Ash was to do an agility display, but we have since been informed that we will not be allowed to do anything agility related due to clashing interests with an agility club that have been at Belton for years.  

Either way, I think it is going to be a triumph or a disaster..  we cannot rely on practising only in the Wednesday night class or it will be pointless.  It could provide some great advertising for ICC, and we need to have a tight routine that will impress the audience.

Agility class on Wednesday was great as well.  There was only me and Ash, and Alex and his Cocker Spaniel Jaffa in attendance, so we had twice as much time to train.  Just for fun, Alex and I swapped dogs and I ran Jaffa, with Alex running Ash, which was fun and went surprisingly well!  I think Alex is a new best friend for life of Ash's though, as he gave him some chip shop sausage.  We did lots more weave practise, which was really beneficial, as perfecting the weave poles is the only thing that is preventing Ash and I from properly competing.  I was training with the normal weaves, instead of the channel weaves, and Ash is doing well with this, but we need to work on increasing the speed he takes them now.

Yesterday was a busy day for me, and Ash.  ICC had been invited to attend a puppy show at Pets at Home, and I left work early to go along with Ash to do some good PR for the club.  Lorraine was there with George, and Fiona took Gwenna along to enter into the show.  As we had been led to believe that the show would not be very well attended, Lorraine gave Heather the morning off, but my God the place was absolutely packed!  There were so many people there that you could barely move!  By the time I got there, Fiona and Lorraine had already ensured that they had spoken to most people and given them our business cards, but I still managed to sell ICC to a few new people, and I also made sure I mingled with the others and gushed about how great ICC is (which is easy to do, and I could do all day!).  Ash was very good, he was petted by lots of lovely polite children and fed lots of treats!  What could be better eh?  He was also very happy that Becky arrived with his "girlfriend" Saffron, the most beautiful, tiny little gold and white Sheltie with one blue eye.  I adore her!  I could happily pop her in my jacket and take her home! <3

All in all, I'd say the morning was a great success.  From what I could ascertain, we had lots of very interested people.  I went back to Lorraine's for lunch afterwards (to save me driving home, only to drive back out again for the puppy social walk a couple of hours later), and the business phone rang a few times!  Hopefully that will be some keen new owners from the morning at Pets at Home! ;)

At 2pm we headed to Wilsford village hall to meet up for the puppy social walk.  Due to Ancaster Valley still being inhabited by sheep, we all drove over to Sudbrooke for the walk.  It went really well, and no one had to feel Ashy's wrath other than Bruce, a slightly OTT Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy.  Only 5 months old but still a good 3 times the size of Ash!

As tired as I was when I got home, I still had to walk Trent and Indie.  I decided to take them out seperately, for about 40 minutes each, so I could do some training.  Indie is really good at walking on a loose lead when we're on our own together, although her herding instinct still kicks in whenever she sees a lone car coming down the highstreet!  She doesn't pull me, she just stops and goes into typical collie herding pose, giving the car the eye!  Silly girl..

It was the monthly ICC adult dog social walk yesterday, and I decided to just take Indie along with me this time.  When we got out of the car she was initially her manic, squeaky self, but as soon as we got walking that all changed.  I let her off the lead and she was really well behaved for the entire walk.  The only problem we had was that the other dogs seemed to target her (not in an aggressive way, just very, very interested and playful), and she was rolling on her back left, right and centre to submit to them!  I went home with a very dirty dog as she was rolling on her back in wet mud!  

She eventually decided to stand up for herself a bit and told the other dogs where to go, which helped a lot, and she finally enjoyed the rest of the walk without spending most of her time on her back with her legs in the air!  

My mum and dad came over to visit from Birmingham today and brought Izzy, their Shih Tzu.  I love seeing Izzy, she is the most adorable little pooch in the world!  After an initial sniff, my dogs completely ignored her, which was good!  Izzy isn't so good with other dogs, not aggressive, but just has no idea how to behave.

When I brought Indie in, I asked my parents to completely ignore her no matter what, and this worked very well as she settled quickly and ended up spending most of the day asleep. 

I took my parents to Horbling Nature Reserve for a walk with all the dogs.  It was really nice, my dogs had a great time, and ran around and played rough together without interfering with Izzy. 

After my parents left, I did a bit more training with the dogs for our freestyle routines.  I am really quite panic stricken about it!  I sent my entries off so there is no going back now, but I am just scared that my dogs are going to ignore me in the ring and I'll be really embarassed!!

Well what a busy day I had yesterday!  I didn't get home from dog training until nearly 11 at night, so had no time left to update my blog!

Matt took the dogs out to Horbling nature reserve for me yesterday, as I was out and busy with other things.  

Indie had a private heelwork to music lesson yesterday.. which could have gone better!  I had been very prepared, wrote up my routine (well, I had completed about 2/3 of it) on paper etc. and had been practising it lots in the morning.  Indie pretty much switched off as soon as we got into the barn and just played stupid.  "Paw????? Wha..?  What's that mean?"  She managed to get a little bit of work done but I was very disappointed and I don't think it bodes well for the competition we are entering.  It is so difficult and frustrating.  I know she is improving, and I know I have the patience and motivation to get us past this, but it's just whether that will be in time for the competition!  She is too easily distracted!

Then there was the Gold/Platinum class, and Trent was on his absolute best behaviour.  He was absolutely smashing and I was chuffed to bits with him!

The lesson started with a bit of a test to see how our dogs would respond to commands on either voice alone (hands behind your back!) or hand signals alone.  It was very interesting and I found out a couple of things.  I hadn't realised that Trent would do heelwork with my hands behind my back!   Trent will not walk back on hand signal alone, but he would on voice alone and he would not stand on his back legs by voice alone, but he would on hand signal alone.  Everything else, he would do with either.  

We also started a bit of competitive obedience send aways and a sort of '101 things to do with a pole'!

I taught Trent a new command, "wrap", where he will sit and wrap both his front paws around a pole and hold it!  It's so cute, I love it!  He's such a clever boy and he loves training.  You can almost see the cogs going round in his head when he's training, trying to figure out what I want!

Ash was excellent as usual in agility, but it was worked out that he actually performs better if I just shut my mouth for the majority of the course LOL!  He has developed an obsession with the stalls in the barn, because I used to throw food treats over the top to make being in the stall a nice experience for him and to keep him quiet.  When he entered the barn last night, the first thing he did was run full speed into one of the stalls.  It's getting a bit irritating now though as we will run a course, then he will run back and try to get into his stall again!  I refused to throw any treats over into the stall last night, and we did have the odd indignant yap, but I would rather break this habit now!

Today I have continued clicker training the dogs with the target stick. Trent and Indie are making progress, but Ash seems to be a bit behind them.  He is still too focused on the fact that I have food somewhere on my person to do much more than prod the end of the target stick with his nose for a split second.. he just stares at me!  I've been throwing food away when I click, to try to discourage his fixation on me.  

I have had a few opportunities today to click and reward for a bit of trotting pace with Indie and Trent.  It looks so gorgeous, I really want to achieve this with my dogs.  

Having spent so much time (and half a block  of cheese!) training with the target stick however, means I neglected to continue working on my freestyle routine with Indie today.  I feel a bit stupid about that now, as I've got a heelwork to music lesson tomorrow and could have done with having a solid routine to practise.  I will try to get it worked out tomorrow before the class, but I have a couple of other committments tomorrow also which means I will be having a non-stop busy day! 

We didn't have a particularly special walk today, we just walked around the village for a while and let the dogs off to run and play in the paddock next to the village hall.

Bedraggled, scrawny dog found in Bourne Woods..

...oh wait no, it's just Indie covered in mud, having been swimming in the pond again!

We took the dogs to Bourne Woods today.  It was beautiful and sunny but the wind could nearly knock you off your feet at times!  Luckily it was much better once we got into the woods.

Indie has developed a love of swimming.  She will actually swim out and retrieve a stick thrown into the water now, whilst Trent and Ash wait on the banks, ready to steal it!  I don't like using sticks, but really wasn't going to try to teach her this with bought toys, that's wasting money I don't have!  I think I'll invest in some kind of floating toy now she's retrieving reliably though!

After playing with the dogs in the ponds for a while, we decided to sit down on the benches before heading back, and Indie just threw herself back into the water!  She is so keen to swim that she will even get into the water just in case you might throw something for her!

I signed up for the Crufts Video on Demand service last night, as I forgot it was being broadcast live online.  Today I saw the Day 1 training with Mary Ray and was inspired to get my target stick out!  I bought it ages ago, from Mary Ray's website, but I have not made much use of it. 

I don't know why I didn't, because in the space of about 15 minutes I managed to ensure all my dogs have a healthy obsession with the thing!  I put it over my shoulder at one point, just whilst I had a think for a minute, and Indie ended up doing a "high" behind my back, trying to touch it with her nose!

My main reason for wanting to use it is to teach them to trot.  I have made some progress on the trot with Trent without a target stick, but it is INCREDIBLY difficult to see what your dogs front legs are doing when your dog is only the length of your arm away and to the side of you.  The target stick is going to make this much, much easier.

Whilst watching the Mary Ray training earlier, I also noticed that she plugged her new click and treat target stick, which drops a treat from the ball on the end.  I am definitely going to invest in one of these, as it stops the dog anticipating the treat coming from your hands.

http://www.maryray.co.uk/product_pages/clickandtreat.html

Change of plans!

Well so much for going to Barnack Hills and Hollows!  It chucked it down with rain all morning, but at 3.30pm it stopped and I saw a glimmer of sunlight, so I rushed out with the dogs before the rain started again.  We went down the road to Horbling Nature Reserve and had a lovely walk, the sun broke through a couple of times but it was mostly overcast.  I was lucky really, as about 5 minutes after we got home it started raining so heavily that the sound of the water bouncing off the conservatory roof was deafening!

I've had a bit of a change of plan with regards to song choice for mine and Indie's freestyle routine.  I was going to do a circus themed routine to Circus by Britney Spears, but the track was too long for the starters class.  My instructor's husband was going to shorten the song a bit for me, but I realised last night that even with the bits that I wanted removed taken away, it was STILL too long!  Gah..!  Instead I have decided to go with Big Spender by Shirley Bassey, as it is only 1 minute and 50 seconds long.

I have mostly just worked on building a new routine today, but just to keep things fresh I carried on clicker training to get them to lift a back leg (which I have been attempting to train for a while and is proving to be a long and arduous process) and to cross over the front paws in a down, which I have called "criss" and "cross".

Last night I was full of big plans for today.. to find another picturesque walk to do with the dogs and to get some more photos and video done... sadly that didn't happen!  When we woke up, it was really sunny and the sky was so blue, but it didn't take long for it to become overcast, so we decided that we'd save ourselves the disappointment of driving somewhere lovely, only to be rained on!

I took the dogs out locally, and although I did take a few photos, they are not the best.  It was too light for the flash, but too dark to make do without.  I love taking photos in sport mode on bright days!

I have done quite a bit of training with them today, although mostly with Indie I'll admit, in preparation for the Westglen heelwork to music/freestyle show.  I am mainly working on heelwork and keeping her attention on my face, which is going well, and I have also been putting our routine together and working out the best way to link moves. 

I decided to try a few new things today, with a sturdy box.  Indie knows the "on" command (get on top of box with all 4 feet), so I gave this and tried other things such as "beg", "twist" and "high" (stand upright on 2 back legs) on top of the box.  I could see that this was helping her with her balance, as she soon became quite aware that a foot wrong could lead to her tripping off the box.  Her "high" was very solid and stable, whereas she doesn't seem to put that much effort in normally.

I then used the "feet" command (put two front feet on the box) and attempted to teach her to pivot around the box using her back legs.  I taught this by standing by her side and giving the "close" command as I moved around the box.  I would love to get this to a point where she can do it on her own, as it would look great in a routine with me then circling her and the box.

I also went back over simply circling the box again, as after doing so much work involving getting on the box, I didn't want her to start anticipating what I was going to ask her to do with it.

We're hoping to take the dogs to Barnack Hills and Hollows tomorrow morning, before Matt has to nick my car to go to cricket nets.  I have been there once before, when we just had Ash, and it is absolutely beautiful.  Sadly on my last trip there I forgot my camera, so it will be great to get some photography done!

On a random final note, Indie and Bigpuss (one of my two Siamese brothers) have the most hilarious relationship I have ever seen.  She will lie with him, mouthing his head and drooling on him, whilst he purrs and rubs around in sheer delight..  strange animals...

Trip to Hunstanton, and Indie's first seaside experience.

As it was such a lovely sunny day today, and we are currently on 2 weeks of annual leave, we took the dogs for a trip down to Hunstanton in Norfolk.  This was Indie's first experience of the sea, and I caught it on film, although sadly my boyfriend's laptop is not co-operating with me so I can't get it on here yet.  She did a mad hop when the tide first came towards her, but after that initial wariness, she spent most of the day in the water (and consequently, completely covered in sand!).

The dogs also made a new friend today, a lovely man who trains a retrieve and escape dog in the army, back from Iraq due to injury.  He spent quite a while talking to us and playing with the dogs, throwing their ball into the sea.  We had a few moments where it looked like the ball was going to be swept off to the horizon, but shockingly enough the dogs managed to bring it back every time and the ball even made it home!  (A rare occurence indeed!  I think I manage to lose a ball every time I decide to take one out with us!)

On a similar note, I have my own injured soldier!  Whilst we were throwing the tennis ball, Indie snapped at Trent, and there was blood running down his face.  He's got a tiny little nick in the tip of his ear  (far less severe than the amount of blood suggested), but it bled like crazy and ended up all over my hands and coat.  I don't think she actually intended to injure him, just to warn him off.  I have made a mental note to add antibac powder and tissues to my enormous bag for our next trip.

We walked for over 3 hours before we decided to head home, stopping to play fetch, take photos and shoot some video on the way. 

Indie was completely disinterested in the many passing dogs and people whilst we were out today, which I

 think would shock anyone who has met her at dog training.  She even treated the man who was playing with them as though she had always known him.  I like it when she's like that - that's the dog I know and love every day, and I sometimes feel exasperated that she can't just be herself at dog training, rather than having to yank me towards any other people and dogs whilst squealing excitedly.  She's the most highly trained dog out of the 3 of them, but still the least sensible.

Introduction

After a previous (failed) attempt at creating a blog about my dogs, I thought I'd give it another go!  Hopefully with a bit more resolve this time!

I think I should begin by introducing them individually, so that if anyone does eventually read this, it won't be so confusing!

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Tachnamadra Tartan Embers - Ash

Ash is a blue merle Shetland Sheepdog from a wonderful breeder, Maureen Bywater, in Yorkshire.  Ash has passed his Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze, Silver and Gold tests and is currently excelling at his agility training.  

He is an incredibly friendly, loving little fluff ball and would sell his soul to anyone for a piece of food!  He was our first dog and we got him when we bought our first house. 

Getting Ash was one of the best decisions we have ever made, not only because he is an absolutely fabulous dog who has never caused us a moments trouble and has given us nothing but love, but because his breeder is always there for me to give me advice, and to share in our wins and our failures. 

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Foxearth Follow Me - Trent

Trent is a tricolour Smooth Collie, raised by Geoff Hyde and his lovely wife, but is technically a Foxearth dog. 

Trent is MY dog through and through, and although he is very friendly and loving towards anyone he meets, there is no one he would rather be with than me.

Trent has passed his Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze and Silver tests and is being trained for Canine Freestyle.  I would also like to do agility with him at some point, as he is an incredibly fast and driven dog.

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Stillmoor Winter Sun - Indie

Indie is our third and final dog, our baby girl.  Indie is a red merle Border Collie bred by Paula Ackary of Stillmoor.  I knew I wanted a Border Collie specifically for training in heelwork to music and freestyle, so to enquire with Stillmoor was the obvious choice!

She is the most over-friendly dog I have ever met.  If you ask her for a hug, she will practically wrap her paws around your waist!  She is incredibly intelligent and can learn new things in a shockingly short amount of time.  She can still be really silly, squeaky and over excited when meeting new people and dogs, but this has improved with age and I'm sure will continue to do so.

Indie has passed her Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze and Silver tests and is being trained for canine freestyle and heelwork to music.  I am entering her into her first competition in April.

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I often laugh to myself in my head when people say, "Oh you've got your hands full!" when they find out I've got 3 dogs, as they have never been any trouble.  We've never had our house or posessions chewed to shreds, our dogs and cats love each other so much that I often say that it's like something out of a Disney film and the dogs also adore and protect my chickens that free range around the garden.  My dogs completely enrich my life and I couldn't live without them.

I think that's a sufficient introduction to my doggies!  I should also mention that I train with, and highly recommend, Ichthus Canine Centre.