Osborne Mutley Crew

Underground Ernie

2008-05-29T10:12:00.001-07:00

you know your gonna get there EARLY............................

I'll let you in to a secret though, the reason Dylan is not in these photo's is because he was hiding behind me screaming!

There was Jubilee and Ernie 1

and even Thomas too much to Dylan's amazement!

and a little blue eyed dog who wanted to look cute in her pictures....

and a gorgeous boy.......

Sorry bad blogging

2008-05-28T03:02:00.000-07:00

Oooops
Sorry its been so long since i updated my blog. Here's some new pictures that might make you smile...............

Here's Dylan practicing his martial arts and Emmy practicing her agility on Tig

Tig and Emmy looking too cute

A family photo except Dyl had to hug Emmy before he would sit up!

Emmy learning that there is a time and a place to stop! Even if its just for a second....

She'd rather not though!

Hills

2008-04-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Just a quick catch up with some lovely pictures. The rain has eased off a bit although when it does fall its still of the frozen variety. The dogs have had a lovely time in Edinburgh and been on some great, if not muddy walks.

I ache so i guess I'm not as fit as i could be, i think that is a new goal of mine but i guess we all think that. Maybe I'll be able to keep up with Mr Tig better then and Emmy soon cause she is flying. I never found any equipment so I just decided to let tig run up as many hills as possible so atleast he will be keen. He tried to scale the cairn on top of the hill today like an aframe so he's as bold as ever. Emmy hasn't done any dissapearing this week but i think she has run up those hills 100 times the amount she runs and never tires. They have been great fun this week and kept me smiling.

Hard work but satisfyinng!

My man!

2008-03-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry not hot gossip just the most beautiful person in the world.....................

The rain

2008-03-29T10:06:00.001-07:00

Yeah ok it rains everywhere but truly the rain here is evil. It waits until you get down the lane with the dogs and then it chucks it down and the wind howls. The rain is so cold and it comes at you sideways about 100 miles an hour. Ok that might be a bit exaggerated but you can imagine.

Bi product of all this rain is the constant wet dogs, I seem to be always drying dogs and cleaning the floor its a full time job.

On a good note I made some jumps today and found 12 electric fence posts for weaves. Tig thought i was a bit mad but he soon got into it and it was a good little training session. Emmy had a go but she needs to calm down and work a bit steadier, no one can learn anything going that fast!

Catch up

2008-03-29T03:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being a bad blogger but most of my news is not able to go on here and I've been borrowing internet time from friends so had no time to write on here.

Whilst I've been gone Dylan had his second birthday. He is such a good boy and didn't really know much about it but we took him riding and he got his tractor so he was happy. I have vowed that next year he will have a party with his little friends where ever we are.

Dylan, me, Tig and Emmy are staying with my Mum and Dad for a while. Its nice up here and lovely walking but it is very quiet and I have yet to find anyone that might have equipment to hire :-( oh well Tig will be super fit if nothing else. Emmy has settled really well up here and has taken to my Dad so much so that she stays with him and doesn't play hide and seek or get up to trouble. This morning he was putting in some fence posts and she was out for 2 hours. I am parinoid that she will disappear but everytime i looked out the window she was right there. Here's the view from Mum's back door.

Its a lovely day here today so i am going to remember to take my camera out and get some good shots! I hope Dylan and I will be back down south soon and look forwards to seeing everyone then. Hope your all well xxx

Wot puppies

2008-03-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wot puppies are of course Dot/Will puppies! They are so scrummy I could just eat them up!!! Dylan and I were privileged enough to be there on Sunday for the first 6 being born, however Dylan thought tea was more important so we had to come home and later on that night another 4 arrived! WOW 10 new Nedlo babies all black and white and an even split 5 girls 5 boys. Being as these babies are already known as the wot litter they will all have the word wot in their names so get your thinking caps on for that one my first attempt are Nedlo Wot You Like and Nedlo Woteva She Wants but I'm sure you guys can come up with better.

They are a lively little bunch even at 2 days old and remembering which one you have taken a picture of is impossible!

GOOD LUCK!

2008-03-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

GOOD LUCK

Good luck to everyone we know that is competing at Crufts next week! Hope you all have loads of fun, we'll be rooting for you.

Whiteways

2008-02-25T07:58:00.000-08:00

After working this morning i decided that Dylan and me could do with getting some fresh air so we bundled 3 dogs in the van (leaving Fizz at home as she's in season) and headed up to Whiteways. I love walking up there as there is so much space and it is great for the pushchair. We met one other person on our walk and the dogs had a ball. Emmy is great on a walk now as long as i don't worry about her. She likes to be at a distance but she always knows where we are and comes back 99% of the time. Sometimes it takes her a while to come back as she is a little way a way. Sometimes when i think she hasn't come back then she's hiding about 10 foot away. That can be a bit annoying but I have to remind myself that this is a big improvement. I'm not sure what she'd do if there were any livestock around and I'm sure I am going to have my work cut out in the exercise area's in the summer. I think i will often be found on the end of a long line for a while.

I took my camera and got some pictures of Dylan and the dogs, especially Billy as i realised that i don't have many of him. Its unfortunate for Billy that the camera loves Tig and Bill tends to be walking right next to me. If i try and get him to pose he gets worried and puts his ears flat, or sticks his tongue out!

I have had to admit that no matter how many curls i manage to get out of Emmy's coat she is simply a curly merl and maybe its because she's been here a while now but she's really grown on me and her face is so cute. Maybe thats says something about a mothers love!

Sadly a bit like Billy i can't get her to pose so well because she has ants in her pants and wont stand still! I wasn't loving her so much by the end of the walk, don't know where she found the water but i guess it washed the mud off, her rear end is not normally this colour!

Dylan really enjoyed his walk, i wonder sometimes why i take the pushchair, today it carried the dogs leads and lots of fur cones but rarely does Dyl actually want to sit in it. He loves climbing and he was dancing on top of this tree stump, he wont walk past here with out asking for a picture, he's so vain! The first one was dancing and the second he was the king of the castle.

Glad no one was there to see us both dancing LOL.

!

Finally Mr Tig got his chance to pose and pose he did a bit like Dylan he's loves having his picture taken.

Oh boy!

2008-02-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

I took this cheeky picture this morning but i didn't have anything to write so i didn't put it on here. Then we set off for the Flying Fortress which is the craziest soft play center for children, not a place i like to go in half term but my nephews were desperate. After 10 minutes of being there Dylan slipped off a tiny ledge and screamed his head off and was then not able to bear any weight on his left leg for 20 minutes and kept trying to walk but falling over. I really thought we were off the A+E but he seemed to get better and off he hopped (I obviously kept him still for as long as humanly possible with a two year old).
About an hour later he wandered off in the direction of the baby play bit and I watched him go whilst chatting to Denise from Patenden club (its amazing who you meet in these places). Then he had disapeared and for 10 minutes we couldn't find him. Not fun at all. My nephew found him hiding in a climbing frame and when he brought him to me he said 'Dylan hiding Mummy!'
Children!

Training last night

2008-02-21T03:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks Nancy, I was having a blonde moment and couldn't work that out!

We're not quite back in our training area as i don't want to mess it up before the spring and it has rubbish drainage, so we are using the not so flat paddock next to it. This means we can't quite fit in so much equipment as normal but last night we worked on this little course with a group of dogs that ranged from Dan and his Gr1 CKCS to little Kate and Phoebe who is Gr6 (by default, there was no weaves in the jumping that she won and 6 in the agility)

Here's a copy of the course

We broke the course down in to 3 sections first so they could work any problems they had. Some of the dogs had a spin after the tunnel the first couple of times so we worked on that and the aframe to number 6 was tricky if the handlers had to stay right in at the bottom of the aframe. Everyone worked the bottom of the dogwalk well depending on their style and those that were able ran accross to the gap between 13 and 14 before releasing their contacts. This went well especailly for a couple of people who had put in loads of work on independant contacts over the winter. I have to say Dan's CKCS was the star and seems to LOVE frosty evenings, maybe we'll have to find him an ice jacket for the summer!

Leslie then came out and moved one jump for Bill and Tig, I was abit cold by then but both boys worked well.

How do i...

2008-02-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

post course plans from course designer 3 on the blog? Then i can join in with posting training courses too!

2008-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Remember make the most of everything you do in life especially your time with your loved ones and your doggies, you just don't know whats round the corner.

Dylan and Emmy

2008-02-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

Just a few bits of play with Emmy and Dylan, sorry its a bit dark. I must find somewhere to put the camera outside.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sesame Street Quiz

2008-02-10T13:07:00.001-08:00

You Are Big Bird

Talented, smart, and friendly... you're also one of the sanest people around.

You are usually feeling: Happy. From riding a unicycle to writing poetry, you have plenty of hobbies to keep you busy.

You are famous for: Being a friend to everyone. Even the grumpiest person gets along with you.

How you life your life: Joyfully. "Super. Duper. Flooper."

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Grrrr

2008-02-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

I have not been feeling at my best recently and this week I think maybe i should be sectioned!
But instead I thought I would use the blog as a way of letting off steam. As mostly dog people read this I wondered if it maybe of interest for you that most of you guys would be prepared to pay more for an hours private lesson that parents are prepared to pay for a whole day of childcare. Also most of you guys understand the fact that you pay for your club or group lessons whether you make it every week or not. For most people this goes without saying and others just need a gentle reminder.

Parents on the other hand are a whole different ball game. There are some who are brilliant and I am eternally grateful to them for making my life so much easier. There are others who completely take the Mickey and cause me to be pulling my hair out. Stress is no good for anyone but perhaps I'm just not coping with it very well. Maybe I'm over reacting!

Oh well that’s my angry rant over. Bad days are good incentive for me to get my sorry *** back to work on my diploma and stop moping! If only I could win the lottery...

PS please keep posting your course plans I need insperation to get out and do a bit with Mr Tig.

Baby photo's

2008-01-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

Today I had a panic because i couldn't find Dylan's baby photo's. I eventually found them hiding in a folder that i hadn't opened for ages so it thought i would share some with you. He was a huge baby but to look at the pictures he looks tiny, the first one is at one day old in hospital and the other two are at home around a week old....

The many disguises of a Fizzy Pop!

2008-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

I was looking back over some photo's and i found these that were taken out the back in November. Now i know Fizz has had a few 'comments' recently on looking puppyish but i can't believe the difference. Here she is looking like a fox...

and OK she still looks a bit odd but now she has a lovely liver colour and a really soft thin coat...please can we keep it!!!

What shall we do today?

2008-01-22T04:17:00.000-08:00

Today Dylan is away from 9am till 3.30pm so there is SO much that i should be doing. So what did i do...

Spent two hours at Wittering beach with the dogs of course!

When i arrived there wasn't many people there but a few so i got Tig out for a bit of training. There is so much space at Wittering in the winter when its not full of cars, but with Tig i was playing the 'look at that dog' game so i hung around the car park to get plenty of new dog opportunities. Tig is really starting to like this game, its from Leslie McDevitt's book Control Unleashed (if i knew how to do a link i would!). The idea is that rather than always getting the dog to look at you you teach the dog to face his fears in a calm manner. With Tig i click when he looks at a dog calmly and he turns around for his treat. What she describes in her book as the band-aid approach is what i always did with Tig, basically saying he must look at me only me and not explore anything, i must be the centre of his universe, this is all very well but he missed out on valuable socialising. So today we spoke to LOTS of golden retrievers and almost as many spaniels and a labradoodle. Once we've mastered this game we will move on to the game called 'there's a dog in your face' which will help him with his really fear which is a dog rushing up to his space when he is on his lead.

After Tig I got Emmy out. I had to walk quite far away from the van as there was a large flock of geese near and i knew she would disturb them so i couldn't risk letting her off near them. With Emmy I played the 'give me a break' game to help build up her focus. This game is great for Emmy as it allows her to sniff (her favourite past time) but only on my terms. The idea is that you do some play or training that the dog likes for say 30 seconds and then tell them to go. As soon as the dog orientates back to you then the game begins again. With not many distractions around (a few dogs and surfers a little way away) Emmy is at the stage where she is pestering me to keep training her which for those who saw her 3 months ago will agree is a huge improvement!

Once i thought Emmy had done enough and before she decided she was bored of me We got the others out of the van and went in to the dunes. They were all really good, I found the dunes a good place to play hide and seek with Emmy as Helen suggested. She enjoyed the game but not as much as Fizzy who soon worked out if she got to me first there would be cheese! Emmy did go off a couple of times but from a high point on the dunes i could see her, she was just running up and down on her own course. So i didn't call her until she came back down to earth. There is alot of work for me to do on her recall as she just loves to run but she does seem to want to stay with me more than she used to and she certainly comes back quicker from seeing other dogs now.
Whilst we were on the beach Tig got loads more dogs coming up to him but off lead on a walk he is very relaxed. He tried to play with a pack of golden retrievers but they were more interested in the girls and all three had a game of chase with two very brave mini schnauzers! Witterings really is a great walk!

Tig found a quiet spot for some well deserved refreshment

Only to be bombarded by a mad Merle and her trusty sidekick

More fun with Dylan...

2008-01-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

of the messy variety!

Dylan loves to paint, in fact he loves anything that involves getting messy. I can see us having a lot of pictures around the house as he grows up. I'm happy as long as he keeps it vaguely on the paper!

The best bits about being a Mum

2008-01-18T03:40:00.001-08:00

20 minutes later he was having a tantrum about something but the sticking was fun, and yes Granny the work of art is on its way to you!

Thank you Dennis

2008-01-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Dennis O'bay for the most wonderful photo's of Tig and Fizz. They are the best!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Best wishes to everyone for 2008 and sorry for being a BAD blogger! Here's our little update.

Olympia, well lets just say that its agility and ANYTHING can happen and it usually does! Tig took two poles, why i don't know that probably makes his knocked poles total no more than 10 this year so why two at Olympia? I have his run on video and he just wasn't quite himself for whatever reason. I've gone over it in my head way too many times and the same three things come up when talking to others as well the bigger wings and poles and the way i handled the start.
We have barrels and big solid pedigree wings in our field and some long poles too so he gets to train on these more than most and i handled the set up and the start of the course exactly the same way as I'd have done 100 times over this year. Tig didn't settle until about the 7th obstacle then he became himself again and was flying, we gave it our best shot and i hope I get to take him back to try again one day.
As for Dot well who knows, I for one thought she had her feet on the dog walk but she managed to duck out right at the last minute and came right across my feet, weird things happen out there. Sadly i don't have that run on video because i would love to see what i did that made her think i was pulling her off. I enjoyed the rest of Dot's run alot more than I'd enjoyed Tigs and i was pleased to have a fun run with her in the pairs and she went like a bullet. She really enjoyed the roar from the crowds!

After the long days at Olympia we were pleased to head off for our Christmas Hols with my Mum and Dad in Scotland. The dogs LOVED it as did Dylan. Presents took Dylan most of the day and he got some lovely things. Leslie bought him a mini Stihl chainsaw that has a rubber chain and makes a noise. It drove everyone mad but Dylan loved it and along with his drill he preformed minor surgeries and mended things! He also got a hand knitted Bot The Builder from his Great Granny. Bob is amazing every little detail to his hat and his tool belt. I know my Gran put alot of time in to this and it is very much appreciated, he has pride of place in bed with 'Babbit' and 'Blanket'. I know he will be much loved over the next few years.

Dylan was truly spoilt by everyone.

There was alot of family at Mum's from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day in total there were 10 dogs and i forgot to take my camera out but we had some great walks. It was the Gun dogs versus the Pastoral on behaviour the Gun dogs had it every time but the collies never failed to have a BLAST!!!! After all they were on holiday ;-)

All these dogs let their humans along and even let them join in the feast and what a feast it was!

Finally my best Christmas present was from my sickeningly organised Sister in Law it was an address and birthday book....COMPLETELY FILLED IN FOR ME! Only one problem, i have NO EXCUSE NOW!

Down hill from now on...

2007-12-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know Leslie you might be interested to hear that today he gave in and purchased a Sat Nav. At least navigating to shows will be less stressful now, if he believes it. But i can see him driving in the wrong direction for a 'quicker' route and just ignoring it...

Does this remind you of anyone Mum?

2007-11-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

Our very own elephant

2007-11-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've been teaching Tig and Emmy the circus elephant trick so I've been spending a lot of time playing with the washing up bowl. This has given it a good appeal to Dylan who now calls it a 'click box', he calls the clicker 'click.....ER'.
So here's Dylan being a circus elephant

He loves his 'click box' he uses it to get on the bed, stands on it to look out the window and to wash his hands or get his tooth brush. When i tried to take some picture he just kept turning his back on me and because he is getting abit of a sense of humour now he was giggling his little head off!

Dylan

2007-11-23T08:57:00.001-08:00

Whilst downloading some dog pictures on to photobucket i came accross these. Both photo's were taken at about 6 weeks old. I always regret the fact that the quality is not better on the coloured shot because it captured him perfectly. He had such dark hair and eyes when he was born. The black and white shot i took whilst holding the camera out to the side and i've always loved it.

Our trip up north

2007-11-23T05:57:00.000-08:00

We took a long trip up to Newton Heaths 600 miles in total and sadly for me that equates to 120 miles per elimination and a 6th in agility with Tig, where i could and should have done better. I was cross with myself but it was a good experience, i found my dogs a bit clingy in all the noise and i couldn't get away with using verbals and trying to get in the next position too early. We are back again for the Wyre show so i'm pleased to get another go and i hope i can do better for them.

Leslie on the other hand had a great day, Fizzy LOVES the noise and hype, she won her Gr4 jumping and even Billy coped with the extra hype and won the jumping TFO. Sadly i don't have that filmed because it was a very exciting, seat of his pants style run!

Here's Fizz's jumping round with a christmas twist.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Brrrr its cold out there!

2007-11-13T03:45:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that on Monday i had such a lovely sunny morning with Bernadette, OK it was a little bit cold but nothing like it is here today. Jack Frost has arrived! After Bernadette's very helpful training on Monday i took the dogs over the fields behind the factory. I was so lovely and i thought to myself its November and the dogs are clean! I wish I'd had the camera. I took it out on Tuesday instead, Tuesday was not such a sunny day and the dogs were NOT clean but we had great fun with the camera anyway.

This is Emmy, after they'd been through the long wet grass to try and get some of the mud off.

I've been thinking for a while that poor Fizz doesn't get much of a mention on the blog and so i made the effort to point the camera in her direction. She's such a funny looking think sometimes she looks really odd. But i did get some great pictures of her, i just had to be patient. I tried to get lots of head shots so you can't see her coat because she does have a lovely face but i did manage to get this one of the ugly sisters! Sorry Laura and Lesley!

But if they are the ugly sisters then Dot must be Cinderella!

We don't meet anyone out the back so i can really let to dogs run and run (this is why i can't take them all out in an exercise area together). Here is them doing their out run but at least i know they will come back, although i think Fizzy had other ideas!

Finally Tig and Fizz lay down for a chat actually it looks like she's given him a cold shoulder but thats women for you, he'll get used to it!

HE HE HE

2007-11-13T03:09:00.000-08:00

Thought these might make you smile...

He calls them his 'glass' and he loves wearing them!!!!

Autumn Jobs

2007-11-11T05:43:00.000-08:00

Why is it that once the shows are over you never have all the time that you think you were going have! Partly i guess its down to lazy weekend mornings but mostly i think we just have so many jobs to catch up on, ones that we put off all summer. Last week with the help of Little Red Tractor (Dylan's favourite) Leslie has been catching up on 3 years hedge trimming!

Its a huge job and not really a one man job either but he's getting there, The one behind the dogs is not done yet although he did cut a path so people could get through to the agility field easier.

The other job we did last weekend was take the Dog Walk in strip it back and completly repaint and resand it. Sadly no photo's but it looks great and we had a good time doing it, Dylan especially because he got to play on Little Red Tractor all day. The A-frame is next on our list and of course the van cages that Leslie is trying to get done before Newton Heath next Saturday.

Halloween and bonfires

2007-11-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

First i have to confess I'm a big kid and i LOVE Halloween, so Dylan and the minded children spent a week getting the pumpkins carved. I always get really excited and buy way TOO MANY pumpkins and then end up doing them for hours. So this year i was well behaved, i took 4 children to Slindon and we took Emmy, Fizz and Dot for a walk in the woods. After our walk we went to visit the pumpkin man. He wasn't there when we went because he's quite old now but his display was still good, this year he did a dinosaur and a pterodactyl, sadly i didn't have my camera. Here's a picture from a couple of years ago when he used 22 different types of pumpkins in his display.

I was good and we only bought 4 Pumpkins, i wanted to buy some green ones because they looked scary but the children were adamant they had to be the traditional orange ones. I let Dylan carve his pumpkin one evening when the minded children had gone because they like take over and do things for him. So instead he had the help of the dogs, especially Emmy who thought the pumpkin was YUMMY!

Don't worry he didn't actually eat any!!!

Here's a couple of the finished ones

Anyway after the minded children had been round trick or treating i took the sweets out to my group and i have to say they are all big kids too and everyone had a ball but there wasn't much training going on!!!

We were then on to the firework season, I'm really glad none of my dogs are bothered but i feel for those who have dogs that are affected by fireworks because they go on for so long not just celebrating the 5th of November.
Osborne refrigerators has a yearly firework party these days and most of the staff come and bring friends, we have sausage in a bun and a huge fire. Leslie spends ages getting the fire built and sorting out the fireworks because he likes everything to go smoothly, he hates gaps in the display. This year was no different and he did a good job and everyone enjoyed themselves we even had some unexpected visitors.

Yes someone called the firebrigade! We;re not sure who it was but they were quite happy with everything and they didn't even want a sausage in a bun! Here's Leslie's fire, we are a long way away from it and it burns down quickly.

I always have reservations about this party as i know that dog people should be against fireworks but the kids and BIG kids have a good time and it's nice to see people from the factory and chat to friends. Dylan really enjoyed himself and like last year he went to sleep half way through!

A shameless Plea!

2007-11-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

The minded children and I have registered with Tesco's to collect their sports for schools vouchers and they are doing a great job, but obviously we are competing against the playschools and schools for them so if anyone has any spare that we can make use of PLEASE let me know and i will send you an SAE!!!! You need 1000's to get the big stuff but a few hundred would get us some new footballs and a new net for our goal posts.

Supadog Finals

2007-11-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

Back in March this year before i realised what a year Tig was going to have he came 2nd in the Supadog heat and qualified for the final. Eventually the 14th October came round and Tig was going fantastic, I have to say i hadn't done anything with him and we spent the week before in Scotland but it worked to his advantage i think because he was seriously flying.

Sadly for Tig i let him down in the final and caused him to run by Jump 16 (GRRR!) but as you will see by Lisa's wonderful filming he was going great and i couldn't have asked for any more from him.

So we ended up winning both the warm up jumping and agility classes, I should know that is unlucky! As usual the wonderful Linda Croxford and her team provided GREAT crystal and rosettes AND more food for Charlie, which is great as she had just come to the end of the 3 bags Tig won in June!

Thanks

2007-10-29T08:45:00.001-07:00

Thanks Karen for the lovely banner at the top!

One of those camera moments

2007-10-29T02:28:00.001-07:00

Having read about Johanna's Soda jumping into the sink i think Emmy took a leaf from her book.
We got home from Downlands and she was very pleased to see us, it was a shame she couldn't come but lack of cage space and lack of excersize at the venue ment it was better for her to stay at home with Charlie.
Anyway she was hairing round the place like a hooligan and all of a sudden she ran in through the back door and landed right on the kitchen table. I wish i had a picture! Couldn't help but laugh as i wiped the muddy paw prints off!

Souvenirs

2007-10-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Now its always nice to get a little something to remember a holiday by so i guess its about time i introduced Corriedhu Emmy.

I first contacted Laura about a month before my holiday but i never expected Emmy to still be there when we went up, infact there were other people interested but it must have been fate because she was still there and needed a home and some people to call hers. Emmy has a GEORGOUS temperment and a really good attitude towards life and most of all she LOVES a cuddle.

Lucky for us that she wouldn't work sheep else Laura would have wanted to keep her but she certainly will do agility and she loves her food and toy and she's begining to play tug loads now i will have to take some video cause i know it will make Laura cringe! Sheepdogs just are not ment to do that, but she loves it.

For now Emmy is just settling in and finding her feet, she is for Dan (Leslie's Son)and he's been playing lots of games with her this week. The serious stuff will start later, there is no hurry as this pair are lucky to start in Grade 1 so they can learn the ropes together. Although i think Dylan's trying to steal her, here's his first shot at training caught on camera (rare for me i know!)

Emmy is genetically 'NORMAL' and carries dilute so maybe one day i'll get a blue tri bitch after all.

Arrived

2007-10-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

The ordeal of the flight was worth it though as we had a lovely holiday, GG's granny flat is wonderful. Dylan LOVED his grandad who was named 'dad' for the week as apposed to 'daddy' who joined us after a couple of days with a few of the dogs for us to walk. This journey was made a bit easier by 'Vera' who we had enquired the week before. She looks abit dirty here but Leslie loves Black cars and she is pretty much everything we needed.

Leslie just has to find the time to make the cages now...

Sadly i didn't take any pictures whilst we were away so i will have to get my Mum to send me some. Usless i know but i don't have a Dennis! Perhaps he would like a holiday to scotland to take some nice piccies???

Here's a picture i took last week, shame about the red eye!

Scotland holiday - the flight

2007-10-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well i don't think any of the passengers on the flight from Gatwick to Aberdeen will forget that flight in a hurry. I've always believed people when they have said that kids on airplanes cry because the pressure hurts their ears but now i know differently. Little boys just don't like to sit still, and Mummy's should not attempt airports on their own!
Leslie dropped us at Terminal 1 ages before our flight so with pushchair in one hand and wheelie case in the other i made my way in to the chaos. First problem, there is no one to talk to just computers! I'd never heard of checking in with a computer so that baffled me but i got my tickets and managed to keep hold of pushchair and case, phew. Now what everywhere said international and i knew i wanted domestic so i asked the guy checking in next to me and he said right at the end so push pushchair and pull case all the way down to the end of the building but it can't be right because that's arrivals. Maybe if you've flown lots you'll be thinking this sounds silly but at this point i was thinking this was not a good idea!
Anyway i eventually discovered that i you want domestic flights then you follow the signs for arrivals, silly me should have known! At this point Dylan was fed up but i manage to get rid of the case so that made life a bit easier, so i joined the huge ques for going through to airside.
I must admit at that point i breathed a sigh of relief and thought no problem I've got ages. The ques moved slowly and Dyls keep asking for OUT Mummy but all of a sudden a nice man opened up a side bit and let me through. Oh how nice obviously very helpful! Yeh right!
When we got down to the machines that scan the luggage it became obvious that he just didn't want me to hold the ques up because i had to take Dylan out of his pushchair and put pushchair folded up, nappy bag, handbag and mine AND Dylan's shoes on the rack. Then walk through and whilst holding Dylan unfold the pushchair (easier said than done) put Dylan in it, didn't want to keep holding everyone up so didn't strap him in (big mistake). I put Dyls shoes on, my shoes on, fixed nappy bag back on to pushchair. Phew so off we go!
Now the screen said we needed to go to Gate 5 but it was very early so off we go, outside the gate i got my phone to let Leslie know we'd made it and see if he had got out in time. That's when Dylan decided to make his escape, so he shuffles out of the pushchair and he's off. He can't go very fast but i have a new dilemma. If i let go of the pushchair to grab him then the whole thing will tip up as out nappy bag was full of books and toys for him. So i have to grab him with one hand and then keep the pushchair upright with my foot whilst i wrestle him in to it. Needless to say we ended up on the floor anyway with himself creating as he want to walk.
Everything else when fairly smoothly except having to change his nappy right by the gate whilst everyone was getting on the plane, but when needs must!
Once on the plane it became clear that Dylan needed a sleep but there was no way he would sleep so out came the toys and books. Within five minutes he was bored of these and we hadn't even taken off yet. He wanted to climb all over the seats but the seat belt sign was on and we kept taxiing down the runway waiting for our turn to go. After 20 mins we were off and so was Dylan screaming at the top of his lungs. That pretty much continued for the entire flight if he had to be strapped in except for when we were landing when it was 10 times worse!
So i have decided that it was not that the pressure hurt his ears it was his unhappiness about having to sit still in his seat that was the cause of the screaming and the cause of the very noisy flight to Scotland!

Sorry Nancy

2007-10-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

I have to say sorry to Nancy for being a very bad blogger but i just don't seem to have time to sit down at the moment!

Here's some pictures of Dylan in his boat! It was the Sunday of Paws in the Park and we were home very late. He ALMOST fell asleep but i spoiled it by trying to get a photo and waking him up!

My indoor photo's are never a very good colour and just don't look at the state of the carpet!

Dylan and artificial colouring

2007-09-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Well just to keep up to date with the news about how they make our children hyperactive (tell us something we didn't know), Dylan decided he would have his own experiment.

So whilst i was stirring the play dough mix with the children he picked his moment and climbed up on the children's little table in the kitchen to reach a LARGE bottle of bright red food colouring. I'm not entirely sure what happened next but i heard the bottle drop on to the floor and when i turned around well you can imagine the rest.

Needles to say i was so busy getting the children out of the way, Dylan's clothes off and trying to mop up the red colouring on the floor (which looked very blood like) that i didn't remember to go and get the camera. So i'm afraid you'll just have to use your imagination this time. Add to this that on the same day i had to take him for his passport photo's with two 4 year olds too and when we got back the freezer had defrosted all over the kitchen floor i'm not quite sure why they didn't cart me off in a straight jacket!

On a more positive note Dylan's language is brilliant now and we have lovely conversations about all sorts of things.
He knows 'gate' 'door' 'tractor' 'rabbit' 'charlie' 'tig' 'out' 'stuck' 'do it' and 'pop' (for ice pop -oops!)
I have say the funniest one is 'gate do it daddy tractor' which means he wants Leslie to take him up to the yard to play on the tractor which he wants EVERY night and Daddy is getting a bored of playing with the tractor. But it gives Mummy some peace and quiet!

Olympia here we come!

2007-09-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that i haven't had time to post this but this week has been mad. Last weekend was the Novice Semi final for Tig and the last senior Semi final for Dot. We had planned to stay in a travel lodge rather than driving back but things happened to mess up those plans and we were not organised enough and our unusual dog sitter is on holiday.

Tig's day was first and he started the day coming 4th in the invitational, i have to say i should have tried harder, yes I'll be the first to admit i'm lazy but i put the work in when its required and Mr Tig is on his way to London at Christmas. So we drove home feeling very relieved that we had achieved our goal this year. Although Tig has well exceeded any of my expectations!!!

I was really pleased to get home nice and early on Friday to get Dylan sorted out and ready for yet another early start. The long drives and early mornings take there toll on him sometimes and he gets all out of his routine. He copes remarkably well with it but its nice for him to get home and have a nice play in the garden and a proper dinner, rather than bits of food passed to him in the car.

I don't think i thought too much about either Semi final i try not to else i get too nervous but i guess i was more worried about Dot, its been an unusual year for our partnership, recently i know that we had started to come together and then she cut her pad and couldn't run for a little while. She went well in the invitational and put in a nice clear but i came out not happy with myself so gave myself a good kick up the ***!
I guess you could say it worked, to come 2nd with her was amazing and i never expected it to happen. I was so pleased driving home, i just couldn't believe we had done it.

Sadly no pictures or video i think i probably gave Leslie a hard time for two days and i know he is way too nervous for me to film anything!

Roll on Olympia!

Bridgehouse

2007-08-30T02:51:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely bankholiday weekend and the weather was great. On Saturday i drove Katie and Phoebe to the junior show at Chippenham. It was a really nice show and well organised, i had a lovely day sitting by the rings and watching the kids run their dogs, there are some great partnerships out there whome i'm sure are ones to watch out for as they get older. She took a pole in the jumping and the last pole in the power and speed, but she really helped us out in the one dog 2 handlers by not noticing the handler switch and winning the class by a tiny amount. Sadly they were eliminated in the YKC agility, she was the last dog to run and there had been no clears but i think this was a bit to much pressure for her, its hard to get a 10 year old to remember that she's only been running the dog since March. She has done so well to get in to 3 finals with her and to win the Agility Club under 12's final. I am really pleased that she still has next year in under 12's as Phoebe is enjoying herself SOO much and they are such great friends.

Sunday was Bridgehouse show at Horsham Rugby Club, i'd never been to this venue before but it was very nice and the show was very well organised and nice and relaxed. So relaxed that we even took some video! All the dogs were good, Fizzy is making a few baby mistakes and watching what her Dad does just a little too much but she redemed herself in the Grade 3 agility by doing a nice training round and still getting 7th.

The wonderful Dennis took these piccies of her, I'm not sure how she ever thought she was going to make this one but she looks determined! I have to say she looks just as determined after knocking the pole down.

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KC festival, birthdays and ducks

2007-08-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

The Thursday we drove to the KC festival was Leslie's birthday a bit of a shame to have to get up so early load the caravan and drive nearly 200 miles but atleast he didn't get a chance to be bored! On the friday we went out to the harvester with all our friends and had a nice meal, it was great because we ate outside and the kids all had a blast without annoying too many people! Leslie also celebrated on the friday as Fizz won Gr3-5 jumping which qualified her for the Novice Cup final on the Saturday.

Sadly for Fizz the Novice final proved just a touch too difficult for a 20mth old Gr3 dog but hey she did great to get there. Well done to everyone who qualifyed for crufts, especially Nancy and Mark who were the only 2 clears. Good runs!

Another little pup who was determined not to be left out climbed on the podium himself but sensibly he decided to settle for 3rd as the climb to 1st place seemed a bit scary!

Tig and I just weren't on the same planet for the KC Festival which resulted in handling errors all over the place, poor Mr Tig. However we managed to pull it out of the bag for his last class Gr 6 Agility which he won by 8 tenths. In the words of lisa WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! Mr Tig is now GRADE 7!!! Actually i don't think it has sunk in yet. Sadly there is no picture I NEED A DENNIS TOO!

But i did take some pictures of Spike for Bernadette

The Friday after the KC fesival was my birthday so Mum and I took Dylan to see the ducks in Arundel fortunatly we somehow managed to keep Dylan from falling in.

CAUGHT RED HANDED!

Some sad news for CROC fans
Dylans Crocs are now a whole size too small for him BOO HOO. They have however been replaced by a very smart pair or red shoes that FLASH. After all Winners wear red! PICTURES SOON promise!

Ok update coming up!

2007-08-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

A quick update from right back at Agility Club show where Tig was 2nd in Gr6 jumping i was really grateful to him cause i was half asleep and he got me out of trouble. I need to wake up quicker in the mornings, oops. BUT even better Dot was 3rd in the Senior KC qualifier which means she gets to go to the last day of the semi's. Yippee! She ran brill not only that she did the course almost twice as first time round a dog joined her at the end of the dog walk (#13) so we had to restart FROM SCRATCH. At that point i could have cried as i hadn't expected to get it right and never thought i could do it again. Extra treats for Dot that day!

The following weekend was Burridge and at last some time on our hands to do some video's. We really enjoyed Burridge show, they ordered great weather and sitting around one ring watching was really good and relaxing too. I would only wish that i'd brought my orange fence with me so i could have penned Dylan in, anyone who saw me running up and down the road all day will understand why!

I'm not sure being so relaxed worked for me and Tig as we struggled to get much right but it was a good chance to train his contacts which were brill so i guess we still got something out of it. I also learned that i NEED to work on my tunnel call offs when i'm left behind, but i think a hundred other people might also feel the same.

Dot was good and put in a FANTASTIC clear in Gr7 agility but missed out on the places by 1 place. But i was really pleased with the round it felt really good to me.

And Billy well never thought i'd say this but he was the SLOWEST clear in Gr7 jumping, i like to keep pointing this out to Leslie to wind him up but actually he was one of only two people to go clear so he was very pleased with himself.

At the end of the weekend was the team relay which we entered with Pam and Karen who live in our village. I think it would be fair to say that we entered for fun, so much so that i entered Leslie with Fe not Billy (i wasn't popular for this decision, hehe). Well low and behold we were the only 4 clears which was amazing

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

On the Monday after Burridge i took Dylan and the minded children to a farm, i'm sure Dylan though the black calf was Charlie (our rottie) as he climbed on the fence, reached out to touch it and said 'arlie' which was cute and fortunately the calf didn't mind. He also got very jealous of me holding a chicken so the bigger children could stroke it which was very funny, poor Dylan. Here's a picture of him meeting Sweet pea i'm not sure what he made of her!

Here's some other pictures of Dylan enjoying the summer.

Fathers day at Axtaine

2007-06-25T04:33:00.000-07:00

Axtaine is such a lovely show everyone is camped close to the rings and the tannoy can be heard from everywhere which is great. Usually its way to hot for the dogs but this year we had a few showers to cool us down. Dot and Tig performed very well with Dot coming 4th in both Grade 6/7 jumping classes and Tig getting a 5th in Gr 6/7 agility. For some reason Tig stopped on the see saw so lost a bit of time there but apart from that it was a nice round.

Dylan as usual had a ball playing in and out of the caravan and with Sophie, Andrew and Keiren who are much older than him but VERY good to him. He has also made a new friend this week and has started to learn to be nice to her, sometimes he is a little too nice but she is very tolerant of him.

With the fence around the garden Dylan is able to wander in and out of the caravan as he wishes although i have started to worry that he will be out there taking something apart to see how it works, just like his Dad. He has such concentration when he's trying to do something and usually he can be found at the jockey wheel trying to figure it out.

Agility didn't quite go Leslie's way but at least he had a nice Fathers Day with Dylan, they both love spending all weekend together. All week long all i hear is Dyl shouting for his Daddy, he knows the sight of his van and when we go to get in the car he will take himself up to the yard shouting for him, he gets quite cross if he can't find him. Weekends in the caravan really are his favorite time.

Cheeky boy!

2007-06-21T02:28:00.000-07:00

OK OK as i can hear my Mum shouting at the PC from 600 miles away i thought i better post some Dylan pictures.

Dyl is walking, running and climbing everywhere now. I don't think there is anywhere he can't get to and anything he can't get! Most of the time he knows to go backwards if he needs to get down from anywhere, but sometimes he forgets. Fortunatly he's a tough cookie!

Dylan understands a lot of what we say and responds mainly by running away especially when i say nappy time! If you say you have to go he says "bye" and he is always shouting for his DADDY! I think he is getting so hansom now but he still has such a cheeky grin!

Nine days on the road.

2007-06-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

Well for our first week long show the weather wasn't kind to us NOT ONE BIT! We coped quite well though and people all around us were packing up and going home but we stuck it out and finished the week in lovely sunshine. As for the dogs they were real stars all week.

Phoebe had a great week mainly doing juniors with Katie and they came 1st in 2 classes (1 agility and 1 jumping) and 3rd in an agility with Katie putting in a quick save just before Fe disappeared over the wrong jump just before the last fence.

It was Fizzy's first time in the ring and I'm not sure a week long show is very good for an inexperienced dog so she only did one or two classes a day. On day 2 she got a 25th in a Grade 3 agility class and on day 4 she came 2nd in a Grade 1-3 jumping class winning her first ever trophy! Not bad at all!

Dot was a good girl, i trained all her agility rounds and we are starting to get things together, she got a 4th and an 8th in hard Jumping classes and a 9th in an agility. It seems we are good on harder courses, in fact the harder the better.

Billy was his usual self, when hes bad he's very bad and when he's good he is WICKED! But he finished off the week getting his last all important Agility win to put him ADVANCED (Gr7) so he can now compete in Championship classes.

As for Mr Tig well he could do no wrong he won 6 classes and got two second places (and a sneaky 4th and 6th in agility rounds where i trained his contacts).

The finals
For once we wolk up to wonderful sunshine which helped the trophies sparkle and boy was there trophies!

Phoebe and Kate qualified for the under 12 Juniors final and Tig and i qualified for the Gr3-5 (NOVICE) so nerves were on a high comefriday morning.

Juniors were first to go and i have to say for UNDER 12's this was not an easy course but Kate did well almost losing Fe in a tunnel but managing to get her back, however it wasn't to be and turning too tight after the weaves got them eliminated at number 18. They were in fact the best of the eliminated dogs so they went in to round 2 in 4th place so it was still all to play for, but i think this all got a bit too much for Katie as she forgot the course. I have decided that Junior classes are quite cruel as you end up with one happy kid and a lot of tears, but Kate has recovered from the trauma and she's ready for the next time so roll on KC Festival!

Apparently Mr Tig and i looked very relaxed i have to say this was all an act, i couldn't watch the dogs going in front of me and Eleanor kept Leslie and i apart for the last 10 mins or so. The Jumping course was quite naggy and i felt like i was going round in circles like a robot going "Tig, Tig, Tig, Tig, Tig, Tig" but it worked and he was a very good boy. This round put us in pole for the agility as well so once again we had the agonising wait that comes with it. No need to worry as Tig steered me round the agility course in his usual at ease way, as you will see by the video i didn't even push him over his contacts as i didn't want to blow it, also after the Dog walk there was a long jump and i didn't want him to tip it. So finishing off Grade 5 in style Tig won the Supadogs Novice Final.

As you can see by the picture Bernadette and Zen won the medium final, i saw their jumping round which was amazing to watch but i missed their agility as i was walking my course but i know they would have won it in style!

Here are some pictures of all our tropies and rosetts from Supadogs, WOW they do the best trophies EVER!

After Supadogs we went up to Hinckley to the most wonderful weekend show which is small and friendly but has some of the most important classes. I think Tigs luck was almost out and he was grade 6 now after all. He go a 2nd in Gr 5-7 jumping but nothing else we did was quite right. Leslie and billy put in a really nice jumping round in Gr6-7 Jumping in fact i think its the smoothest I've ever seen the pair of them run they went in to the lead but were pushed down to 3rd before the end. To end our stay away Leslie and Billy won the senior Olimpia qualifier (again!) which was fantastic and very exciting. This qualified him for day 4 of the semi finals so with days 3 and 4 all i can say is "Watch this space!"

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bad Blogger

2007-06-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Well i'm officially a bad blogger when my Mum is telling me to update it! Trying to do anything whilst Dylan is up is way too difficult and i'm getting worn out watching him as he just doesn't stop, but here goes...

Wine glasses, puppies, spots and flat packed furniture!

2007-05-21T05:18:00.001-07:00

Wow what a hectic couple of weeks its been!

At Tunbridge Wells agility show Billy Qualified for day 3 of the Senior Semi's for Olympia. Top ten in each qualifier go through, but no not Billy he just goes and win's the class. Didn't put a foot wrong! I guess I'll have to admit that Leslie didn't handle him badly either! So Billy is only looking for one more agility win to put him advanced (grade 7), they went for it in the Grade 6 agility the next day but it wasn't to be and they were beaten in to 2nd place. Roll on Supadogs and fingers crossed they find that last win.

Tig had no problems running clear in 5 out of his 6 classes (and that was me being rubbish in the rain that resulted in him taking a pole). He was a superstar as these 5 clears resulted in FIVE 1st places and FIVE lovely wine glasses, shame about the pole as six glasses would have made a set! I have discussed with my husband that he has the last one for my set but he is not the sharing type! It was such a good weekend and I'm sure there won't be many like it, even Phoebe got an 8th in Grade 6 jumping! I wish i had taken some cheesy pictures of the dogs and their trophies.

We went to Lesley Oldens for our lesson on Tuesday and then went in to play with the puppies. They are getting big now and are a handful but very sweet!

Our other news is that FINALLY Dylan has chicken pox! On Wednesday i Front Lined the dogs, they were due but Dyl had little 'bites' on him so i thought they must need doing. On Thursday night when i put him in the bath i realised that they were not bites and he had about 10 spots. Friday was an OK day for him, i left him with Lizzie most of the day so he can't have been feeling too poorly, Friday night we didn't get much sleep and by Saturday morning he was COVERED in spots! So we decided that we would potter round the house and let him do what he wanted and hopefully he wouldn't be too poorly. I'm not sure this was a good idea as i think he was bored and was such a grump all weekend. Anyway one of the things we attempted to do was to build the two cupboards that i have bought, one for next to the PC and one for the playroom. Dylan wanted to help so he got a spoon ad a bowl from the kitchen and came and made a table.

needless to say the instructions were the only thing that came out of the box! They said it would take two people an hour and as well as a screwdriver you needed a hammer. So they quickly found their way to the spare room until such time as Leslie is able to take them up to his workshop and bring them back made. I thought it would be easy!

Big boy hair cut!

2007-05-11T05:09:00.000-07:00

I know this was long over due however I didn't want him to have his hair cut and i managed to put it off as long as possible! We were in Chichester last week and i saw that Crowns wasn't busy so we went and asked if they could do it. So Dylan's first hair cut was in the poshest hair dresser in town and it cost £3! He was a very good boy and didn't cry but he did keep moving his head away and laughing, little monster. Here's the piccies as usual he's eating!

Puppies and Dylan training!

2007-04-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Dylan and I went to visit Lesley in Romsey and we had great fun. First off we photographed Beanies NINE puppies, who are all so cute. These pups will be half sisters to Fizzy and mum Beanie is doing a really great job with them. It was tricky to keep Dylan amused as he thought that he would like to play WITH the whelping box, however Beanie was very good and we let Dylan play at trying to get in the washing machine which kept him amused for ages.

Here's a picture of the puppies piled up together

Afterwards we went out to do some training, both Dot and Tig were really good and i have lots of things to work on this week. Dylan slept in his pushchair to start with but when he woke up he was bored and wanted out to play. Because he is used to us training at home he amuses himself generally by trying to climb the equipment, fortunately he hasn't worked out any of the big stuff yet! He occupied himself with the cavalletti jumps for a while and he worked out he could push them over and make them lower, so he could climb over them. This resulted in a great photo opportunity!

Training a send away 'Nedlo style!'

As you can see Dylan had a great time. This evening i let him stay up a bit later than normal and he had Chilli Con Carne for dinner with me and then played whist i watched some TV. He managed to walk the length of the 'playroom' from the gate to the patio doors and he was really pleased with himself. I will post some more video of him soon.
Thanks for reading!

Surprised...

2007-04-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

I was! Yesterday Dylan decided that he could walk and walk he did mixed with quite a lot of falling over which he didn't mind too much. Today however he thought walking and falling over was for losers and crawling was much less painful. Perhaps tomorrow he will try again!

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A walk in the woods

2007-04-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

As usual i have been a bit slack on posting on here, now that the season has started I am so busy. Anyway over the Easter holidays we took the dogs up to White Ways which is a wonderful walk in a forest not to far from here. I was lovely weather and the dogs all had a great time. Fortunately Leslie was with me as i have a tendency to get lost up there as i like to follow the little paths and see where they lead to. He made me stick to the blue arrows so we didn't get lost. HOW BORING!

I had to put this picture on cause i think Tig is SOOOO hansom! Maybe i'm a bit
biased though!

This one is of Dan and Lex who just about made it round the woods, he only had to be carried a little bit!

Sun set over Easter

2007-04-11T15:27:00.002-07:00

Whilst enjoying one of Leslie's finest Fillet steaks in the caravan I quickly jumped out to take this picture of the sun set. Cheesy i know!

Easter Eggs!

2007-04-11T15:27:00.001-07:00

We spent Easter weekend on a sunny South of England Show ground and what a weekend it was. Tig's first run was the KC Novice Qualifier in which the top 2 dogs go through to the semi finals. I was a lovely course and i knew it would suit him if only i got it right.

It wasn't the neatest run as after the tunnel no words came out to send him on so he stuttered a bit until i managed to shout go on. I also almost over tightened him before jump 18 so that was slower than it could have been. When we finished he was leading the class however i had this niggling feeling that the small mistakes were going to cost me and i was right, he was pushed in to second place which meant he wouldn't move up to grade 6 however he was still in a qualifying position. It was a nerve racking hour with everything crossed hoping that he held it and he did a trophy, rosette, Easter Egg and a space at the Semi's were ours! Yippee. I can't wait to take him as i feel i learned so much taking Phoebe last year and now its time to really put that in to practice.

Saturday afternoon Tig went on to put in a very fast fun in Grade 4/5 Jumping which this time got him first place and another Easter Egg for Leslie!

On Sunday i was determined that he was going to go up to Grade 6 and to do so he needed a win in either agility or jumping, however i wanted it to be in agility if we could do it. Again he was fab and no errors from me this time, the video is below!

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Some nice Dyl Pics!

2007-04-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

Recently Dylan has become alot more mobile and with that we have faced some new challenges and i have just found some pictures on the camera that i meant to share with you.

And looking through these makes it so clear that he is not my little baby any more but a proper little boy!

Dylan's birthday, Granny Mo and too much cake!

2007-04-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've been so bad at updating the blog recently that i forgot to put any news or pictures on from Dylan's first birthday. We had GG down to stay thats my grandmother and Dyls Great Granny hence the new name 'GG'. She stayed for 2 weeks and was such a help with Dyl who can be a bit of an handful at times. He is so attacted to me and having GG for 2 weeks helped him get used to staying with someone else. Also the house got a good clean and sort out whilst she was here which it deperatly needed!

Anyway the day befire Dyl's birthday we had a BIG surprise as my Mum walked in at 3 o'clock, quite unexpectatly although not to everyone elae of course as they all knew she was coming. I felt bad for Leslie as i'd given him a hard time when i thought she wouldn't make it and he still never said anything.

On the morning of Dylan's birthday we went to view and choose our photo's at Venture and all came away alot poorer although the piccies are so good you just can't say no. It has to be a one off though! In the evening we went to the Inglenook for tea.

Whilst Mum was here she happened to mention that she didn't want to be on the blog so i guess 'Oops' is all i can say!

The birthday boy was so good on his birthday and enjoyed watching us all make a fool of ourselves whist helping him open his pressies.

And he really loved his birthday cake!

But after a very long day Dylan felt that no more pictures were necessary!

One year old

2007-03-09T14:14:00.001-08:00

In one week Dylan will be 1, who can believe it? I can't!

I took some video today so that everyone can catch up with he and the things he can do now, I think you'll all be shocked! Enjoy

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Dylans famous bottom

2007-02-13T01:49:00.000-08:00

Dylan is going to be in the paper! I was contacted by the observer as they wanted to do a feature for 'real nappy week' and it seemed i was the only one they could find who used 'proper' nappies all the time. That's a bit scary as i thought they were a bit more popular these days. It was quite difficult as the girl doing the interview had never seen a 'proper' nappy before so i had to give her a bit of a crash course and i hope she took it all in otherwise who knows what she will say! I also hope that i said all the right things as i would hate the article to put someone off.

Anyway amidst the usual chaos the photographer came yesterday and he has emailed me a couple of the shots which was great! here they are (photo's taken by Mr B Shimmin)

Dylan and his Grandad

2007-02-06T06:25:00.001-08:00

Dylan's grandad had a sneaky visit a couple of weeks ago and i took this footage then. Fortunatly he's a long way away as i don't think i'll be thanked for this! But here goes anyway...

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Dylan's montage

2007-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

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I did this montage of Dylan ages ago and now i know how to put these on here i thought i would share it with you. I have another which i will post in a few days. Watching this i can't believe how small he was and how cuddly he was, not like now when his favourite things are biting and pulling hair. Enjoy!

Tigs training clip

2007-02-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Make photo slide shows at onetruemedia.com

Here's a clip of Tig training in our field on Saturday. This was the 2nd time of trying this course, first time his dog walk and recall through the weaves were slow, as he likes to consentrate on getting things right. I did a bit with the toy to speed him up in places and i was pleased with the result. There's a bit of dodgy filming going on at the weaves.
Thanks to Bernadette for the idea of putting Movie Clips on the blog, i hadn't realised it was possible.

Training in the sun

2007-02-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

I cant believe the weather we have had today, considering the snow pictures from a couple of weeks ago! We got out in the field and did some training with the dogs which was great as we are a bit rusty and there is not much time to go until the season starts, in fact just 4 weeks today. Dylan came out to help us but fortunately he was tired so after helping us set the course and a few photo opportunities he went to sleep in the sun. After training Dylan and i took the dogs for a nice long walk and everyone we met commented on the fact his shoes and knees were covered in mud. But he loved his afternoon in the field.

What shall i try first?

Hmmm there must be a way in here somewhere?

Just how do you get up here? Will some one come and help me!

Oh get me down now i don't like it.

No I'm not scared the suns in my eyes!

BOO!

2007-02-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

We had some great fun at bath time last night! This picture took a while to get as sometimes we only had one hand on the bath and others he was trying to climb out but i think it turned out just right!

Here are some that weren't staged

Pictures in the snow

2007-02-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I've been able to post as Leslie fitted a new hard drive and I have had a few problems getting all my camera stuff back to normal again. But we're back so i thought I'd post some of the pictures i have taken recently.

We woke up one morning to find a wonderful sight in our garden. Agility equipment always looks so peaceful when its covered in snow, not for long though!

Puppies!

2007-01-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

We had a very exciting time today visiting Lottie and Oakley's puppies. 9 bundles of blue and white/black and white fluff! They were very cute and Lottie is doing an excellent job with them, I'm sure they are going to be wonderful.
The pups were born on Friday 5th January they all have their eyes open now and are beginning to be able to hear as well so it wont be long before they are destroying Ashley's house.

As you can see it was still nap time when we arrived and they were all snuggled up in their whelping box.

I liked this white and blue puppy the most out of all of them, at first i wasn't keen on the white face but he had a really sweet face with nice soft eyes, just like a teddy bear. Definitely going to take after his sire as he was a very chunky puppy!

I also liked this puppy as he was nicely marked and quite slight and i think going to take after Lottie in build rather than Oakley.

Dylan has been a bit of a grump today so I'm sure his teeth must be playing him up. He had a very long sleep this morning but I'm sure that's because he was restless from about 4am onwards. He was a very good boy with the puppies and not TOO rough with the couple that we showed him, I think somehow he knows as if it was a toy you were passing him he would grab it and bash it but he reached out to the puppies and touched them and only had to be told to be gentle once. I have to say though whilst Mummy was busy picking her favourite puppy Dylan was busy picking his favourite biscuit from Auntie Ashley's biscuit tin!

Dylans pictures

2007-01-18T05:21:00.000-08:00

I got some really good pictures this morning which is rare these days as by the time the camera takes the picture he tends to have shot off. Playing with a wizard hat this morning seemed to be a really good game!

Standing up seems to be the most important thing these days and it doesn't seem to matter who or what is in your way, just climb or lean over it!

A quick drink

2007-01-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

We have been to a Childminders toddler group today and i just had to post this picture! For once my camera didn't let me down and took the picture quickly as i only just noticed what he was doing in time. It was very cute cause he was sucking to try and get anything from the glass. Bless! He really enjoyed the group as there was lots of children his own age for a change, although he is a bit of a thug. Too used to wrestling with the dogs!

Almost obedient!

2007-01-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

I worked hard all week with Tigs obedience and i have to say it really payed off! I wish he was as good in the class as he is at home but thats the same as anything. He managed some nice heelwork with his proper hand touch but not when the other dogs are moving to - except at slow pace which was almost perfect! His recall was really good as we were facing away when we called them and he still managed to come in straight, its taken a long time to get that! and his retrieve was improved although we have a LONG way to go with that. He is fine when i sit on the chair but when i stand up i see it dawn on him at the last minute to slow down but its all to late! Very please with him.

spell check

2007-01-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

I have just located the spell check, as you can tell i need it as my typing and spelling are awful! The weird word on the first line should be serious!

Rain, rain and more rain!

2007-01-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

I started this week with all good intentions and knew i had to start some seriour training with the dogs to get us all fit and ready for the spring but the rain has been so bad that you can barely walk in our field, let alone run.
I took Tig to Obedience training last night and it was fairly obvious that i hadn't done any training over the Christmas hols. Fortunatly most of the others were in the same boat. Tigs biggest problem is that he is SO over enthusiastic. I really must put some training in as i think he could be quite good at it and it all helps to keep him listening to me.
My eye has got worse so i went to the doctor this morning and came home with a bundle of antibiotics and a telling off. So i've started popping pills and fingers crossed it will be better soon.

Off to do a sun dance, or maybe some obedience in the lounge!

An eventfull weekend

2007-01-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well it all started with the post Christmas party at Lesley Olden's shed. Lesley has just had surgery on her leg so it was all hands on deck to help out. Dylan however was not playing ball and i had to eventually wake him up at 9.15am so that i could get him ready. Leslie had gone on ahead of me to empty the equipment and roll the floor and by the time Dylan and I turned up things were in full swing.

Games started with 'guess the name?', musical statues (for dogs and people) and soon moved on to the faster relay races which involved tennis balls, potatoes and lots of laughs. After these the dogs were put away and we moved on to the very serious water barrel race. This involves two teams in a relay weaving in and out of jump wings pushing a water barrel in front of you. I'm sure Leslie takes this FAR to seriously but i guess thats just his competitve nature!

Following the barrel race we all tucked in to food provided once again by the wonderful Parkers who never fail to surprise. Managing to produce wonderful hot food on a cold day was exactly what we needed. Unfortunatly for me the rest of the day did not to go quite so smootly and an incendent between me Tig and a Father Christmas hat left me with 2 scratches under my eye and this morning a black eye. But this shall mend and for now make-up is doing a good job of covering it!

On Sunday we had our afternoon lesson in Lesley's shed which was fantastic and once again i was really surprised with what Tig could do. We came away with lots of positives and also some homework to do as both Billy and Tig were a but rusty on their contacts and 'here' commands. I just wish it would stop raining so we could get out in the field.

Dylan was a complete star all weekend, he takes it all in and he LOVES the attention from everyone. I have been really surprised by peoples reactions towards him as I was sure that most people would be of the opinion that children and dogs don't mix but Dylan certainly manages to covice them otherwise. Here he is doing his target training with his clicker.

I am extra impressed with him as tonight in the bath i noticed that he has cut 3 more teeth this weekend which we didn't know anything about. It is very quiet here now that Dot and Loobie have gone home. It makes our pack of 5 look small, but it has been nice to not be constantly hoovering up hair. Saying that all the dogs could definatly do with a bath so perhaps thats my job for tomorrow!

Yum Yum

2007-01-02T05:54:00.000-08:00

Here's Dylan enjoying Auntie Lynn's lasagne which was left over from New Years Eve. He loves it!

Dylan is definatly feeling better from his ear infection as i havent seen him eat like this since before Christmas.

A family occasion

2007-01-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

We have some guests this week, in the form of Dot and Loobie. Lesley is having an operation so we hope she gets better soon.

I love this piccie cause its 3 generations (sort of) our Fizz (left) with her auntie Dot (middle) and great aunt Loobie (right). They have really enjoyed warming themselves by the fire althought its like musical chairs as they cant stay long before they get to hot and have to move away.

I have been really pleased with all the dogs as they have all got on very well. Its a bit of a tight fit with 7 but we have had no fights and only a couple of curled lips from Dot who would like to let Charlie know who's boss in her pack.

Hello everybody!

2007-01-02T03:50:00.000-08:00

Well we didn't want to be left behind! So this blog will be mainly about... US! that includes the dogs Charlie, Billy, Phoebe, Tig and Fizz and the humans Dylan, Leslie and Sarah!