Discover Dogs

Finally got some time to update our fantastic time at discover dogs. What a day with lots of fun. We got in early as we were part of the demonstration so had a look round the stalls with not too many people,found our bench and checked what time we had to be at the ringside. The girls particularly enjoyed the flyball and we all watched in amazement the HTM routine with Mary Ray and Richard Curtis so much so the children insisted we go back at the end of the day to watch it a second time.
Ryan was in the ring three times during the day so below is a short clip,unfortunatly the YKC ring was quite small so they were limited to show what they were really capable of but Ryan and Tippex put in a lovely round each time we were very pround of them.

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Catch me if you can

Fizz is really enjoying her walks off lead , Ink is having a great time teaching her to play and chase as poor Tippex doesn't have the same amount of energy as the girls( well he is nearly eleven).Here is a short clip of them up on Epsom racecourse, if you look closely you will notice Ailish running off into the distance as she also has energy to burn!! I was soooo pleased with them especially as there was lots of horses about and not one of them ran off, Tippex did look as usual I know this and always keep him close but both the girls didn't give them a second glance.We all went home tired and happy.

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Fizzies Update

For Fizz's first time off lead we decided to go to the coast, our good friends Tim and Thelma came with us for moral support( and extra help should we need it). We did lots of recall on the flexi with the clicker and treats then took a big breath and let her go.Fortunately because food is so high up on Fizz's important list there was no way she was going to stray too far and she behaved perfectly.It was lovely to see her running around free.The beach was quiet so not too many distractions but those we did meet she said hello nicely and then followed on quickly - long may it last.
Lots of treats for good dogs that come straight away we called.

CHOCOLATE WARNING

Dear little Fizz is a real sweetie but one very naughty habit is stealing food and unfortunately this caused a lot of panic and anguish last Thursday.At some point I'm still not sure when but I think it was when I was putting Ailish to bed and was reading her bedtime storey, Fizz crept into my bedroom and managed to open the wardrobe door pull out a pile of clothes ,unwrap two plastic bags and eat some chocolate. It was a whole bag of little snowmen that I had bought for the children's advent calendars(now it's not often that I'm this organised perhaps I had better go back to last minute shopping!!).We rushed her to the vet where she was put on a drip and kept in overnight. She responded well and I was able to collect her the following morning although we had a few days of very unpleasant vomiting and diarrhoea while her little body dealt with the effects of too much chocolate.I am happy to say she has made a full recovery and no she hasn't learnt her lesson and still tries to get into any cupboard that might contain food.I'm sure you are all aware of the dangers of chocolate and dogs but I have been surprised at the amount of people that have said they regularly give their dogs chocolate and I would hate for anybody to go through what we went through last week.

Introducing Fizz

Last Saturday we drove to Chippenham where this little girl was with foster carers.She was originally from a pound in Wales so no past history, guessing her age to be between 8 months to a year.She is very sweet natured but has not been socialised so can be a little timid until she is sure of a new situation.Gets on very well with Tippex and Ink and is great with the children.The first night was a noisy one!! taking over an hour to settle as she does have some separation issues, lots of up and down the stairs for me while the rest of the family slept peacefully ( I guess it was good that most of the house got some sleep).The second night however I only had to come down once and she was quiet all the way through till morning, by the third night she went to bed as good as gold with the other two. She is a bright little thing and is picking things up very quickly.Lots of guess work about what's in her she was described as JRT X Whippet but no one knows for sure and it has been interesting to see what different people think.She was given the name Lizzie at the rescue centre and she did respond to it quite well so as we didn't want to confuse her too much she is now known as Fizz or Fizzie and is coming along very nicely. She will of course be for Ryan to train and hopefully will love agility once she starts.


This photo was taken on Sunday so she is stilll on the flexi.

Will try and get some more photos and updates soon.

So much news so little time

So much to catch up on but I never seem to have the time to sit down and fill in so here goes....

Paws in the park - what a weekend that was, on the Saturday we had the superdog heat Ryan and I running against each other which I think was a first.Both put in good rounds and ended with Ink and I 5th, Ryan and Tippex 6th only problem was the first FIVE qualify! I wasn't quite sure how to feel about this one. Sunday Ink was on good form again and won the grade 1-3 agility putting us into grade 4 . I know she has the speed but will have to work on the tight turns and control which she is not so good at.The boys also were on form finishing 4th in the 6/7 jumping which was quite an achievement as this course was the same for all heights and many of the handlers struggled not to get eliminated. Well done Ryan some excellent handling.

This weekend we also had Titan staying with us for some bonding time,he settled in with us very well taking it all in his stride. Ryan even did some agility with him over in the practice ring in the main part of the showground,they did some good work together.

Oops this photo is supposed to be at the bottom!!

Looking good for the future

Relaxing by the car after all their hard work

Calamity Ink as I'm beginning to think would be a better name for her has had yet again another accident. On returning from our walk yesterday she had sliced straight through the bottom of her pad another GA and stitches!!So very sadly will not be able to compete in the superdog finals after finding out on Tuesday that Ryan and I were both able to go as someone had dropped out! Ryan will be flying the Hennessy flag on his own in Peterborough on Sunday. Best of luck Ryan go and show all those adult handlers how it's done we will all be there to cheer you on.

Poor Ink!!

Well off we went for our walk this morning and all of about three minutes later Ink comes back hopping on three legs with blood coming from one of the nails.Back in the car and off to the vet where she had to have a small operation to sort it out.Thankfully nothing too serious but no exercise and certainly no agility for a while.Tonight she is still feeling very sorry for herself but I imagine hopefully by tomorrow she will be back to her normal self although she won't be too impressed with the no exercise rule!!

New Schools

Yesterday was Ryan's first day at High School.Off he went on the school bus very excited and very early( 7.30am) on his own! I found this very hard but he took it all in his stride. He loves his new school and loves being independant.I can't believe my 'baby ' is all grown up.

What a handsome young man



Today was Ailish's turn, she was up and dressed very quickly this morning couldn't wait to be going to school with Sian.The teacher was waiting to see all the new children starting and Ailish was holding my hand very tight but when the time came gave me a big kiss and off she went with a smile.She had a fantastic time and really enjoyed her first day lets hope it continues.

Ailish's first day at school

Two smart girls

Tears at Trent Park

Wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do but decided that I should go. I wanted to say a special thank you to all my friends that gave me great comfort on the loss of our little Scribble. I did spend a lot of the day in tears and quite a few of you cried with me ,for those of you that met her knew what a special little pup she was. I did pass on your messages to Ryan and the girls and we are beginning to come to terms with it all now, THANK YOU.

Ink ran her best and won the grade 3-5 jumping and also along with my pairs partner Wendy Fassam with Bod we came 3rd in the Eukanuba mini /mixi .This was our first attempt as both dogs are just babies and have just started competing! Roll on next year!

A very sad goodbye

Not quite sure what to say.This week has been a extremely emotional time.We have had to let our adorable Scribble go.She was taken ill on Monday and was rushed to the emergency vets and then transferred to our own vet on Tuesday morning.After a series of tests we were advised that the kindest thing to do was to put her to sleep. She had severe liver problems and the prognosis was very poor, we didn't want to put her through any more pain.

She was with us for just over two weeks and everyone that met her fell in love,such a cheeky little madam.Her short time with us was filled with fun and laughter and we have lots of lovely memories but for now a big hole in our family where a beautiful,bouncy and playful little puppy used to be.

Sleep well my little one.

Ryan's new agility dog

We have been thinking for some time now that the time has come for Ryan to get a puppy of his own to train from scratch. This past year he has tried really hard to learn as much as he can about training dogs . His relationship with Tippex particularly has come on leaps and bounds. He has also been working other dogs which various people have been kind enough to lend him.

Enter Scribble - After a long hard battle and a lot of help from Lian she finally joined our family last Sunday. Everything was fine until last Friday(the morning we were leaving to go to the KC festival) when I woke to silence which was very unusual as she is a vocal puppy to say the least!!
Scribble had been very poorly in the night and had suffered with vomiting and diarrhoea, she was lying in her cage lifeless. Now we had arranged for our good friends Thelma and Tim to look after her as she was too young to travel to the show they very kindly said they would take her straight to the vets . I was so torn I felt I should stay with her but Ryan had his finals that day at the KC and I didn't want him to miss out either.So off we set leaving her in the capable arms of the vet. She was kept in and thank god started to show improvement that afternoon when she was allowed to go home to Thelma and Tim by the evening.They did a fantastic job of nursing her back to a full recovery and we will be eternally grateful to them.

She will be 9 weeks old on Monday and has settled into our madhouse very well.She is a truly naughty puppy and is keeping us all on our toes.

Ink at KC festival

Well what an exciting weekend, Ink was fantastic not only managing to get her first clear round but 1st in grade 3 jumping,2nd grade 3 agility and a 3rd in grade 3 agility. Special thanks to Lian for lending me her camera so that I could capture some of her runs.

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ryan at KC festival

Ryan and Tippex were the real superstars this weekend with all their runs being in the placings , on the podium nearly every time. I am so proud of them both they are really working well together as a team and obviously enjoying it.
YKC Jumping 1ST qualifing them for Crufts
International Junior Jumping 3RD
International Junior Agility 2ND
International Finals 5TH Overall ( this was against all height and age groups, they were the only pair in their age and height to go clear so in my eyes making them International Junior Medium Under 12 CHAMPIONS!!! )
YKC Agility 1ST also qualifing them for Crufts .

Special thanks again to Lian for the loan of her camera and her support throughout the weekend.

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