Choose a Dog

stollen from undermybed
My wish list please :)

Toy group - Papillon
I love the look of them, they always seem to have huge characters and not the type of toy dog which would be happy in a handbag!

Terrier group - Staffy
I love Borders and Cairns but the staffy just had to win it for me. Everytime i meet one its just like looking at Bailey. They are such happy, fun spirited dogs, but also very loyal and athletic!

Hound Group - Beagle
Dogs from this group never really stand out for me, but the Beagle won. We were so close to owning one as dad loves them, and on paper suit our lifestyle well, but they are just one of them breeds that i very rarely see a 'nice' looking one. However when i do, i could run off with it :) Pharaoh Hound would be second choice, they are so stunning, and athletic but i think im dreaming.

Gundog Group - Hungarian Vizsla (smooth)
Couldnt really be anything else since im on a waiting list for one. :) I cant even tell you why, i just want one! Fell in love with one at obedience and for the last 4 years iv not changed my mind on the breed thats for me! The pointers and setters are also up there. Not personally a spaniel fan.

Utility Group - Akita
This was a really tough one as none of the dogs i really liked. I have met a few Akitas and they have all been fantastic. Very fun dogs and i just love their faces.

Working Group - Dobermann
Another hard group for me. Iv always said i want a big dog that i dont really do agility or flyball with but own because i just love them. I Love rotties, Bullmastiffs, and the Dogue de Bordeaux. However when i see a Dobermann i just stare at how graceful and gorgeous they are. They also hold up their own in both Agility and Flyball.

Pastoral Group - Swedish Vallhund
Another Group where i liked a lot of the dogs, Border Collies, Aussie Sheps, Shetland sheepdogs, Belgian Sheperds. I just LOVE Swedish Vallhunds. There is a cracking one in flyball and a lot of people mention how alike they are to Bails. Plus they seem to have big characters and forget they only have little legs (just like Bails). i guess they have to be strong willed to herd big Cows.

Its been such a long time since i updated this. I guess i dont really know where to start.

Looking back over the last year or so i love just how far me and Bailey have come. I never really thought me and Bailey used to have a strong bond but over the last year i think we have become very close.

In the last year we have got our act together with Agility training, our "asbo" moments seem to happen less frequently and she seems to be a lot more consistant in competitions.

In the last year she has:
Gone from grade 2-5 on Agility wins
Won a number of Jumping classes
Won a division at the british championships with her team in flyball
Got her 3000 flyball points

To some people they may seem pretty small achievments but in the past year we have only done around 6 KC competitions and a few unaffiliated. When we first started agility Bailey wouldnt even recall to her own name and for around 6 months i battled to get her to do 4 jumps in a row! When we did enter competitions she did a lot of stress behaviour like weeing in almpst every ring, run off and go for the judges. So many times i nearly walked away from it all, and so many times i heard people it will all come together. She has just gone 7 years old and i can say this has been the first year i have entered the ring running classes to actually win them, and not to just try and get her around still fully under control.

I totally adore her and im really enjoying her to the max. She's so fun, totally enjoying herself and my little gem.


Cant wait for puppy fun next summer

Bad blogger

sorry just lost a bit of interest in my blog, so thats really why iv not been updating.

Iv sort of fallen out of love with the competition world too. I dont know of its because iv now been doing it a good few years or if me and Bailey are just slightly unchallenged now. We seem to know each other so well now there is no real skill in running her in agility and Flyball comps are becoming more stressful and longer!!

I also get really bored easily and after about 3 hours at an agility comp or a few runs im bored and switched off. eeekkk!!

We have been enjoying agility training more though as its always loads of fun. Shes also in a cracking little team for flyball with her crazies :)

Its not all been bad. Bails has now gone grade 4 and got another few places. We also have a few agility shows booked but they are really spread apart which is better for me.

Iv now graduated from college and trying to get rid of the inner student *cough cough* things are also really busy in other ways too :)

Bailey is fab and looking really fit and healthy, i can finally feel her ribs after years of battling with the parents. Shes such a happy girl and iv been enjoying spending more time with her and taking her on nice walks.

No new pics im afraid...think il have to dust off the camera!

Quiet week

Not a lot has been happening around here. My dad is digging up the garden to which has brought the inner mud monster out.

Bailey has a really big obsession with anything soil/dirt/mud. While my dad has been digging the new pond she has been literally diving on the spade lol. My dad had tryed to put her on the lead but she just sceamed her head off....like excited swimming/flyball screaming.

You can usually find bailey on her back while queuing at agility as she also likes to dig up little patches of grass and roll on the MUD.. crazy i know

With being out there around 6 hours a day and her extra walks she's shattered at night.

Otley next week, still a grade 3 but it will be quite nice to not have to really work at it.

WF....Nottingham....ect!!

Thanks to Cat for the gorgeous photo. Its my first...yep first agility shot of Bailey so im very excited :)

Waldridge Fell

I really like this show but i hate the drive....I cant really remember the courses inside and out but i was a little disappointed with Baileys overall performance. I took her from the ring twice and only got one pretty ok run from her all weekend. I think she got a 4th in the agility class but out of real placings.


Nottingham

Iv never been to Nottingham before and i loved it and its a massive show. 3 days before i realised i had totally missed a jumping class in the schedual so only had 3 runs..numpty! My Sat-Nav also lost control on the way there meaning i was totally clueless as to where i was going and decided to just follow signs to nottingham and then Newark! My Sat Nav finally found life 7 miles before we got there and i was actually in the right area. After a drive around the houses we got there!

Bailey had a second in ring and it was already baking at 8.45am! I walked her 1-3 Agility and loved it and i actually thought....We can do this!! We ran quite late in the class and Bailey seemed really switched. Her weaves her sllllooowwww but her contacts were good!! Leanne got me a little exctied when she was like "your winning it"...but there was still a good few dogs to run. They just kept getting silly mistakes so we ended up with a 1st so grade 4 here we come :S

Next Agility was graded 3 Agility. Pretty nice course but after a long wait, now being mid-day and boiling i really had to push Bails around. She almost came to a standstill in the weaves they were that slow but somehow managed 2nd!!

Her jumping was last and she set off pretty good but i lost her to a sniff so collected her and took her out..naughty naughty.

All in all a really good day and i will definatly be going next year.

EMDAC

It was EMDAC last sunday annd since it seems like ages ago im not going into too much detail.

The first jumping round was pretty good. She definatly didnt reach a Bailey gear but wasnt half as bad as DV. We got a steady clear in 22.77s but it was a very fast course so didnt get anything.

We then had a huge 4 hour wait until the next classes and i really thought she would switch off. First was up and over. It was a really fast, flowing course and Bailey went and thought about sniffing. I knew we wouldnt get anywhere so i just bombed her down the line of jumps getting us E'd as i just wanted her to RUN this weekend.

Next was agility, again she wanted to sniff but i dragged her around the top corner, but pulled her off a jump too early. There was a tricky tunnel part with a pull through and twice you had to swap sides for taking the tunnel twice. We got E'd which i didnt find suprising.

Double Take agility i really thought we could pull it off. There was just one jump set off at an angle which was harder than it looked and walked. I knew if a set her out to it she would pick it up fine. She nailed the rightly named No.13 jump and bombed her contacts! We picked up 12th and top medium.

We also had a quick go at Cleverdogs. We have only ever done it once years ago, but since we had basically all mid-day free we had a go. Bailey was totally confussed. Not only does she hate running lead dog in flybal, she now had to do that, with no team mates behind her and putting her over an agility course before. She ran the agility course, jumped 2 flyball hurdles and turned around looking at me like WTF is this!!! One or the other please!

Poor girl she clearly cant cope with more than one thing at once....like dog like owner there then :P

Expect new bluebell pictures too....our woods are Blue at the moment! :)

calf poo = dirty bails

Last weekend me and Bails had our first dog vagas comp. Iv never been to that showground as scunthorpe dont do mediums and we are usually flyballing the same weekend as dog vagas. Not a very good weekend for us. We just didnt have it with us that weekend! Im hoping its the whole first outdoor show thing but we shall be proven wrong or right this weekend at emdac.

She didnt really have bailey courses, most were twisty starts, or contact traps which means she started off slow and me bieng over causious! I need to trust her more! We did however pull off a 2nd in 3-5agility! I wasnt even expecting a place never mind a 2nd. It was a money class to so bails made me £5 lol.

The sun has finally started shining, but it means the cows are back >( I dont mind cows at all but Bailesy has a thing for calf poo!! I have no idea why but on nearly every walk this week she has rolled!! eerhh scruffy thing. And i dont mean just rolled she has been covered!

Emdac this week, im not holding any hopes at all but it would be nice to get a few points. I can take her ball in her classes this sunday though so it might just be a training/blasting weekend. :)