Good Mr E :D

I have only trained Elliot for the last two weeks as Jem has been recovering from a run in (literally) that she had in the park with another dog.

Both weeks we worked on the a-frame. He reliably stopped on the contact but was really creeping down, he was much better this week though than last and I even managed a couple with his tuggy out in front. So the plan is to work on upping the speed of the down plank!

His weaves have come on loads too - I was much better this week and was more structured with the angles I was sending him in rather than just randomly moving around. I will probably work on a few more tighter angles next time and then introduce a jump before them.

His jumping is coming on - we are concentrating a bit more on full height with the grid work and again he is getting better - just need to work on changing the distance for him.

Here are some clips from last week and this:

We are off now until the new year when I really will start pushing things forward with them both in agility ready to start UKA competitions around easter time.

In terms of flyball they have both being doing really well. We did some timing with Elliot to see what I can do to make him come back faster. It showed that the most important thing for his speed back is ensuring he takes the extra stride between the box and first jump. Apart form that not a lot else made a huge difference  - my plan is to use the second ball as he ran back as fast for this as if I screamed "eeeeeeeee" but the second ball saves my voice!!! So the plan of action = use a stride regulator all the time so he always does it right, work on the second ball and on me running from the box.

Good weave day :)

Jem did really well with her weaves - she did four straight with some nice angles :) She even did two sets of 12 first time (I just wanted to try it!!!) :) So, the plan is to go to 6 poles next time and then spend the next few months pushing the angles and the speed and making sure I do crazy things like I do in competition :) Her back-cross work was really good too, she was really responsive to my body language :) When I did the set point exercise at full height she managed it really well but when she took herself over a full height jump she completely mis judged it - am really hoping it is just because she hasnt done them for a long time!! We only did a couple of contacts and she was a good girly but sadly the camera had died at this point :(

Elliot also did really well - I put the four weaves straight for him too becuase it means I can use the set with a solid base and so he can't cheat as easily. He was much better with the angles and I even started adding in some movement. He also did a set of 12 first time so the plan with him will be the same as with Jem! I also only had chance to do a few contacts with him but they were the same as last week which was good as we were in a different part of the school :) His back cross work was however not so good, once he had been one way he would continue going that way regardless of where I was going - def need more work on this!!!

Some clips from today;

Movement!!!

Nat came and watched me training Elliot on Sat and it was useful to hear someone else's thoughts after training by myself for 2 months. Training yesterday was therefore much more focused and I was pushing the dogs much more, rather than just floating along doing the same things!!

Jem;
Her contacts have come back to being as good as they were when I run along with her/past her but she is not very confident if I hang back and send her to the end. We worked on this a little bit in the hope of still having fast contacts when I am lagging behind (a very common occurence on courses!!) and she got much better! We also did a couple of set point reminders - she did clip the pole at medium twice but she could probably do with doing one or two at full height next time, just to see how she gets on. We then did some work on serpentines - my timing wasn't 100% all the time but she is much speedier on small than full height (obviously!!!)! I finally got my act together this week and set up my weaves too - she was a really good girl and did some lovely angled entrances - just need to eek them together a little bit and they will be straight :)

Elliot;
Thanks to Nat I realised I really need to start pushing him so I started to add my movement when doing the contacts - he was a surprisingly good boy (on watching the videos though, when I thought I was running speedy I look like a slow coach-best get down the gym!!). I did also try putting the tug a few feet from the end of the contact to get him focusing forward when I am behind him, rather than back at me, but this was a disaster - all thoughts of stopping at the end of the contact went out the window so this shall be saved for a later date me thinks!! I did some set point work with him too and got him to full height - he was a good boy, but did knock the pole a couple of times when he was sent to his toy (but never when he was recalled to it). His serpentines were as good as Jem's - I had the jumps on medium for him. Then on to weaves - he is still struggling with the angled entrances and the poles are not as close for him as for Jem.

Here are some clips from yday:

Plan for next session;

Jem - some set point at full height, more work on contacts with her ahead and with donig some back crosses, get the weaves straight and do some back-cross work with 3 jumps in a u shape (using left/rights commands too)

Elliot - increase my speed and the excitment level with the contacts (making sure the plank is in a different part of the school than it was this time), try one or two contacts with me behind, increase angle for weave entrances and possibly get them closer, and some back-cross work (as with Jem)

Buzzing :)

We had a really good training session today and it left me buzzing and really excited for next summer :)

Jem did some REALLY good contacts and one jump handling work. She was really good on the grid work to start with but then after one extra stride between the last guide and the jump she decided to keep putting two strides in between the first 2 guides, but after some fiddling I got her to do the three guides by just bouncing :) I am less concerned about grid work with her as her jumping style before our break wasn't as drastic as Elliot's and she probably only has one season left at full height.

Elliot also did some amazing contacts - I did discover to start with that turning the dog walk in a 180degree rotation meant he saw it as a completely different exercise and so I need to make sure I do things in all orientations around the school!! His grid work was really really good as was his handling :)

Here are some clips from this week :)

We did some weave training today and Jem did really well, especially when I changed from using her tuggy to a tennis ball - we tried them straight once but this was a little bit too much for today as she was tired - we will def get to straight next time though:)

Elliot was loads better today than last week but still not quite as far on as Jem - he just struggles more with the angles :)

Behind already!!!

I can't believe I have only been back training a month and already I am behind on my blog!!!

We have relocated weave training to places where I can use my stick in poles as I was struggling with my weaves with bases - if the dogs knocked the poles the bases weren't heavy enough to keep them in place and so I would end up with weaves and dogs getting tangled and going scooting along the floor!! We had a much more successful session today (our first time with the stick ins) - Jem was doing some really sharp angles with the 2 sets about a foot apart. Elliot was struggling more and only going through the second set (4foot from 1st) if we were as much as a foot off the straight entrance - this is no worse than he has been but it is much easier to do more reps and reward him more often when the poles don't go flying :)

Contacts are coming on much better for both of them - I have taken the dog walk down plank off the dog walk so I can do more reps reinforcing speed and stopping at the end :) Jem is as always really good, and getting nice and speedy, Elliot is certainly getting there but it is going to take a long time to get him doing 2o2o consistently with me running - at the moment I am just altering where I let him go from and then I shall start increasing my speed as well :)

Both of their jumping is coming on much better although without a guide in Jem is taking a double stride in the space she should only take one so def more work needed on it. I am looking at starting to do some more exercises with them, and building Elliot upto full height - with the straight grid he is struggling to get over the second jump so I think i need to increase the distance between the jumps to help him out a bit

Here is a few clips from our session yday:

We also had our first session of the winter at flyball today. We did some chasing stuff and it apparently made Jem run really speedy (I couldn't see as I too was having to run - boo to running!!:( ) but she then decided to start spitting her ball - naughty jem! We also confirmed today that Elliot definately comes back much quicker if he puts the extra stride in between the box and first jump so our plan for the winter is to get this ingrained into him (along with fiddling around with what I am doing) to get him back to see if we can speed him up a bit :)

Think thats all for now - I shall try and keep more up to date from now on!!!

First Two Weeks Back

Jem had a check up at SMART on Monday to see what their thoughts were about her going back to full height - the plan is to ease her in gently over the next two months and then put her up to full height and take her back to SMART one month later :D This fits perfectly with my current agility plan which is to just slowly build up the amount we are doing (for my sack as much as the dog's!!) - starting with just one obstacle at a time and only the odd large jump for Elliot (no higher than medium for Jem). I plan to be course ready for about April but depending on how revision for my finals goes I may not compete until July.

Already in two sessions both dogs contacts have improved massively - Jem would be ready to start doing the whole equipment again but Elliot is still getting very distracted by my movement - but we have plenty of time to work on that :)

The one grid work exercise I have done so far seemed to work really nicely with Elliot and was nicely making him stretch his back legs out and not tuck them up - fingers crossed that with the time I have to work on things he will keep this style of jumping. I did have some lovely videos of both of them jumping but have some how managed to delete them :( 

As for the weaves - we are trying a little 2x2 to help with entrances and they both seem to have picked it up quickly which is good :)

I am also working much harder on making sure I warm them both up before and cool them both down after working as the last thing I want is for either of them to injure themselves!!!

Back in the game :D

The time has finally come for me to have time along with a working ankle to be able to start agility training again!!! :D

I have found somewhere near me to hire equipment in an outdoor sand school so I can get my confidence back running again and do some weave and contact training before I return to the "scene of the crime" for lessons with Lel!!!

I had my first session there on Sunday and just did some tinkering really. Reminded them both that they are meant to stop on contacts, wait on the start line and drive on over jumps!!! Their contacts were slow but I am happy with that for now, I can work on speed. Jem only did medium jumps and will only do that until she has been back to SMART for a check up after having had so long off!!

I don't know when I shall next get to go as it depends on uni work etc but I plan on being more organised and going with a plan of what I am going to do, rather than just tinkering!!!

It feels so good to be back, and to realise the dogs havn't forgotten EVERYTHING they had been taught!!!

Flyball catch up!!!

Everyone seems to be updating their blogs so thought I best get mine up to date too!!!

In July Elliot went to the Barkshire Bandits show with Nat and apparently behaved himself as the team came home with a really nice mug for 1st place :)

Our next competition was the Champs. Due to uni exams I was only able to go for one day and as Jem wont run for anyone else and extraset needed her I went on the Sat. The original plan was for Elliot to then stay with Nat and run with Rockets on the Sunday but in true Jemma style she decided to be ill the week before and so to be on the safe side we put Elliot on the extraset team sheet as back up!!! Jem ran OK in the morning, although not 100% (although on threatening to put Elliot in in her place she did pick up a bit!)!! In the afternoon however she was back to the naughty noisy Jemma that I am used to at flyball!!! The team was unlucky and some of the teams in the division ran much faster their seed times and they ended up finishing 5th (they still got a goody bag though :) )! It was great to be at the Champs but I wish I had been there on the Sunday to watch Div 1!! I am however determined to be there for the whole weekend next year!!!

Our final competition for this season was the Nuneaton Flyers competition at Becketts Farm. We had a really great weekend, with the four teams getting 3 x 1st and a 3rd!!! Jem ran really well, she ran forwards when I let her go and didn't dance around too much whilst waiting which meant I actually got some pretty decent starts!!! It seems I learn to handle my dogs at the champs as she started this good behaviour then and it was at the champs last year where I learnt to do change overs with Elliot!!! Elliot also ran really well, I took Nats advice (for once!!!) and was more relaxed whilst lining up and didn't make him stand straight if he didn't want to before I let him go and he was much better, making me have much better change overs :) For both of them I also laid my lead out where I had been letting go of them which made a big difference as I am useless at judging distances!!!

So, all in all a great flyball season and I look forward to doing more competitions next year, although I have a feeling Agility may fill up quite a few of my weekends!!

Kilnsea Event Field

We had our usual Rocket and Extraset teams in this weekend, the last chance to run these combinations of dogs to get times for the Champs!! The weather was horrid but the few bright spells meant racing wasn't cancelled :) Both teams were in Div 2 (I know, Extraset, in Div 2!!! - crazy stuff!!!), Rockets 2nd seed and Extraset 6th.

Rockets ran really well and really gelled, they managed two new best times, 17.98 with Elliot in and Diefer out and then in the next race a 17.93 without Elliot - just got to hope we can keep it up for the Champs!! They managed to win all their races until the last one which was close, and we took to five legs, sadly on the last leg Elliot manged to take off into the first jump meaning he was very off balance for the rest of his run!! This put them into 2nd place :) Elliot wasn't running his best this
weekend, he was taking off ridiculously early for the first jump and jumping them all quite high (I was letting him go from a foot further forward though, whether this had an effect or not I don't know, and
whether this was due to him running slower or merlin running faster I also don't know?). He was also being really annoying in the line up - he seems to get worse each week!! His tuggy was OK this week though, I only had to really persuade him to play on a few occasions!! It will be interesting to
see how he runs this weekend as Nat is running him-see if he is just naughty for me!!!

We all thought Extraset were going to have it tough but as per usual for this team, they had luck on their side and only lost two of their races, one of which was against Rockets! They finished 3rd with a best time of 19.01 (had Rockets won their last race they would have been 1st and Extraset 2nd) :) Jem managed a best time of 4.38 which makes me a very happy mummy :) She did however do quite a few 4.7s because she seemed to have to run at least twice for almost every leg due to my rubbish starts and numerous lights and the other teams not doing much better either!!!

All in all a good weekends racing for all teams, with Missiles coming 3rd in their division and Ballistics winning Div 1!

Barbury Castle

Well, this certainly was an eventful weekend!! As it was Nat's birthday and not too far away we decided to take the caravan - after attempting to leave numerous times (very long story) we arrived at about half 9 Friday night. The venue was lovely, a lovely big camping field and massive exercise area, it was just such a shame the ring was 1.25miles from it!!!

Saturday was a quiet day for us in terms of racing, just the missiles in division 7 who did well and came 4th. Nat and I went for a wander round the show with Asher and Jem which, after deciding to walk there (we didn't realise quite HOW far it was!!), turned about to be a 2 and a half hour wander!!! We then had a lovely 4hr nap in the afternoon to make up for our lack of sleep Fri night and our expected lack of sleep Sat night!! Elliot & Laika then had a nice walk round the point to point course before we cooked tea - the second eventful thing for our weekend - our caravan nearly set on fire, someone came to chat to us when there was a loud bang and apparently flames coming out our water heater!! After turning off our gas Carol & Mark kindly lent us their cooker for us to finish cooking our tea before we headed out to celebrate Nat's birthday :)

Sunday was manic, with three teams in three of the four divisions! With the ring so far away from the caravan we didn't manage to get back at all during the day but luckily we had taken money so could buy lunch at the show! The ground was running really slow and consequently none of the dogs ran their best. Extraset managed a best time of 19.09 and won division 3 - I was naughty in the afternoon and didn't move Jem far enough away from the rings to stop her barking between races and so she was noticeably slower in the second race. Apart from that she ran really well, although probably spent very little time looking where she was going!!! Rockets only managed a best time of 18.33 and finished 2nd - they had won all their races until the last one, but so had that team, it was brilliant close racing and we took it to five legs, loosing the last leg on 0.08s!!! Elliot was being a prat for some reason and really would not stand still so my changeovers were quite late as I couldn't judge what he was going to do, or even look at where Merlin was as he was being such a fidget!! I did realise on one of the races that some of the confusion may have been that when Carol calls Merlin she calls "merleeeeee" which of course sounds very much like "eeeeeeee" and when she didn't call Merlin till I had released Elliot he stood stock still. As this wasn't a very practical solution I then ended up just having to lift Elliot over into position and only put him down just before I let him go - worked OK but it is not something I want to have to do all the time!! I tried him coming back to a second ball and it didn't seem to make much difference to his time, he was maybe a fraction quicker to start with but he soon decided not to spit the first ball for the second and so just kept getting hit on the head with it!! I have therefore decided to go back to the tug, work with what I have got for now and then work better on improving it over the winter.

I shall leave you to read Nat's blog for how Asher got on in his first run back after his injury (when she gets round to writing it!:p) but will say that Ballistics managed another new best time of 16.63 :)

Basingstoke

Have been put to shame by Nat as I still haven't written about the Basingstoke competition 3 weeks ago!!!

I wasn't originally planning on going to this competition as I was on call at uni on the Sat night but as it turned out I wasn't called in so I decided rather than Nat go on her own for the day with my dog I might as well join her!!
Sadly Extraset were on the Saturday so Jem didn't get to run, Ballistics were however kind enough to let her do some warm ups with them so she didn't feel completely left out and she had a great time cheering them on from the sidelines :)
As for Elliot, what can I say, my changeovers have got much better and from what I remember I think I only got one light and wasn't that late for many either :) I think there are two main reasons for this, one is that I now put my lead down for where I am letting go from so I am not just guessing where to go from the next time and the other is that I have finally devised a way of getting Elliot to stand still when I am about to release him!! He was really rubbish in terms of coming back to his tug and consequently I have been working more on the second ball with him. I am planning to test which is quicker this weekend at Barbury Castle - I have realised the reason he was speeding up once over the jumps when I was using the second ball was because this was the point at which I stood still and he could see the second ball so I am planning on doing this earlier now!!

Hopefully I will update a bit quicker after this weekend, but I can't promise!!!

Padworth

I only went for the day this weekend as I am working nights today (Sunday) and luckily Rockets & Extraset were both on Sat :)

Jem ran really really well, first two legs of the first race she did 4.4!!!! :) She then stayed running 4.5s all morning, apart from on (I think) two occasions where she did low 4.6s :) Her box turns in the first race weren't great but we managed to get the jump in on the warm ups in the second race and from then on her box turns were pretty good- there was even a nice picture of her on the box which I need to sort out buying (I left in a hurry as it was pouring it down!!!)!! :) The team as a whole ran really well too, bettering their best time of 19.62 at Becketts with a time of 18.91!!!!!!!!! I know they also managed a 19.02 in the morning, am not sure what other times they did but they won all their races and won the division :)

Elliot seemed to be running OK, although not sure the fitness training has had the same effect on him as on Jem but my changes were pretty late so although his times were 4.6+ he probably did run some 4.5s. I FINALLY got my changes sorted in the afternoon but sadly we had no-one writing times :(  I think Nat is feeling smug about my changeovers as I finally ended up going from 41 foot, which is where she had told me to go from all along, but I am convinced I had been at this point before and he was early but nevermind, at least I got it sorted! We also finally realised that my inability to judge distances probably doesn't help when I am told to go back a foot so I laid my lead out for where I needed to go from and then got Nat to move it how much I needed to move by!! :) I wonder if we will manage to be as good earlier in the competition next time, I doubt it!!! As I have had to resort to using balls for the fitness training he was pretty rubbish at spitting his ball for the tuggy this weekend - I best get to the shop and buy some more frisbees!!! His box turns were also pretty good this weekend, I shall have to see if there were any nice pics of him on the box too :) Nat ran him in one race because it had started raining and I was a bit worried about running on wet muddy ground knowing what happened last time I did!! Watching him running back he looked markedly slower than when he was going up, but Nat reckoned he wasn't putting in the extra stride between the box and jumps - will have to get the guide in on the warm up at the next competition! Rockets also did well as a team and managed to only loose two races and finish 3rd with a best time of 18.40 (I think).

We are not meant to be going to another competition until July but might manage to squeeze in next weekend depending on what day the teams are on and if I get called in to uni (I am on call Fri & Sat night)!

Becketts Farm

Wow, what a weekend for the Ballistics - we finished the weekend winning Div 1 with Ballistics, winning Div 2 with Rockets, coming 2nd in Div 2 with Extraset and all 3 teams getting new best ever times - Ballistics 16.85, Rockets 18.16, Extraset 19.62!!!!

It was a very hectic day having Rockets & Extraset in the same division and I didn't feel I gave both my dogs as much as I should have. This was for three reasons, one because we were rushed having to keep swapping dogs, two because I was knackered running them both so close together (I would like to say this is because I need to work on my fitness post my ankle break but its not, I needed to work on my fitness before then too-I best get on to it!!), the third reason was that the ground was quite uneven and there was a big dip in the run back area I was very conscious of falling down!!

We made a conscious effort this weekend to write down times for dogs so we can start getting a proper idea of whether or not they are in the right teams. I was highly disappointed with Elliot's times - he was running 4.7-4.8 in the morning, with some over 5s times (partly due to late changes, but not completely!), he did redeem himself slightly in the afternoon by getting a couple of 4.52s when my changeovers were bang on. I do think that because I have not been giving him balls on walks to try and dampen down his obsession I have consequently not been working him as hard and so his fitness has really dropped - this has now changed!!! Also, because I don't have to worry about him not staying in our lane I didn't call him all the way back as I was saving my energy for shouting Jem up and back!! His tugging was loads better this weekend, I had to do a front cross on him and run off to the side, but by doing this he tugged every time (bar once I think), so just need to work on him doing it as he comes in - another job for the next few weeks :)

Jem was running consistently 4.6s which is about right for her, although she can do 4.5 (4.4 if she looks where she is going) but she had had the week before off because of her foot and again I have not been working her as hard lately. Luckily though she ran fine despite her mishap last weekend which was good :)

So a good weekend in all but definitely an eye opener for me - both the dogs' and my fitness (with in my ankle's limitations) will be seriously worked on over the next two weeks till our next competition (and afterwards hopefully!!!)

Farnham Park

Jem was in extraset this weekend and Elliot in rockets which meant I got to run them both :)

Extraset were first on and won their first race :) They won their first leg in the second race but then in the second leg the start dog from the other team ran across onto our lane when Jem was at the box. With Jem in flyball mode she was not impressed by this and decided to tell the dog off for getting in her way, unfortunately for Jem the other dog didn't back down and Jem ended up coming off worst with a puncture wound in her foot. Sadly we only had 4 dogs in extraset this weekend and so we lost the rest of our races (Perry, Smartie and Jamie still ran though so we didn't loose our points from the morning), we did however still manage to finish 3rd as 3 teams won 2 races and we had the fastest time!!!! :) I also managed to see that Jem ran a 4.5 :)

Rockets did really well and won their division with a new best time of 18.30 :) Elliot refused to play tuggy this weekend as well and so I have come to the conclusion that it is in fact just that he is back racing every weekend and having access to tennis balls more frequently - he hasn't had them at home for ages but I think being back at flyball with all the excitement the value for the ball far outweighs the value for the tuggy! At least he is giving me a job for the winter :)

I also managed to do pretty well with my handling this weekend, with some pretty good starts with Jem and I ended up getting my eye in much better with Elliot and his changeovers :)

I am keeping my fingers crossed Jem is better by next weekend but either way I will get to run Elliot again as they are in separate teams :)

Flyball at Alton

Last weekend was Jem and my first competition for the year and it felt good to be back! :) Sadly we only had the three teams in so I didn't get to run Elliot, I do however get that pleasure next weekend, and maybe even the weekend after if I am lucky :)

First race of the day was in red lane and I didn't get time to warm Jem up so we decided it wasn't worth the risk of running her in that lane (especially as she was completely off her rocker!) and so she sat out for that race. She then ran really well over the 12" (her first time at this height in competition) and my starts with her got better, I got a couple of 0.0somethings  - it can be difficult to get her starts good because it always depends how much attention she decides to pay to the other lane on her way to the gate! By the last race of the day she had tired quite dramatically and so only ran one leg - she had been sick a couple of times early in the week before and has had a few weeks of light exercise due to my exams. But hopefully she should be back on form this weekend as I have upped her exercise in the week and she is 110% in herself again!!!

I can't really say much for how Elliot ran, apart from the fact that I did notice that he basically didn't spit his ball out at all for the tuggy, Nat did however admit (not that she has on her blog :p) that she kept getting quite into racing and so didn't have 100% of her attention on him when he came back - now who knows if this affected him or not, it shall be interesting to see how I get on with him this weekend!!

Both dogs box turns were pretty shocking to be honest - Jems I think may have been because she was running over the 12" rather than 9" and so her striding wasn't quite right, as for Elliot's, who knows!!

The team as a whole did well though finishing 2nd with a best time of 19.16 and I am really looking forward to doing it all again this weekend :)

Flyball for Mr E!

Last weekend Elliot was "stolen" by Nat to go to a flyball competition whilst I was stuck at home revising :( For full details on the days racing go to Nat's blog (link on the right), but basically he was a good boy for her and even dropped his ball for his tuggy (not all the time but some of the time, which is a start, the more tired he gets the less he does it so I shall be working even more on his fitness!!)!! :) He also had a great time in her car - he loves the fact he can see and it is really difficult to get him out of it!!!

Jem had a fun-ish weekend too, I took her to the woods near me (Elliot is really naughty here and likes to explore a little bit too much!) which she loved and we had lots of cuddles, so I think she enjoyed having a weekend without the hooligan around!!

Clever Jem, Rubbish Me

It was our last flyball training session today before the competition season starts.

It is safe to say Jem is ready to run in the pack in the blue lane - I did a couple of late changes and then pushed them up (to the point that I was about 3 foot early!!!!) and she didn't even bat an eyelid at Sonny (who she was changing to)!!! :D This does however mean I need to learn to do changeovers with her now too - damn it!! It is a shame we didn't have just one more session to try her in the red lane but I think she will get there in that lane pretty quickly now she can do it in the blue lane. I am so pleased we did this with her, not only because it will make life easier for Lou/Nat when they are deciding teams but also because it proved that she is not as naughty as I thought!!

Elliot was a good boy too, he did get tired quite quickly though - best get working on his fitness! He ran start in the first team as a replacement for Piper and it was great to be able to release him whilst he was standing upright and not at a 45 degree angle!! He is now putting in the extra stride between the box and first jump without the guttering in which is good and he even dropped his ball for the tuggy 3 (or 4) times straight away and then didnt stop playing tuggy when the ball rolled away (one of these times was after a few times of not playing tug, showing it is not JUST when he gets tired that he stops playing) :D The times he didnt drop the ball for the tug I just took hold of his collar and waited for him to drop the ball and then picked it up and let him go (not playing with him at all afterwards).

So all in all a good last training session for us, I am really looking forward to the few competitions we are going to be able to get too!!

Susan Garretts 5 minute formula for a brilliant recall

I have finally been proactive in trying to sort out Elliot's recall and have signed up to Susan Garrett's online course. It is a 5 week course with a new game to play each day and is all about not controlling the dog but controlling the consequences of their actions! Obviously I can't be too specific about the exercises we are doing but I shall keep you updated on how we get on and here is to getting a brilliant recall!!

We are properly back at Flyball :)

I took the dogs flyball training last week myself for the first time since November, I didn't blog about it then because seemed like a pretty uneventful session, but after this weeks training I feel I can now reflect on it better!!

Since the Rocket Relay seminar I had been working on Elliot's ball obsession and he had been getting a little better at home. Last week I just spent his time at training trying to get him to focus on me rather than the flyball - it proved VERY difficult and ironically he was better when I put a ball in front of him than when he just had to not look at the other dogs, I guess this was because it made it more similar to the training we had been doing at home! Because of this he didn't get to do any actual flyball, he didn't even get to pick the ball up as I knew he wouldn't drop it for the tuggy. After that session and a lot of thought and discussion with various people I decided not to continue down this line of training for now as he will still be racing this season and a few weeks isn't anywhere near enough time to sort him out properly! So, this week at training he trained as normal, however we put a guide in, between the box and first jump, to make him put an extra stride in, thus giving him more power coming back, stopping him jumping the jumps so high and hopefully make some difference to his speed! I am sticking with the rule that he is not allowed to go again until he drops his ball and plays tug - he dropped it really well the first couple of times, then went back to how he used to be as he got more tired! I shall be continuing to work on devaluing the ball at home but don't expect any miracles at flyball until next season when I have had a whole winter to work on it!

We have decided to try and get Jemma running in the pack as we have too many dogs that have to go start in the team, any of you that have read this blog from the beginning will know this is a brave task to undertake!! Last week she managed to go from 20ft as the dog before was coming through the gate (I pushed it more than that once and she took a little detour towards him, so I stayed where she was comfortable!)! This week she was much better, but that is because we had two lanes up and so she was paying much more attention to the red lane than to our lane!!! She did try to have a go at the first dog in our team so I just stood well out the way until they had gone. She manged to get to me releasing her from 20ft as the dog was landing the last jump, I think I could have pushed it further as she really wasn't looking at our dogs, but I shall leave that for next week!! I am not holding out much hope that she will be ready by the beginning of the season but hopefully she will by the end if she carries on like this :) Am also not sure what she will be like in blue lane, but one step at a time!!

Neither dog is powering back quite as much as they used to which is to be expected as I am still only jogging away and not running, but Jem did come back quicker when I introduced a second ball (she takes too long to convince to play tug to make it worth it!) and she held on to her first ball until I told her she could drop it :)

So all in all I was really pleased with this weeks training, it was good to be back, just a shame Jem and I wont be competing much this year as I have exams in September (Elliot will go with Nat as and when he is needed :))

Rocket Relay Seminar

Now Nat has updated her blog I can write mine!

We went to the Rocket Relay Seminar hosted by the Flyball Fever team at the weekend and had an amazing time! All I am going to say really is thanks to the organisers for putting on such a great event, if you want more details on how we got on, follow the link to Nats dogs on the right as there is little point me repeating what she has said, especially as she worked my dog!!

We're back, well sort of!!!

I managed my first proper half hour walk with the dogs on Saturday and have just been on our second, we managed an hour this time but weren't walking all of that time as apparently I chose the busiest time for bike riders, which provided some entertainment with one crutch, one dog that likes to chase and one that is completely oblivious to bikes!! I must admit though, I didn't realise how good it would feel to be able to get outwith them again!!

We are off to the Rocket Relay Seminar in March and I decided that I didn't really want to take Elliot with him having not done any training for three months! Nat has kindly offered to run him for me until I am properly back on my feet (sadly she can't run Jem as she is too much of a mummys girl!!) so whilst she got the pleasure of running him, I got the pleasure of watching him! I have been working on him dropping his ball for the tuggy and so decided to use this opportunity to compare him running to his tuggy with him running to a second ball (something I had been working on before I broke my ankle!). Bless him tho, he proved that this was a rather pointless exercise as I got an average time of 1.96 for jump, box, jump when he was running to the tug and 1.90 when he was running to the second ball. For the full runs I got 4.48 exactly (that is a good time for him!) when he was running to either!!! At least he was consistent!! It also gives us some start times to see how much he improves when we put in to practise what we learn in March!

Thought I would write something!!!

My blog was making me sad, seeing how long ago I had last written something, so thought I would do a little update!

I finally had my leg out of plaster yesterday and am supposed to be starting to weight bare on it, but I can tell it is going to be a long slog!!

I have spent the past few days teaching the dogs some new tricks, things I wish I had done about 6 weeks ago!! They will no both pick up things that I drop, although I must admit Elliot is better at it than Jem, she spends a long time just looking at it like, really?!?! by which time Elliot has swept in and picked it up!! Elliot has also learnt to pick up their bowls and give them back to me when they have finished eating which is very helpful when he likes to lick them and send them flying across the floor which makes it difficult to pick them up on crutches! I tried to teach jem this too but she didnt like the metal in her mouth bless her!!

I am also using this time to work on them jumping up at people when they visit as I am having the most visitors I ever have with the dog walker coming every day! Jem has learnt not to jump up at the dog walker but is struggling to generalise it and Elliot is still just as bouncy as ever which is no surprise really!!

Anyway, I think that is it for now, especially as I don't really have much to say!