Training Morning

Photographs taken by Rosie Ison during Brigg's monthly training session with Natasha Wise on a cold frosty morning.

An Eventful Walk

Such a lovely day for a walk around the Nature Reserve when all went well until we were on our way back, I do constantly check that I have all my dogs but suddenly I realised that Roli was missing so I started walking back in the direction we had been constantly calling, to no avail. Sara and I then split forces and went in opposite directions around the lake, it is a very big lake too! It was not easy keeping calm knowing that my old boy might well be in a panic at being lost however Sara was convinced that all would be well as the nature reserve is well fenced in. There was no sign of him around the lake so Sara decided to return to the car park while I went in the opposite direction to the river calling all the time, there were few people about and the 3 I met had not seen him. The relief when Sara phoned to say she had him was enormous, he had found his way into a bog and could not get out by himself, Sara managed to lift him out none the worse for his ordeal, he had been missing for around 30 minutes! We surmised that at a certain point where the broadwalk is broken, (which is the route we always used to take before it was put out of commission) Roli must have veered off thinking that was the way to go. I must admit the thought that it was Friday 13th came to mind! Needless to say our walk was somewhat longer than intended and I notched up over 12 miles!

Farewell 2011

2011 has flown by and with it an eventful year of highs and lows fades into history.
The dogs had a good season, Brigg has amassed a goodly collection of trophies and won into Grade 4 in our home county of Lincolnshire making it a very special occasion, he is doing well in Grade 4 already having several 2nd and 3rd places under his collar. Keeto qualified for a Final at the JDA Show and did very creditably and Chart was finally promoted to grade 4 on points so I now have 3 grade 4 dogs which simplifies things for me. Kai, now aged 11 is semi retired and will only run in Veteran classes, he has been a great dog to train and compete with. Tambi now 13, does the occasional Allsorts when the jumps are at Micro height screaming his way around the course with excitement, so no change there! Roli celebrated his 14th birthday just before Christmas, despite being seriously ill during the summer with an infection in one of his heart valves he made an excellent recovery and is still full of energy and enthusiasm despite having impaired vision due to cataracts.
During September my niece Annabel gave birth to her 3rd daughter, Sophie Jane, sister for Lilly, 4 and 2 year old Jessica, bringing my brother's total of granddaughters to 7!
The development which has rumbled on beset with problems for almost 2 years still continues as the council turned down the plans which were finally reviewed on 7th December so we have to wait for an appeal plus revised plans which will mean another 4 to 5 months of living in a state of limbo. I really do not want to move and wish that my neighbours who have dragged me into this situation would sell their houses in the normal way.Since moving here some 29 years ago I have seen the building to the rear of my property replaced by two massive three storey offices, mainly glass, and the cottage next door into some 30 retirement flats so faced with yet another development dwarfing my little bungalow which would possibly have gone ahead without me was not an option!
I finally replaced my old van in September, at 11 years old it had served me well. I was so fortunate to find a 3 year old Mercedes automatic van already fully caged and fitted with a tow bar and dual electric's. It was strange not having a gear lever but I adapted very quickly.
Now that the show season is over we are enjoying long walks in a variety of places. I continue to teach, my adult pupil took her grade 2 exam a couple of weeks ago and despite pressure of work (she works for the Tax Office)! and not being able to put in the required amount of practising she managed to pass with 117 marks while another 13 year old pupil just missed a Distinction in Grade 4, a shame as she had worked so hard but suffered badly from nerves on the day.
May 2012 bring all my friends peace, joy, health and happiness.

Crackers!

Crackers are fun especially when one small great niece employing her body weight into pulling the cracker topples backward as the unexpected resilience of the paper object suddenly split, but no harm done and she was able to retrieve her prize from the floor wherein she lay!
How crackers have changed from those of my childhood which were of a stiff paper covered with brightly coloured crepe paper concealing a paper hat, cheap trinket and a snap which more often than not failed to produce the satisfactory 'crackle' when pulled. These days crackers come in all sizes plain or highly decorated according to price which of course reflects the quality of the gift concealed within. I cannot say that the quality of the jokes have improved though! One of my brother's most successful box of crackers contained a set of tiny hand bells complete with a numerical score for various carols and popular songs and nursery rhymes. After the fun and success of that first year these bells are now becoming a traditional ending to our Christmas meal and for the first time my orchestra swelled to 2 extra members aged 2 and 4 who made a very creditable contribution to our musical renditions!

Roli

My precious boy Roli is 14 today.

Brigg's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Brigg who is 3 years old today.

A Long Overdue Update!

I enjoyed Dogs in Need, the first two days were not particularly successful for me although Chart surprised me by coming 10th in jumping, Kai and Keets got unplaced clear rounds and a knocked pole cost Brigg 5 faults in both his runs. We enjoyed our day off with a long walk. Last year Sara and I had a woodland walk on site and in previous years we had gone to the seaside, but every time the tide had been out and we were confronted by MUD! Once we had parked we set out through woodland arriving at a couple of large lakes where the dogs had a great time chasing after sticks. Brigg actually swam but only by accident as he launched himself in the water to find he was well out of his depth! From there we were just a stone's throw from the beach at the sight of the sea all the dogs behaved like excited children. Eventually we left the sea along with its flotilla of yachts to climb upwards through wooded paths along a 3 mile circular walk which we did twice. At one point we walked alongside scores of seemingly decayed old boats although these were obviously inhabited, it looked a real shanty town with an assortment of rubbish strewn around amidst tubs, hanging baskets and various containers filled with flowers, I'll bet the postman did not relish cycling along the narrow muddy paths to deliver mail to their boxes. The forecast for that day had been dire but we were fortunate in that it did not start raining until we reached camp and our barbecue was put on hold for another day as it poured with rain for some time, so onward with the Dominoes! It had been strange that on the previous day we had three games of stalemate which we could not understand until we realised some of the tiles were missing, these were eventually located beneath the caravan table! Sunday arrived all too soon and it was time to pack up and return home
After being away for a week there was a considerable amount to do which had to be crammed into three days before I left for Lincolnshire. It was great to return to my home county, I particularly like the venue at Winterton where no one is camped too far from the rings and there is a small nature reserve next door which makes a great dog walk through to the fields beyond where there is a distant view of the Humber Bridge. The weather was changeable throughout the show we had everything from a little warm sunshine to decidedly cold days, gales, heavy rain and hail!
The five days went very quickly, we did not exactly cover ourselves in glory but Kai had a clear round every day in his first Veterans runs and managed 3rd and 4th places. Chart came 8th with 5 faults in a dastardly Agility course and deigned to go clear in another run but mostly pleased himself! Keets had several clear rounds and a 5th place, such a reliable boy who tries so hard to please and after several runs with a single mistake in each Brigg went clear to take 2nd, 4th and 8th places. It was nice that his breeder was around to see him run.
I did have a considerable amount of problems with my rigid gluteus muscles which had been plaguing me for most of the summer and by the last day it was so painful I did not complete all my runs, the drive home seemed to take for ever especially as there was a 45 minute delay on the M1 due to an accident and it was almost dark by the time I reached home. I was not overjoyed to read a note from Julie who was looking after the birds that she thought there were electrical problems in the garage, indeed there was as the damn switch in the fuse box had tripped for no good reason and although there was lighting, there was no power connected in the place, at least that was easily rectified but it was obvious that this had happened a few days previously as the kitchen freezer food was partially de frosted, at least the big chest freezer in the garage which contained the dogs meat was more or less OK as it was very full.
With just a single day before departing again there was a great deal to be done on the home front, shopping, washing, aviary cleaning, lawn cutting, etc. nevertheless the caravan was packed and folded that night ready for an early departure the following day.
Sara arrived at Brampton Racecourse just before me and had saved us pitches in the usual place. The ground was rock hard and it took some time and a great deal of strength in hammering in the garden poles and awning pegs, once set up the dogs enjoyed a good run in the middle of the racecourse, I did not do all my runs on that first day of competition as my leg was too painful to do much but thanks to various exercises suggested by friends who had a similar problem things did improve over the weekend.
Both Friday and Saturday were fine sunny and warm but the evenings were very chilly. We enjoyed a barbecue on Saturday evening when the wine went down a treat. Sunday was a different matter when a cool cloudy morning gave way to heavy rain. Over the show period again we failed to cover ourselves in glory but did some really good runs despite the odd faults, Kai did a couple of nice clear jumping rounds, Chart managed a couple of clear rounds in jumping and played his usual game of throwing himself off the contacts with the greatest of glee, but he is not called 'Magic In The Air' for nothing! Keets besides a couple of clear rounds came 10th in a combined graded 4 to 5 Agility and Brigg came 10th in the combined graded 3 to 5 Agility. I did not complete all my runs on the Sunday as the weather was so dire both Sara and I were glad to make an early escape during the afternoon. I had a scary moment when removing the chocks from beneath my caravan wheel as it started rolling down the hill, fortunately rescue was at hand to grab the brake and stop it! I had to call upon a strong man to help remove the pegs from my awning, the ground was iron hard as I had really hammered them in and could not get some of them out!
It is some years since I last went to the Gillingham Show, I remember it well as the exercise area was a field adjacent to one full of sheep. On the first morning there was an urgent announcement on the tannoy for everyone to lock up their dogs as the sheep had broken out and invaded the camping area and white woolly things were capering in the roadways between caravans causing a great deal of canine excitement! Happily someone with dogs previously trained with sheep was able to round them up! There were no sheep in sight this time and we had the two enormous fields for an exercise area. As soon as I had set up I took the dogs for a walk in two batches as the rule was that only two dogs were allowed off lead per handler, as usual this was only obeyed by the law abiding and despite constant reminders being announced several people continued to walk their multiple dogs off lead.
We did quite well on that first day getting some clear rounds besides Brigg's 7th place in jumping on a course which did not really suit a large striding dog. It was not long before the promised gales were in evidence along with the odd sharp shower.
The worst thing of day two was having to don soaking wet shoes to run in, not so bad when one become accustomed to the continual squelch despite wearing so called waterproof socks.............is there really such a thing? The only effective solution I have found is to encase one's feet in polythene bags before putting on the trainers only one's feet sweat so much that it defeats the purpose so I have learned to grin and bare it!! The morning did not start too well and it seemed that it was going to be a 5 fault day, by lunch time the sun vanished behind ominous black clouds and we had the odd torrential downpour. The afternoon runs were a great improvement on the mornings performances, Keets, Kai and even Chart went clear in their jumping runs and Brigg managed to take 9th place in the Combined Grade 3 to 5 jumping. The grade 4 agility was the last class of the day, Keets did a nice clear round and Brigg stormed round clear 6 seconds faster that Keeto, I had no idea until the presentation where he had come and was delighted when he was placed 2nd.
Stour Valley was a nice show right in the heart of Kent with plenty of exercise area complete with a muddy pond which I avoided like the plague recalling a couple of years ago when Brigg and Keets emerged chocolate brown and stinking and had to be taken to the water tap to be hosed down!
Saturday was not the best of days, I had 5 early runs and was on ring party all day, having completed my runs I stood in the pouring rain picking up poles for the next 3 hours, the rain seeped down my neck soaking the clothes beneath, I was cold and not happy! At least it dried up during the afternoon for my remaining runs and I was glad when my ring party duties were at an end! Not a particularly successful day, Brigg and Chart with 5 faults in all their runs, Keets with a nice unplaced agility round and Kai 13th in Allsorts. During our walk I picked a bag full of sloes and started the tedious task of pricking them once home before covering them in gin. The Dominoes challenge continued when I emerged the victor!
Sunday was so much better when we had a lovely sunny morning once the early mist had departed. I only had Kai and Tambi's Allsorts runs first thing and then nothing until after lunch so I walked the dogs and generally packed up. It all became a bit frantic in the afternoon with 8 runs in three rings all happening simultaneously. Chart true to form managed to spoil his chances by trying to be clever, Kai came 4th in his Allsorts, Keets went clear in all his runs and ensuring that Brigg unlike the previous day got all his contacts I played safe and trained them, nevertheless he took 7th place which was gratifying.
I got my new van in time to drive to Bath. Within an hour I had packed the van with the essentials required for my last camping trip of the season. I had an excellent journey, being more powerful the van cruised up the dreaded hill just before the racecourse with the greatest of ease. Automatic's are so easy to drive although I did find it hard not to change gear for a while! It did not take long to set up in my favourite position against the racecourse rails and the exercise area after which we had a long walk out to Round Hill, despite the heat there was a welcome cooling breeze.
Saturday dawned warm and misty and once the sun burned through the mist it was uncomfortably hot. Some of the courses were seriously challenging, I could say it was the heat, maybe it was a contributory factor but I did not handle well and was cross with myself but being in such a beautiful location amply made up for my disappointing performance and we had another really long early evening walk once I had completed my runs. I counted no less than 12 hot air balloons during our walk, it was strange looking down on them as they rose from the valley to ascend overhead to wend their way across the sky before fading into the distance. A muggy night preceded another hot and clammy day when I walked the dogs early having no classes until later in the day. I did at least acquit myself better in our 6 runs, Keets went clear in his agility but alas a missed contact gave Brigg 5 faults however Chart decided to end the season on a high and actually did a nice jumping run to go clear 3 seconds slower than Brigg who took 9th place. It was too hot to walk the dogs before I left around 4 o'clock and having been bathed in sweat all day I could not wait to get home for a bath!!