Dog Handling

Well you know I am still plodding along learning Agility but I had a whole four days without the Boss. Me and Julie and Midge got left at home while the Boss took Boo and Chan to Hawera for the Taranaki Masters Games. They came home with a gold and a silver. Chris and Boston and Bootz went too and Bootz won Bronze. One day I gotta do this stuff so I don't get left behind any more.

Don't get me wrong I love my pal Julie and she loves me and we lie on the bed and watch TV and work along together looking after the ducks and chooks. There is no rush with Julie and I like that. I never run away when I am left with Julie as I have to keep an eye on her in case she needs me.

Anyway when the Boss got home she was straight back into training dogs again, me included. She tells me my weaves are improving. They are in a straight line now but bent out and on Saturday at the Club I did them the same width I do them at home and the Boss was really pleased with that. I am pleased she throws my ball and I can dash off through the sticks and pick it up and run back flat out and play with my tug toy which is my squeaky football from Uncle Bruce the Bassett Hound man. It's my favourite.

Today we did NALA and now that I am 16 months I was allowed to do the Veterens course which was done by my sister Midge in under 29 seconds. I don't know what my time was but I did all the stuff and there were 13 bits of it and it was fun. At the end I got to play with my ball and tug toy again so that was great. I got to run the Flygility course as well. It had the A frame with hoops in it this week and I learnt that at last week's Flygility class so that was easy. The Boss ran it with me to make sure I did all the things. I missed one hurdle, deliberately as I was going toooo fast to do it. I think so anyway. He he he. The Boss laughed as well. She said I made a good effort and we played ball and tug at the end again. I was pretty exhausted having two days of Agility stuff in a row. Chan, Boo and Midge were tired as well so that's okay.

Right now I have to stop this blog because I can hear a Rat in the Kiwifruit. I need to go out and bark at it and make it frightened so that it falls out of the Kiwifruit and I can kill it. I got one last week this way. Look out Rat here I come. yapayap yap a yap wowowowo yap yap

A whole week has gone by now and we did Agility things nearly every day. Monday is my favourite. On Monday I go to a class run by the Boss called Play to Learn - nothing serious. There are now fourteen dogs in that class and last Monday we did contacts, so that meant we had all the contacts out of the shed. The A Frame, the dog walk, the cross over and the seesaw. We did them all on really low so that nobody could fall off and hurt themselves. We all learnt all the contacts in groups of four and then we had a competition at the end to see who was the best. Both the Cocker Spaniels were the best. I probably was the best best, but I am not allowed to compete with the other dogs because the Boss sayes I have an unfair adsomething. The German Shepherds are amazing as they are so big and the planks of the contact equipment are so narrow. I love Shepherds, I was born where there were beautiful Belgian 'Malenois' Shepherds . My best friend is Miska, she is a German Shepherd. They are different but sort of the same. I love their BIG.

Next week we are doing stick games at Monday night class. This is preparation for weaves and is real fun. I am looking forward to it. We always start Monday night with 'Control' so all the dogs get to know each other and settle down and work without running off and doing other doggy things. We do heel work and stays and recall in that class as well. It takes about an hour and a half to get through the workload with 14 dogs. The winning dog gets a green ribbon. GREEN IS GOOD. The boss told me to put that in. Tuesday night I do beginners Obedience. I really like Obedience, I don't have to run around so much and there is lots of staying and downs and things and I like that, I can just sort of doze through it. Also my friend Coco comes to that class and she is a real dag. Coco pretends she doesn't like the other dogs in the class, she barks and hackles up at them all, but it is just her way of having fun really. She is a German Spitz and she is very precise about where other dogs should be. 'Don't you come too close to me, you get back get back go on go away' she yaps and then she gets tired of it and when she does her heel work she doesn't yap at all. Her heel work is just so beautiful. She trit trots along. She is very pretty and thin, a kind of micro model dog really. She does make me feel fat, but she likes me, I don't think she feels threatened in any way by me and it does remind me I should resist eating all that chicken food that is out in the paddock so I too can be thin like Coco. I can but try. All the dogs in Monday night are new dogs to the Club and some are even younger than me. Tuesday night Obedience is dogs who have been coming for quite a while. When we get the lights up and going we will do more Obedience later in the evening which will give people time to go home from work and get to class. Then we will have more new people coming in.

The Boss is working on an Agility Ribbon Show for new entrant dogs. Sort of like Kennel Club Ribbon but with a course for people who have never done any training before to come and give it a go. The winners will still get ribbons. There will be two Elementary Courses and two Starters Courses and one Novice Course. It will be in October/November and should be great fun. Maybe by then I will be able to do a whole course as well. I haven't even looked for a bunny on the course for the last three weeks, I get so busy trying to do the hurdles and tunnels and things, I actually forget the Bunnies. Here it is Easter as well. Oh well Happy Easter Bunny everyone and remember that Jesus was no Bunny and it is his special holiday too.