Bootylicious boxers and Jess and Stig!!!: April 2010

Monday 26 April 2010

Agility nuts/WBSDS

What a lovely show agility nuts is, very relaxing chairs to sit by the rings and watch lovely sunshine and some fab runs. Gemma had a cracking weekend although one ring shes was particularly rubbish in but the other two where fab. She got a 5th on touch and go and a cracking round in her jumping getting a 3rd i was well chuffed. Jess ran well doing some off the hardest courses we have done and just having a few spaniel moments i.e sniffing the judges tea on the floor instead of weaving and jumping over the tunnel!!
WBSDS started off fab with a fantastic clear from Gemma just me wasting time trying cut behind her in the tunnel and Gemma wondering what i was flapping about. Don't really know ow it managed to go so down hill. Jess was very off even standing in the que with her tail down and just stood there whether she has got abit off a bug not sure. Gemma just seemed to get slower and slower as the weekend went on so have come to the conclusion that she is feeling the effects of her phantom so have started her mediation so she can be spayed.
I have come to the decision that i am only going to run Diesel in one agility round as she enjoys it but soon gets bored!!! She has been spayed today and the vet nurse commented that she has slept most of the day so i informed her she does that most days so its nothing out off the blue. She is know cuddled under two blankets as her temperature was still abit low when i picked her up. The wound is tiny and stiches on the inside which are disovable so fingers crossed she'll be feeling better in a couple off days.
Stig has had yet another fab weekend playing with his friends and in general anyone who will play or cuddle him hes not fussy!!

Monday 12 April 2010

Spring at Suttleworth

Well what great weather we had for our first camping show off the year. Maybe abit too nice on the Sauturday as boxers seemed abit off and really not bothered. I'm finding it really hard as i no any time soon Gemma is going to go off it all as she is producing milk and every time i walk in the ring i'm always wondering if this is the time instead of getting on with it. Jess has done alot of air sniffing this weekend and has seemed incredably distracted so i only ran her once on Sunday as shes come far and got quicker and it felt like we had got back in our old ways so i didn't do anymore with her as im just hoping it was the venue. Sunday went much better with the boxers and we were very lucky with some lovely confidence giving courses. Diesel flew round one course it was a good job i was on her inside as i would never have kept up with her. I love it when shes like that and she just missed a fence as she was going so fast but i kept going as she hadn't even realised she'd done it bless her. Gemma had a fab day yesterday and had a great agility round just missing her down contact on the dog walk probably because i was thinking about the turn after the dog walk. We were packing up the caravan yesterday and was pleased to here Gemma got 22nd on 1-3 jumping, i was well chuffed with that as i wasn't expecting it at all. Fingers crossed Jess can figure herself out by next weekend.
Stig loved camping and was truly knackered after all the walking and queing and playing with his best buddy Ruppert so he slept very well in the caravan and even when we got home last night he was still knackered lol. All my dogs where mental in the field this morning which was strange after a two day show altough maybe it was all the husky food there eating keeps them going...

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Easter weekend!!

Well what a productive weekend we seem to have had. Friday we moved all the agility equipment to our new venue in all the rain. It seemed to take along time but once its done its done. We also manged to get the car stuck in the field opps he ho looks like the 4x4 may be coming quicker than what i thought woop woop!!!
Saturday we went to the Midlands border collie utility day, we towed the agility equipment up and nearly lost the tunnel on the motorway, luckily it held on until we manged to stop. The dogs where really good and Jess and Diesel had another go at flyball which the remembered very well.
Sunday and Monday we went to Bretford and both days i managed to get home before 1.30 even beter. The dogs where fab and really seemed keen. Gemma had some fab rounds altough i know shes going to have her phantom soon as she is producing milk again know but he ho i'll have plenty of years to compete her after shes spayed. Due to our early finishes and Ian stayed at home Sunay so he managed to sort out my new office area in the house so i can do all my paperwork dog free!!

Jess's achievements!!!

Qualified for crufts in YKC agility
1st in an agility round winning out of Grade 1!!!!!!
1st in an agility round winning out of Grade 2!!!!!
1st in an agility round winning out of grade 3!!!!!!
1st in an jump and go
1st in an agility round at a limited show
2nd in agility
2nd in a jumping round
3 2nd in a Jumping rounds
4 3rd in Jumping round
4th in an aglity round
4th in steeplechase
5th in a jumping round
6th in an agility round
6th in a Jumping round
Qualified for The Agility Club medium starters agility challenge!!
2nd in the Brickyard boomerangs flyball team
Silver Good citizen
So far.....................

Doggie calender!!!

March 13th Crufts
Jess - senior agility
March 14th Crufts
Diesel- Dogstable
March 20th RVA
Diesel
March 21st Border Collie club
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
March 28th Barking mad
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
April 3rd Midlands border collie club utility day
Jess, Diesel, Gemma and Stig
April 4th and 5th Easter egg gility
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
April 10th and 11th Spring at Shuttleworth camping
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
April 24th and 25th WBSDS camping
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
May 21st Training with Alistair Bray
Gemma
May 22nd and 23rd Belvoir Steam Castle camping
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
May 29th 30th and 31st Dog vegas camping
Jess, Diesel and Gemma
June 5th and 6th PADS Camping
Jess, Diesel and gemma
June 12th and 13th North Derbyshire camping
Jess, Diesel ad Gemma

My story!!!!!!!

My doggie story started when i was young. My gran got a beautiful dog called Brandy. She was my first dog love and believe me i loved that dog like nothing else. She had abit of collie in her and god knows what else. My Gran got her from a puppy and she was £25 you may say bargain but she had her problems, we were just glad she came to a home where she was going to be looked after and loved. I would spend every weekend at my grans and all my holidays. I can't remember a great deal just sat in my grans garden playing with her. We took her puppy training and she hid under the chair and shook, to be fair she didn't get any better even though she was very well socialised. Grandmas garden was about 3/4 acre and she was very proud of it. I started dabbling at getting Brandy doing abit of jumping probaly because i loved ponies and was pretending she was one, but soon realsied she was really good. My gramp made me a little dog walk and seesaw and some weaves and jumps. We spent hours playing and she really enjoyed it and just wanted to learn more. I didn't have a clue what i was doing but it was so much fun!! Unfortunately she had epilepsy and she got to the stage where it was too much and she was put down at home at the age of 3. She had a short life but she was the most loving dog and she was my best friend and i have tears in my eyes as i am writing this. Her fits were getting closer together and they where awful to watch as she was such a happy dog and was starting to suffer. I will never forget her or the day the phone call came, but that was when i know that was it, i wanted dogs, just had to persuade the parents!!!!!!!

My Gran went a while before getting another dog and it was horrible, i felt really empty, i'd lost my best friend and going to Grandmas was hard!! She had always had dogs and generally got a couple (wonder where i get that from). At that time they had all passed away so it was very queit but we all felt that we could never replace Brandy and where scared off buying a puppy with the same problems as i don't think any of us could go through that again. Eventually my uncle put my Gran in the car and said hes found some labrador puppies which she'd always wanted. He'd done his research so the puppies where from a good breeder. So the puppy was named Sammy. She was cool and completely the opposite to Brandy. Brandy followed me everywhere and Sammy as you can imagine went anywhere and everywhere. I took her puppy training and we did really well but she was never going to be Brandy and was so different. Sammy is quite lazy so i never did anything else with her as she was very happy to potter around the garden. She is know 8 and all seems like it was yesterday she was a puppy.

I'd met Ian and we'd been going out for a year or so and a mate of mine that id seen at the pub had mentioned he'd got some puppies if i knew of anyone that wanted them. They where springer spaniel puppies and he showed me photos on my phone and a little spark went off, i wanted one!! Thinking about it know a spaniel is not your first dog especially when we were still living with parents but he ho. We had managed to persuade Ians parents and my parents were splitting up at the time which is probably why i wanted a puppy something else to think about. I think know if we didn't have Jess i don't know how i would have coped with the situations that where facing me and Ian. We went to see the puppies and fel in love with Jess, there was 3 left 2 girls and a boy. I wanted a little girl and picked the one with matching markings on both sides, aparently my friend wanted to keep her but breeders always say that!!! My Dad flipped and said i'm not getting a dog but when have i ever listened to him. My brother wouldn't believe me, we were all going through such a difficult time that no one knew how to react but i knew it was right. I showed him a picure of the puppy on my phone and he named her Jess there and then. Jess was a very interesting puppy with bags off energy. Everyone loved her which is why shes such a brat know as she was spoilt. She got alot of people through a difficult time but the most i remember was her and my grans jack russel puppy chasing each other round and round Grandmas gardens and making tracks everywhere.

We had got our own house and id been at Mitches for a couple of years. I wasn't keen on boxers at the start as id never known a boxer and they were all mad!!! But over the years i'd got the boxer bug as puppies came and went. I decided that i wanted another dog, mainly something that when i went for a walk it would want to be with me as you never see Jess in the field. As we had our own house Jess was going to peoples houses lesser so i thought she may want a friend. Ian agreed, well it probably took me a couple of weeks of nagging but i got there. Mitch had 2 litters of puppies due so i was very excited. The first litter came from Asha who was once Mitches and had gone out to a home on terms. 2 white and 1 brindle. The brindle puppy was beautiful and dark and it was Diesel. Mitch had said that the girl who had Asha wanted one of her puppies so we thought she won't the brindle puppy so didn't think anymore about her and waited for the next lot. The other litter was really light and i do love the dark brindles. Then Ashas mum had made a decision she wanted the white boy so i jumped in and had Diesel. She was a wickard puppy and she hasnt really changed that much. She was in the top kennel so when she was in the run i could see her from the yard and she'd sit there for hours staring, i should have taken that as a hint really. She was nick named the little rhino. She grew pefectly and never looked lanky or scrany. She was a perfect puppy, never messed in the house and was house trained in a matter of weeks. I took her to puppy classes and she was brilliant and everyone was impressed with her. She is perfect!!

I always knew i wanted a boxer with all the correct markings and i defiantely had the boxer bug and wanted a boxer friend for Diesel so she can play boxer games. I mentioned to Mitch i wanted another, and he was moaning about Gemma one of his year old puppies and i said she was my favorite out of his lot. Mitch said why don't i have her and i've always said to Ian if Mitch gets rid of Gemma i'm having her. Again she is a dark brindle and i will always remember her running around the yard tail between legs with loads of dogs on her heels, she was so cute and has a beautiful head. I took my dogs up the yard to meet Gemma and we took them all for a walk. Gemma was fine with Diesel but with Jess she was abit more of a challenge for her to get her head round although Jess coudn't give a monkeys. I brought her home that night and she was very quiet and slept on a blanket downstairs, she was really nervous and had no idea what was going on. She hadn't really seen the world so everything was new. It took her a long time to settle but she is defently settled know. She is my little princess and shes come a very very long way and is able to cope alot better with different situations.

Sorry for rambling on but thats the story so far until my next............