Mobile Phone Photos

Thought I would post a few photos that I have taken on my mobile phone recently since they are of the dogs and are really cute. Please excuse the quality but I only have a 2mp camera on my phone - I am thinking of getting a better camera on my next mobile phone so I can take better photos for the blog without having to remember the digital camera!

Pebbles in the van in her favourite spot on the table!

Pebbles looking amazingly cute sleeping on the van! Aawwww!

Barney resting on Dad's foot!!

Barney cuddling his favourite toy - Duck! Cute or what?!!

Today we went for a walk with the dogs as usual but it was not a normal day. It was absolutely FREEZING!!!! The temperature did not get above freezing all day and was probably no higher than -3 degrees for most of the day. It was unbelievably cold. So cold that the frost was thick everywhere you looked - trees, fences, and cars. It was quite pretty to look at even if it was cold to be out in it. Here are some photos from to give you an idea of exactly how cold it was!

I was very glad to get home to a warm house and stay inside for the rest of the day. I think even the dogs were happy to be out of the cold!

Sunday Walk

Last Sunday we went for a walk with my brother and my nieces and their puppy Mac. Mac is a Border Trrier who is now almost 7 months old. He is a lovely, friendly dog and loves to run and play. Here he is below playing in the snow! Yes, we had snow last week in November!

Barney and Mac have their odd moments. Mac tries to play with Barney who is not interested so Barney spends a few moments growling at Mac. Mac soon gets the message and goes running after Pebbles.

Mac and Pebbles love to play and they love to run and run. Mac can sometimes get a bit over excited to have someone to play with and sometimes can spin Pebbles round and round on the ground. Pebbles is getting used it to it now and gives as good as she gets! The good thing is they manage to tire each other out :-)

Here are some great shots of Mac on his walk:

It is great to see Mac change over the months - we even got to witness one monumental stage in his development during this walk - he lifted his leg for the first time!!! Apparently he is a dab hand at this now and is leaving his 'scent' all over the place now!!

Here are some close up shots of Mac at home with the girls:

We all love our weekend walks, it is a great chance for a chat and to let the dogs have some fun.

Agility Training

Today I went to training with Kenny and had a great session. I really enjoyed it and thought it worked well on the points that needed work.

We started with the channel weave for Pebbles. This is like a weave but every second pole is pulled outwards so she can run straight through the middle. This means she can go fast and will work independently of me. Up until now she would not weave unless I am right beside her. This exercise aims to work on this and allow me to cross behind her. By next season we hope to have some great angled weave entries and the ability to cross behind and move away from the weave. She was starting to do some really good angles and was running ahead of me which was great. I can see this hard work all paying off by next year.

Barney started by working on the dog walk. Kenny started him on a new technique to try and get him fast and confident on the down plank. This involved a set of sticks with a rope tied between them sitting at the bottom of the down plank. This meant Barney had to go under this. We then put a bit of chicken onto a tub about 7m away from the bottom of the dog walk for Barney to run towards at speed (this technique had been used previously). We started by putting Barney half way down the plank and getting him to go under the barrier. He did this a few times and soon was going the full length of the dog walk and running under the barrier to the food. I was really pleased with this and loved the fact that Barney was getting to run flat out and not getting scared of being stopped. This was the cause of him crawling down the down plank. He still has many sessions of this to keep building the speed but I can see how it will work in the long run and I am so determined to achieve consistent dog walks with Barney!

Then we did some work on straight line speed over jumps working in front of me. Barney did this so well and even did 2 jumps at each end at an angle. All independently of me and at speed. Very Happy. Pebbles was not so good at this one still looking behind to find me between jumps and not going without me. Work to be done here me thinks.

Finally we finished by putting these sequences together with a couple of blast courses. Barney was amazing he sped off without me and did most of the course with me shouting commands remotely. The course finished with the dog walk with the barrier running onto the tub with food. He did this really well.

Pebbles did well too and was really good with the weave allowing me to cross behind and ran well down the jumps.

It was one of my favourite training sessions for a long time and I really, really loved it. More of the same please!

Barney is a Grade 6!

Last Saturday saw us at the first indoor agility show of the year. It was held at Ingliston indoor horse arena which is a great venue.

First up was Pebbles in combined 5-7 agility. This was an elimination with Pebbles stumbling slightly coming over a jump and on getting up I think I pushed her the wrong way by moving towards her (mother's instinct to move towards them when they fall!) and so she back jumped. Still the rest of the round was good and she is starting to work away from me quite well and I am getting more confident about not having to be glues to her side all of the time.

Next up was Barney over the same course. Again we got eliminated! Not a great start to the day! This time Barney jumped the wrong jump in the box (one of his favourite moves!). Again the rest of the round was good although he could still do with going a bit faster.

Then it was the first of the jumping courses for Pebbles. Again she got eliminated (definitely a bad day!). I pulled her through two jumps and must have moved my shoulder a fraction too early and it pushed her back throught the same jumps and she jumped the jump the wrong way! Mmmm, my fault I think. Pebbles is just so responsive to any slight movement I make which is great sometimes but not so great others.

Barney was next up over the same jumping course (Barney loves jumping). He did a lovely clear round which meant he won Grade 5. This was his 3rd jumping win at Grade 5 which meant he qualified for Grade 6. Yippee! Only disappointment is that he did not win Grade 5 agility. This will have to change now though since he cannot progress to Grade 7 without winning 2 Grade 6 agility courses.

Over the final agility Pebbles did a lovely clear but was not fast enough to place. It has to be said though that all the good small dogs were out at this one so I was not surprised. Barney did his usual 5 faults on the dog walk. He still won Grade 5 though which was great. Back to the drawing board with this I think. He just does not get it. Must do more training!

On the final jumping course Pebbles went clear but again was not fast enough to place. Barney was eliminated by my handling again! He was supposed to go round the back of the the jump but I did not push him out enough and he jumped it the wrong way.

Overall I am happy with the way the show went. Things to work on are Barney's dog walk and Pebbles's speed. But really please with the progress Pebbles has made with working away from me.

Barney and Pebbles Go Swimming!

This winter, in between agility seasons, I thought I would take Barney and Pebbles swimming for a bit of fitness. Given that neither of them like to go beyond paddling in water it should prove an interesting project!

There is a canine hydrotherapy pool not far from us in Glenrothes which I thought we would try. On arrival I was asked various questions about Barney and Pebbles and their general levels of fitness to allow the staff to guage how much swimming to give them on their first visit.

At this point both were a bit unsure of their surroundings and tried to hide when getting their life jackets on! They did look very cute in their little red jackets though!

We then went through to the swimming pool where it was decided to get Barney in the pool first given that he seemed more scared than Pebbles. He did so well and although he was very wary and not too keen he just got on with it and did so well. Here is a little video of Barney in action:

We then moved onto Pebbles as Barney watched from the side. I have to say Barney did look mighty pleased with himself at this point!!

Pebbles did really well as well. She didn't look particularly happy throughout but got on with it too. Here she is in action:

All in all I think it was a successful visit. The staff at the pool said it was virtually unheard of for a dog to actually enjoy their first swim and that Barney and Pebbles managed to swim for a lot longer than the majority of dogs. Oh what a proud Mum I was!

What I found really amazing was the fact that both dogs were unsure of what was happening and were not altogether thrilled about swimming but both just looked at me and trusted the fact that I was there and asking them to do this. What amazing faith and love they have.

We are going to go swimming again in 2 weeks, then 3 weeks and then every 4 weeks until next spring. I think it will be a great way to keep them fit and I hope they will start to enjoy it before long!

Mhairi's 11th Birthday Party

On Friday 7th November Macolm and I went to Mhairi's birthday party. It is always good fun to share these events and to see all the family together. This year it was especially nice to see Edma and Charlotte there given they have both had their troubles with illness over the last while.

I can't believe that Mhairi, the birthday girl is 11 already - it seems only a short while ago that she was at our wedding as a baby!! Oh, how she has grown :-) Although not quite as tall as me - yet!!

We enjoyed some lovely food followed by the 'chocolate fountain' which was very exciting and very, very yummy!

It was eaten with various lovely options including strawberries (my favourite!), marshmallows, and fudge. Yummy!

Of course there was no way we were giong to have all that chocolate around and not have Edie all covered in it!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mhairi - hope you enjoyed it xx

Dougal

26.06.95 - 29.11.08

I am so very sad to be writing this post to my Mum and Dad about Dougal their lovely, sweet dog, that had to be put to sleep last week.

Dougal went to live with you at just 8 weeks old and you gave him a long and very happy life. He was one in a million and I know you will miss him so much but he will live forever in your hearts. Remember the good times and the fun you had. Remember the games of ball every night, the 4 legs in the air in the mornings, the games of chase around the sofa, the cuddles and, of course, the shared meals!

Dougal was the most amazing dog, so gentle, so loving, so loyal, so faithful and so loved by all who had the pleasure of meeting him. I hope you will find comfort in the fact that your lovely little dog touched so many people.

Dougal loved his walks with you Mum and enjoyed many, many miles of walking together over the years. He even came to enjoy his walks with his mad nephew and niece, Barney and Pebbles, right up to a few weeks before he passed away. He was so well behaved and I am sure was there to guide my two and show them the way. No more so when it came to the order that the treats were handed out, Dougal, then Barney then Pebbles!

Dougal lived a long, happy and healthy life right up to the end and was very lucky to have found his forever home with you both. You were the perfect match. And he was never happier than when he was with his Mum and Dad.

We will all miss you sweet Dougal. Sleep well lovely, gentle boy xxxxxxx