Olive - The Dogology Puppy Diaries

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Olive - The Dogology Puppy Diaries

This page will follow Olive's training and care as she is brought home, settled in and growing up, e

24/09/2023

It's been a while I posted an update on here!

We've had a summer of Agility fun! Tiring at times...August saw us travel around a lot, firstly to the Kennel Club International Agility Festival which is the biggest show Olive has been to. 18 rings, loads of trade stands and the white picket fenced Main Ring where all the finals are held. It was a great experience. We picked up a few clear rounds but no placings, the classes were huge, over 200 dogs to compete against in some!

Then we went to Wales! A gorgeous stay in a beautiful part of the world. I love WKC as a show. Again, just a few clears and no places but fun nonetheless. Pancake joined us and got a couple of clears herself which I was super pleased with as she sometimes finds competing a bit overwhelming.

And we finished the summer with Wessex. My favourite show! Here we did much better and picked up some places, including an Agility win so she is now half way to Grade 6! She needs 2 more wins to progress.

We've had September off competing as she came into season, but she should be back next weekend. She's taken a while to adjust to the more intricate, technical style of Grade 5 courses but every run gives me ideas of what to work on in training.

18/06/2023

We've done 4 Agility shows since I last posted. The first of these shows saw her claim 5 clear rounds but not quite fast enough for the placings. The next show she got a 2nd place and a 3rd place and 7 clear rounds. The third of these shows we tried for the Crufts Novice Cup qualifier and went clear but it wasn't fast enough to place, and she picked up 3 other clear rounds that day too.

This weekend was her first time in Grade 5 (she completed the 25 day "limbo" period after recently winning out of Grade 4) she got a 9th place in another attempt at a Crufts Novice Cup qualifier (92 dogs entered so not too bad!) and got a clear round in another Agility run which was some other qualifier. But the best achievement was yesterday. Her first day in Grade 5 and she WON a Jumping class! That's already one win towards Grade 6...she needs 3 more. I was amazed she did that! And we are very nearly halfway towards the Gold Agility Warrant.

She was a bit slow at times this weekend so I think she needs a break, but I think that was the heat as well (I didn't stay for the heat of the day and kept her cool with lots of rests, and today we left before 10am so didn't catch the worst of the heat). Luckily the next few weeks will be a lot quieter. We've got the odd day here and there but we've also got some weekends not doing anything which is important and a cottage holiday with no Agility or any training at all coming up. Then in August we have a few big shows, but we'll wind down after that and take it easy for her over winter. We have lots to work on in training, getting tighter turns and faster approaches to more technical sequences as she build confidence doing that is what we will be focusing on now as these higher grade courses are throwing new challenges at us.

21/05/2023

And finally, this is the actual run. You can see the massive recall I had to do after the second tunnel. I thought she was faulted for that, but she didn't technically run past the next jump (see the blue line in the previous post). It was a messy run and I still can't believe we won it 😂

21/05/2023

If anyone is interested in course design, this is the Jumping run Olive won today. It was interesting to run as the angles were all over the place. The first outrun of 4 jumps ending in wrong end of tunnel entry was tricky, and I just couldn't get to where I wanted after the second tunnel. The blank course shows you the layout, you can use your imagination to see how you'd run it. The red line is the line I'd like Olive to have taken in an ideal world, the blue line is where Olive actually ran 😂 The turquoise line is where I ran. How would you run it? 🤔 It certainly sparked interesting conversations between people walking the course as we all puzzled it out. It was quite fun trying to work out the best approach!

21/05/2023

This weekend saw us at JDA Agility show, her second show in Grade 4. Turns out Olive is on a bit of a roll! She won an Agility class on Friday, won another Agility class on Saturday and won a Jumping class today! Because she also won a Grade 4 Agility class at last week's show, she now has 4 Grade 4 wins so she is somehow Grade 5 now! I wasn't expecting to win into Grade 5 so quickly. I was very surprised to win the Jumping class today actually. It was a really hard course with strange angles all over the place. We got to the end of it but I thought we have 10 faults, 5 for spinning infront of a jump and 5 for shooting out of a tunnel and I thought, running past a jump. Somehow, neither of those things counted as faults so she went clear, and was somehow the fastest clear even with those little detours! Part of me didn't want want go win it when I saw the results coming in as we could probably do with a little more time in Grade 4, but I suppose we'll have to find out what Grade 5 is all about now :)

14/05/2023

It was Olive's first Agility show competing in Grade 4 yesterday. She went and won her first ever Grade 4 Agility run! To get to Grade 5 she needs 4 wins, at least two of which need to be Agility (as opposed to Jumping). One down, three to go...

She also got a clear round in Jumping and her other Jumping run had 5 faults, she missed the weave entrance as I wasn't quite where I wanted to be.

We unfortunately had to miss her last Agility run as the ring was running incredibly slowly with no sign of Olive's class being done any time soon and I needed to get home in time to watch Eurovision with friends 😂 I'm glad I made the 2hr+ journey home when I did as the class still hadn't started when I got home at 6:30pm.

03/05/2023

Olive got mail! Her Silver Agility Warrant certificate arrived today from the Kennel Club :)

She gained the Bronze about 8/9 months after she first started competing, and 6 months after that she got the Silver. She has been competing for about 16 months now and what a time we've had so far!

You have to do twice as much to get Gold so that's a while away but she now has 38 out of 400 points needed. I reckon it'll take a year or two if I carry on competing as often as I currently do and she continues to love Agility as much, I cant see the enthusiasm waning any time soon for either of us though!

23/04/2023

Today was a first, we went to an obedience show! Settle in, this is a long one 😂

I compete mainly in Agility, sometimes Showing, and Hoopers and Rally when I can. I've been curious about Obedience for a while but I know we don't have the precision needed in the heelwork even for the lower levels. I have never got into the bones of training precision heelwork, this is something I've always wanted to do. Our heelwork is good enough for Rally but very far off what is needed in Obedience. I knew this was the case and I've seen the dedication it takes to get that ideal heelwork.

That all said, Olive and Pancake had a go even with woefully inadequate heelwork skills 😂 We went to the show originally because they held a Special Pre-Beginner Good Citizens class. This is a beginner class mixing in skills with elements of the Good Citizens test and the winner qualifies for Crufts! We didn't get any placings in this, some of the marks lost were because I didn't know some of the finer details (e.g One of the exercises is doing a through health check on your dog including checking the ears. I didn't realise you also had to sniff the ears which was a bit weird 😂).

We then had Pre-Beginner to compete in. This was a progression class and involved some heekwork on and off lead, and a recall. Both Tollers did ok in that they stayed in the ring with me, did a nice recall but the heelwork was all over the place lol.

Finally, we had a go at a Beginner round. I had no idea what to expect and to be honest I only looked at the requirements for the Special class. This one they needed to do a retrieve of a dumbbell. They know how to do a gundog retrieve and present on a dummy but they've never seen an Obedience dumbbell before. I don't even have one! I had to buy one at the show, luckily there was a stall selling them. I had to then quickly teach them that this is a retrieve article which did take a bit of training by the ring! Thankfully they both managed to perform in the ring, Pancake's retrieve being better than Olive's but Olive scored higher overall. Olive was then actually joint 6th place with another dog. Each class places to 6th place so Olive and another dog had to do a run off to decide who got to take the 6th place. The judge chose to do a recall. I watched the other dog and to me looked like it did a nice straight recall and a nice return to heel position. When Olive did hers, she was nice and enthusiastic but sat a tiny bit wonky on the present, then did a weird figure of 8 manoeuvre to get into the heel position, making the steward laugh 😂 She's never done that before but decided to do it twice whilst under competition 🤦‍♀️I was absolutely convinced she'd mucked that up as it seemed messy. I was even about to go back to car during the presentations to get Pancake out for a quick wander before going home. I stayed to watch the presentation anyway, and by some absolute miracle heard Olive's number called out for the 6th place! It was a rollercoaster of emotions I didn't deal with very well!

So, although if I ever compete in Obedience again we have a HECK of a lot of work to do on proper heelwork, I am so pleased that Olive got a place and a rosette at her (and mine!) first ever Obedience show where I pretty much had no idea what I was doing most of the day 😂 It's given me a huge insight into the sport and a worthy voyage of discovery. I doubt I'll ever love it as much as Agility but I would like to improve our heelwork at least a bit.

Our next show is Agility in three weeks, that will be like wearing a pair of comfy old slippers compared to today 😂 I think my brain needs this short break from competing but I'm already feeling the Agility withdrawal creeping in 😂

16/04/2023

What a weekend! We spent 3 days at Wessex Agility Show and had a fantastic time. Results are below, but the main highlight was winning into Grade 4! Olive did a cracking Agility run, winning the class. She then won another Agility class the day after!

And not only did she win into Grade 4, but she collected the last of the points she needed to get the Silver Agility Warrant! So she can use the title AW(S) now. It's lovely she did those two things at Wessex as we did their show in September where she won into G2 and got the last points for her Bronze Warrant.

Friday:
Jumping C1-3 8th 5f
Agility G1-3 4th 5f
Agility C1-3 8th 10f
Steeplechase C1-7 2nd Clear

Saturday:
Jumping G1-3 3rd Clear
Agility G1-3 1st Clear
Steeplechase C1-4 3rd Clear

Sunday:
Agility G1-3 1st Clear
Jumping G1-3 4th Clear
Jumping C3-4 Clear
Agility G1-3 5th Clear

This video was her winning run yesterday. 29 seconds and working so far away from me, lovely contacts and pulled off a really nice rear cross which is something she's only recently got the hang of. Coming out of the ring I felt elated by that run, she did everything I asked and more. Even at the end of the 3 days she gave it her all in every run. I can safely say she genuinely loves Agility :)

(This run was rapid but I think Facebook speeds up the videos on this page!)

19/03/2023

Another mixed day at Tunbridge Wells Agility Show. Only 3 runs on offer today.

Run 1:
Clear, but at 2 points where we lost time meaning we weren't fast enough to place. Olive waited for me atop the A frame 🤦‍♀️ I should have been the other side but I was trying to protect the jump after and send her into the tunnel without being E'd. Then I just didn't send her on enough to the next jump so she was lucky not to get a refusal on that. It's a shame it was a combined run as she was the fastest Grade 3 clear, so if it was graded she would have won it but nevermind.

Run 2:
An unfortunate and not usually be common fault missing the contact on the dog walk. I've actually bought a Running Contacts book to learn how to do them so I think this might be a winter training project for later in the year. I then called her in too early making her run past a jump picking up another 5 faults. Knowing I may as well trash this run I pushed the last bit of the course with some layering I probably otherwise wouldn't have tried and she did that well.

Run 3:
Less said about this the better 😂 From very first opportunity it went wrong! Olive Brook her wait (she never does!) so I wasn't where I needed to be and she failed to do a backside jump from such a distance so we almost immediately E'd. She just went bananas and kept running at absolute top speed to any obstacle in a straight line, not really listening at all as she was having too much fun making up her own course 😂 It was full of long runs ending in sharp turns.

Positives: Her seesaw was spot on in both Agility runs, something she recently had been taking too fast and jumping off twice in previous competitions. And her weaves continue to be very consistent and fast, 6 months ago she was occasionally a bit hit and miss sometimes.

11/03/2023

We're back from Crufts 2023! Unfortunately no placings in the show ring this year for these two in the huge classes at Crufts on Friday but I couldn't have asked for anything more from them. I think this is the first time I've shown at Crufts that we haven't come away with anything, but it's an honour and a lovely experience just to enter :) They moved and stood nicely and I think they enjoyed their day out, especially walking past all the treats and dog food trade stands 😂 We were back yesterday to talk to the public about Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers as the girls represented the breed in the Discover Dogs section of Crufts. They loved being fed treats by all the visitors and it was nice to talk non-stop to people about my favourite breed!

I'm sad it's over for another year but we had an absolute blast and I've spoiled them all rotten with many purchases! We will now all curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea to catch up on the rest of Crufts on TV :)

06/03/2023

A mixed day at Kelluki yesterday. Olive's first Agility run went clear, placing 4th of nearly 60 dogs. That was to be the highlight 😂 The other three runs resulted in E's. Two of those were lovely runs with unfortunate errors...a back jump which might have been prevented with better handling and then falling foul of one of many traps in a "trappy" Jumping course. Her last Agility run was a bit of a disaster. I was not in a good position as she came off the A frame and she peeled away from me making a beeline for a long jump to her left when she should have come with me to the right. She then skipped off the bottom of the seesaw which was set at a really horrid angle, so we'll do more training around deceleration before the seesaw. I was pleased with a nice Ketschker we did and the rest of the run was fine. She didn't lack in enthusiasm all day and I can't fault her effort.

The afternoon saw us competing in Hoopers. This was her first show in Level 2 Kelluki (there are lots of different organisations with different progression requirements). She won a class! She went clear in another, a really fun and interesting Barrellers course.

This week we will be picking up our grooming scissors and getting spruced up for Crufts as we strut our stuff on the green carpet in the very different world of Showing.

If you are at Crufts on Thursday come and say hi! We will be at the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever show ring.

If you are at Crufts on Friday, come and say hi! We will be in the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever breed booth representing the breed and answering questions from people who want to know if this breed is right for them :)

19/02/2023

Olive is enjoying a well deserved rest. We tried a new show today. Venue was fine, only three runs but as they were grouped by grade it meant we were done before lunchtime.

Run 1: Grade 3 Agility
A clear in a lovely course. She threw herself into a tunnel and came out slightly sideways, but before I could stop her to check her out she was already over the next jump so I assumed she was fine. She didn't drive on into the next tunnel from as far as I thought she would (possibly a bit hesitant from the previous tunnel) so we lost probably 2 seconds dithering in front of the tunnel but she was keen to carry on. She ended up placing 7th.

Run 2: Grade 3 Jumping
This run was probably my favourite. Some opportunities to take jumps in different ways. For this run I decided not to play it safe, and instead plan my handling around the shortest line for the dog which involved a couple of risky manoeuvres. It paid off as she went clear with a competitive time but there were just some fast dogs today, we couldn't have done anything differentlyto save any more time, she's fast and keen, just not as insane as some lol. She got a 5th place in this so happy with that.

Run 3: Grade 3 Agility
This was the hardest course of the day although I enjoyed the challenges. Unfortunately Olive decided to head for the weaves instead of a tunnel. I think I wasn't pointing my body to the tunnel enough and I guess we need some extra verbal tunnel proofing! She's done this before, targeting the weaves of nowhere. I can't think of any common denominators but I'll definitely be more aware of the position of the weaves in future. It's a shame as otherwise the run went really smoothly after that including some blinds which I often don't attempt when I should!

I was really happy with how she ran with me trying to take the faster route rather than the safe route today. The 7th and 5th place meant we got a few more points towards her Silver Agility Warrant, she now needs only 52 more points for that so if she remains consistent we could be claiming that in the next three/four/five shows...famous last words 😂

Two weeks off Agility now and we'll back competing in March!

14/02/2023

Oo I didn't post Olive's jumping run. Just a clear here as it wasn't that fast and a lot of dogs ran clear on this one. Was a nice flowing course and I managed two blinds one after the other, something I need to get braver at when I'm competing! (I feel like I'm running quite fast when I'm actually in the ring but watching this back I can't believe how embarrassingly slow I look 😂😂😂 I must put more effort into getting faster!)

12/02/2023

Olive's Agility run. Managed a rear cross into the first tunnel, rears are something we're not great at so I was pleased to get one in. This run went smoothly but could have been a bit faster. I wanted to do a Ketschker instead of a pivot on the jump after the second tunnel but chickened out for some reason. And I'll need to sort her A frame out as she very narrowly missed the contact on that. If you slow down the footage you can see she does make it with the toes of a back foot but only just. I applaud the judge for having such a keen eye to notice that! This is the run she came 3rd in.

11/02/2023

A long and busy day today. Pancake joined us today at an Agility show that also had a Hoopers show alongside it. I don't bring Pancake to Agility shows all that often as sometimes she gets a bit worried or just lacks enthusiasm. If I stick to just 2 or 3 a year she seems to have a much more enjoyable day and she certainly did today!

Overall, I did 15 runs across both dogs and it was a bit tight in some places. I am cream crackered! Here are their results. 6 rossettes each!

Olive:
Hoopers 1: Win!
Hoopers 2: E
Barellers: Win!
Assorted: Win!
Agility C3-4: 5f (a silly handling error 🤦‍♀️)
Jumping C3-4: Clear round
Jumping G3: Clear round
Agility G3: 3rd

Pancake:
Hoopers 1: Clear round
Hoopers 2: Clear round
Barellers: Win! (With 5f)
Assorted: Clear round
Anysize Agility: 3rd
Anysize Jumping: 5f
Anysize Jumping: Clear round

So now Olive is Level 2 in Kelluki Hoopers. It's a shame Hoopers isn't more universal like Agility as each organisation has their own rules for progression etc so it's kind of hard to "be" a certain level as you might be multiple different levels across different organisations depending which shows you can attend more of. I was chuffed to win 3 out of 4 of her Hoopers runs though! She also gained some more points towards the Silver Agility Warrant with her 3rd in Agility and 2 clear rounds, she just wasn't quite fast enough to place in the Jumping runs.

I know this is Olive's page but I was so pleased with Pancake today. She's a slow dog to run and I have to give her bags of encouragement but there were some runs in particular today where she definitely had such a blast and it felt so good to run her again. The Agility run in particular felt great.

01/02/2023

Show on Sunday, 3 clear rounds! Unfortunately they were just out of the placings. This show places to the absolute bare minimum, most other shows she'd have placed but nevermind! All good experience and she still gives me her all in every run whether we win or fail 😂

22/01/2023

Since Facebook only let's me post one video at a time, this is our jumping run. A shame we lost some time infront the tunnel because I wasn't far enough along, I assumed she'd just take it but she needed a bit more support. Otherwise, probably could have been a bit tighter in places but it was a lovely flowing course and suited her well :) (really pleased she got the weave entry as shooting out of two tunnels builds speed and I thought she might overshoot the entry but she went in fine).

22/01/2023

Nice day at Agility Ability KC Show in Norfolk, one I've not been to before. Absolutely freezing, -5 degrees when we arrived at 8am and didn't get above zero until about lunch time...

Now...this run...it was a combined grades 1-3 class and laden with traps. An interesting challenge. It was the first run of the day and Olive was extra excited (she's often a bit loopy at indoor shows). She almost fell for nearly every trap, of which there were many, but she listened just in time to be pulled off and do the next obstacle in the correct order.

The bit just before the weaves was rather messy. I should have been further down the line towards the a frame as I got in her way a bit and I could have blocked the A frame better. She very nearly got eliminated for touching the A frame but just about like back enough for me to calm her down and reset her towards the weaves. Then I pulled her towards me before the seesaw which I don't think I needed to do in the end by I was worried she would do the start jump as that was more obviously in her line. And finally, she very very nearly did the last jump before she shouldn't have after flying out of the tunnel but we saved it just about!

This was a hilariously messy run and somehow it was a clear round! In fact, the only clear round so in a hollow victory she won the class with this 😂

She got another clear round but didn't make the placings and her other two runs were E's.

One more Agility win to get to Grade 4 and 94 more points to get the Silver Agility Warrant...

18/12/2022

Nearly didn't go to the Agility show today for many and varied reasons but glad we went as Olive bagged a clear 2nd in Agility and a clear in Jumping which was just out of the placings.

First run: Jumping
A nice course but Olive bit over excited and popped out of the weaves half way through. We picked up 5 faults on the weaves, then another 5 for Olive getting a bit ahead of me and not quite locking on to a tunnel resulting in a refusal at the jump before. So a bit of a messy run!

Second run: Jumping
Another nice course, but it had a very long straight where there was no way I could keep up. Thankfully she wasn't in a wild mood for this one and we ran ok, apart from one point where I was a bit behind and didn't give her the next cue in time, so she stopped dead, and stared at me with a look that said "WELL!!!?!" Then I heard one of the ring party say "oh bless her" 😂 Poor Olive lol. It was messy but clear.

Third run: Agility
This was a lovely course with a couple of potential traps for Olive. One was doing a wing wrap on a jump infront of the A frame after going through a tunnel. Thankfully she passed that test. The next trap was a dog walk VS tunnel object discrimination. She veeeeeerrry nearly took the tunnel when she needed to go up the dog walk, but I managed to pull her off the tunnel in the nick of time. She ran clear and placed 2nd :)

03/12/2022

Last weekend we went to DBDT Agility show. Olive is certainly picking up speed lately, but it's coming with her assuming the next obstacle is whatever she thinks it is lol. In some cases I now need to get my cues in earlier, and I'll need to start practicing more technical courses so she doesn't assume they're all flowing with straight runs. She's got the confidence to be independent and do some lovely distance work, but I need to support more closely her and connect with her a lot more in our runs now to stop her making it up as she goes along. Still, we managed a clear 4th place in the Jumping (video below). I got us E'd in the other Jumping run by forgetting the course 🤦‍♀️ Then in the Agility she just went BERZERK. It was actually pretty funny to be honest, she had the best time, she thought she did brilliantly anyway 😂

Then today we did Kelluki. Again a bit wild in the Agility so we took a breather, reset and ran the last half of the course fine after being E'd. She managed a nice calm and clear 3rd in Jumping, a lovely clear in Steeplechase (it was a nice, straightforward course as you'd expect in Steeplechase which makes a nice change from the unkind "Steeplechase" courses I've seen recently!) and it all grades so a lot went clear. I think they placed to 8th and Olive was 10th, so just off the placings.

There was also Hoopers there. She came 1st I'm two of her classes, got a fault in another and E'd in another because of a mistake I made. The one with the fault was interesting though. The timer didn't work and she ended up running that 4 times before they finally fixed it! Unfortunately she picked up 5 faults on the first run, and in Hoopers if you rerun it the faults get carried over. If I'd remembered that I wouldn't have let her run it again.

She does absolutely love competing. When we arrive and she realises where we are she looks all happy, smiley and waggy. I think we've only got one Agility show between now and the end of January if I even go to that. She'll have a nice winter rest for a bit.

15/11/2022

We had a go at something a bit different last week. I didn't plan to, but made a last minute decision to enter the recent Rally Online competition as I already had the courses arranged from training and filming foot other people, so I thought, we may as well have to even though we haven't really trained it much or in a long while!

To my surprise, she came away with a score of 192/210. Anything above 190 is classed as an "Excellent" score. This is her 3rd such score in Level 1 which means she now gets to compete in Level 2 next time. This is just for Rally Online and not the live shows run by the Kennel Club, which she has never entered as Agility is more her thing. However, next month she is entered in a KC Rally show as it's at the same venue as a Champ Show we're already going to do I thought "why not?" !! I think she might be a too excited at the show to do the precise movements needed in Rally but we shall see. It will be funny at the very least!

My other two dogs took part and gained similar, slightly higher scores which was lovely to receive.

07/11/2022

Once again this little pup did me proud. Yesterday we were at DBDT, a KC Agility show. After a shaky start getting eliminated for going in the wrong end of a tunnel, she came 2nd in a combine grades 1-4 Agility run. This class happened to be a qualifier for the DBDT finals held in May next year, and 1st and 2nd place qualify :).

There was then a wait of about three hours until the next class. I was debating going home as it was chucking it down with rain and I felt bad keeping the dogs in the car all day, and I was very tired, cold, hungry and damp! However, I'm so glad I stayed. We did her Steeplechase run and she ran flat out, doing everything I wanted and driving on far ahead. Then whilst queuing for her last run I checked the Steeplechase results and saw she came 1st, and it was combined grades 1-7.

I was resigned to being eliminated in the last Jumping run. We were one of the last to run and no one had gone clear, and there was a tricky bit involving not entering a tempting tunnel which I was certain Olive would fall foul of. However, she had her listening ears on and somehow went clear, winning her that class too! It was another combined class, grades 1-4.

This was her first show as a Grade 3 dog. That Jumping win gives her her first win towards grade 4, she needs two more Agility wins to get to G4 now. Only two more Agility shows planned for the rest of the year and probably not a lot in January either so we look forward to next season when the weather is better! So pleased with how she's done in her first year competing.

06/11/2022

I forgot to post about a competition Olive did a couple of weeks ago. We went to Kelluki for Agility. Olive has found a new found SPEED in the competition ring. I don't know where it has come from, and she wasn't too slow to begin with, but she's running like she's got a rocket attached to her 😂 Which is great, but it took me by surprise and I just couldn't keep up and she was way ahead of where I thought she'd be when I walked the course so I wasn't in the right position. This meant we unfortunately didn't get a clear round but I was dead chuffed with performance anyway!

When we got there, we noticed there was also a Hoopers competition. And it was pay on the day...So we did that as well! I haven't done any Hoopers training with Olive for about a year, and even then it's always been Agility taking priority. She only went and won a class and came second in the other two classes! Maybe I should start doing a bit more Hoopers with her...

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Videos

What a weekend! We spent 3 days at Wessex Agility Show and had a fantastic time. Results are below, but the main highlight was winning into Grade 4! Olive did a cracking Agility run, winning the class. She then won another Agility class the day after! And not only did she win into Grade 4, but she collected the last of the points she needed to get the Silver Agility Warrant! So she can use the title AW(S) now. It's lovely she did those two things at Wessex as we did their show in September where she won into G2 and got the last points for her Bronze Warrant. Friday: Jumping C1-3 8th 5f Agility G1-3 4th 5f Agility C1-3 8th 10f Steeplechase C1-7 2nd Clear Saturday: Jumping G1-3 3rd Clear Agility G1-3 1st Clear Steeplechase C1-4 3rd Clear Sunday: Agility G1-3 1st Clear Jumping G1-3 4th Clear Jumping C3-4 Clear Agility G1-3 5th Clear This video was her winning run yesterday. 29 seconds and working so far away from me, lovely contacts and pulled off a really nice rear cross which is something she's only recently got the hang of. Coming out of the ring I felt elated by that run, she did everything I asked and more. Even at the end of the 3 days she gave it her all in every run. I can safely say she genuinely loves Agility :) (This run was rapid but I think Facebook speeds up the videos on this page!)

Another mixed day at Tunbridge Wells Agility Show. Only 3 runs on offer today. Run 1: Clear, but at 2 points where we lost time meaning we weren't fast enough to place. Olive waited for me atop the A frame 🤦‍♀️ I should have been the other side but I was trying to protect the jump after and send her into the tunnel without being E'd. Then I just didn't send her on enough to the next jump so she was lucky not to get a refusal on that. It's a shame it was a combined run as she was the fastest Grade 3 clear, so if it was graded she would have won it but nevermind. Run 2: An unfortunate and not usually be common fault missing the contact on the dog walk. I've actually bought a Running Contacts book to learn how to do them so I think this might be a winter training project for later in the year. I then called her in too early making her run past a jump picking up another 5 faults. Knowing I may as well trash this run I pushed the last bit of the course with some layering I probably otherwise wouldn't have tried and she did that well. Run 3: Less said about this the better 😂 From very first opportunity it went wrong! Olive Brook her wait (she never does!) so I wasn't where I needed to be and she failed to do a backside jump from such a distance so we almost immediately E'd. She just went bananas and kept running at absolute top speed to any obstacle in a straight line, not really listening at all as she was having too much fun making up her own course 😂 It was full of long runs ending in sharp turns. Positives: Her seesaw was spot on in both Agility runs, something she recently had been taking too fast and jumping off twice in previous competitions. And her weaves continue to be very consistent and fast, 6 months ago she was occasionally a bit hit and miss sometimes.

Nice day at Agility Ability KC Show in Norfolk, one I've not been to before. Absolutely freezing, -5 degrees when we arrived at 8am and didn't get above zero until about lunch time... Now...this run...it was a combined grades 1-3 class and laden with traps. An interesting challenge. It was the first run of the day and Olive was extra excited (she's often a bit loopy at indoor shows). She almost fell for nearly every trap, of which there were many, but she listened just in time to be pulled off and do the next obstacle in the correct order. The bit just before the weaves was rather messy. I should have been further down the line towards the a frame as I got in her way a bit and I could have blocked the A frame better. She very nearly got eliminated for touching the A frame but just about like back enough for me to calm her down and reset her towards the weaves. Then I pulled her towards me before the seesaw which I don't think I needed to do in the end by I was worried she would do the start jump as that was more obviously in her line. And finally, she very very nearly did the last jump before she shouldn't have after flying out of the tunnel but we saved it just about! This was a hilariously messy run and somehow it was a clear round! In fact, the only clear round so in a hollow victory she won the class with this 😂 She got another clear round but didn't make the placings and her other two runs were E's. One more Agility win to get to Grade 4 and 94 more points to get the Silver Agility Warrant...

Last weekend we went to DBDT Agility show. Olive is certainly picking up speed lately, but it's coming with her assuming the next obstacle is whatever she thinks it is lol. In some cases I now need to get my cues in earlier, and I'll need to start practicing more technical courses so she doesn't assume they're all flowing with straight runs. She's got the confidence to be independent and do some lovely distance work, but I need to support more closely her and connect with her a lot more in our runs now to stop her making it up as she goes along. Still, we managed a clear 4th place in the Jumping (video below). I got us E'd in the other Jumping run by forgetting the course 🤦‍♀️ Then in the Agility she just went BERZERK. It was actually pretty funny to be honest, she had the best time, she thought she did brilliantly anyway 😂 Then today we did Kelluki. Again a bit wild in the Agility so we took a breather, reset and ran the last half of the course fine after being E'd. She managed a nice calm and clear 3rd in Jumping, a lovely clear in Steeplechase (it was a nice, straightforward course as you'd expect in Steeplechase which makes a nice change from the unkind "Steeplechase" courses I've seen recently!) and it all grades so a lot went clear. I think they placed to 8th and Olive was 10th, so just off the placings. There was also Hoopers there. She came 1st I'm two of her classes, got a fault in another and E'd in another because of a mistake I made. The one with the fault was interesting though. The timer didn't work and she ended up running that 4 times before they finally fixed it! Unfortunately she picked up 5 faults on the first run, and in Hoopers if you rerun it the faults get carried over. If I'd remembered that I wouldn't have let her run it again. She does absolutely love competing. When we arrive and she realises where we are she looks all happy, smiley and waggy. I think we've only got one Agility show between now and the end of January if I e

Olive Agility run

A mixed day at WAG Agility show yesterday. Only 3 runs. Our first run was ok, Olive was a bit concerned that the lead collector (the person that takes your lead and anything else from you at the start of your run) took away her bag full of treats and kept looking where them before we set off 😂, but once released from the start line she ran fairly well apart from missing the weave entry, which was slightly tricky entry from the jump she has to come from, and having to make a second attempt because of it. It was about 3 hours until the next run, but worth the wait as she went clear with a nice time, just outside the placings with an un placed 4th where it was placed to 3rd. It was loopy course with a wind wrap on the first jump and a tricky-ish weave entry. We didn't run the last course until 6pm...it was a long day. This is the run in the video. Probably the longest Agility day I've done! This run had a very difficult and fiddly beginning where we had to navigate a plethora of traps in the few obstacles. It also felt a bit crowded. However, I enjoyed the challenge and it definitely made me think about how I'd handle that next time. Olive unfortunately fell fowl of the seesaw being very close to the jumps and had a bit too much value in targeting that particular obstacle. You can see she keeps trying to get to get it, even coming off an obvious line into the tunnel to do so. Although this caused her to be eliminated early in the run, it meant I relaxed and took risks with distance handling. I was really pleased with how the rest of the run went. She was the most drivey she'd been all day and seemed really keen and happy to be in there. She sometimes slows up on pivots (this is something I'm working on), and there were a lot in this course! But she drove on nicely and didn't go too wide which was also good. I was particularly pleased with her entrance into the weave. There was a huge distance between the tunnel and the weaves. A tunnel often increases the dogs

Olive Steeplechase

I set out this week's course with some skills in mind I wanted to test. I made it a bit harder than intended but it was fun to rise to the challenge and finally get that tricky serpentine-y bit in the middle. It did take a few attempts with Olive, here's the clear round. Pancake happened to go clear on this first time! But of course I didn't film it 🤦‍♀️

Simple Steeplechase training

Reflecting on recent competitions I've decided to try getting Olive to push out and enhance our distance handling. She tends to do well with distance and layering on very flowing courses like the beginning of this one, which is where we begin to build confidence. She manages the initial spiral here as well as I hoped and we got some layering in. I could/should have got across quicker to do that blind but I was pleased how she pushed out to the triangle at the back, enabling me to simply do a front cross wing wrap combo before the final stretch to the end instead of having to do another blind on that stretch or an awkward rear into the tunnel.

Olive Steeplechase

We went to a UKA show yesterday! I usually do KC competitions, and it was nice to get to know how UKA works. It was relaxed and friendly and geared up to be accommodating for the handlers. I will still mostly do KC shows in order to strive towards our Agility Warrant and there aren't many UKA shows in a reasonable distance. First time for Olive to compete in rings that were only roped. I was slightly wondering if she'd get distracted and say hello to a dog that lurked too close to the edge of the rings but didn't stray once. Our first run was lovely apart from getting 5f for a jump refusal as she ran past it, possibly targeting her lead which left at the start still in the ring. So a frustrating error there but she did well otherwise. The second run was also a bit frustrating and is the one in this video. We picked up 5f but I wasn't sure where. After over-analysing the video it looks like the judge gave 5f a couple of jumps after the first tunnel but then retracts it. The results still show 5f so I can only think she gained it at the very end when she span infront of the last jump coming out of the tunnel. I cropped that off the video as I want to remember the good bits! Next run was Agility, I didn't get time to walk the course and I E'd her because I got lost 😂 Otherwise a reasonable run apart from at one point she got a bit distracted as she possibly targeted my friend who was standing outside the ring ha ha. Something we need to work as I don't want people to have to hide when I run her! At this point, I was tired, aching and a bit bummed we hadn't had a clear round yet (although I pleased Pancake did get a clear!) The last run we finally ran clear and even placed 3rd! I felt like we were a team again and who doesn't like going home with a rossette 😂

Agility

I haven't posted in a while. Olive's second birthday is coming up next month! I've got a whole host of agility shows lined for her and big list of training exercises I've outlined for her to practice the things we need to work on. Aside from specific technical things we need to practice such as rears, ketchkers, blinds, weaves entry, rears into weaves, wrong end tunnel entry, wing wraps, layering...the list is long! We need to work on our speed. At a competition in her first couple of runs she's usually pretty fast. In the last two runs of a competition or at the end of a training session she does flag. As do I! We both need to improve our stamina and fitness so I'm in the process of thinking of something we can do together away from Agility to help with that. Some kind of beep test maybe 😂 It would be awesome if there was swimming pool nearby where dogs and people could use it together!

Agility

Another day, another Agility competition. We went to an independent show yesterday and Olive had a blast and I was pleased with how she ran. First up was an Agility course and she blasted that, just about getting the weave entry (this is something I need to work on, she's fine in my field but rarely gets the entry first time in other places as she's so excited to run) and ran clear, placing 3rd. Next up was Jumping, which she so nearly went clear but I didn't give her a clear enough signal on a wing wrap and she back-jumped it, eliminating herself. It was a nice run other than that. Finally, Steeplechase (in the video). Absolutely gutted she knocked a pole for taking off too soon, this is something she'll hopefully judge better with more experience and a bit more grid work training. Otherwise this felt great to run. I'm pleased I managed to get some layering in (tunnel at back towards the end of the run). Really enjoyed running her. She was focussed and enjoyed it which is always the main thing.

Agility Training

Training this morning. Really enjoyed running this course, it felt smooth and comfortable. As always, I like to analyse my videos! 🐕 Bit wide on the 1st wing wrap 🐕 Pleased with the weave entry (although it's an easy entry) 🐕 Needed to tell her to go on sooner on the 2 jumps before the dog walk 🐕 She stops too long on the dog walk contact, need to work on the release and maybe begin to learn running contacts 🐕 Course was 26 obstacles which is a bit long! We've one more competition before the end of the year, just an independent, then 2 (maybe 3 if the entry is still open) KC shows in January. I'm hoping she gets her weave entry at a competition at at least one of those shows. She's much more excited and therefore faster at a show, which means she sometimes can't quite hold in her excitement enough to complete the weaves lol. She got better by the end of the last show so fingers crossed for a clear Agility round at some point :)

Olive Steeplechase

With this Steeplechase course I aimed to include some layering and object discrimination opportunities. She handles the easy bit of layering well (middle of the course where I send her to an outlet jump whilst standing behind another). She's taking her cues from my position and I'm blocking the jump I'm standing behind so it's quite obvious to her where she should go. With more training I hope to be able to stand further back so I can get into position for the next bit sooner so she's not slowed down by me being too far behind. There a few points where I ask her to turn in a different direction that pulls her away from an obvious obstacle (e.g. when I ask her to wing wrap at a jump infront of a tunnel). She does have a habit of belting towards what she thinks is the next obstacle because that's what's infront of her. I need to get my cues in earlier too, and really think about my positioning (e.g. that front cross infront of the tunnel probably should have been a blind as I only just got there in time and I nearly interrupted her line. I would have had more time with a blind, I'll need to get us both good at those to give me time to get into place!). There was an accidental object discrimination opportunity at the third jump where she runs really wide. Out of shot there's a Hoopers hoop at the side of the course she thought she should take, probably because my body language is telling her to go too far out and I turned too late. I like to film training. It's interesting to analyse and helps me to see more clearly where to focus the next training session.

Olive's First Agility Show

Olive competed at her first ever Agility show today! It was just a small independent show but good to get some practice in. She ran with enthusiasm and excitement in all three of her runs, definitely enjoying doing Agility. She was so over excited in her first run she ran very wide in places or just took the wrong equipment. Her second run was a lot better and she just about managed a clear round with a 6th place. She still ran wide and fast, sometimes guessing which way to go but she had just about enough focus to listen to me. I did have to employ use of her strong recall a couple of times! Her third run had some good bits but it was a super tough course for a brand new inexperienced dog. I've learnt more about which things we will need to work on going forward. Tunnel traps, rear crosses between jumps without tunnels, getting my cues in nice and early, making my body language more obvious and accurate for what I want her to do, multiple direction changes and getting her to calm down enough to process my input 😂 That last one should come after she gets a few more shows under her belt but I'm really pleased she's so enthusiastic. She really does love her Agility. This is a little montage of our better bits from today. She's such fun to run even if we did get 2 E's, but super proud she got a clear round at her first show at 18 months old :)