December Update

Ok, so we're now well into December, and once again it's been months since my last post. Oops! Things have been manically busy lately though, and sometimes it's hard to find time to eat and sleep, let alone sit here typing! However the trouble with these big generalised updates is that I can never remember quite what's been going on, and a lot of the small details escape me! But as far as big generalised updates go, this new video clip might give you some idea of what we've been up to! The agility training has been coming along well, with the Beginners group making some excellent progress, and a new Foundation group joining the fray, and blimey these dogs are bright! Mum ran an 'Introduction to Rally Obedience' course for me that seemed to be enjoyed by all, I ran a Tricks mini-course, and am currently doing a second run of that one, and I've just finished a 3 week Games & Activities course that was brilliant fun!! So take a peek at some photos and clips:



Plans are under way for the Christmas Party next week, and Finn and I are looking forward to a nice, quiet (and hopefully dry!) Christmas. Plans for next year's indoor courses at Tunley are coming along, and if it ever dries out we will hopefully be launching our new Agility and Active Dog classes at our new outdoor venue in Bitton, although it's looking fairly soggy there at the moment! All this rain has been fairly unpleasant - the dogs are always wet and muddy, and so is the house, and it doesn't make training outside very easy! But surely it has to dry up at some point?! Fingers crossed! For more details of the classes visit our website here.

As for Finn and Willow, well their agility training has also been somewhat hampered by the weather, and Willow was still finding life extremely stressful - to the point where even going out for a walk wasn't enjoyable, and she'd lost a lot of confidence at agility. So after a few private sessions with the lovely Lauren of Devon Dogs to come up with a training plan, and after hours of research into what else we might be able to do to help, Willow has now been on Zylkene for a few months and has shown remarkable improvements and seems to be a much happier dog. Zylkene is basically derived from a milk protein, a natural and safe product, and it helps restore the chemical imbalance that causes all the anxiety and fear (mum did so much research before giving it to her that she could talk to you for hours about exactly how it works and on what receptors!). Anyway, it's definitely helping, proving for once and for all that Willow's problems are chemical and nothing that we managed to cause or 'do to her', and it's great to see her finally looking a bit more relaxed. Hopefully now she's a bit happier we can start to build her confidence and enthusiasm back up for her agility, and she'll be flying again! As for Mr Finn, he's still flying; unfortunately so are some of the jump poles! In one of our sessions with Lauren, she called his technique 'trashy', and there isn't a more apt word to describe his approach to agility! We've been working on some of Susan Salo's jump grid exercises in the hope that by the spring he might have improved slightly!! Bless his heart, he does try!

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now! All that's left is to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and here's to more dog training fun in 2010!!

Love & Wags
Shelley & Finn xx