At the end of November i had entered Whizzy at the PNM Guilford show in advanced freestyle as this was the first show she could compete at this level. This advanced class was also the last Crufts semi final qualifier of the year so although Pogo is already qualified in both divisions i thought i would see if Whizzy could qualify as well. I was not worried if she didn't as she is still young but it would be a great experience for her if she did qualifyed for the semis as in 2012 she will not get the chance as i can reveal that i will be judging the Crufts finals again.
She was her normal enthusiastic self and although i let her down in a few places i was delighted that she won the class and gained a Crufts semi final qualifier. This meant she has had a great first season by going from novice to advanced winning six firsts from six shows.
As i will now have two dogs in the freestyle semi it will be a bit more work but my aim for Whizzy is really just to keep her attitude as she is young. I will more than likely keep the routine she has been doing as my work needs to go into Pogo as this may well be her last time in the semis because of course i am judging the finals as i have mentioned earlier.
Training has not been going too bad with Pogo although there is still a sequence which i cannot seem to get consistent. I have tried going right back to basics but still she seems to do it but not always as crisp as i would like. So now i really need to decide whether to remove that sequence or just keep at it and keep my fingers firmly crossed on the day.
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Sunday 21 November 2010
A cracking demo night
On the 20th of November i was teaching a day workshop for a group in Somerset. As i often do i followed this with one of the cabaret evenings where i show some of the training behind the dogs and some short routines. Sometimes these nights go really well with the dogs working at their best and often playing a little bit to the crowd. This was one of those nights and i was so pleased with how the dogs worked. I started with little Betty who has over the last couple of months had a few attentions issues but i have been working hard on this. I was very happy with her and even choose to do something i had never done with her attention training before. Basically i put a load of toys onto the floor and then got her to watch me as we negotiated through all the toys. I was so pleased with her as you could see she wanted to go and see what they were but paid 100 % attention as i moved her around them. She also later in the evening performed her new supersonic vaulting jump move which even makes me smile when she does it.
Next was Whizzy and as she has a show soon i concentrated on keeping her under control but also doing the moves cleanly. As usual she was full of life and showed the audience her bubbly personality. Disco came out to do her pieces and then it was the turn of Pogo who can be a bit lacklustre for me on some demo nights as she knows i have not got my full attention on her as i am talking to the audience. Well this night she was very up for it and full on so i really had to keep control. I used this night to preview some of the sequences of her new freestyle routine with some of the props i will be using. Most of the sequences went well but a couple still need some more sharpening but we have plenty of time left. I often worry if it is going really well at this stage as we might of peaked too early and then it goes downhill nearer the event.
Only a few more events to do before the Christmas break one of which is my annual trip to Cara dog training club to teach a workshop which is always a great way to finish my teaching year.
Next was Whizzy and as she has a show soon i concentrated on keeping her under control but also doing the moves cleanly. As usual she was full of life and showed the audience her bubbly personality. Disco came out to do her pieces and then it was the turn of Pogo who can be a bit lacklustre for me on some demo nights as she knows i have not got my full attention on her as i am talking to the audience. Well this night she was very up for it and full on so i really had to keep control. I used this night to preview some of the sequences of her new freestyle routine with some of the props i will be using. Most of the sequences went well but a couple still need some more sharpening but we have plenty of time left. I often worry if it is going really well at this stage as we might of peaked too early and then it goes downhill nearer the event.
Only a few more events to do before the Christmas break one of which is my annual trip to Cara dog training club to teach a workshop which is always a great way to finish my teaching year.
Sunday 7 November 2010
Three steps forward........one back !
Although we should really be practising our freestyle ready for the semis, i still find time to practice Pogos sheepdog work and go for lessons. The last few lessons Pogo has been doing well and since the arrival of the new ducks i have been doing a little most days with her. So going for a lesson recently with Andy i was hoping that she would at least show she had been doing some homework. All started well when she went on a short outrun and stopped when she got to the back of the sheep, but perhaps we should have stopped there as after that for the rest of the lesson she really seemed to have the devil in her.
Its lessons like this that make me feel such a beginner which makes me sympathise with those new handlers on my workshops which have not done freestyle before. It can feel at times like you are out of your depth and your doing things not quite knowing if its the right thing to do. Of course Andy Nickless is very supportive and can see some progress in our work. I do think that the ducks have helped our practice but i think now she needs regular work with the sheep as she gets so excited when we arrive for our lesson. Its like with freestyle the more you can get the dog say working with a prop or in this case the sheep the more relaxed the dog is with it. Fingers crossed this last lesson was just a blip in her progress.
Its lessons like this that make me feel such a beginner which makes me sympathise with those new handlers on my workshops which have not done freestyle before. It can feel at times like you are out of your depth and your doing things not quite knowing if its the right thing to do. Of course Andy Nickless is very supportive and can see some progress in our work. I do think that the ducks have helped our practice but i think now she needs regular work with the sheep as she gets so excited when we arrive for our lesson. Its like with freestyle the more you can get the dog say working with a prop or in this case the sheep the more relaxed the dog is with it. Fingers crossed this last lesson was just a blip in her progress.
Monday 1 November 2010
Back to training
On the last weekend in October i made my way to Belguim to teach a two day workshop. The first day was for advanced handlers and i was very privileged to have top handlers from a few countries attending. The day went well although my heart did sink a little when a handler said she needed to teach her dogs some WOW moves as unless her dog did these she thought her dog would not get anywhere in the top class. I must admit my heart sank a little as she was basically saying that judges are putting more emphasis on the moves than the choreography. This has been my problem with the sport this year as it seems that some handlers are doing trick shows with a backing track rather than putting the moves to the music.
I was wined and dined very well during my stay and had been booked in a lovely bed and breakfast while i was there which i highly recommend if you are ever in Belgium www.koeckenhuys.be
Getting back late on the Sunday night i was pretty tired but come Monday morning i was energised enough to go out and do some training with Pogo on her routines. I concentrated mainly on her freestyle routine as I'm not that worried this year how she does in her HTM also she knows her positions in HTM so it makes it a little easier to practise them at home. With our freestyle routine we really have to go out and train it as the props needs some space around them. I already knew that there was at least one area which i needed to work on but as is so often the case, the moves i thought she was doing really well didn't go as well as they should. So its back to practising these few moves over the next week to try and get them more reliable. Its funny how when you are training a routine if just one or two bits go wrong out of all the bits you practise it feels like the routine is not going well. I tried to walk out the routine without the dog to convince myself that actually most of the routine is sort of there but until i get these three moves exactly right every time i will not be happy.
I was wined and dined very well during my stay and had been booked in a lovely bed and breakfast while i was there which i highly recommend if you are ever in Belgium www.koeckenhuys.be
Getting back late on the Sunday night i was pretty tired but come Monday morning i was energised enough to go out and do some training with Pogo on her routines. I concentrated mainly on her freestyle routine as I'm not that worried this year how she does in her HTM also she knows her positions in HTM so it makes it a little easier to practise them at home. With our freestyle routine we really have to go out and train it as the props needs some space around them. I already knew that there was at least one area which i needed to work on but as is so often the case, the moves i thought she was doing really well didn't go as well as they should. So its back to practising these few moves over the next week to try and get them more reliable. Its funny how when you are training a routine if just one or two bits go wrong out of all the bits you practise it feels like the routine is not going well. I tried to walk out the routine without the dog to convince myself that actually most of the routine is sort of there but until i get these three moves exactly right every time i will not be happy.
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