Tracking Training

Hannah an I are learning to be tracking dogs! We went out for our first training sessions today and we both found our people on the first attempt. The pic shows Hannah in her tracking harness hard on the trail of Keith who was hiding in the bush.

We not only had to find our people, we also had to identify things they had dropped. Keith had dropped his old socks on the ground so that was easy for Hannah, I had to find Kathy's socks, they are smaller than Keith's. (You thought I was going on about sweaty feet didn't you?)

After a couple of hours we decided to call it a day and went home for lunch and a lie down so we can recover for obedience training tonight.

Snooker Dog

Look what they did to me! I won the Novice Snooker trial last night, which gets me the title Snooker Dog and the letters SD after my name, and then they stick me in the bath as a reward! Well I've got news for them if they think this is a reward.

I was in Agility Excellent too and nearly passed. I went past the start of the weaving poles and got a refusal which non-qualified me, but I did not hear Keith say "Gaps" so how was I to know where I was supposed to go? We did the rest of the course well and under time. If I had got the weaving poles on the first attempt I would have passed agility excellent too.

The Masters Jumping was not as good, but I did have a nice run. It was not my fault that the judge put the numbers on the wrong obstacles.

Grandmother Nike did very well in the Snooker trial too, she qualified and got her Snooker Dog Masters title, so we made it a family affair.

Vale Ricky

It is with great sadness that we have discovered our friend Ricky the Cavalier is no longer with us. He was still a pup really, but his short time with us will be cherished.

Our hearts go out to his mum, who will miss him forever.

Under Blogs To Read, on the left side of this page, read Ricky's Ramblings and give a few moments thought for a good dog taken way too soon.

Sashes and a Pass

I got another Pass in ADX with a Second Place at Warrnambool trials today, and a Second place non qualifying yesterday! (I missed a colour on the dog walk) Hannah had a blonde moment when she stopped in the Figure 8 in the Novice trial, but still got Second Place and a sash even though she did not qualify. The Pic shows us with our sashes and my card. I was in Masters Jumping and only dropped one bar, but because I fluffed about at a tunnel entrance I was also 0.12 seconds over time.

It was hot in the sun and neither of us really felt like working, but we did what we could to keep the humans happy.

Tiffany's Birthday

Tiffany is 3 years old today. The pic shows us playing with her new toy. It was quite a good toy because it took all of ten minutes to get the squeak out of it, so now it is a tug toy for both of us.

We will be going for another walk along the coast, then back to the caravan for a nap and then tonight we are going training again at the dog club.

Tiffany shares her birth date with Rob Roy McGregor, a Scottish folk hero, David Koche TV financial guru, David Rumble SA judge and Mini Mac the Weimaraner.

Back in Training

We are at the Warrnambool Dog Club for some extra training. Tiffany had several runs round the agility ring and I went through the obedience. Tiffany did well but I was too excited by all the new sights, smells and sounds. Kathy hopes I will settle down by next Saturday.

We had a bit of excitement last night. Something went wrong with the caravan plumbing as hot water was being sprayed from under the sink. KnK were busy mopping up, shifting things and repairing the leak, so we kept quiet and waited for the mumbling to stop. All good dogs know there is a time to join in, a time to keep quiet and a time to make yourself invisible!

Seaside Walks

We are near the coast and can go for a walk along the path at the top of the sand dunes. Hannah is in the pic having a look at the sea when we stopped for a break. Everything smells different here, we get going on the walk then we have to stop to check out the wonderful new smells we find, but the humans get grumpy and don't give us long enough to do a thorough analysis.

We went to the Warrnambool dog club last night for some training and a big run.

After the long walks and the exercise, we slept like logs last night.