Snow is Annoying

So the snow is back... and its easter! What the hell is up with that... very annoying now. Couldn't go to training again because of it all :(. All the mud its made now aswell its just generally really annoying I've missed having a nice clean sheltie. Winter really does make me appreciate a freshly brushed dog. I just had to get some pictures on his after grooming walk because he just looked so fluffy and handsome! Rommy really wasn't amused by me making him stop for photos but heyho its a hard life being handsome!

 Kizzy is just getting bigger and bigger shes gained nearly 300g this week. Shes got a really big obsession with water and the freezer noises at the moment. Got some picture of her watching the bath run this evening. Shes so funny you could leave the tap dripping and shell be entertained for literally hours! Shes always got wet feet from playing in the sink. You can see her longness in the pictures as well. 

But on the upside to no training I had Rhoda's  Brooke come for a bath who's always a star and then after we got to have puppy fun with the little miss Sparkle! Even Kizzy got to join in the fun! Kiz was a bit sleepy as it was normally her afternoon siesta time but her and Brooke ended up settling down for a nap together. It was very cute, theres pictures over on Rhoda's blog. Rommy and Sparkle got on really well and he loved having her over, they had a bit of a play in the garden and I just loved seeing how good Rommy was with her. hes such a sweetie and Sparkle is such a good little girly!

Progress

Lots of progress, I like progress. To start off we went to the only nice day of Ajax on Friday and what a nice day it was. The ground was really good and Rommy was even better. YAY! Getting there I was planning on doing an NFC agility run with him to practice contacts, but with his A frame still not remotely ready I decided I just decided to work on building confidence and concentration. Now Rommy being the friendly and nosy boy he is he finds people and numbers very interesting. So instead as there was 3 steeplechases on that day I would do all of them plus the jumping to get him weaving in the ring... and if possible keep him with me which was the major challenge of 2012. So here we are 2013 and he managed to stay with me for ALL of his runs to get 4 clears... first time EVER! Yes in one run he did have a couple of looks at the judge standing at the end of a line of jumps but bless his little cotton socks he stayed with me. He really made me run too! I only have two of his steeplechases on video it wont seem to let me post it normally but heres the link :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkV9pWuEZxM 

He managed to get himself 4 rosettes, one clear round, one 3rd and two 2nds. But more importantly he stayed with me :D. Fingers crossed we can keep it up for the rest of the year.


We also had training today it was the second lesson with the A frame at full height, hes still using stride regulators which are amazing. Got most of them on video because I find it so much easier to watch everything slower... my eyes and brain cant keep up. I thought he was so much better than last week and he only had 1 miss and 1 trying to stop. I've put all of them together in one video with normal speed and slow mos as I thought it was nice to see him getting it more and more in each one :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLzUBTLRN0

More videos :)

SO more videos :), managed to get an extra cute video of Rommy and Kizzy. We had an water gift bag left over from Mothers Day which Kizzy decided it was hers and it was a great place to hide and bat his legs and jump out and pounce on him.... great idea. Poor boy. So Rommy thought it would be an even better idea to do this... Kizzle was unamused.

So went to training as well today, it was sooo cold! we did lots of running to warm up :). We mostly worked on his Aframe as it was the first time on full height. He did really well but he did stop a few times to start with which i think was might partly be because hes not used to coming down at that angle so fast. He also hadnt done any in a few weeks but after a while of reminding him he did seem to get the idea again a bit more. One things for sure... he LOVES getting to do them :).

Vids

Wasn't crufts great? I was unlucky enough to get Ill for the whole weekend so I couldn't actually go on Friday like I planned :(, BUT It meant I could spend all weekend watching it and made feeling rubbish not nearly as bad as it could do :). Even Kizzy enjoyed watching it!

So anyways just a couple of videos I meant to put up from before Sheltie Show. He was back to speed which was great, he forgot the seesaw once and has kind of forgotten funny turns since October... but that just a really fun thing to work on a bit more now :D. His dog walk has definitely got better as well

Sheltie Show

So we had our first show of the year over the weekend at sheltie show! It was lots of fun, with some very nice people and LOTS of shelties. With the winter we've had with Rommys injury I wasnt even sure we would make it to there so I was just amazingly pleased just to go and get to run! We only started jumping him on Medium height for the first time 5 days before the show as I wanted to bring him back reasonably slowly, but Rommy being Rommy it wasnt a problem at all and he was looking even better than he did before all his problems. So off we went to sheltie show, this is a picture before the show... he was already tired...

And this was him and his funny tired face after...

So what happened between these two photos I hear you ask?!
WELL he was a very good boy and worked really well, even when we made a few mistakes he carried on and worked through. His brain used to totally turning off if he had to stop for anything was a big problem of his last year. Another thing I was really pleased with he didnt go and visit a judge/ring party even when there was a judge standing right by the weaves! WOO! A couple of not so good things were that he did pop out the ring twice but once i got him back he did work really well so not all bad :). Another great thing was he did get one clear in the 1-3 Steeplechase managing not to go visit his friend Sally who was sitting at the end of a tunnel and he even got 1st place! Clever puppy! 

We had even got to try pairs with Rhoda and Brodie! I got a bit lost on the course but we had great fun anyways they were such good boys! Rommy loved getting to be in the ring with his Toad friend and Auntie Rhoda!

A successful first show of the year I'd say! Very proud of my little man! On other news Rommy got his first sunbathe of the year in today! Maybe the weather will stay and he might get another one tomorrow :). Also Kizzy seems to have grown so much already, she seems to have got very long legs. Maybe this is her Maine Coon-ness starting to appear?! The vet seemed to think shell end up as a normal size cat... personally I'm thinking/hoping she be a bit more like her Maine Coon dad! Good luck to Rommy if she does :D lol.

Byeeeeeeee 

Kizzy!!!

Say Hullo to Miss Kizzy!

Kizzy is a 12 week old Maine coon X tabby we got last week. Shes completely bonkers and full of beans and quite a bit of a diva! Shes a very bossy and confident little girlie, she settled in straight away. She came from a household with 5 collies so she has had no problem getting used to Rommy and he already knows shes the boss!

This was her last night discovering some windchimes and she was getting very angry about not being about to reach them. Sorry about the bad recording the ipad cover is in the way abit but i had to get it out quickly so i didnt miss it, shes just so cute!

Theyve been so much fun watching them today. Kizzy has been having a mad day after recovering from her vaccinations on Friday so theyve been chasing each other around this morning and a lot of this evening. Kizzy thinks its the best game ever, espically getting to pounce on Rommy. Poor boy.

We've all missed Lily so much in the last few weeks, she was such an amazing personality and I know Rommy has been missing her not being here. Its so nice to see that he loves finding a cat that will actually play with him. Lily was much to civalised to do such things after all she was positive she wasnt actually a cat but a actual person. Bless her.

Its going to be my mission in the next few days to try and get some video of the blue and furries zooming around playing its just so funny!

And Rommy news, hes been doing so well at training lately, so happy with how well hes come back after being off for so long. He's got his first show on Sunday at sheltie show! very excited, hes not going to be doing any agilities because we've still got work to do on his running a frame but just very excited to get him back out there again :). Its going to be our first try and pairs aswell with Rhoda and Brodie so fingers crossed he doesnt get too distracted with all the shelties around.



Bye for now :)

Agility

Hello little blogger, I have managed to get alot of videos but haven't posted them... So here we go. Rommy is now back at training only doing baby things but he's absolutely loving, he's a bit wild but Blimey he's got faster.... Hopefully when the jump heights go up again I might be able to keep up abit easier again. I've also started the fun task if retaining his aframe to a running contact. Hes only done a couple of lessons of it but he seems to be getting it really well. He didnt miss any on the low a frame last time.... Clever Rommy. Fingers crossed his awesomeness carries one with it :).  

Here a video or 2 of Rommys first lessons back in the puppy class. 

                                                                                 

One thing I have noticed is that he's paying a lot more attention which is great. I think some of its just his confidence from not doing anything for so long but hopefully some of its from the all the heelwork we did and we can keep it up because he really loves his heelwork now... Bless him.Thinking about having a go at obedience at some point in the future :)

Video from his second puppy class back 

Going to actually remember to take my camera to training next time so i can get some good video of his running a frame hopefully :)

Bye for now :)