Friday 30 March 2007

O! *swoon, he is so handsome!

Just to show how handsome Chi really is.....not that I would be biased in anyway ofcourse! :)





And how agile............... no wonder he performs so well.

A gr8 run!

Not an agility run but Griz & Chi running up the gallops at the end of our road. Since Chi was a puppy Griz has played a fundamental part in his exercising. When he was small he couldn't keep up very well but as you can see he isn't that far behind these days. I am convinced that these lurcher exercising sessions have payed off with Chi having good stamina and being able to power off at great speed.

Thursday 29 March 2007

UKA - Obay Sheltie sweep!

This last weekend we spent at the Scrambles UKA show. It was very cold and blustery but never the less enjoyable - enhanced by the fact that we performed very well. 8 runs, 4 firsts, 2 seconds. One of our 1sts was a snooker class, something we hadn't done before but thoughly enjoyed. Another very pleasing result was what we have come to call an Obay sheltie sweep. This is when the Obay Shelties come in 1st & 2nd place in the same class - very pleasing, especially for our breeder Bernadette no doubt.
There were 4 Obay shelties present and we all did very well & all qualified for the Royal Canine finals at the end of June. Pics (courtasy of Denis's photography skills) and more news on the Obay blog site.

Monday 19 March 2007

Champs at Chippenham

Our first championship class of the season was Sunday just gone at Chippenham. The judge was Steve Croxford and the courses where something to thing about - which we enjoy. Although we didn't come home with any spectacular prizes we managed to implement some of the goals we have been working on eg solid set up & wait, being truly focused during the run, controlled excitement, and working much more connected as a team.

Wednesday 14 March 2007

Training equipment - the early days


When Chi progressed from puppy classes on to equipment we started to train every morning before work, every evening before supper, and 3 times a day on Saurday and Sunday. We had 2 jumps, half a tunnel, a scafolding plank for a dog walk and this very sturdy A frame - which is now up for sale.
Having been sat in our garden for the last 3 years without maintenance a small section has rotted away but this could easily be replaced.





Training sessions lasted a maximum of 5 mins and involved lots of play and rewards - food or toys. Unfortunately there are no pics of Chi training as a youngster but the methods employed (The Obay Way) were described by Bernadette in the articles she wrote for the agility voice. I know that it was working hard at these basic foundations that gave us the spring board to success that we have enjoyed since starting to compete.

Sunday 4 March 2007

Show Time!

3rd March 2007 Mid Downs Show for may people the start of The Kennel Club agility season. My Mum & Dad always said start as you mean to go on........... Well Chi gained 1st in Medium Jumping (beating those collies - no mean feat I can tell you!) The Lesley Olden training together with some good Obay foundation techniques have truly payed off. Today Chi had a well deserved full body massage and boy did he enjoy it.