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.

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.

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.

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.

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Let the Training Commence

We have just returned from a 2 day PACE seminar. It has been a thought provoking, interesting couple of days and a seminar that I would highly recommend for anyone at any level in agility. For more details check out www.PACE-agility.org

Here is Chi trying out one of the excersises we did and not to be upstaged by the little super star the handler decided to dress brightly!

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Agility 4 U son!

FB came to class and started his exposure to agility. Here we see Chi teaching and explaining to his son the perfect foot positioning for the contacts. The next shot would have been Chi with his head on his legs but FB's curiosity took him too close and Chi thought FB was going to give him a girlie kiss so pulled away!

Swimming!

After training with Lesley Olden the other day we went swimming. Bernadette took Zen for the 1st time and Chi went for his 2nd official swim. He sometimes swims round my legs 'down the Brooks' but isn't the keenest of swimmers. When I first took him I was worried his heavy fluffy coat would weigh him down but he has a powerfull little body under all that fur and once he got into his stroke he was well away. The pully system you see attached was very usefull in keeping him in the right direction and not splashing all over the place. Towards the end of the session he was of pully and soloing - woot!