Update and Christmas

Maverick here.... M decided to take some photos out on our walk the other day....

Oh and we hope you all have a very Merry Pawsome Christmas!!

Coming Good

Cadbury here...

Last weekend M took me and Maverick away for an agility competition. I was competing and Maverick was being measured ready for April when he will be old enough to start competing. There were no surprises when he measured into the large category, the same as me.

The surprise to M came when this happened....

Yep, out of 7 runs, I got 4 x 1sts and a 2nd!! The other 2 were eliminations but they were both M's fault for going in the wrong direction!

She couldn't believe what a good boy I was and how well I behaved all weekend. Unfortunately  I still haven't moved up into grade2 of competition but roll on the competition in Feb and we'll see what happens!
 

Competition Photos

M thought she would put together a collection of all different dogs that she could find competing... there were all these plus many more..

Papillon

Dalmation

collie or an collie cross combinations

spaniels

poodles, doodle crosses

terriers

small spaniel breeds

Spaniels

more spaniels

Beardies

collies

yes, this is a newfoundland!

doodles

retrievers (flat and curly coat)

Golden retrievers

Schnauzers

Labradors

More competitions

Cadbury here -

Just spent the weekend away with M in the van.. she is trying to get me used to the cages in the back but has promised me that I won't have to travel in there.. I don't like it you see!

I had a bit of a mixed bag of good and bad moments over the weekend, we travelled down Saturday morning and due to roadworks M missed the turning and so we ended up arriving late, which M was not happy about as we were meant to be running quite early in two classes.

M decided she didn't care and would take her time getting me ready and letting me have a leg stretch before she went in to watch people running the courses as she hadn't had time to walk the courses before they started.

I had two ok runs - my first was a bit manic because I was all excited but my second was much better, so much so M got excited that I was going to go clear and then I got myself eliminated by touching the A-Frame at the wrong time. M was happy though as it had been a tricky course and I hadn't been silly and got all my contacts nicely.

That was all for me for a few hours, so M took me for a long walk and then popped me in the cage with my bed and bone while she went and took some photos (i'll pop them on here once she gets them sorted)

The afternoon I had another two courses to run, the first was a jumping course which I did really well, even with a tricky start, but took the long way round a jump losing time so I came 2nd 1 sec out of time. The second course was an agility course but I lost concentration at the beginning and went the wrong way so got myself eliminated but M was happy with the day overall.

We were staying on site overnight so we went for another long walk and them M got dinner and we settled in for the night.

Sunday was another day and I had another 4 courses to compete in, but there were quite a few of my friends around as well so I managed to have a play as well.

In the end Sunday was my best day with 2 2nd's and a 3rd, and I was only 4 sec off a 1st place so M was really pleased. Even my E was ok, as it was M's fault for not running fast enough!!

Can't wait to go away again in Nov!

Poorly Paw

Maverick has been in the wars.... well no not really he's been chasing me round and round, being a complete nightmare and v. annoying and has now managed to damage his pad on his back passenger side paw!

To start with there was a couple of niks out of it so M popped a sock on, taped up with vet wrap - she didn't think it would last long but Maverick wasn't bothered at all and carried on as normal...

Unfortunately it started to get worse as M & D couldn't control his manic moments so M asked A to pick up a set of dog boots and some sudacrem (other creams are available)

and so for the past 3 weeks Maverick has been getting cream on his foot 3x day and wearing his boot when out and about, and all was going well till he went to work with D on Monday. (Oh dear D, what have you done now!!)

D is currently working for a friend who has 4 dogs on site so they were all enjoying themselves and Maverick was out joining in with his boot on... 1/2 hr later D found him limping around the yard (still trying to enjoy himself) bootless... unfortunately the damage was done and he had a very swollen, sore paw! He was bundled into the car for a timeout...

 So its lots of cream and short walks for Maverick at the minute - he even missed agility on Tuesday (although we both did cause M was full of cold too!) Hopefully it won't take long for him to back tearing around the garden again!

News

Maverick here...

Well so I'm a few days behind tell you the next stage of our adventure for my birthday...

The following day M & D packed everything and everyone back in the car and we said our goodbyes and off we went...
We didn't stop for quite a while but when we did we were on a campsite... I know cause I've stayed on one before.. we had a quick walk before M & D put up the tent and we were allowed out of the car to investigate.

M & D then started getting changed and they put on some really posh clothes, popped us back in the car and off we went again... blimey, in -out - in - out

We pulled up at somewhere called a church and it was very busy... M & D got Cadbury and I sorted so I was in my crate and Cadbury was in the boot of the car as they were going to leave us a while apparently... there was lots of people all really dressed up.

M & D came back after a while and I found out that we were at a wedding... but we weren't allowed in the church - well that dogist I think!

M & D drove a bit further and then gave us a walk around some lovely lawns and woods - a good leg stretch and then popped us back in the car, they did apologise but doggies weren't allowed in the hotel either... that's why we were staying in the campsite down the road.

M & D kept coming back and giving us leg stretches and at one point in the evening we even went and met all the guests at the wedding and had some lovely fuss from them. Once M & D had got us back to the campsite we had a final walk of the evening before we all went to bed in the tent, that was cool!

The following day it was a looooong drive home with stops on the way to catch up with all the pee-mail and have a drink as it was quite warm.
Once we were home both Cadbury and I crashed out as it had been a busy weekend, even M & D went for a snooze!


Cadbury here.....
Guess what, I was at an agility competition yesterday and I came 1st!!

 

1st Birthday

Hi Everyone,
Maverick here....

It was my 1st birthday last Friday!! Can you believe it a whole 12 months old...

 

M decided that as A emailed to say she would like some pictures of the litter now they are 1, she would try a photoshoot, but I really wasn't in the mood...

The first one was ok.. but then...



 

 

Cadbury decided to photobomb!!

 

 

and then I wouldn't stand still....

 

 

or just wouldn't stand, it all got very boring....

 

but to top off the day we went for a really loooooong drive down to see M's parents.... it was great, me and Cadbury got to share the back seat and slept most of the day (bliss)

 

Once we got to M's parents we were given a walk and allowed in the house, and around the garden as N's flower shows are over now...

We even stayed overnight, I was in my crate in the kitchen and Cadbury was in the car... we were very good boys!

 

I'll tell you about the following days adventures tomorrow....



I'm Sick

Oooo  I've not been well.. (Cadbury that is)

On Sunday night before M & D fed me they noticed that my tummy was a bit inflated.. M got worried because there is a condition called bloat which can be fatal to doggies like me...

I tried to be sick but wasn't and M decided it was time to ring the VET! He was very nice, and very reassuring. Apparently because I hadn't eaten for 8 hours he didn't think it would be bloat, he thought I would possibly be just gassy or maybe eaten something I shouldn't have. So he told M to monitor me for a couple of hours in case I got worse and if necessary ring back and take me into the surgery.

By this time it was 9:45pm so M decided the best thing would be for me to sleep in the bedroom with M & D so they knew I was ok. However, at 2am we all woke up too hot and had to open the windows..
I was much better in the morning although I am still passing wind a lot which D is complaining about! M & D still don't know what I've eaten to cause this as nothing out of the ordinary has appeared at the other end yet..

Everyone is just please I'm back to my normal self!

Building

We'll as you may have worked out I still haven't managed to get the videos from D to put on the site, he's rubbish sometimes!

I thought I would post today as M has been building well at least altering again... M bought an old dog walk off the agility club last summer with the idea that she would replace the rotten bits and then re-paint it, however she couldn't get it apart, not even the bad bits so instead she used it as a template and is reusing the metal parts.

The new dog walk is almost ready a coat of paint and then putting the metal bits back on, and we'll be ready to roll.

Whilst this has been going on M has been using a short bit of the old walk as a training plank for Maverick as his feet don't always land where they are supposed to, which means he was falling off the dog walk more than staying on... V FUNNY!! but apparently not good for his growing joints!

Now that Maverick has got the hang of the plank and moved on to the low level dog walk M decided that as he doesn't like the full sized see-saw (he's not sure of the movement) she would make a low level one to build his confidence...

so here it is, with me on it as M decided my contact's needed some work.

As you can see it's quite simple, M says she might make it better as Maverick gets more confident but we'll see..

 

Day's Out

Cadbury and Maverick here today...

On Saturday M & D got all our usual doggy stuff together and put it in the car along with Cadbury... M then setup my pen in the kitchen and filled it with loads of fun stuff and my stuffed Kong, and a bone!!

I was left alone!!! All day!!
M & D were VERY pleased with me though cause I was a good boy and didn't chew or destroy anything.. I even left all the plants alone in the garden!!

Cadbury however was out at a country fair, meeting all the lovely doggies and enjoying a couple of goes at the Gundog Scurry.
The scurry is a timed event spilt into 2 categories of Novice and Open.
Cadbury did the novice one which was a seen dummy retrieve over a small fence.
D ran him first and he did a fast time of 17 secs - M & D were quite impressed
M then ran him but unfortunately he got distracted by the rifle shooting in the next arena so it was a 27 sec run.

The winner managed an 11 sec run...

_____________________________


On Sunday M & D packed all the doggy stuff in the car but put Maverick in the car, it was my turn to stay at home... but I got a stuffed kong so I was happy.

Maverick went out to the country fair and spent most of the day being introduced to dogs of all shapes and sizes - he had a whale of a time...
M & D decided that he was old enough to have a go at the Gundog Scurry they knew he wouldn't be very good as they've not done any training yet apart from simple dummy retrieves.
M decided to go first and set him up so he was looking for the dummy when the gun went off... she told Maverick to go and off he went at some speed but when he reached the fence he didn't know what to do so M had to go and help him over the fence. Once he found the dummy he jumped back over the fence and brought the dummy back to M with a little detour to see a couple of doggy friends, but M was happy that he was enjoying himself.
D had a go next but unfortunately the gun went off before they were ready so when D asked Maverick to go find it - he wasn't sure what he was finding... silly boy!
D ran all the way to the dummy with him but then he was fine returning. They were both 1 min times but it was a good introduction.

Maverick was VERY TIRED when he got home on Sunday evening...

M has some video of the runs but we haven't managed to nick the camera from her yet, so we'll post these later.

KC Canine Good Citizen 2

Cadbury here....

Just to let you all know that I am also now a SILVER good citizen... I passed my test with flying colours and myself and Maverick are now working hard towards our Gold awards.

We were both working hard last night at training and tried for the first time our stay while M left the room... I was perfect and Maverick was very good considering it was the first time he'd ever done it he just got a little too excited when M returned to him!

He was also trying for the first time his stop on recall... I'm used to this now and know that when M say's "wait" when I being recalled I must stop immediately. However, M's not really tried this with Maverick yet and although he knew he needed to do something when she said wait, he slowed down and still returned to her... L has suggested that she uses a different command - like sit. As Maverick can do sit at a distance unlike anything else at the moment.

Since the last update I've also been to another agility competition - I came back with a 2nd and a 5th although M was not happy with my attitude.. I was a bit too laid back about it all and spent most of my time sniffing.... well there was lots to sniff!!

Maverick came with us but he's still too young to take part but he was allowed to walk round the rings and watch what was going on... M thinks he's going to enjoy agility when he's allowed to take part in 8 months time!
Here's us enjoying a good game of bitey face while M was relaxing in the tent...

 

I hasten to add that Maverick is now bigger than me!! He's got to stop growing....

 

KC Canine Good Citizen

Maverick here....

Last night was my exam night for both my bronze and silver canine good citizen awards..
The plan had been that D would do the bronze award with me and M would do the silver but the tester said the only difference between the two awards was bronze was a 1 minute stay instead of 2 and at bronze I have do wait my turn at the door/gate.
So D did the door exercise and the 1 minute stay (in a sit) and M ended up doing the rest!!

There was the road walking exercise to see if we could walk in a calm controlled manner down the street, waiting to cross the road etc..

Next we had to show we would get into the car calmly and then wait to be asked out again.

Then we did a come away from distractions which we normally do as walking straight through the group of dogs off lead, but tonight the tester wanted us to weave in and out off lead... now that's a gold level test, and apart from me being interested in what one lady had in her hand I was a good boy!

Then we did a play exercise followed by a wait and recall - I was excellent in both of these areas as always...

The next exercise was a controlled greeting and an ignoring food, so first we went and spoke to the tester, where he petted me and I was to be quiet calm, and then I had to walk past a lady sitting eating without bothering her... which I did, although I would have liked the biscuit she was eating..

The last test for me was a 2 minute stay, so M put me in a down and moved away... 2 minutes later and I got loads of fuss!!!

M then had to answer a few care and responsibility questions, to see if she knew how to take care of me, which if they'd just asked I could have told them she does!

Then the awards ceremony - I'd PASSED!!!

 

Time missed

Well its been a while, and to be honest we've not done much these past few weeks...

M & D have been very busy so while we have joined them in their antics, we've not really been doing dog stuff.

D managed to fall over walking Maverick and has torn all the muscles in his ankle so he's hobbling around and not being much fun at the moment which meant M took me (Cadbury) to gundog trials.

It was V. hot and sunny so the water test was a write off - I just went for a really long swim! I like swimming!! To be honest M says I got the worst results in  my history that day but the tests were close together so I was constantly being distracted, but she says my heel work is improving a little so wasn't too upset.

M's parents came to visit for a weekend and we had fun with them, they always give us loads of fuss - and it was my birthday that weekend so Maverick and I got treated to bones (real ones!)

Maverick has been practising for his KC Good Citizen award tests which are coming up soon - he's hoping to do both Bronze and Silver which would unfortunately mean he's better behaved than me if he passes as I failed my Silver last time... and then at the end of July I am supposed to be doing my Silver test again (M says I should pass with flying colours now!)

M's going away at the beginning of July so we've got a break from agility comps for a while but she's entered me for a big one in August - 5 whole days!! I'll be shattered...

Maverick is still going to his puppy agility class which is great fun (I went the other week) they just get to charge around, not doing courses just individual jumps or running across planks or through TUNNELS... all very easy but FUN!! I get very jealous when I see him enjoying himself!!

M has put the camera somewhere I can't find it again but I'll post pic's when I find it...

 

Another 1st

This is a first for Cadbury...

His first 1st placed clear round in jumping!!!

V. proud M!!

 

 and M has managed to take her first proper BONZAI picture of Maverick!
this was his recall at the weekend... don't know what he thought he was going to get at the end of it!

 

First Agility Competition

Maverick here...

Just thought I'd tell you about my first agility competition staying away with M and Cadbury in the new camper...

It was great fun - I really enjoyed myself even though I wasn't allowed to do any agility. Apparently I'm too young to have a go as I'm still growing (lots) so I could damage my joints if I did!

We were supposed to go away on Friday night so when M got home from work she was dashing around the house - trying not to trip over us pair (we were getting excited as we knew something was happening)

Cadbury tried to explain that I wasn't going but M put my crate in the van so that was that I was going!! haha!!

Cadbury got the upper hand though as he was allowed to ride up front with M :-(

Anyway the van had made a few strange noises so M decided to wait till D got back from work to check it - which ended up really late so instead of heading off on Friday we went early Saturday morning.... yawn!

It took us a little while to get there but I slept most of the way but when we got there M setup the garden and all the gear before letting us out.. I desperate to go and investigate by then so off we went.. It was great 2 big fields for us to run and explore, with lots of poo in them.. Cadbury got really told off for eating it so I decided I'd just carry it around instead.

The weekend was spent either relaxing in the van sometimes with, sometimes without M and Cadbury, playing in the field and wandering round watching the other dogs do agility.

Cadbury was a good boy as well after he'd calmed down in his first run when he ran out the ring to something more interesting... he ended up with a 2nd, 5th and 6th place and M said she made more mistakes than Cadbury did so when it came to tidying up on Sunday evening M was still in high spirits but was glad when we all got home and collapsed in our beds snoring (M included although she probably wasn't snoring)