Last year I posted that I had had to stop teaching at the agility club I had helped set up and had been teaching at for 2 years.
I was very sad to leave and determined to do something as I had loved my teaching so much.
Well a bit of hard work and some really great friends and family and we have just started up a new project
This is a very exciting new project, not only will we be continuing with the agility training but my partner in crime has some exciting different skills so we are adding dog walking and other dog training - gundog training, obedience, tricks
And to top it all our brand new training ground is totaly secure
Here is my friends dog Blue, he was so excited when we put the jumps in the ground that he sat in the middle and wouldnt move
Classes are starting TOMORROW (gulp) but we will be starting several more beginners agility classes over the spring and summer so contact me or pop over to the website for details
One of the big things I have learnt from international handling dog agility blogs in the past year is the Ketschker
Yup thats the funny spelling one I mention in the last post
It has different names from different handlers - I think I will stick with 'Ass pass' as yelling 'ASS' to handlers running training courses just appeals way way to much (Oh I will be teaching again soon - more about that later too)
So what is this manover?
Technically it is a front cross followed by a blind cross
What?? Why?? Eh!!
Yup sounds odd - and if you follow it you will see it ends up with you on the exact same side of your dog as you started up!
What it is used for mainly (I have seen other uses) is a tight jump wrap where you would normaly have used a post turn
Here is a great video I found showing exactly what it is
I have had limited space to train my dogs lately so I came up with a simple little two jump exercise to combine two tricky handling moves all in one go. A Ass pass followed by a push to the backside of the jump
Totaly forgot to video so I will get that later but here is the start of the course
Here is the start - keep repeating it in a loop and hopefully it should become fairly fluid. Ass pass over jump 1 and wrap over jump 2 doing a post turn.
Then all you have to do is slowly rotate jump 2 anticlockwise until you are pushing your dog over the back of jump 2
2 tricky manovers in a simple 2 jump course :) You can make it easier or more tricky by moving the jumps closer or further appart also see if you can send your dog away and over the jumps with you being less close every repitition, or try running to the next jump when your dog has commited to the first - and remember to work on the other side as well
This blog has been accepted to join the Dog agility blog events blog :) Which is a worldwide group of bloggers several times a year blogging on a set topic
As I am just joined I am a little late for the first of this years topics - but it is an interesting topic so I thought I would add my ramblings to it - Internationalisation
What does Internationalisation mean?
Its a term American agility people are using for the move towards more European type courses with more tricky handling situations like pushing dogs to the backside of the jump, threadles and oddly spelt handling moves (I will cover them in a later post)
So Im Scottish - is that relevant to me?
Actually it has proved very helpful to me - let me explain the UK system
Here in the UK we have 7 grades - levels for handlers and dogs
Progression up the grades is kinda a bit complicated but in simple terms grades 1-3 are where new/inexperienced dogs and handlers start out.
Courses tend to be fairly flowing with a few changes of sides some slaloms and a few little 'traps' like an enticing tunnel. You do get some nice twisty turny courses and some lovely flowing fast courses so the rocket dogs and the more careful dogs all get a chance to shine.
Here is Ben a few years ago showing some grade 1-3 courses
Then once you get to the higher grades things suddenly, backside of jumps, threadles, bypassing jumps, it all gets quite tricky
and ontop of that Ben suddenly got a giant burst of speed when we hit the higher grades.
So in the past I could walk a course saying to myself 'front cross here, post turn here' and have plenty time to do all these moves on the course, now I was walking a course with no idea HOW to handle it and when I got there with my dog I suddenly realised that he was way out infront of me so I didnt have time for the handling I would have used in the past.
I lost my confidence and didnt really go to a show in about a year
Then I found the agility blogs from America, people struggling with the same type of courses that I was having trouble with - I really advise anyone to have a look at all the other bloggers on the group (click the links at the top) the horrible spelling handling moves, different training exercises, ontop of that I found a great club to train with with a handler in the same situation as me, and I hired some great land for training myself.
and suddenly we are having great fun and going clear again.
I love foxes, I have to stop myself making loads and loads of foxes
The other day I decided not to resist - and I am glad I didnt. This little guy has been hearted the most ever times in the first day in my shop. 8 likes - which when you consider he has only had 11 views and dosent even show up on the search pages yet - pretty amazing
Guess what?? I have a weekend sale on on my Splat bookmarks!!
Nip over to my facebook fan page and grab the code to get 30% off my splats for this weekend only
While you are there hit the like button so your friends can get a chance to see my splats at the lowest ever price!!
They have been my top selling range since I launched them in 2010
I am quite excited, I have been invited to a new team on Etsy, the digital team, and as a member of this team it means I can get to trial their new feature
Automatic PDF downloads
This now means if someone buys one of my pdf needle felting tutorials as soon as they have paid they can automatically download their purchase instead of having to wait for me to do it manually
and it seems to be really popular - I made my first sale that way just moments after going live
Each kit is under £3 and has over 10 pages of full colour images and step by step instructions to make your project.
They are both suitable for beginners using basic shapes and building up from there. They take up to around 3 hours to make and the equipment needed (fleece, needle, felt and optional foam pad) can be picked up online for just a few pounds
