Dizzy Dogz Newz

Cheltenham February 12th

Five handlers and their dogs went to the Cheltenham show to enjoy the sunshine and watch our three stars compete. The sun let us down but our three stars certainly didn't. Geoff had Mollie on the course line well at seriously high speed, getting ever closer to a clear round but I'm shure when they run clear it will be a high placing or a win! Anne had a clear with Winnie and was oh so close to two further clears which could well have been placings. Lottie and Mollie were off to a good start with a very convincing win. The other two runs found them in second place with just 5 faults but in both cases times were several seconds ahead of the winner!

Success! Jan 7 2012

Congratulations to Dylan and Jenny on their successful run today on the Level 3 test course. Of course Dylan was spoilt, he had 2 bits of cheese for that run but we reckon he deserved them!

Bromyard December Show

                                      A great way to start the Festive Season! Four Dizzy dogs went to the show, ran well and gained a Third, a Second and a First place!

                              In the bitter cold the outside courses were frozen but Anne and Winnie managed to stay upright. Whilst dashing around helping out Anne missed walking one of her courses but we topped her up with coffee to keep her going. Winnie was on good form and they gained Third and Second places on Steeplechase courses!
                              Sandra and Geoff had an excellent day, Two super rounds and Mollie only had two poles down! Judges were amazed to see how far Geoff went before releasing her from the start line and we were delighted to see her manage a tricky jump sequence so close to her favourite obstacle: the tunnel!

                               Lottie and Molly ran well. A bit nervous before their Steeplechase class but it was a fast, clear run gaining them First place. Molly ran well in Agility but was a little unsure about the dog walk. Later over chips and coffee we all agreed it was a difficult approach for Nursery level. Poppy, still in the early stages of training had fun and completed all the obstacles on the Nursery course, albeit not in quite the right order!

                              Another successful day for the "Dizzy gang" who are now looking forward to the Cheltenham show in February.

Just 4 Dogs Agility Show

Jo Bird of Just 4 dogs was running a fun Agility show at her training venue and asked if Dizzy Dogz would like to enter it. 7 handlers and 12 Dizzy Dogz were there, 3 to experience the atmosphere at a show and 9 to run in competition. We were able to run 3 super courses each and dogs were in 3 classes depending on experience. Dogs and handlers ran well bringing home a lot of rosettes and even a trophy! Only 6 handlers in the picture because the one judged to be the least photogenic was behind the camera!

Practical Poochwear!
Occasionally something becomes available that's worth a mention. Over the last year Chris has designed and made coats for a lot of dogs to address specific needs. Short dogs that need protection from the elements below, large dogs that can absorb so much water and with a quick flick can saturate the house when they return from a walk, and even dog that was freaked out by the sound of velcro! Coats are in waterproof breathable fabric with mesh or fleece linings.
You can contact Chris on 07432 775859 or chris@practicalpoochwear.co.uk

Winter!

Training continues during winter months and only stops if the ground is frozen, we have heavy rain or the ground is so wet that running on it could damage our precious training surface. Following a weekend that saw half the local population flocking to the coast may seem an odd time to mention this but.....................! Think about staying comfortable even in the cold and wet. Keeping your feet warm and dry whilst wearing grippy footware is a point to consider. Waterproof socks work well and cost about £20. Some dogs also feel the cold but if they wear coats you need to take them off when they run.

Top Barn Farm Show 1st 2nd October

Super weekend at TBF but oh so hot! Lots of Dizzy Dogz there: Jan with Monty, Chris & Jenny with Dylan, Clive with Inka, Jacquie without Jack, Neil & Kelly with Jess, Lottie with Molly & Poppy, Geoff & Sandra with Mollie, Anne with Winnie and me with the Half Pints.

It wasn't rosettes and certificates for everyone but all who ran got a lot of things right.

Geoff's Mollie has a couple of new tricks: Listening to Geoff and not knocking all the poles down! Very impressive and so close to gaining certificates.

Lottie struggled a bit to hold her dogs' attention on Saturday morning and took good advice from Anne to use a couple of her runs as training. From my ring next door I saw Poppy run a very good clear training round then things got even better! 3 certificates for clear runs in the Agility Challenge, a clear round and even a second place in Steeplechase!

Anne when not busy feeding show results into the computer gained her first points at Novice level with a Second place having recently gained promotion from Beginners level. She also cracked both Agility Challenges gaining two clear run certificates.

Jacquie was without Jack because she was busy working in the Agility Challenge ring. This involved meeting competitors, sorting entry tickets, recording times and presenting trophies. That was the easy bit, keeping me in order was the hard bit but she was just brilliant at it. Thank's Jacquie, I'd have been lost without you.

Hope you all enjoyed as much as we did. You being there made it very special for us.

Anne & John

First competition                                                         25th September

                       For Lottie and Molly this was their first competition. We well knew that Lottie knows what to do and that having a great relationship with Molly they could run well as a team. No surprise to us when the did run well but they provided us with a couple of "Extras" that gave us a special "Buzz" Sending Molly on into tunnels several times had us well impressed. On a Steeplechase course just one mistake cost them 5 faults but they were almost 6 seconds quicker than the winning dog! Fantastic. We are now confident that they will not just do well but will do very well and move up through the grades.

Congratulations from all at Dizzy Dogz that was a cracking start in competition!

                       So, if anyone would like to know what that first show is like don't ask us ask Lottie. She's been there, done it and got the T shirt!

Significant developments

Just over 2 years ago I changed to contact equipment with aluminium frames and fibreglass surfaces. I now see the main maufacturers producing aluminium framed equipment which makes sense but perhaps the more significat development is the use of crumb rubber surfaces. I'm not easily impressed but see this as a massive step forward. Soft but oh so grippy! Much safer for our precious pets. UK Agility are now using it at shows and we encourage handlers to run with UKA because we feel they offer the best service to Agility enthusiasts. Soon Dizzy Dogz will be training on crumb rubber contact surfaces. Change over is expensive but we want the best and contributions to running costs will not change.

My crazy project
You may well have noticed odd bits of rather small equipment at training sessions. These are part of an ongoing project. My idea is to develop a set of equipment that can be carried in the boot and on the roof bars of an average car. Whilst I thought that this could only be for Small dogs I now realise it can include Medium jump heights and thus be used for training dogs who are just within the Large height catagory. Standard equipment was designed for Large dogs and adapted to include Small dogs. This set comes from the other direction! Suitable for tiny dogs offering "Micro" jump height at 8" but also usable for dogs up to 17 " and for training a little taller. More news soon.

Agility competition soon!

Top Barn Farm October 1st and 2nd

This is a super show and only a few miles from home. It's run by Pauline and John Freeman and is a charity show for Worcester Animal Rescue. 4 competition rings will be running on both days plus the Agility Challenge. Lots to see and a chance to see how shows work. Several stalls offering dog related stuff and if you like bacon and egg baps etc I can certainly rcommend the catering van!
Just be there!

Congratulations
                           Good to see everyone in the group making progress whilst they have fun with their dogs. Several have moved onto higher grades whilst others have come oh so close!

                           Anne and Winnie have passed Grade 4 the first to do so since we introduced the 4 levels.

                           Lottie has achieved Grade 2 with both of her dogs Molly and Poppy whilst Jess has also achieved Grade 2 with both of her handlers Neil and Kelly!

                           Brilliant and I know we have more to follow very soon.

Great result                                 May 22nd
              Anne and Winnie had 4 runs on the day. Much of the first 3 runs went well but on the 4th everything went well and they had a clear round. Their time was 6th fastest of over 14 dogs so, they were not hanging around! Notice the judge about to clap them?

Congratulations
Paul with Jack and Jenny with Dylan who both passed grade 1. The course has 12 obstacles, jumps and both tunnels. It has 2 gentle curves, 2 tight curves and a change of side so, requires basic handling skills. Well done! I'm sure they will be ready for grade 2 quite soon.