Another year ...

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Another year, been and gone, and here we are again ... reminiscing over the past 12 months, chewing over the ups and downs, taking notes on our successes and finding the lessons in our not so successful experiences.

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Sometimes, just when you think you've got it all sorted out, someone throws you a curve-ball and your whole world is turned upside down!

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2009 delivered many challenges for me,

and many successes for Westurn ...

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... oooOOOooo ...

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Firstly, we had a new edition to the family. Something I've wanted for a long time and all I can say is "be careful what you wish for" ... "Party" (Belgian Malinois) joined us in August, threw our household into a whirlwind of chaos with her wild and crazy ways. Nothing has changed, she is still the wild child of the house and I've even heard a whisper that someone here would gladly have another dalmatian puppy instead of a "working-line malinois" puppy! now that's saying something!!! Party will continue to challenge and educate us as the new year evolves and I look forward to the journey with her as our relationship grows.

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Latest video of Party on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuaKY61BXGU

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... oooOOOooo ...

The Girls (Mum and Rene) had a really successful year in the show ring with their Papillons, earning numerous "in Group" awards in 2009 including ... Tiger (2 Minor in Groups), Genie (2 Puppy and 2 Minor In Groups), Satu (State Bred & Junior in Group) and Comet (State Bred & Intermediate In Group) also finishing his Championship Title!

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... oooOOOooo ...

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Krash (Belgian Malinois), or Mr Muscle as we call him, gained his Championship Title and continues to demonstrate his friendly personality to the judges that he has been lucky enough to meet.
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... oooOOOooo ...

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Agility has tapered down for me however we still managed a number of achievements ...

• Ticket gained her Snooker and Gamblers titles (SD & GD)
• Chilli gained her Gambler, Excellent Jumping and Agility Dog Titles (GD, JDX & AD) and also qualified in the finals at the State Trial for Agility and Excellent Jumping!
• Summer gained her Agility, Excellent Jumping and Strategic Pairs Titles (AD, JDX & SPD) and also qualified in the finals at the State Trial for Excellent Jumping!

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... oooOOOooo ...

As you all know I also ventured into a new career last year, with thanks to my friends and family who encouraged, and are still supporting, me ... the detector dogs have arrived and I start full-time "dog training" from tomorrow!

This has brought many changes ... in my daily life and also in my own personal values. I've had to make some serious sacrifices, more so than I really anticipated, sometimes frustrating my human and furry family and sometimes at the expense of my own goals and expectations ... as they say, one door opens yet another door closes and occasionally we are forced to re-evaluate our goals, to move our goal posts to a more realistic place.

2009 has brought me many new friends, many unexpected new experiences and relationships. Some will bless me forever, some will be a memory to cherish.

Roll on 2010!

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Best of Friends

Best of Friends ... here Chilli & Sketch watching over their backyard (ready to chase any birds who dare to play on their agility gear!)

This Saturday just gone was Gosnells Dog Club double header Agility & Jumping Trials. A successful day with my crew of "casual" girls ... Chilli qualified in 2nd Place in Excellent Jumping at the morning trial, also gaining her JDX Title, then qualified in the same class in the afternoon winning 1st Place! Summer had two good NFC runs in Novice Jumping. Carrie qualified in 5th Place in Masters Jumping in the morning, then to my surprise she qualified in Masters Agility in the afternoon for 2nd Place - not a bad effort for the spotted dog! All placings at this trial were in height classes.

Unexpected Success ...

It seems like forever since we’ve been to an agility trial … since Ticket has been in “rehab” and Summer just finds the whole trialling thing a little overwhelming, I’ve been doing a little more showing rather that trialling … so I really enjoyed the Agility Clubs double header trials last Sunday and had an unexpectedly successful day (considering the little training I had been doing).

I trialled Carrie in Masters Jumping and Open Jumping at both morning and afternoon trials – she did her usual “Dalmatian” thing and was the Class Clown for all of her runs, totally enjoying herself to the fullest!

I entered Summer in “Not For Competition” (NFC) Novice Jumping. As she now has her JDX title which means she would have to run in Masters otherwise, which I am sure she would definitely not have coped with. So a couple of “fun runs” in novice jumping was all she did and I think it did the world of good for her. In the afternoon run she was more relaxed at the start line and seemed to be actually enjoying the run, rather than having her usual “I hope I’m doing this right” doubt on her face. So success it was, and we’ll definitely see her do a few more NFC runs yet … before we tackle any of the hard stuff!

Chilli was the one who TOTALLY surprised me … her first run of the day was her best (as usual) and it was my worst! This was Novice Agility, she was happy and keen (well, as keen as Chilli can be) and almost at the end of the course Chilli came out of the tunnel to the weavers and we collided and I managed a very clumsy “face-plant” in the turf … I realized we were still on a Q and I scurried to my feet to continue on and to my surprise Chilli successfully continued on to do her weavers and finish the course in time! That Q earned her Agility Dog Title!

After our not-so-graceful Novice Agility run we went straight into the Excellent Jumping ring and she was still happy and keen (even after our little tumble). We finished the course in time and clear, and also ended up being the only team that qualified and therefore in 1st place!

In the afternoon Chilli qualified again in Excellent Jumping … leaving just one more pass needed to gain her JDX title! Geeze, I’m not sure she will make time in the Masters ring but then again, she may have some more surprises up her sleeve yet!

Lovely portrait shot of Chilli (above) taken by Tim Abidin (http://www.yourdogphotos.com/).

Till next time …

A New Concept in Trialling ...

Above photo credit to Robyn Evan (Winpara Border Collies)

"Summer" Westurn Secret Sunrise AD JDX SPD

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This weekend just gone saw one of our WA Clubs try a new concept in our trialling format … Perth Training Club ran their Agility & Jumping trial on Monday 27th April with separate courses for all heights. All heights in all classes competed on courses specifically designed for that particular height and class for the very first time in Western Australia.
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It was very interesting … and I have to admit that if I hadn’t had my 200 dog entered I probably would have poo poo’d the whole idea. It was a long day, there was a lot of waiting around to your walk courses and a lot of course changing, etc. HOWEVER, when I finally walked the 200 Masters Jumping course I was pleasantly surprised. It was just delightful (thanks to judge Cindy Didsman) and to see the little dogs run this course it was even better. These little dogs didn’t have time to lose interest, wonder where they were going next, get mislead or stressed … they just flew!!! Dogs that usually lost their handlers on the big courses were focused and really enjoying themselves.
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With that in mind I understand the argument of having courses designed specifically for different heights, and until you’ve actually competed with an extra small (or extra large) dog I don’t know if could really appreciate the true value of this innovation. I certainly would not have supported it if I had only had a 500 dog!

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Unfortunately we don’t have the numbers in all heights in WA to really justify running all trials like this, and I must admit if I was only running a 500 dog I’m not sure that I would bother going to such a long day of trialling. There are certainly changes and improvements to be made to the whole process, and I doubt the 5 separate height courses will stick but I can certainly see a future with maybe splitting the heights into two sections - maybe 200 & 300 dogs on one course then 400, 500 & 600 dogs on another course, or maybe the 400’s could go with the lower heights? Who knows, but congratulations to the club for trying something new!
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Our trialling Results this weekend were fairly positive ....

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Sunday’s double header saw Summer win first place in Excellent Jumping in the morning, also gaining her JDX title, then placing 2nd in Excellent Agility and Monday saw her gain yet another Q in Excellent Jumping, and in 3rd place.
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Carrie (above) competed for the first time in 18 months on Monday, and blowing out the cobwebs in the Masters Jumping class she placed 6th with a lovely run! It was nice to have the spotty dog off the couch and out there having a blast again! She really is a fun dog! You can see her run on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl0PKVk2nLI
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Krash came for a day out to the trial on Sunday, and took some time out to pose for the camera. Thanks to Graeme Fairley for these pic’s below (and above of Carrie) ...

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Where's the "ON" Button?!

So what do you do with a Border Collie that just won’t go?! She has energy to burn, in the safety of her own backyard however, somehow couldn’t even get her bum off the start line in one of her jumping runs last weekend ...

(Above Photo - Credit Robyn Evans @ Winpara Border Collies)

I’ve been putting it down to confidence that she pulls these little stunts …she stops suddenly in the middle of a run and starts gazing at the sky or sniffing the ground - basically she just freezes, them moves v e r y s l o w l y a n d c a r e f u l l y. It has happened occasionally in training (away from home), but only in agility, not jumping. Her contact training has been a tad shady (I’ve made a few mistakes in making the criterion clear enough so there is some doubt there) therefore I understand her hesitancy when confronted with contacts (in hindsight, I probably put her in the Agility ring too soon). What I don’t understand is her showing lack of confidence in the jumping ring – something she LOVES in training.

If you saw her tearing around the jumping course at training a few weeks ago you would have thought it was a different dog. She was focused, fast and happy to be there. The next night at the trial, on the very same grounds, in the same spot, was our excellent jumping ring and she once again, lost concentration and started looking for aliens half way round the course!

(Above Photo - Credit Paul Burton)

Seriously, motivating Summer is quite a mystery to me … I’m not sure what it is that upsets her at trials and until I work it out I guess I’m not going to get much improvement out of her performances. Sometimes she will fly round the ring and occasionally when she finds her turbo-boosters it’s in the wrong direction, I have to carefully redirect her, without telling her off, and keep her motivation up. She is always faster running towards the finish line … so how do I get that to begin at the start line?

Hmmm, just another challenge I guess … keep training Helen!

WA State Agility Trial 2009

(Above Photo - Credit to Robyn Evans @ Winpara Border Collies)

I think we had a fairly successful State Trial this year … Young Chilli made it through to two finals and Summer (somehow) made it through to one. Chilli came out with a 5th Place in Novice Agility and 8th Place in Excellent Jumping – enough to secure her as a State Finalist in both classes. Summer placed 5th place in Excellent Jumping, also a place good enough to take her through to the Finals in that class.

(Photo's below - Credit to Paul Burton)

To be honest I didn’t expect either of them to place high enough to even qualify for a final, and we certainly were NOT the force to be reckoned with in the Finals, however, we were there! Summer threw all sorts of stupid little antics at me over the weekend, at one stage she stayed glued on the start line as I sprinted off to do the course all alone! What goes thru her little head I’ll never know but she certainly lacks a huge amount of confidence and I can see it’s going to be a long haul to get her performance up to scratch under pressure (more about that later).



Chilli, was just perfect little Chilli (nope, I’m not biased, I just think she’s perfect) … although not the fastest Malinois on the planet she is turning out to be fairly consistent and steady. I don’t have great expectations of either of these girls so I guess anything is a thrill at the moment.

Dear Chilli ...

This photo really tugged at my heartstrings …

“Dear Chilli, I am so sorry that I sent you into a supposedly safe tunnel only for you to get tangled up in it and have to struggle to free yourself, and finally finding the end, skidding on your face as you exited, totally disoriented as to which was was up.”

This was our Novice Agility run at Cloverdale's trial on Saturday 4th April. After finishing this run I reminded the judge to untangle the tunnel for the next dog so that they weren't caught up like Chilli was, and in doing so we found that the tunnel wasn’t even pegged down to start with!

This left me with two things on my mind …

Firstly, it bothers me that ultimately, I lied to my dog! Not intentionally of course but my dog trusted me and I trusted that the tunnel was safe and it wasn’t! That’s fine when you’ve got a high-drive bomb-proof agility addicted dog BUT … when you’ve worked hard to motivate, focus and build a relationship of trust with your low drive dog and you then tell them that something is completely safe and it isn’t – it certainly sends you backwards in your training as you rebuild that trust back to the same level.

Secondly, this un-pegged tunnel moved quite substantially and set Chilli on an off-course line, a good couple of metres off line to where it should have been, off line for the next jump and yes she took the next jump the wrong way and top it off with the comment from the judge that “your dog should have come to you regardless of where she came out of the tunnel” ... she had to rebalance and reorient herself, and then respond accurately to my desperate calls to come to me (all through no fault of her own, or her handler) .… well, she did come to me and she recovered quickly to continue on with the course … what a good girl.

I felt this situation was very unfair, if a dog had normally skidded and tumbled in a properly pegged tunnel they would not have ended up off course like this, and fair enough, they should then resurrect themselves and deal with their mistake. This was not Chilli’s, or my, mistake and in all fairness, could consideration have been given for a rerun?

Yes, it is the competitor/handlers responsibility to check the equipment is safe when walking the course; however, this tunnel was pegged when the course was initially set up ... whatever happened to the pegs in-between is unknown! Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming anyone, it certainly wasn't left un-pegged intentionally.

Fortunately Chilli is a very forgiving dog and she recovered quickly to finish the course – however we will definitely need to work on collapsible tunnels this week ...

On a positive note, Chilli did qualify in Excellent Jumping, and Summer qualified in Novice Agility in 3rd Place to finish her AD title, plus qualifying in Excellent Jumping too.

Photo’s on this post of Chilli and Summer, all at Saturday’s trial, by Tim Abidin (http://www.yourdogphotos.com/). Thanks Tim!

Busy Weekend! ... full of Agility

I'll warn you now, but there's lots of writing and not enough pic's in this post ... but there's some stuff I want to share with you ...

This weekend just gone, was three evenings of agility, jumping and games trials … phew … bit of a marathon but I really enjoyed it!

This was Summer’s re-introduction to the Agility Ring (she’s only been running in Jumping Classes so far). I wasn’t really happy with her contacts when she first started trialling so this weekend was her second chance to get it right in the ring. In training, she’s been doing really well and I felt the games were a good chance to have a “play” and see how she went. This little girl is quite outgoing and full of herself at home, but easily cut down to size with a frown. Out and about, around the trial world, she has slowly grown and gradually gaining more and more confidence. I still can’t identify all the little things that affect or influence her and she often catches me by surprise with some of her little behaviours that turn up.

For some reason, on Friday night she decided that the top of the A-Frame was a nice place to be, and after performing a really nice A-Frame in her first run the second time she decided to loiter at the top for a while … whilst I danced around on the ground, turning myself inside out, trying to get her attention and get her to come down! This behaviour is one of my pet hates and really frustrates me … she has never done this in training, and I mean never. Yes, in the very beginning she started to creep into her contact position (2on 2off) but she never stopped at the top!

She presented me with a few other new tricks over the weekend … just to remind me not to become too complacent and that my job is never done as her trainer. She had a few vague moments in the ring where she would take a detour, like she was taking in the scenery and sniffing the night air, totally oblivious to me or what I was saying, then she would suddenly snap out of it and come back to finish the course … displacement behavior maybe? Maybe she’s not comfortable enough in the trial ring environment yet, maybe she’s unsure about what I really expect of her, maybe I’m asking her to do stuff that's too difficult for her yet? Who knows … but we’ll work on it.

Her weave poles were really nice up until an Open Jumping run on Saturday night where she took 5 steps to walk r e a l l y s l o w l y around each pole … goodness knows what got into her. She ran the rest of the course OK - but still hesitant-like.

Dog Walk was nice and smooth, however (only I would notice) she was consistently a toenail away from 2on 2off each time – I battled with myself whether to release her and keep her on the course (stay positive) or whether to take her off the course and let her know she was wrong – I chose the first option, seeing that she wasn’t bursting with confidence to start with … maybe I made the wrong choice, who knows?

Ticket only ran in games classes this weekend, I wanted to give her a “no pressure” weekend where Q's weren't our priority … and we had a great time. Of all her runs, she only knocked 2 bars down, her contacts were AWESOME! Absolutely AWESOME!!! Now I’ve just got to work out how I actually taught this!? Oooh, bad trainer … I should know what I’ve done, have it all noted down and tracked in my training diary and be able to apply again … shouldn’t I?

Anyway, the results were still pretty good over the whole weekend and we also managed to pick up a couple of titles along the way.

Ticket Q’d in 2nd Place Novice Gamblers and 1st Place Novice Snooker on Friday night, gaining her GD (Gambler Dog) Title, then another Q in 2nd Place in Gamblers on Sunday night.

Summer Q’d in Novice Snooker, Novice Gambler and also 2nd Place Novice Strategic Pairs on Friday night. Saturday night she Q’d in Excellent Jumping and Novice Agility taking 1st Place. Sunday night she Q’d in Novice Gambler and 4th Place in Strategic Pairs giving her and her partner, Brynbank Juston Midnite, their SPD (Strategic Pairs Dog) Titles!

Chilli redeemed herself, after missing the last jump on a number of courses, she qualified in Novice Gamblers on Sunday night.

I'm happy with that ... and I've got some homework to do!



The Western Classic Dog Show is on this weekend, starting Thursday night thru to Sunday night. I am showing in the conformation ring Thursday and Sunday with the Malinois, and Mum & Rene also with their Papillons, and Agility on Saturday night with Ticket and Summer. Hope it’s not too hot!

Zero Hip Score!

Dodging seasons with an agility dog is downright annoying … so we decided to have Summer sterilized this month and while she was there we had her hips and elbows scored at the same time. We were thrilled when her hip score came back as a 0:0, plus elbows 0:0 – you don’t get any better than that!

Next year we will have Hunters (Summers litter brother) hips done.

Last Agility Trial for 2008

Saturday night was the last Agility & Jumping Trial for this year. It was a hot day and Novice Jumping started right on time, in the heat of the afternoon at 6pm (with daylight saving that means it’s really 5pm temperature-wise). I hate the heat at the best of times and running is certainly not my best physical skill, however Summer was 5th dog in the Novice Jumping class so I psyched myself into energy mode to run the fastest I could (yes Gina, I can still hear your voice!). Summer ran a lovely clear round and Qualified in 2nd Place to gain her JD Title.

Ticket also did some nice runs but no “Q’s” … her contacts were awesome, and for the first time ever at a trial, she did the see-saw perfectly first up in each agility run! That’s a huge achievement for her .. something we’ve been working on in the last month. Our faults were all handler oriented and I take full responsibility. Ticket did everything I asked her to do.

Good thing about starting so early was we finished at a fairly descent hour and plenty of people hung around to share some Christmas cheer. It was nice to see so much laughing and fun between friends, and a great way to wind up the year.

Until next year ...

Summer Q's and Tickets debut in Masters!

This weekend’s trials, although not quite as successful as last weekend, included a number of personal achievements …

Young Summer ran in two classes, firstly Open Jumping – the level of difficulty way above her ability but we made our own course and she successfully negotiated some of the difficult on-course challenges – it was a positive experience for her. She also ran in Novice Jumping and qualified in 2nd Place for her 2nd Q towards her JD title.

No quallies for Ticket and a number of bars down this weekend … however this was her very first run in Masters Jumping and “wow” I was proud of her (and me). We certainly didn’t make a fool of ourselves and she managed to make it round the course, negotiating most of the difficult sequences successfully, I certainly felt that there is a possibility that we may just have some fun in the masters class!

Our training focus this week has been contacts. Although Ticket’s see-saw still needs proofing her a-frame and dog walk contacts were almost perfect! She held each one until I released her, keeping her there much longer than needed I even had time to slip in a “good girl” while she waited at the contact zone as I sprinted past. That’s an achievement that I was almost ready to give up on a few months ago!

I think it’s been a pretty successful year!

Gosnells Agility Trial - 13th September

Just a quick update on last weekend’s agility trials at Gosnells Dog Club … it’s a tad late but hey, better late than never.

We had a good morning. Somehow Ticket managed a Q and 1st Place in Open Jumping. Yes I was pleased, even tho I only said it was "good" ... but I do know that that run was not pretty (not in my books anyway)! I somehow found myself in the wrong spot on course, nowhere near where I intended to be when I walked the course and we blundered thru that section. How she didn’t drop any bars was nobody’s business but we crossed the finish line clear and fast! I get a bit annoyed with myself when I let things like that happen - I don't "like" qualifying (even winning) when I've handled so crappy ... kind of feel a little undeserving ... but regardless, we’ll take the Q!

Summer on the other hand did extremely well, competing in both Novice Agility and Jumping, both clear runs and Qualifying in 2nd Place for Novice Agility and winning 1st Place in Novice Jumping!!!

I am really pleased with this little girl, we still have a lot of skills to perfect as yet but she was happy and confident in the ring – that was my main goal for this trial. Summer is also going the Royal next week and after that we will be back to training before tackling any more trials for a while.

Stay tuned for Royal Show updates next week …

I'd like to thank all my team mates!

A little late with this update but hey, better late than never!

I'd like to thank all my team mates ... Team "Rocket Fuel" competed last weekend at the Agility Club Teams Event. Out of 19 teams we came in at 5th Place ... I gotta say myself, not a bad effort, considering all dogs on this team were mine, and run by me. Team Captain, Rocket, was not feeling the best so surrendered his runs for our reserve, however he was still there to cheer the team on. All kids did a great job: Ticket (who did an awesome Jumping round), baby Summer, Sketch and Carrie. Thanks kids!

Summer also competed in Strategic Pairs in the afternoon with partner, Pippa (another BC) & Amanda Houston. We came in 2nd Place for Summers very first "Q Card"!

Ticket is Back on Track!

The last few weeks have seemed like months, with having to keep Ticket on minimal exercise and gradually get her back into her training I have realized at just how much I enjoy the challenge of working with this, sometimes frustrating, little dog. Her passion to work and the power in her physical efforts is awe-inspiring – she motivates me.

Last week was Tickets first week of a few “real” training sessions with the ACWA Double Header Agility Trial on Saturday just gone. She had little practice away from home however she put 100% effort in and tried her little heart out. OK, only 1 Qualifier all day, with the odd bar down and a missed weave pole entry in the other runs, however that first run of the day earned her 1st Place in Novice Agility!

These pic’s, above and below, taken by Tim Abidin, were in the Excellent Jumping ring … notice the lovely lake in the middle of the ring!

… yep, that bar came down! …

… but this one stayed up!

It’s great to have Ticket back on course as my team mate – even if her demanding desire to go as fast as 'dog-ly' possible does drive me insane at times. Well done little girl … look’n forward to the Nationals, regardless of the results!

Summer, Westurn Secret Sonrise, (above) made her debut and competed in the novice jumping ring for the first time. Summer made me proud … a little unsure of all the fuss, will all eyes on her from outside the ring, but she did an excellent job. Although no qualifiers for her this day, I am more than pleased as our mistakes were my vague handling and are minor hiccups in the whole scheme of things, thinking this is just the beginning of her future career in agility.

I have to say, I am looking forward to our future together ... she is pleasure to run, very neat, smooth and graceful … I can’t help but compare her to her Uncle Cash (Edenbrae Western Mustang) who now enjoys the comfort of the lounge. Just gotta get her out there so she gets used to the whole trial environment thing, competition nerves and all!

This was her Novice Jumping run …

Our sweet Sketch also had a couple runs in Jumping with this other Mum, Alison Smylie …




No trials now for a couple of weeks ... until next time!