Culverstone Obedience Show

Last Sunday it was Culverstone. I worked so hard on Jesse's stays all week and - he did them fine on Sunday! I was so over the moon. He even stayed in the sit after scratching twice, which is fantastic. Still more work to do, but it's a fantastic result.

Unfortunately his round wasn't so great this time round, so he only got 9th, but hey... it will all come together one day. LOL

PS. I got a Judge's Special rosette in the post today from the Southern Border Collie show which was a lovely surprise.

Here's Jesse's report for Culverstone:

Handler Vera Marney Lost 5¾ Marks

Dog WEIAMBEA JESSE JAMES (Jesse) Breed Am Cocker Spaniel
HOL 4 HF 1½ Rec ¼ Ret Clear


Nicely handled, with Vera very focussed on Jesse from the moment they entered the ring. You make a nice team. Worked in the running order, and one of only 2 clear retrieves of the day. Not around for the presentation, so I hope you got your rosette.

So close yet so far... Southern Border Collie Obedience show

Today, Jesse and I went to Southern Border Collie Obedience show. He did a beautiful round with lovely heelwork, excellent recall and excellent retrieve! I was so happy and he lost only 1.75 points and was in the lead with that.

Then in the afternoon, we had the stays... and he broke them both! I am so gutted. In the sit stay, he apparently lifted his bum a bit and sat down again and in the down stay he apparently sat up, then layed down again. He also sat up when I approached! What a shame; I so wanted this win as it would have been such a deserved win!

Well, I am hugely disappointed - not with Jesse as it's not his fault (in fact his stays and also his round improved from last year), but it was such an opportunity and we missed it again - the third time!

We are at Culverstone next week, so we'll be practising the stays of course - one of these days, it'll all come together. :-)

On a more positive note, Jesse's car sickness is very gradually improving. He is now taking treats even during the travelling which is fabulous. He doesn't poo anymore in the car at all and isn't in a rush to go out and poo either. So we are very gradually getting there and I am so pleased about it.

Infection

Jesse seems to have caught a skin infection again... I think this was triggered by the fox bite - perhaps an allergy to mites or a flea jumped over. I was going to take him to the vet today as his nose looked quite bad last night, but this morning a scab came off and it now looks pink still, but ok. So I'll see and watch it for a bit, but don't need the vet for now.

Dylan and Jesse playing this morning

Dylan and Jesse have a strange way of playing with each other... well, actually, it's the lurcher way to play and Jesse goes along with it.

I have video's them this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUnLoIkGZXg

Match and new pictures

We had a match last week-end, but Jesse broke his sit stay, so we came last... LOL But the actual round was lovely, so although some team members weren't happy, I actually was very happy with his work.

Here's some new pictures that I have taken todayin the garden.

8-way match: 2nd in Beginners

We had our 8-way match on Saturday and Jesse came 2nd in Beginnners... just as well we did well as they put the joker on us. :-)

Happy Birthday and Jesse coming to work

On Boxing Day, it was Jesse's 4th Birthday! Happy Birthday, my little boy. I can't believe that it is 4 years already since I saw those pictures of that little bundle of fur for the first time! Amazing.

We went to see Karen and David with all the dogs and it was lovely with lots of food and treats.

On Christmas Eve I had half a day at work, so I was allowed to bring little Jesse with me. He loved it at the office and everyone there loved him too. He was very well behaved and I am very proud of him.

He also did very well in the trains and got used to it very quickly eventhough he hadn't been on a train since 8 weeks old! He's a little star.

Graduation week-end in Yorkshire

Yesterday, I had my BSc (Canine Behaviour and Training) Graduation at Beverly Minster. Karen, David and I drove up there in two cars as we took all our dogs with us! I thought it was going to be quite stressful, but in actual fact, the boys were all so good and well behaved, it was no problem at all!

Here's a picture of all the boys ready to go in the Travelodge room.

Jesse being nosy

Thyroid results back

Mark called me this morning with Jesse's results. They are all a bit high, antibodies are still there.

However, Jesse's behaviour has been absolutely fine over the last about three weeks. In fact, he seems more playful again now in general. We are now thinking that his natural levels just need to be higher than average.

But so far just glad that all is fine and nothing in particular to worry about.

2nd Blood Test done

On Wednesday, Jesse had the thyroid blood test (take 2)! All went well, this time he didn't struggle either when under sedation which made life much easier. Let's hope they do the right tests this time...

Jesse also had a bath today... he looks stunning and smells devine! Shame it doesn't last long. LOL