November Snow?!

Winters arrived early! Bringing with it some snow! Not as much as last year, obviously, but still more than we usually get. The dogs had a blast. We went for some lovely walks, took some lovely photos and then kept warm. Ernie and Kez had great fun playing, and Indi had great fun catching snowballs :). Lola was just Lola :). Sherman was very confused as to why everything was suddenly white!

But everythings melted now, and I doubt we'll get anymore now. But we enjoyed the little amount we had :).

Poor Ernie couldnt go for a walk today though as he was limping. Probably the first time in his life hes properly limped and had to miss a walk while all the others went out. I think he must have hurt it while running full speed through the snow with Kez yesterday, so we'll have to see how it goes. Poor little Ernie :(.

So for now some photos from our walks yesterday. Indi has been a lot better on walks since my last post, I took him out on his own for a couple of days and he has definantly improved. Hes such a sensitive boy :).

Happy 4th birthday Ernie, happy 2nd birthday Kez :).

Yep, 5th October :). Ernie's now 4! Wow, doesnt time fly :). Hes grown so much from that tiny little puppy, and has come so far! Hes still a typical annoying terrier, and still as annoying as ever, but hes just so darn cute and so happy to please all the time, that you just cant help but smile. He sure is a yapper, but only when out, once in you dont notice him :). Hes not too much of an agility fan, but sure can be speedy when he wants to be :). Hes an all round perfect dog, and heres to many many many more years to come :). My wonderful little white dog!

Well, Kez's first birthday with us! The big 2! No longer a baby! Shes still as naughty as ever, and has not grown up whatsoever. She has come a long way in just a few months of living with us though. Shes happier, more confident, and more trusting of us. Shes an all round cool little dog, and heres to many more years of her craziness and her just down-right cuteness :).

So for now some photos of Kez and Ernie as pups, to now. Kez has got a brilliant down now, to match her brilliant smile :').

Summer update :)

Well lots to update on! Kez has settled in absolutely perfectly and is so much happier here. We went to an airshow and my nan had her for the day, but she hated it. She was so happy when she was back here. She comes to our local dog training class with me, and its doing her the world of good! Its also highlighted a few problems, like she hates handling. So got a lot of work to do. But we have lots of new tricks, and she is just a joy to train:).

Have to brag about Indi now. At flyball last weekend, he did absolutely brilliant. He was doing real flyball, going up, getting the ball and bringing it back. And the best part, he was fast! There were also lots of people standing around, other dogs working and he was completely focused and didnt pay any attention. He did run over to a little JRT at one point, but all he did was play. And I was just standing in shock, my aggressive dog playing with a dog he didnt know? It was the first time he'd done it since he was attacked, I was very pleased! We also went to agility yesterday, and Indi surprised me again. He was a bit funny with a few dogs, but agility-wise he was absolutely amazing. There were dogs all around and it was completely open, Indi was off-lead and was completely focused. He jumped AMAZINGLY! His weaves were absolutely stunning. The see-saw was another matter entirely, but he did it in the end. He didnt stop and just kept going, but he was FAST! He was probably the fastest dog there, I was amazed! His weaves were by far the best there and his jumping skills were absolutely superb. The trainer was also very impressed! But he was so focused, he forget about everything else and just RAN! And he really loved it.

So all in all, everythings all good! Got a busy few weeks coming up, a camping trip next weekend which is very exciting! So everythings good at the moment!

So for now, a picture of the red arrows at the show (pretty impressed with my photography skills:). And some pictures of Kez at the beach. She looks so happy:).

Kez... newest addition!

Yep, Kez is our newest addition!

Well a few weeks back Kez ripped one of my nans spaniels ears open, which ended with her only being able to walk with a muzzle on. My nan thought this was horribly unfair on not only her dogs, but also Kez. Kez has always had problems living in large families of dogs, and gets very stressed out. When my nan first got her she was told Kez isnt very good with living with large families of dogs, but my nan couldnt rehome her because she was so nervous of new situations.

So when we started looking for another dog, she asked us. She brought her round a few weeks back, and she was so good here. Then last Saturday, after a walk down the beach she came home with me, and this is where she is now staying =].

She is a wonderful dog, who only needs the time and training, which my nan just doesnt have the time for. She is a joy to work with, and already training is going brilliantly. She definantly has the brains of a collie. She is an unbelievably quick learner, she is just so much fun!

So stay tuned, because there will be lots more to come ;).

Enjoying Autumn and Winter is nearly here!

Well we really are enjoying Autumn at the moment! Winter is definantly on its way, which is better weather for walking Ernie. It's a shame he has only been out twice since Monday. On the days he hasn't been out, we have been making up for it by doing a LOT of training. Not just with Ernie, but Indi too! I will have to make a new video soon, we are just working on everything at the moment. Obedience is the main priority, and I am really working on heelwork, waits/stays and focus. Ernie's heelwork gets better everyday, Indi's is improving so much as well! I have also been working with Ernie on fading out hand signals with tricks and obedience. He is doing great, and sometimes adds his own moves in as well! His enthusiasm has just gone up so much for tricks, this time last year he found them pretty boring! Indi finds everything where he can jump and get treats fun! Although he has the shortest attention span I have ever seen in a dog!
Well, even though walks have been decreased, on Sunday me and Ernie did go for a 10 mile walk in just under 4 hours! As we had nothing else to do, and the weather wasn't too hot or too cold I decided to go for a long walk to the nearest sandy beach to us. I first had to walk to the stony beach that is nearby. I then just followed the beach round, although there was a big bit where dogs weren't allowed off-lead which was a bummer. But then, we got to the end where we usually turn off when were in the car. I got really excited because I thought we were here! However, this was just the start of the path behind all the golf courses. On one side was the beach, which was still stones, and on the other was all the golf courses and sand dunes. This path went on forever. It was probably about 3 miles in itself! When it did finally end, we still had to go along the road to get to the car park where we usually park. This took another 15 minutes. Then we finally got to the start of where we usually start when were in the car. However, the tide wasn't out far enough so we only got a tiny bit of sand! We then walked all the way back and by the end my legs ached so much! Ernie was still running at the end! It was a fantastic walk, although I may take a break next time and not walk as fast and then maybe my legs won't ache as much as they did.
Well December is getting closer and closer, and the weather is getting colder and colder! I hope for some snow soon, but we shall see. Ernie adores this weather, and so do I! Indi doesn't care and neither do the others! Max still can't go out, and now I don't know if I ever will be able to walk him again. Were just playing it day by day and if nothing gets better by after christmas we will have to start thinking about that awful decision. What's a life worth living if you can't do what you love?
On a brighter note, my bird is laying eggs! We don't think they've got anything in there but hey you never know! We do have 2 birds that look very different but we have no idea if the other one is a female or not. He's never laid eggs so he could be a male but were not 100%.
Well no new pics, but hopefully a video soon! :)

New whizz click!

I know I said I wouldn't post for a while, but I have some cool news! Yesterday my clicker broke leaving me clickerless. That was the 3rd clicker I broke, I'm not sure how there breaking but I put it down to over-usage! Anyway, I needed a clicker urgently as I was in the middle of training Ernie and Indi to do quite a few new tricks. I went down to the pet shop and they only had a really cheap clicker or the whizz click! The really cheap clicker was the one I'd had before, but it had gone up a lot in price! So, instead of paying extra for a clicker that I had paid cheaper for before I bought the whizz click!
The whizz click is a clicker and dog whistle in one. I'd never trained the dog whistle before so decided as I had it I may as well use it. After one day of training both Indi and Ernie have both picked up the idea really quickly. I only got it today, and on Indi's walk today he was actually listening to it and coming back when he heard it! He also listened to it when there were other dogs around! The great advantage of it also is that it has a clicker on it as well so when he got to me I clicked and threw a stone! It worked absolutely brilliantly. It's an amazingly useful thing to teach any dog, especially Indi. Ernie doesn't really need it as he has a perfect recall anywhere, but I am teaching him it anyway as maybe one day it could come in handy!
Well that is just about it. No new photo's or anything, but we do have a tonne of new tricks! I really need to make a video soon! Ernie has learnt to stack bowls, back up onto a ball cushion and stand in a smaller bowl than he's used to! We also bought a new bowl today, as I've always really wanted to train the stacking bowls trick but never had enough small bowls as I only have one small dog! I bought an extra one today, that was smaller than the first and we finally learnt this trick! It took him a while before he was comfortable holding the bowl, but he was soon fine!
Well, I'm back at school now, back to normal. Back to my normal routine of coming home and walking the dogs for hours. At the moment my main focuses with the dogs are:-
-Getting Indi to have a perfect recall in any situation
-Teaching Ernie to be more confident in using his hind legs
-Teaching Indi to focus on me with any distractions
-Having fun!

Oh and one last update. Indi's forwards weaving, he has finally started to gain a real speed and has learnt that maybe its not so boring after all! I will have to get a new video soon, there is so much to show!

Camera troubles!

Well I am having a lot of camera troubles at the moment. My camera has broke and is only working when it feels like it, and the other camera I have doesn't take anywhere near as good photo's :(. I also can't film as I've filmed some clips but they don't seem to work in windows movie maker, so I wont be able to make another vid for a long time. I have quite a few new cool tricks that I want to make a video out of as well :(. Never mind, I did take some cool pics at the field today with my broken camera, but it sure was a battle!
Well the corn fields have now finally been cut, and its really nice in the corn fields! They've got piles of hay stacked up in lines and Ernie and Indi just get lost in it! Indi loves jumping over them and it really is amazing watching him as he jumps so high and runs so fast! I hope to do agility with him in the future! I filmed it, but the clips dont work in movie maker which is very annoying!
Well at the moment Indi is learning to 'say no' and we are at the stage at the moment where he is targetting both hands so now we just need to get him doing it in sequence and then fade out the hands. Ernie is learning to jump onto my legs when im on my back and my legs are in the air. So far he does it well, but is having trouble balancing and staying on. It's good for building his trust and confidence though!
I also bought a frisbee today as I hope to get Indi doing frisbee! He was a bit scared of the plastic ones, but he likes the soft ones so we will see how it goes! At the moment I'm just playing tug with it and we will see how it goes!

So here are some pics from our walk today! We had a lot of fun, even if the camera was playing up!

My clever little Indi!

Well, the fields are now just mud, which is good because it means we don't have to worry about the dogs hurting there paws on the rapeseed stems. Walking the dogs has been so much easier, they can just run and run and I can throw the ball as far as possible! Indi adores it, and for the first time in ages I've been taking him and Ernie for walks together. I couldn't before because of Indi's aggression towards other dogs which meant he kept having to be put on the lead and his no recall.
Ever since he's been going on walks with Ernie, he's stopped barking at other dogs. It's great, because although I still have to leave him on the lead (we still have a way to go before we get that far) he doesn't go anywhere near as mad as he used to. I think it may be because Ernie just completely ignores other dogs and Indi looks up to Ernie a lot. It's fantastic because Indi can be let off lead a lot more and I can take him to a lot more places. He has always been one of my favourite dogs to walk as he just has so much enthusiasm, and its great to be able to take him with me on me and Ernie's long walks again. He has come so far, and I am so proud of him!

Atm Ernie is learning a lot of new tricks! We are really running out of ideas! I have now taught him to limp on both his front paw and his back leg! The back leg one looked like it would be a real challenge but once he mastered the front paw limp the back leg was easy! What a clever dog! Lola has also learnt to beg, without any support! She jumps into the beg on her own, and although she cant hold it for very long she does it really well! Clever doggy!

Well here are some pics from our walks over the past few days!