The summer holidays are officially over

Yep, summer has come to an end. Of course, we can still enjoy the last month of summer but we just wont have as much time. It sure has been a summer to remember, with good bits and bad bits. We have been on tonnes of long walks, learnt tonnes of new things and had tonnes of fun!

The main achievments from the summer are:-
-Climbed Snowdon!

-Ernie competed in flyball
-Ernie learnt how to limp on both back and front leg

Not really that many, but when I remember the achievments from last summer it sure is a lot different! Last summer Ernie had no recall around other dogs, he was a very nervous dog and our main trick accomplishment was his shy trick! Wow he has come such a long way in just a year! He is such a little superstar!

This time last year Indi was a tiny little puppy, he sure has grown into a super dog! We may still have a lot of problems, but I am so proud of him and happy with what he has grown into!

So overall a good summer. I probably won't post for a while now as I will be busy with school stuff but I will try and post little posts when I can! I hope to make a new video as soon as possible!

Well heres a collage of Ernie's summer photo's, with of course his flyball pics in there!

Camping with Ernie!

Well me and Ernie have been camping since Friday at a flyball competition and have only just come home. We went with my nan's dogs and had a blast! There was loads of space to walk the dogs, which we didn't have when I took him camping last time. He had such a good time, and it was such a good experience. He met hundreds of new dogs, competed in his first flyball competition and did lots of agility practice! I could take him everywhere off-lead (except when the flyball was going on obviously) and he was perfectly behaved! He is just such a super little dog and I am so proud of him!

So, yes he competed in his first flyball competition. It was only starters, but considering he's never been trained in flyball at all I was completely shocked. I had to run on the outside of the netting with him, the ball had to be rolled down the box and I had to tell him to get it but considering it was his first time ever actually doing it he did great! All that agility practice on logs really paid off as he knew exactily what to do and he went straight ahead, knowing all he had to do was run! The other dogs in the team was Forest my nan's Sprocker spaniel, Charlie a little terrier cross, Cadine a little collie cross and a Labrador (can't remember the name as he was an extra from another team). Altogether we came 4th, and Ernie got his first ever rosette in flyball!

There was also a little flyagility course set up, so on the days we weren't racing me and Ernie did some agility training on proper equipment. As it was quite empty on the last day (today) we did tonnes of work, especially on the tunnels as that's one thing we can't train at home. He did the chute well, but wasn't very confident going through it and so didn't a few times. The normal tunnel, after a few goes we got him going in with the command 'tunnel' and he loved it! I also competed with Fudge and Barnie and came 3rd in small-medium with Fudge and 3rd in medium-large with Barnie. With Fudge we didn't do the flyball as he can't really do it but instead just ran to the top and then ran all the way back down!

So, overall a fantastic weekend. A great experience for Ernie, and I also did some training with my nan's dogs. Kez the lurcher collie cross I taught to beg and give paw. Barnie the BC I did some leg weaving work with and played some frisbee which I got on film so will be able to add to my next video! Of course there is no place like home and it's nice to be back to Indi as he is now following me around everywhere probably worried I'm going to go somewhere without him again! Well no more camping trips for a while, but I will hopefully be going to a starters competition with Ernie in October a few days before his birthday so we will see! I have also got some photo's of Ernie doing flyball taken by one of the flyballers but I need to wait for them to be emailed to me! Hopefully that'll be soon, because they are awesome!

Well now some pics from the whole camping trip! It was such fun and I am so glad I decided to go after a lot of indecision. I forgot how much fun camping is! The dogs in the pic are Ernie obviously, Fudge the Springer Spaniel, Forest the Sprocker spaniel and Alfie Ernie's brother!

Too hot!

Well at the moment the weather is just heat and sun! It't not nice, and Ernie is suffering a lot. His skin has gone pretty bad and we can't take him, or the other dogs out, until the evening. This means they're stuck in all day, and most of the time were pretty bored. I'm running out of trick ideas fast with all this spare time!
Indi is also not liking the heat at all. After his walk today, he came home and could hardly walk on his back legs. This panicked me a lot, my first thoughts were oh my god hip displasia! I don't think I could handle having two dogs with hip displasia. We will just have to watch him over the next few days, and walks will have to be shorter.
Well my cameras sort-of working at the moment. It wont zoom in past 1.7 but at least its taking photo's and Ive been able to do a bit of filming so will hopefully make a new vid soon! I got some good pics on our walks today without having a battle with the camera in the middle of the field!

Not much else to say, so here are some pics from our walks today.

Happy dogs!

Well today I came back after being away from the dogs for 3 days. Indi, Lola and Max are fine when I go as they're used to it but Ernie hates it. I havent left him in a while, and the last time I left him was this time last year so he wasn't very happy. He kept sitting at the window waiting for me to come home, and whenever my parents left the house he tried to go with them which is something he doesnt usually do. Then, today I came home and he went mad! He hasnt left my side since!

I came back to all the fields at the back been cut. That's great news because it means I can throw the ball out in the fields more and it wont get lost as easily, and I can see if other dogs are coming so Indi can be let off-lead practically the whole time because even if another dog comes we can get far away. Its also good because I can start training him to be better around other dogs from a distance and then get closer. We went out today and it was great to just throw the ball and the dogs could just run and run. They had great fun! Ernie loved it especially and was really happy as I was back!

It's also the summer holidays! This means I can go for miles and miles with the dogs everyday, and I have lots of spare time for tricks, training and play! I'm starting to run out of trick ideas, but ill play some shaping games and hopefully the dogs can invent some of there own tricks! I really do have the best dogs in the world!

In the pics Ernie looks so happy, and he really was. He was so energetic and excited, more than usual, he had missed me a lot. Indi also looks so happy, he gets to run without having rapeseed in the way.

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June pics

Well we've been having some gorgeous weather, and some not-so gorgeous weather! Ernie doesn't really care about the weather, so we've both been going on quite a few wet walks. Lola is not a big fan of the rain, but still likes to trot along sniffing. Max doesn't care at all and Indi loves it! He finds the rain a perfect opportunity to get as muddy as possible!

Over the past few days though the sun has been shining and the house has been mud-free. Theres meant to be more rain on the way though, so more muddy dogs!

I've been doing a lot of work with Ernie in building his confidence in water, and the puddles from the rain helped a lot. Down the park, it had turned into a kind of marsh land! I played fetch with Ernie in it, and got very wet, but it definantly helped Ernie's confidence in water. Oh, and we went to a lake at the weekend, and he went right out! I am so amazed at the progress he has made, considering he used to never go anywhere near water, except when it was frozen. Now, he will go running through the puddles, chase stones and balls into the sea and into lakes and now is much happier about having baths!



Here's a collage of some pics of Ernie over the past few weeks!

And a stunning photo of Ernie taken earlier today!