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!

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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Some new tricks!

Well, Ernie finally learnt to limp! This was one trick that looked completely impossible. I tried so many different methods but they just didn't work. Then I tried training it with him in the heel position, and he finally got it! He really is one very clever little dog.

Indi has also been learning some new tricks. He is learning the 'get your foot' trick and I am starting to teach him some agility aspects. I am starting to get him more confident in jumping over objects. We have also been doing a lot of work on heelwork. Indi has one of the most stunning heels I've ever seen, but only does it when hes in the mood. He is starting to do it more with distractions now, but we still have a long way to go!

Oh and our mini agility field aka the camp site keeps changing everytime we go there! For the past few weeks theres been an extra log that's quite far down and it works well for him to practice his left and right turns on jumps. There was also a stone which I used for him to wrap round before going over the jumps, which made it a bit more interesting. Then today, the logs had changed completely. They were straight with no turns and the extra log had gone. The stones were still there so I could still do wrapping but the logs were in a line so we had a go at him jumping over logs one after the other. He was amazingly fast. He went ahead of me and absolutely loved what he was doing! He definantly preferred it to the turning.

Rainy walk and flyball demo!

On Sunday we went to a flyball demonstration at a dog show. I've only ever got one rosette with Ernie and that was 6th place in obedience at the same place last year. I've got hardly any rosettes with any of my dogs, they've always been my Nan's. Lola has two rosettes from a dog show two years ago and Ernie's got his obedience rosette but that's about it.

I'd won juniour handler once with Ernie's brother Alfie, so I decided to try again with Ernie. If I could win it with a dog that wasn't mine, why couldn't I win it with a dog that was mine? Well, I didn't win. It was a lot different from the competition with his brother, and all we did was walk round the ring. Then a pigeon appeared and Ernie flew after that so I knew we wouldn't come anywhere. Instead we got a special rosette. I was pleased, as there were some people who didn't get a rosette at all. I also competed in best veteran with Barnie and came 4th!

The weather has cooled right down, and Ernie is a lot happier. He is much more of a rain, snow, sleet, cloudy dog than a sun, heat dog. So heres some pics from the flyball demo and a walk in the rain :)

The pics when hes in the lake were taken at the flyball demo and the other pics were on a very rainy walk! Can you believe he used to be scared of water?

Summers here!

Summers well and truly here, and its brung the hot and muggy weather with it. I don't like it. I prefer the winter, and so does Ernie. Ernie is definantly not a summer dog. Where his skin is so pink, the hot weather irritates it and if hes in the sun too much he can get sun burnt. Therefore walks have been later at night, earlier in the morning or on some days not at all. I hate not being able to take Ernie out, but its just too hot for him. Roll on winter!

The other dogs dont mind it. Indi doesn't care, Max is not bothered but does prefer cooler climates and Lola just loves to sunbathe! I can't wait for some nice cool rain!

Meanwhile we've been doing a lot of trick training. Indi has learnt to chase his tail, and Lola is starting to learn to beg. Where Ernie and Indi learnt to beg as puppies the muscle was built up straight away, but Lola doesn't have the muscle for it yet so its going to take a lot longer than it did to train Indi and Ernie. Also, where her backs so long its not very good for her to be in the position for too long so we will have to be careful, but she loves it! She has really become a trickster! Ernies learning limp atm, but its not going very well so this trick may take a while!

So heres some pics from last weekend, we went to my Grandma's and had a photoshoot in the evening sun!

Ernie standing on my old BC Ben's grave.

Pics from our walks

The weather has been just perfect over the past few days. No rain, but not too hot and not too cold. I prefer it when its cooler, as it means the dogs can go for longer walks and Ernie doesn't have to worry about getting sun burnt. Yesterday it was perfect, cloudy yet not too cold. Me and Ernie went for a really long walk to the beach, and he was happy about chasing the stones in and we both had lots of fun!

Today it was a bit hotter, and the sun was shining so we couldn't go for as long but still had tonnes of fun! The little kind-of campsite at the field that we use as agility jumps has now got some rocks set up that looked perfect as use for weaving! Ernie had never really done proper 1 footed weaving with jumps except leg weaving so we had a go. They were just rocks so he couldn't go that fast, but he got the idea really well and had a lot of fun! As I don't have agility equipment at home, my nan does, but I dont then I just use whatever Ive got! Logs may not be the best subsitute for jumps as he can just climb over the jumps, but when were running fast he does jump right over! It's good for teaching 'get outs' and just having lots of fun and also making our walks more interesting!

Ernie jumping over a log we found at the park!

Ernie leg weaving. He just looks like he's having the time of his life, which he is! :)

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!