Xmas Pressies and the Manners Minder update

We had a wonderful Xmas. We went to my son Tony's for Xmas day and he cooked a superb Christmas dinner. In the evening the rest of the family arrived and we had such a fun evening playing games.I had also bought some indoor fireworks which caused great amusement. Unfortunately we had to leave the dogs at home , but fortunately Tony doesn't live too far away so we were able to go home to check up on then every few hrs.
On boxing Day we went to my ex sister in laws. Once again we played silly games and had a great afternoon/evening. Sunday we went down to see my Mum & Dad.
Mum finds it hard work nowadays having lots of people to entertain so we took all the food with us, so she could have a nice relaxing time with no stress. Once again all the family came.

I had some wonderful presents from everyone. I got a Motor Mover for my new caravan !!!! the Dawn Weaver book, several funny dog books, The Photoshop programme for my laptop, some wonderful croc slippers, a lovely warm hat, plus lots of other bits and bobs ,so I was well and truly spoilt this year.

AT MUM AND DADS

MANNERS MINDER UPDATE

Now back to the Manners Minder. I received it very quickly but it was faulty. It didn't click every time I pressed the remote, so it was very frustrating.Also if I was further away than about 2 ft it didn't work at all ! I contacted the person I got it from and he was fantastic and so helpful..great customer service which you rarely see nowadays.
He sent me a new remote which I received the very next day, however it was still faulty. So without a second thought he sent me a brand new until (which he tested beforehand) and that arrived also next day. This one seems fine but the weather has been so bad I haven't been able to try it outside on the contacts yet. I wanted to start teaching Fozzie it straight away , so I have started work indoors running him to a mat or doing an instant down and then bleeping the Manners Minder. Fozzie has grasped the idea indoors very quickly so I am hopeful it will get me the independent contact I want from him. I have attached a small video showing it. He is better going away from me than coming forward, which is great as I will rarely be in front of him at the contacts.

New Header

For Christmas I got given Photoshop for my laptop. I have never done anything like this with my pictures before, just basic editing etc so this new header took me quite a while to do and isn't quite as creative as some blog headers!!!. However I am sure I will get better at it as time goes on....Maybe !

Snow, Snow, Snow

Today we had a lovely walk on the common nr my Mums. The dogs had a fantastic time

Manners Minder

Well I've decided to invest in a Manners Minder.
Its a training tool, and I am going to try it on my contacts with Fozzie and then maybe Chip. I train the contacts alot on my own, and I have been struggling with how I want them to be. I had started to do a 4 off position with him, but Fozzie started to jump off, so I then trained a 2 on 2 off position. Unfortunately if I was anywhere other than the very end of the dogwalk ,he'd creep down to the end position. If I placed a titbit container or toy at the end , he'd go quickly to it but he was self rewarding himself before I could get there whether he'd done it right or wrong. I want his contacts to be fast and independent and I was only getting what I want if I was actually at the end of the dogwalk or A frame. At club he'd happily fly across the contact as long as someone was standing at the end squeaking his toy or waving it around calling his name, just no good to me when I'm on my own. I have spoken with several people who have used the Manners Minder with great success. So I thought I'd buy one. It will also be useful for obedience sendaways , as well as go-ons in Agility. It will also hopefully be great for my own classes. So hopefully weather permitting over Xmas I will be starting work on it. Watch this space........

Off to Battersea

Fozzie is 14 mths old now and you'd expect him to be growing up wouldn't you? He really is the naughtiest puppy/dog I've ever owned. This is what he did last night whilst I was in the bath !!!!! These shoes are less than 3 wks old and weren't cheap either . So he's off to Battersea today I just can't afford him anymore ;-) Mind you hubby was in same room but didn't seem to notice the chewing....... MEN

I now have no decent non doggy shoes to wear.