Diary for 2009
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17/01/10
I think I am a bit late on the years round up- but I think it really speaks for itself!!
Fergus has done reasonably well in the handful of shows he attended last year. It was his want to show/ don't want to show attitude which mainly let him down! So far this year (2010)- he seems to have forgotten about that and enjoys getting out. He is still very much in training for obedience but is enjoying every minute of it!
Molly is still doing well. She is on brain tablets at the moment because we think she has a little bit of doggy dementia. But she is still as stubborn as ever and enjoys us slaving over her!
Saffie, as stated, has had a marvellous year and has really come into her own, winning out of beg and into novice and then of course for Crufts too!! This year should be a very interesting and telling one for both Saffie and I!
The puppies from our Apple litter all seem to be doing well. They all seem to have their owners just where they want them- a technique Saffie and Fergus have been perfecting for years now.
We are hoping this year brings much of the same as last year really!! We wish for good health and happiness all round whatever happens really!! Lets go....!!
31/10/09
CRUFTS 2010
Saffie qualifies for Crufts 2010 by winning another first!!!
22/08/09
Saffie did the double and won two 1st's in two weeks- taking her straight out of beg. and qualifying her for novice!!
Go Saffie!!!
05/20/09
No joke- Fergus can now happily amuse himself at the beech with his body board! He will carry it into the water and put his two front feet on and use his back feet to propel him around!! What a funny boy. When all that fun is over he then retrieves it back out of the water! Hours of fun to be had there!
See Beech time 2009 for updates on the dogs.
28/06/09
Fergus got his body board out again this year and has been practising one of his favourite summertime activities!
08/06/09
Flyball
The sister club to Denne Park DTC has opened its doors for another summer. Flyball.
Saffie is a bit of a buttermouth and Molly does not appreciate exercise, so Fergus stepped up to the plate.
Fergus loves catching balls, he spends his evenings bringing you a ball so you can throw it for him. Flyball seemed perfect. After a couple of goes he got the hang of it but in typical Fergus fashion; he really was not too fused!!
Saffie's go next week-maybe she will show more enthusiasm.
06/06/09
Serenedrift Toffee Apple (Lexi) came to visit!
Fergus loved having his sister here to play with. She is so much like her mum, Saffie, but just a little bigger and doesn't buckle under his weight like Saffie does!
Lexi is a lovely girl, so happy and friendly! Her owners really care for her. She was also sporting a lovely natural haircut with very tidy feet!
Lexi has such a character and as a puppy always reminded us of Molly, if Lexi doesn't want to do something she is not going to do it!! So different to Saffie and Fergus who will quite happily go along with whatever. Yet at the same time she shared that same ever energy lasting which Hector Serenedrift Apple Strudel had. It comes from Saffie's mum.
Its lovely to see Saffie and her pups play as they play the same games and enjoy the same things as each other. Although they have grown up in different homes its like they have never been apart. When they come back they are still mini Saffie's at heart!!!
Photos of the day can be found in Lexi to visit 06/06/09.
01/06/09
Saffie's tail
Saffie's tail has improved greatly. It does not hang limp and it is on the mend with a boney mass growing over the break. She is much happier about it and the infection has cleared up well.
24/05/09
Holiday to Suffolk
All three dogs go on holiday to Suffolk for the week. Hopefully Saffie's tail will improve. She has got it infected from licking it so the salt water should do it good.
Molly had her perfect holiday, she did very little exercise and snoozed most of the time.
Fergus and Saffie loved the water!! Fergus developed a good retrieve, bringing the ball back and dropping at people's feet- it didn't matter who's meet either!!
19/05/09
Saffie has broken her tail!!
After starting off with just a dead tail which was checked out by the vets and confirmed as such, a week later she has been diagnosed with a broken tail! She is in a lot of pain but just can't stop wagging it!! There is talk of amputation..
04/05/09
Meeting Lexi
At the show today we bumped into Lexi Serenedrift Toffee Apple! It was such a lovely surprise. They were passing and decided to see what was going on! Saffie was very happy to she her daughter again. It was a shame we could not let them off safely to have a romp around!
Lexi is a lovely girl with a big fluffy coat. She is very simular to Saffie in looks with a splash of Baloo where Saffie has a splash of Quest. We hope that Lexi can come and visit us at home soon so Saffie can have a proper play with her girl!
These photos' are courtesy of Lexi's owner Dave.
26/04/09
Such a shame!
Fergus went to the Three Counties Showground in Malvern today. His behaviour in the ring could have been better but he was a model citizen outside of the ring.
We stayed the night in Malvern and Ferg seemed he enjoy his adventure somewhat... but on the other hand... I do not really think he was fussed about where he was!!
10-13/04/09
I prefer the finer things in life.......
Saffie went on holiday to Nottingham, while we were there we spent many hours walking, training and seeing relatives!
Saffie enjoyed her break but defiantly prefers hotels to camping!
Apparently, while we were away Fergus ran full pelt into the brick wall in the garden (he was chasing a ball, the ball bounced- he did not).There was a lot of blood as he cut his lip and he has a huge scratch under his chin, he obviously hurt himself immensely, but he is on the mend. Silly boy!
28/03/09
Serenedrift Apple Strudel or Hector as he is known to his friends came to visit!!
What a handsome boy Hector is and what a fantastic character he has! He is a happy chappy and loves everything and everyone just like his mum!
His mum Saffie was ecstatic to see her boy back and almost immediately began racing round with him and playing with him like a long lost buddy!
Fergus also enjoyed seeing his brother, but was not so sure about sharing his beloved mummy! All the dogs (except Molly, who watched from afar) raced round the garden for two hours and had a wonderful time. Hector is a fantastic dog and is looking in brilliant shape he is a credit to his owner!
Here are some pictures of the day. It involved a lot of playing!
Hector to visit 28/03/09
26/03/09
Fergus passes his Bronze Good Citizen!!!
He passed well showing off his laid back attitude to life at all times!
Next week is the annual AGM at the club. All the instructors have been told to do an exercise with their dog to show the other members of the club what they are working towards. Saffie has been picked to do the A recall! This is an exercise exclusive to the higher classes at obedience shows, lets hope she does OK!
THE BIG FREEZE OF FEBRUARY 2009!!
21/02/09
Dott and Ian Watts Training weekend
I decided to take Saffie to this. Just to get some tips and advice really... see if there is anything I can pick up which will magically improve my dog's placings in obedience!! Dott and Ian Watts are a husband and wife duo. They are world class dog trainers and have created dozens of obedience champions and are regulars at Crufts completing at the highest levels.
I was very impressed with Saf, she was the best ABC (Any Breed But Collie) there! And about as good as the rest!! Which was my first worry away. (Saf having some kind of "forget all/blonde moment" in front of the obedience crowd of the south of England). Everyone was very impressed with her- Ian himself said she could be a really good dog.. which on second thought; I couldn't quite work out whether that was good or bad? I took it as good. Many people came up to us (I went with a few members of our Sunday training group and our trainer) and remarked on how impressed they were with her. Needless to say all of our Sunday training group performed well and received wonderful comments.
I felt that their training catered more towards enthusiasm than we do on Sundays. So running around the room with Saf doing bunny hops in a variation of the heel work position was good to them! I can understand why they liked it but it has taken a long time to stop Saff bunny hopping around the ring!! I know she needs more drive into the position.. I am just working on how to get that!
The rest of their trainng was how they taught their dogs to work.. all of which seemed to go above Saf's head (and mine at times) Saf likes her job and gets can anxious when she doesn't know what she is suppose to be doing.. I may work on their techiques with her...somehow.. but we shall see.
I didn't take Fergus as he is Work In Progress. Good Work In Progress though!! He is at that stage where I can introduce new things, and Dott and Ian Watts' techniques seem to have hit something with Mr. Ferg. He is coming along nicely but can lack that "sell your soul" enthusiasm for the sport which Saf has and which indeers her. But in the last week I think I unbolted his door. He is mad for things that move quickly, like leaves and straw in the wind. He is my stable boy and is amazed by me mucking out and tossing the straw in the stable. In light of that and his amazing (through sheer persistent training) ball catching skills....an extremely bouncing ball is his thing and he will work all day for it!! I will see how he goes, now I have found his "thing"..and carry on training!
16/02/09
Fergus 1st birthday
Happy birthday to Fergus and the apple litter! They are one today!! What wonderful updates we have received from their owners today regarding their progress! They all sound like very cheeky puppies, demanding their space on the sofa and going out of their way to make friends with everybody and everything!
Fergus means so much to us and amazes us everyday with his laid back attitude to life. He does the funniest of things; he even followed me when I climbed onto the swivel chair, then onto the desk to reach something up high. Before I could stop him he was hot on my heels, within one bound he was on the swivel chair, then he stretched over to join me on the desk, luckily we managed to catch our 37 kilo dog mid-air before the chair moved underneath him and he belly flopped to the floor! Silly Fergus!
Everybody loves Fergus! Many happy returns to the apple litter!
Here is a few pups from the litter at one year old:
Xander
Lexi
Bailey
Hector
Fergus
05/01/09
The ups and the downs.
2008 was another brilliant year, having puppies in the house was amazing. Watching them grow and ensuring delightful characters was such a joy and an experience we hope to repeat in the future (distant future)! All of the puppies went to amazing homes and we have heard wonderful things from their owners about them.
Fergus has grown up into an extremely handsome dog, who gets compliments from everyone who meets him. His character is second to none and we couldn't of asked for a friendlier boy. He is exactly what a goldie should be, friendly, outgoing and calm. He also has done well at the few shows attended gaining very respectful placings!
Saffie has had a wonderful year in Obedience winning out of her class. She has really taken her obedience training to heart and loves every second of it, I can't wait to get her out to shows next year and show everybody how brilliant she is!
Molly has had a slightly quieter time this year enjoying the home comforts. She went to training a few times as a demonstration dog and won everyone's heart as she did all sorts of tricks for complete strangers, just for the chance of a piece of sausage! She attended only a couple of Companion shows as a "lead by example dog" for Fergus. From the SIX shows attended she gained two Best In Show's and one Reserve Best in Show. This continued her winning streak from last year proving that there's still nothing better that Molly Polly!! Sadly at the end of the year the vet diagnosed her with having an enlarged elbow, which is related to elbow displasia. Her fatty lumps (lipoma's) on her side have also increased in size and a new lump has appeared recently on her paw which needs to be checked out by the vets. Despite all of that she still goes out for long walks with Saffie and enjoys playing with Fergus, her condition doesn't seem to bother her. Needless to say Saffie is still fit as a fiddle.
We have been trying to get Saffie spayed before she comes into season, however she has been having a phantom pregnancy with milk! Currently she has lost all her coat (in the dead of winter) and awaits the all clear from the vet. We are getting her spayed as it would be unfair for her to have another litter when we are in the knowledge that she cannot give birth naturally, this is the fairest thing to do.
Despite all of this we're all raring to go for next year!