Good Citizens News

Today we had a good citizens test, Bronze & Gold. I'm pleased to say 5 out of 5 passed in the bronze and as only 1 person took the gold I am thrilled to say we had 100% pass.

Anne & Crafty

Bo

Flyball & Competitions

This weekend the Bandits raced at Newark, it was a real shame both teams didn't get to run as it is becomming very frustrating for the novice dogs, however we have managed to get into a tournament in January at Wimbledon. The Bandits put on a sterling effort for the first indoor race of the winter season and came away with 4th place. Smartie had his racing debut and didn't put a paw wrong so we were thrilled.
Yesterday we had a rather wet slippy training session, not that the dogs minded! taking things slowly with Diesel the boxer is really starting to pay off, she managed to go near perfectly and I can honestly say i actually saw a bit of speed too.. it won't be long now before she is racing. We decided that training all the dogs to run back to the bucket would be a good idea, not only will it hopefully increase their return speed but it will also look very impressive at competitions (if all else fails go for looking good!)
Clare and I are in for an early start on Saturday, I'm collecting her at 5.15am to travel up North to Preston for an agility competition. this will be maisy's first since she has had OK weaves so as long as Clare manages to keep me focused you never know what could happen, there is even a very slight chance we could come away with a clear round!! but i won't hold my breath. Clare on the other hand will more than likely come home with a hat trick of clears, making it all look so easy! you can really go off some people. I'll hopefully post some pics next week.

Discover Dogs News

Kathryn and Diesel did us proud in the Junior handling at Discovers Dogs at Earls Court on Sunday, this is only their second apprearance in the handling ring and came 4th amongst some very stiff competition. Congratulations from everyone at BB's

Newark YKC Activity Weekend

Friday Afternoon we set off to the Young Kennel Club run Activity weekend at Newark, I had been asked to train the Obedience but when we got there the Flyball trainer had broken down on the way so they asked me to step in. After setting up Camp we devoured a KFC and settled the dogs for the night. The following morning we were up early to walk the dogs, and set up the flyball ring, I had collected Paul and Diesel on the way and Kathryn and Ian had met us there, deciding to borrow a friends horsebox rather than sleeping in a tent in Novembrrrr Alice came up on Saturday morning with Smartie so everyone was anxious to get down to some training.
With Handling, heelwork to music, obedience, Agility and Flyball to choose from everyone had a great time. On saturday night there was a games night organised, we all played musical chairs, simon says and many more silly games before we braved the wind and rain back at the caravans. The weather during the night was awful, i was up 3 times to make sure the dogs were still dry in the awning, and each time was met by sleepy eye's and warm dogs. Sunday was competition day, Kathryn had entered her first ever handling class with boxer Diesel, they held their own in a very good class and although not placed on this occasion they put on a really good show. Paul, Amy and Alice were entered into the flyball competition and put up a very gallant fight coming 2nd and qualifying for Crufts 2009 and finally Amy had agreed to enter Ben and Maisy into the advanced obedience just to make up numbers, poor Ben was dragged out of retirement and went on to win the class!.. what a star. Packing up on Sunday afternoon in driving rain was a chore, but Amy had collected a Maccy D's for everyone to keep us going, it was a quiet journey home and an early night.

News & Up Coming Events

Last weekend Kathryn & her ESS Jess came 2nd in her agility Class, we are not totally suprised by this news as this duo have been going from strength to strength, watching them at last nights training session was great, Jess is so full of enthusiasm, the first place is not very far away now. We must not forget Kathryn also got a clear round with Gemma her boxer, another brilliant achievement - well done from all at BB's.
YKC - Dogs for Disabled.
A few of our members are attending this weeks YKC event at Dogs for Disabled near Banbury, the YKC are holding a information day where the young members can have a look at how the dogs are trained through all stages and hopefully have a go and maybe play with the puppies.
YKC - Newark Weekend 1st & 2nd November
Once again Amy and I have been asked to train at the YKC weekend in Newark, this is always my favoutire training weekend, we have a great time training all day and Drog racing in the evening, it is also one of the last chances the members have to Qualify for Crufts 2009, this year we have 5 members attending, all hoping to win a place at Crufts.
YKC - Discover Dogs 8th & 9th November
All YKC members get in to Discover dogs FOC, this is held at Earls court in London and has Crufts qualifiers, Kathryn and her boxer Diesel are hoping to qualify in the junior handling so her and Amy are taking the train to Earls court on Sunday 9th November.

More News and results from above to follow.......

Flyball Training

This morning we were a bit thin on the ground as quite a few of our regulars had entered a starters competition at Portway with Douglas. I decieded the dogs I had were more than ready to train without netting and as you can see we had a great time.


Tomorrow the Bandits are competing, so Jo brought Ronny,and the rest of the Mali's over for a practice, we started off with the babies, Summer and Kody, they are really starting to shape up nicely, our only trouble is that at this stage they are more interested in playing with each other than concentrating on cross overs, but their first competition isn't until January so we have plenty of time to practice. Then we got down to the serious stuff, we have a new running order of Keisha, Maisy, Ronny and lastly Dylan, hopefully this will give the two novice dogs a big enough gap between them and will both have the confidence fromthe more experienced dog.. lets keep our fingers crossed for a PB tomorrow.

Club News

Saturday was the Midlands Border Collie Clubs annual Utility day, Amy and I had been invited to train the flyball section which we jumped at - although Amy decided at the last minute she actually wanted to take part with Summer so my sister came to our rescue and agreed to help me out. During the day a whole host of activites take place, Gun dog, Good Cits, Agility, Obedience, Flyball and lots more. Summer & Smartie had a go at the Bronze good Cits unfortunately, with only 10 seconds to go in his sit Stay poor Smartie was distracted by people talking and got up to make sure Alice was ok!! appart from that he would have passed!! Summer was a good girl and passed. Diesel & Paul had a go at Silver and passed (Whoop Whoop) Summer also passed most of her obedience section appart from the sit stay where she went down (it was late in the afternoon) and Diesel passed his flyball section so it was a good day.
Sunday came and after Obedience and flyball training I met up with Clare to move the Agility equipment indoors - we had help from katheryn, Ian and Anne (thanks folks) so from tonight onwards training is indoors. After the move we went to get a sneak preveiw of Annes new boxer Puppy, Mitch and Tony allowed us to spend an hour happily playing with the whole litter in the garden as well as a very nice Gin & tonic!! - we all fell in love with the gorgeous Pups and can't wait to start the training... watch this space for more Bouncing Boxer pics.

Bromsgrove Update

Well we all had a brilliant time at Bromsgrove, the weather has delightful and the company even better. Jess and Katheryn came away with another 2 clear rounds, the placings are only a short way off now, we have been saying for a while what a lovely consistant little dog she is and yet again she has proved us correct. Clare and Charlie had a clear round and a 10th place, he is such a deceptive dog, in the ring he looks quite slow compared to the collies but he has such length of stride he is able to cover so much ground even if he does make his mum work for every step of the way! and the lovely Chappie had a clear in alsorts.

Both Amy and Ellen had slightly less success and had a few near misses between them, I think Dylan and Hamish must have had one too many the night before as neither of them were really on form. Anne and Crafty are really coming on and Anne's handling improves each time I see her, Crafty continues to test Anne at every opportunity but with a bit of Obedience help over the winter I think next season will give them both the results they are looking for. And lastly Maisy!! well what can I say - I think it's fair to say i saw a few glimpses of hope, we actually had some control, I think bystanders may have argued with that statement but all those that know us agreed it to be true so I am going to cling onto that..... she was faced with a wall and a gate in her jumping class, lots of dogs were spooking but she just took them in her stride - she's still the best dog in the world, good job shes cute!! and lastly baby Summer was measured She's a large dog, well over the midi height which is good news as those midi courses are a bit tricky!!

Brilliant Boxers

What a fantastic day one of our very special boxers had today! Anne & Crafty attended the Boxer show and attempted their first obedience competition, after heel on lead, heel free, recal and stays they came 2nd WOW WEEEEE we are so proud of the two of you (photo's to follow). talking of boxers, Ian and Diesel were brilliant at flyball training today, for the first time she managed to do the whole course and retrieve a ball instead of just getting a sweetie at the box, I am so pleased we took it slowly with this little girl, our hard work is paying off, she is a brilliant flyball dog in the making.
Off boxers for a moment, everyone who attended flyball today worked really well, our training field has stood up really well to the horrendous weather we have had, and we have some very special dogs nearly ready for competition, just a few mentions-Jess (esp) always going to be a steady dog, but very consistent, not much will phase her, she is a pleasure to train. Rags, had a blip today after a good few weeks off, I think it was just an excuse for a cuddle.. Willow, my big yellow custard (GR) mum, as always she is having a ball, keep up the good work.Doug & Jesse, nothing to say, brilliant as always - thanks for your ongoing support, and finally Smartie, You have so much potential, I wish you would stop giving Alice suce a hard time!! all I can say is "it's agood job your so damn cute!!!"

Agility training in the rain

Well, we all have competitions coming up so last night Clare put us through our paces with lots of control work! not so easy with a mental collie!! still everyone else did really well and it was lovely to see, all the dogs settle into their work and really start to listen.

Any News

Sorry I haven't written for a while, I've been away on holiday - not something that happens very often! anyway since I got back I've been told that Jess & Kathryn now have 5 agility clear round rosettes!?! well done, looks like this pair could be taking the agility circuit by storm next year, well done. Jo & Ronny won out of Grade 3 in style last week winning by over 2 seconds in a class of over 250, unfortunately we can't take any of the credit for helping him train but he is a member of our "Brickyard Bandits" flyball team and so we are extremely proud.
This weekend I have decided to bite the bullet and have entered maisy into an obedience competition, I will freely admit I am a terrible competitor, Maisy is more than capable of winning but I expect I'll let her down as usual!! still I'll keep posotive and let you all know how I do next week. Both flyball teams are competing at Shackerstone 6/7th September so again I'll update you on all the results.

Chipping Norton Agility & The Chilterns Flyball

This weekend our club was represented at both Chipping Norton Agility show and The Chilterns Flyball Tournament. In Agility Katheryn and her ESS Jess achieved their first clear round in 1-7 agility so huge congratulations to them, Clare & Charlie (GSD) had a clear round in both 1-7 touch and go and jumping and a 13th place in 1-3 agility, again congratulations. Also we must mention Anne and Crafty (Boxer) on achieving a clear set of 12 weaves for the first time in competition, Crafty and Anne's confidence grows with each show so very well done.
Flyball - the Brickyard Bandits came second in Division 4 this week with a new PB of 19.97 seconds, this is a huge achievement for this new team who have 2 inexperienced dogs and handlers. I'm sure this new seed time will push them up to division 2 or 3 in time for Shackerstone in September.

Weekend Achievments

BB's had a good weekend, starting with Ellen Sleight & her dog Hamish (pictured) comming 3rd in jumping and 2nd in Power & Speed at Bretford Agility show, lots of other clear rounds were had by other members.
The Brickyard Bandits flyball team ventured North to Rotherham and gained 2nd place with a new fastest time of 20.48.

Brickyard Bandits Flyball Team

The Bandits are competing on Saturday 12th July in Rotherham, Last night the team had their final practice - The Bandits team consists of Myself (Emma) and my daughter Amy with two of our collies Maisy & Dylan and Jo & Nige from Mali-Mania fame with their Mali's Ronny & Keisha, also Jo's mum.



Training started off a little hectically with Keisha deciding she only wanted to run for her mum and Dylan deciding crossovers are just too scary especially when your faced with a 30 kilo mali racing full throttle towards you!! so with a few tweaks we were happy with our final line up and have our final line up for Saturday:



First Dog - Ronny handled by Nige

second dog - Maisy handled by Amy

third dog - Keisha handled by Jo

forth Dog - Dylan handled by Emma

Reserve dog - Ben

Boxloader - Jo's Mum (watch those knees)