New painting completed.

Here is a new painting commissioned by my dad. They are Jack and Jim, two 9 year old ex racing greyhound brothers he owns and bred. I used a photo I took up on the Pennines as a pretty backdrop.

Overdue dogs update.

I've not made any updates regarding the dogs for a while but not too much was missed anyway as they've both only come out of season just over a week ago anyway. The only major thing I never blogged was the summer champs. Naughty me, only the most important flyball tournament of the year, lol. Anyway, for the quick quick version, Sleets team were the winners of Division 15 so I was very pleased with that.
Last weekend saw the first tournament at Sutton Fields after they came out of season. Sleet wasn't running but I took Wren to run in an NFC team to fill an empty lane due to a pull out. As she has just turned 18 months old, she is now technically an open dog so it was good to get the experience. She was only running over 12" rather than full height that day but good to work up gradually anyway and get a taste of running over higher than 7". It was a hot day and I was definitely feeling a bit under the weather that day and Wren didn't seem on top form either...looking a little slow on the way back as normally she thrashes back for tuggy. I've been working on her fitness at home each day throwing a rope ball and getting her huffing and puffing. She tends to be a little lazy with the full speed running as she is so laid back. Sleet on the other hand seems to manage with chasing a ball full pelt for a lot longer but she's a neurotic fruitcake who always liked to run around full speed for the sheer hell of it. Wren seems more bothered by the heat than Sleet too.
Other than a bit of sluggishness, she ran fine. Still not great on the box but no fumbles and no running out at all. I suppose I get enough heart attacks with sleets unpredictable nature and habit of the odd running out so I'm glad that Wren sticks to doing the hurdles at least.
It's a pity that the team was NFC anyway because we turned out to be a good team and would have been winnng otherwise, lol. Ah well, I was just glad that Wren did as she was supposed to which makes me feel much better about when she runs her first open races for real.
Sleet also finally recieved her flyball dog award certificate which she gained the points for back in June. It turns out the certificate has to be reprinted because it has the wrong BFA number on it...oh well. As soon as sleet sees a camera pointing at her, she's sure to pose herself as much as possible as evident in the photo below. Wren doing a hurdle. Her face looks full of drive even if she was a little sluggish which is good.

Hopping over a horse jump in a nearby field.
Back to training tomorrow..

New painting finished...Already!!

Ok, this one was probably the fastest completed painting I've done in years. A black creature on a black background doesn't take too much work though and my muse was well and truly on fire I couldn't drag myself away from it. I decided on a cat because I sold my only other cat painting earlier this year and decided i needed to add a new one to my portfolio. Cats are quite interesting to paint. I should paint more but not many people request cats in commissions...most want dogs or horses.

Meanwhile 'Knightshade' has been awarded 1st place in the Grainthorpe Festival of Arts which ran over the bank holiday weekend. A very nice surprise for me anyway. Very pleased. I had a little feeling that 'Knightshade' would have the ability to appeal in a way that would make it successful in that type of situation.

I also need to pull my finger out updating about the dogs and such too.

New painting completed.

This is a commissioned portrait of a deceased flyball dog. Her name was Fizz and she was owned by Sue at Doncaster Bellestars.

I'll be taking this with me to the Summer champs this weekend to hand over to Sue.

Flyballing at Wirral.

Saturday, I had both Sleet and Wren racing at Wirral. Sleet on the Riders team and Wren on the starters team. Starters were racing first thing so it was a very early rise to get over there in time. It started off a bit wet but gradually dried up through the morning and wasn't too bad at all for the rest of the day. It was quite close even with a lot of cloud so it was probably a good thing that it wasn't sunny and TOO hot.
The starters team consisted of my sisters dog Storm, then Wren, a younger dog Mackley and then a dog from Tyne Tailwaggers to make it 4 dogs. They were all running great that morning and won all the races. So far so good.
A little later and Sleets team were in which consisted of 5 dogs including my sisters dog Monty, Nell, Max, Libby and Sleet running last so there was a little swapping around between dogs. Sleet was also running great that day and I was quite proud. She didn't try the usual running out in warm up and seems to be gradually getting faster with experience. Her only real issue now is not doing a little detour around the dog she's changing over with. Something we'll have to work on in training. Her team also won all their races that Morning.
Afternoon racing came around and, again, Wren ran great...just missed the ball on the box a couple of times but has got it off to a fine art in grabbing it as soon as possible before returning back so didn't lose much time at all. Her boxwork is pathetic anyway with a two paw slam when there's nothing there to make her turn...more work at home will be needed for her. We won each race again until the very last one when the dog from Tyne started dropping the ball a bit too early a couple of times and Mackley also started to lose his focus...seeing a guy at the side of the ring that looked like his dad and running over to him rather than going down the lane to the box. He was sent again and did it right that time but we'd lost the race already. He's got plenty of time to improve his attention span as he is only 13 months old and considering what it was like a few months ago..there's massive improvement anyway.
Sleets team came up again for their afternoon racing. We won all the races again although in the last races, the whole team went to pot a little and gave the other team a head start. On the second run, a ball from the other team rolled right into sleets path from nowhere and stopped...and me knowing that Sleet would probably just go and grab that rather than going down the lane tried leading her past it and ended up letting her go way too late and also throwing her off and she tried running out. She came straight back and did a correct run but was too late to win the leg. Sleet was pulled even though it wasn't really our fault about that damned stupid ball and they managed to win the rest of the races to get us first place in that Div. Sleet getting her first rosette and it being a 1st made up for having to miss the last races.
Wrens team got a second....her team always seems to come second, it must be her number, lol....so, overall, it was quite a successful day for once especially regarding Sleet who's team haven't really stood a chance before now due to being stuck in the wrong division.

Dogs unleashed and Rotherham Tournament.

Well, last weekend we had flyball at Dogs Unleashed in Newark. Only Sleet was racing as there were no starters. Again, she decided to give me a little scare in warm up by missing hurdles but sorted herself out before actual racing. Unfortunately, that morning, the team as a whole didn't run very well, getting lots of lights etc...whilst me, the most inexperienced was holding back a tad too much in order to avoid lights...lol. Sleet ran great all the rest of the day mind. In the afternoon, the team seemed to run much better but, as one of the main dogs on our team wasn't there..again..and Sleet isn't as fast as her yet, we just weren't quick enough to beat the other teams. With sleet running instead of the other dog, our teams time is basically too slow for the div we were in but the other dog was supposed to be running but has a very unreliable owner who is holding the team back because of this.
Of course, we didn't get anywhere but nevermind.
We did take advantage of some of the other stuff going on that day too. Wren did some flybgall runs on the 'have a go', without netting. She was fumbling a lot on the box but her quickest time was 4.9...sort out her box work and she'll be getting low 4s at least. She did also seem to be affected by the heat so I didn't run her too much.
Sleet got to play in the paddling pool. After waiting for a couple of other dogs to have a turn first, of which she made a complete racket in protest throughout, her turn finally came and everyone round and about finally got a rest from her yapping and shouting impatiently. She really enjoyed her time in the pool, bringing out a bunch of toys but also wanting to stop just to have a dig and bite the water. Great way to have fun on a hot day.
After that, she went on the 'have a go' agility course. She has seen some agility equipment before but months ago. She seemed fine with everything and loves the seesaw. The only thing she wasn't keen on was the tunnel. It took some effort convincing her to go through there. We were just about to give up when she just came through...little bugger.
On the seesaw, she went rushing up it on her own and I had to leg it up and grab her quick before it went down on the other side and caught her off guard. She had a second go on the seesaw, this time with me holding her harness to keep her more under control. I think the seesaw must be her favourite part at the moment.
Wren had a go on the agility earlier in the day. She's never seen anything to do with agility before. Still, she did every piece of equipment without trouble. I didn't try her on the weave which sleet did pretty well at.
Wren came through the tunnel without problems mind. The woman in the ring held the seesaw steady for her and I also kept hold of her but she didn't seem at all freaked out by it. I was quite impressed at her very first try. What a clever girl?
Sleet enjoys the paddling pool. Doing the dog walk.

Me having to grab her quick as she rushes confidently up the seesaw.

Wren doing her first ever attempt at the seesaw.

Doing a hurdle

Overall, we had a nice day...and I managed to top up my sunburn....clever girl I am!!!

This weekend was our own tournament in Rotherham. Of course, I had to work saturday and Sunday which is just typical but I did go over once I'd escaped from there at the end of the shift.

On Saturday, Sleet was running with Rotherham Riders and Wren was in starters. As the split starters into two and had each part behind the divisions, I got there well before the second half of starters so was able to run Wren myself then.

Sleet was running her last races just as I turned up but I did get to watch her at least from the back of the ring. Natalie Holtappel was running her for me, many thanks for Nat for that. Apparantly, that morning, Nat was running my sisters dog Monty and my sister was running Sleet who ran fine for the first race. When they changed lanes, she started running out so Nat offered to run Sleet instead. Sleet ran great from there on. Funny little bugger she is. I'm sure she had an interesting time running my little scalliwag anyway. Sleet is only a little collie but she has a BIG personality.

Wren was also running great. Ellie ran her in the morning, many thanks to Ellie, as my sister was running her own starter dog Storm. I ran her that evening and managed to do some spot on changeovers too much to my surprise. We only lost to one team so we came second and got a medal.

On Sunday, Wren and storm also ran in another starters team as one had been pulled so we made up another. Hope from Steelers ran with them and also a couple of dogs from Doncaster teams. This time, they did starters all in one go inbetween morning and afternoon divs so I didn't get there in time to see or race Wren. I got a text at work telling me she ran great and they came 2nd again....another medal, lol. Well done Wren.

One day Sleet will manage to win something too, lol.

'Glimpse of Youth' completed.

I managed to get this painting completed. It will be going to the framers tomorrow. Now I have a new commission come up of a deceased JRT who did flyball when she was alive. She sadly died suddenly of a mystery virus when she was 4 and her owner has been looking to get a portrait done for a while. As she runs with Doncaster Bellestars flyball team, she saw the Bryn painting that I did for them when it was handed to Bryns owner at their AGM. She decided that she liked my style of work so she brought the photos she has to their tournament on Sunday when I was there and we looked through them to decide which best to use etc... Now just to make some composites in photoshop to decide exactly how it's going to be.

Here is 'A Glimpse of Youth' completed anyway.