Hudsons General Blog

More art...

2011-06-16T09:33:00.001-07:00

I've been seriously neglecting this blog of late but here is some more recent art news. I have only just started a new commission after over three months of no painting...just the odd few sketches. I have another commission lined up after this one too but the preperations for that one have proven to be a nightmare (Will talk more of that later). I'm finally ready for it but had made a start on the current one which is only small so now it can wait until my current one is completed. I'll post seperately regarding the progress of the commissions.

'Observe' (Below) was accepted into the open exhibition at the Ferens Gallery in Hull and sold whilst there. The buyers were the same people who bought 'Emerald Gaze' there a couple of years ago (Also a tabby cat painting) so it seems I acquired my first collectors, lol.

This is one I finished at the back end of 2010. It will be entered into Grainthorpe festival of arts this year.

This is from a ref I took of my sisters horse a few years ago. I completed it in Fabruary and was the last painting before my hiatus. It has been entered into Holmfirth Artweek which is next month.

New painting completed.

2010-10-08T14:59:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest. A commission of another flyball dog. I don't currently have anymore commissions lined up so I'll probably start on another portfolio piece although more commissions are welcome with Xmas lurking around the corner.

Some new artworks

2010-10-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a few artworks I've completed since 'Observe' which is the last painting I posted here.

The first is a commission of two Border Collies called Monty and Beau. Their owners live in france but I was commissioned by their relative who lives local to me.

This one is called 'A Fine balance'. I entered it into the 2010 Grainthorpe festival of arts and it won the Jackson's arts award there which was excellent.

Last but not least is a painting of my own little Wrenny Wrenster. I called the painting 'Attentive'. It's from a photo I took when she was only about 10 months old but I always knew I'd paint this at some point.

I'm currently nearing the completion of a new commission so I will post that soon.

Sleet and Wrens new Amazing double trick!!

2010-10-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

I know this blog has been seriously neglected of late. I should get around to posting news more often...if anybody bothers to come check it out anyway.

Meanwhile, here is a video of a new trick I taught Sleet and Wren to do.

New tabby cat painting..

2010-04-26T06:44:00.001-07:00

So, I decided to add another cat to my portfolio. My technique has improved somewhat since the last tabby cat.

'Observe'

Got something a little different planned next.

Sleet and Wren tricks video.

2010-03-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Here's my first ever Youtube upload of some Sleet and Wren tricks. My first real attempt at video editing too.

Enjoy!!

Sham - Hairy Mutt painting.

2010-03-10T06:52:00.001-08:00

A new one I just finished. I was contacted last autumn about donating a pet portrait to the Rotherham Dog Rescue Xmas raffle and this is it. Shams' owners won this prize. It took a while for them to sort out suitable reference photos which gave me chance to paint the other pieces I posted not long back.
I just have to take it to the framers now.

More agility.

2010-03-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

The agility training has continued Two more sessions since the last post about it. Sleet and Wren have continued in the fun class for the time being. I've booked a place for the training day on March 27th with Alistair Bray so that should be quite interesting.
Neither of them have a problem going over the higher stuff such as the A-frame as evident in the photos below that I took of them posing on top of it. Sleet even went to have a second go as we walked back past it without me actually asking her.
They've also both been through the collapsing tunnel without it being held up and so their confidence is definitely growing. Sleet just needs to learn that the tyre needs to be jumped through...not detoured round even if the detour is longer and takes longer.:D
No training this week as I have to work..boohoo!!

Most recent paintings.

2010-02-21T14:16:00.001-08:00

Since last updating my blog with art, I have created a few more paintings. Conan the Bull terrier, a commission I created back in November after the greyhound painting. Then i started the snow leopard. I put that on hold at the beginning of January to do a last minute commission of Belle the border collie x and then resumed the leopard afterwards. Once that was finished, I started a new piece of the foal from a ref photo I took a couple of years ago. I have used the airbrush I was bought for Xmas 08 for the first time with the snow leopard. I used it again with Belle and the foal painting but only for the backgrounds. I'm quite pleased with the effects I can get with it although it does take some getting used to and can be quite fiddley with swapping colours and constant cleaning it out etc...

Here are the four paitings. 3 completed so far this year quicj is pretty good for me. I now have to start a small portrait of a scruffy looking heinz dog that I donated as a prize for the Rotherham Dog rescue Xmas raffle.

Very long overdue update...Agility.

2010-02-14T13:40:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been a long time since my last update. I've not felt motivated to post anything new due to a number of problems and issues. I no longer do flyball with the dogs since the autumn due to a number of reasons. I still teach them their numerous tricks etc...but also fancied finding something else I could do with them but there wasn't really anything close and the little that was charge silly prices.
Anyway, after another search, I found a new agility club not far from me and after a few weeks of not being able to attend due to dog health issues and work, I finally got there yesterday to give the dogs a go in the fun class. They just did a bit of basic stuff like recall over a couple of low hurdles, introduced to a straight tunnel and also a tyre. As Sleet has shown a fear of tunnels she's seen the odd time before, i thought she might have taken some convincing but we managed to get her to go in and through pretty much straight away. Wren had no problem with it either. They did really well with the recall and sendaway using a toy. Sleets only blip being her usual habit of missing something out if she thought she didn't have to do it. She did that with the tyre so will need a bit more manipulating to teach her otherwise. I will also need to work on my own handling and body posture.
A couple of friends, Paul and Heather, from flyball also turned up. I knew they were looking for an agility place too so told them about it so it was nice to catch up and have a chat in person again. We all enjoyed ourselves and so back it is next week.:D I'm itching to do more training with my two.

A group shot of the people and their dogs that took part in the fun class.

New painting completed.

2009-10-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-09-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

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!!

2009-09-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-11T17:23:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-08-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

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.

"A glimpse of Youth" in progress.

2009-06-18T10:43:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post...the photos tell most of the story. This is the second painting thats going into Holmfirth artweek..providing I get it finished and framed up in time.
The subject is a NSH colt hence the title of the piece. I changed the background completely from the ref photo.
Better leave it at that...the painting needs finishing...lol.

Rotherham Flyball tournament and Sleets open debut.

2009-06-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our flyball clubs tournament. It was a two ring one as there was so much demand.
I wasn't able to be there on Saturday because of a long shift at work and I couldn't be there Sunday morning either as I had my Martial Arts assessments so I went on Friday to help set up and then went on Sunday afternoon after the wing chun assessments.
Wren was running in starters on Saturday so my sister had to run her. I just sent messages from work asking how she was doing. It turned out she ran with Kellingtons starter team instead of Rotherham one as she would be sharing a space with my sisters dog that way. Our team uses Canadian boxes and Kellington had a Boomerang box. Kath said that she ran great but had a few fumbles for the ball. The last time she ran on a boomerang box was at Markfield with the Chaos Krew and she had the same issue there due to wanting to turn the opposite way to what she does on a Canadian. She was fine once the ball was put in the other side. This time, it wasn't. My sister didn't think of it but, nevermind. Her team came 5th but she ran well which is the main thing. She really trams it down and back again. No slow return problems with her. Just needs more boxwork.
Sleet had her open debut on Sunday. Again, my sister had to run her that morning as I wasn't there. We've had a couple of training sessions at home with my sisters hurdles to try and proof that and she seems to be doing ok now she realises, no hurdles, no ball. I don't think that netting or wings will help with her anymore. You could run her in those for 5 years and she'd still run out if you removed them. The only way to keep her in the hurdles is to get the message that YOU require her to do them rather than just relying on a habit forming. For this reason, I am using hurdles without wings or netting and only letting her have a ball when she does them correctly.
We do a lot of restrained recalls at first which helped as she didn't already have a ball in her mouth when coming to me. I also use her "Clicker training", language to help send the message across more clearly. I use the word "Yessssss" in place of the clicker sometimes but I also have an intermediate word "Good", what I use mid exercise to let them know they are doing it right. They know that "Goods" lead to a click or a "Yesss". I shout "Good", as she jumps each hurdle..not before, then say "Yess" as she comes through where the start gate would be with the ball in her mouth and then I drop another one for her to dive on. Sleet won't drop the first ball until last split second anyway so I have no issues with her spitting or anything.
On the morning of the tournament, Sleet decided she wasn't going to do the hurdles at all. I was quite disappointed when I got the text saying she hadn't raced as she wouldn't do the hurdles.
In the meantime when one of the rings was empty and not in use with starter netting, my sister took her in there and let her do some runs in netting.
That afternoon, I turned up and Sleets team were due to run again. I found out that, as a newly formed team who's time wasn't really known, they had broken out of their division..being way too fast...so we couldn't win anything regardless.
We decided to try Sleet again in the two minutes, first doing a restrained recall. She came down all the hurdles just fine. Andy, our team captain, told me to try her with a full run so I did. Again, she did it perfectly...then as we still had enough time, let her do a second run...which was also perfect. She goes down the hurdles a bit like bambi with her strange springy action, lol...but she was doing it.
In the first race, she didn't run but then Andy put her in as last dog. Again, she ran great. During the rest of the afternoon races, she was allowed two more legs and never put a paw wrong and so earning her first 75 points. Natalie Holtappel was judging the devision and was putting the other teams down as winning even though we got the faster time and finished first and made a comment to me about how frustrating it is. At the time, I was just happy that Sleet was doing the bloody hurdles, lol. I'm thinking that she decided she had to do them because MUM was now here. Still, as I can't attend a lot of tournaments due to crappy work, she'll have to learn to run reliably for Kath too.

Here is a photo of part of the showground. The weather was fantastic all weekend....lucky mind as we've had thunder and lightening and heavy rain today, lol. Here is Sleet and Wren having a run after the tournament had finished Sunday evening. Wren has blown her coat and is looking particularly scrawny.

Rested and Ready Completed...plus more good news.

2009-06-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

I altered the chain a little between the standing dogs front legs because it didn't fall correctly before and it was bugging me...a lot!! Now I can finally call this finished. I've already started on preperations for my next piece. Both of them need to be framed up and ready for Holmfirth artweek by the end of this month...so I need to get a move on with the next one. Also, 'Emerald Gaze', pictured below, was entered into an exhibition at the Ferens Gallery in Hull a couple of months ago and much to my surprise, I found out it had sold. I was really pleased and got a nice big fat cheque come through the post a few days later.

Rested and ready nearing completion...

2009-06-03T16:54:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm really having to press on with this now because I only have a couple of weeks to get the other painting done if I'm to get them framed and mounted in time for Holmfirth. Here it is with more work done on the second dog. And now pretty much complete but I haven't signed it yet because I'm still wondering whether it needs any minor alterations and touch ups. I'll get some fresh eyes on it. As you can see, I added the chains. I'm not into painting stuff like that like I am hair and such. I tend to rush them a little as a result. I took this last shot with my better camera...it makes a whole lot of difference to the quality.

More work on 'Rested And Ready', work on dogs.

2009-05-23T17:20:00.001-07:00

I finally got started on the dogs. Here I had made a start on the laying dog. In the ref, they were on grass but here they are on a dirt ground with lots of brown tones around so I added more brown tones to the dog to make her fit with the scene better. They don't show too well in the photo. More work on the first dog and a start on the second. No brown tones in him yet but I'll add them later.

More work on 'Rested and Ready' painting.

2009-05-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

The background is coming along now. I'm itching to get on with the dogs. I had done a lot of work on the ground here with the straw laying about and texture etc.. and started blocking in colour on the nearest barn. More work on the ground and detail coming along on the nearest barn and I also got some work done on the kennel. Still that to finish along with the ground at the front and the nearest barn. I'm wondering whether that kennel needs making a little larger.

Update on Farm Border collies painting.

2009-05-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here's two new updates on the painting I'm on at the moment. I've been accepted into Holmfirth Artweek so I need to finish this one and do another and have them ready before the end of June.
I have to send entries off before the end of May so I'll have to decide quickly what I'm going to paint next and enter it before it even exists, haha.
Here, you can see more work done on the nearer side of the furthest barn and the gate and I also started putting in layers for the ground. Here, I've refined the gate etc..built up the layers on the ground and started putting in details.

New painting in progress..

2009-05-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

After a month or so of artists block, I decided to force myself back into it especially as I have been off work with the pulled back and not able to do much else and also need to get at least a couple more paintings done for exhibitions I wish to enter. I can only work in bursts because my back still doesn't like being in the sitting position for too long or it seizes up. It took long enough to put the photo composite together. The border collies came from a photo I took at our own flyball tournament back in October 08. The farmyard background was from seperate photos I took at a local farm and then the side of the furthest barn, the stone wall and trees/sky were all seperate again. The side of the barn was just a concoction in photoshop along with the kennel. There were a few other changes I made. You can see the messy cloning work on the gate and posts etc...but here is the final result after days and days of messing about. Once that was sorted, I got on with the painting. I'm working from back to front as is usual so here the trees and sky had been put in. The dry stone wall and the side of the barn weren't finished yet in this photo.
You can see a photo stuck to one side with a border collie and terrier in it which shows a wooden kennel that I'll be using as a ref. The border collie is Monty, a dog we bred ourselves when I was a child. He died in 2002. He was also the father of one of my last bitches who died a few weeks before I got Sleet. The terrier we also bred ourselves. He was called Hyde and had a brother, who's in the photo but further over, called Jeckyll. They really were jeckyll and hyde characters and wanted to kill all other dogs. No more terriers after they died. Hyde was run over and killed by a car when he was 8.

Here is more progress on the painting. I did more work on the stone wall and side of the barn so they look much better now. I also started on the nearest side of the barn and also a few bits on the gate and post but I'll finish those once the wall is done. Just base colour so far with the brickwork lines quickly drawn in.

And the cacti get going again.

2009-04-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is the first post about cacti in this blog because they'd already gone to sleep for the winter by the time I started it so there was nothing to post about them....until now. Now that spring is well underway, they have started growing again...and flowering. I'll have a wait a little longer for the chinopsis hybrids to start putting out their large spectacular blooms but many are budding already so I should have some pretty good shows to look forward to.
At the moment, it is mainly rebutias, echinocereus, mammillarias and a steno that are starting to bloom. Rebutias always put on a good show.
I have tonnes of seeds I collected from hybrid cross matings last year but I haven't gotten around to sowing them yet. The seedlings from last year are growing like mad and looking very well. They are still in the proagator and I'll be taking them out and potting on soon enough. There's adult plants I also want to repot but can't because my back hasn't recovered properly since I pulled it so I'm still restricted as to what I can do.
I recently did a swap with another echinopsis grower in Italy. I sent them a pup of schick 'Candlelight', and they sent me Schick 'Celeste'. A new one to my collection of Schicks.
Those who already know about my cactus growing will know that I started my own breeding programme involving echinopsis hybrids and related types such as lobivia, chamaecereus and trichos. The oldest batch of crosses I produced are now reaching flowering size and I think there are one or two that are budding so I am excited about that. Here's hoping that they have decent flowers on them. If not, on ebay they go.
Here's a photo from today. Mainly rebutia and two echinocereus. The show is just getting going.

Sleet and Wren training pics.

2009-04-22T16:44:00.001-07:00

I finally got some more photos of Sleet and Wren flyball training on Sunday. Taken by my sister as I was running them. They are getting there with regards to staying in the hurdles now with just wings here and there if they forget sometimes. They've not done bad being as I usually can't attend training due to having to work most Sundays.
Here's Sleet. She looks weird in all of hers with her back legs tucked under her rather than spread out like all the other dogs seems to do. If you watch her in real life, it's like watching bambi going up and down to the box. She springs over the hurdles like a Gazelle. Very weird!!
She jumps far higher than the 7" hurdles and does better over higher ones.

Wren looks more normal when she jumps. Again, she jumps much higher than the small hurdles. She looks quite graceful to watch and rushes back quickly too for her tuggy. She had a naughty day on Sunday though where she decided to chase one of the other dogs and pinch the ball from their box in the next lane instead of going for the one she was supposed to go for. Little madame.

She'll need more practise with a dog running in an adjacent lane but she never bothered with dogs in the next lane at the two starters tournaments she's been to.

During her second batch of runs, I managed to badly pull my back and I'm still crippled now three days later with two weeks off work sick because of it. All I did was straighten up after releasing her.

Here they are all running around afterwards. Sleet was returning with a ball that had been launched.
And again....

Some of us standing about watching or launching balls. I'd pulled my back by this time so was standing there in pain in this pic. Kath had to take the free run photos after training this time. I couldn't squat to get any myself. Look at that cloudless sky.

Sleet and Wren tricks.

2009-04-09T07:31:00.001-07:00

Whilst at our flyball tournament on saturday, I got Kath to take some photos of Sleet and Wren doing a few tricks. Here's a few of them.
Double act: Never done this before because I normally teach them seperately but they just decided to do it. Wren jumps on my back and Sleet weaves between legs. I'll graduate to walking forward with Wren on my back and Sleet can do the walk weave.
Dual heelwork on the same side...they've never done this before either. We haven't done a whole lot of work on this but they seem to be quite good at it. I'll have to work more on it.

Sleet jumps Wren. She then circles me and jumps wren again and keeps repeating until I give the signal and toss the ball.

Wren on my back.

Sleet on my back.

Emerge - Lion portrait completed.

2009-03-31T15:44:00.001-07:00

I managed to get this painting finished today which I'm rather pleased about. That means I've done a painting for each month so far this year. Quite a bit quicker than I usually am. I need to get more done for the exhibitions I want to enter this year. It's thinking of what to paint next thats the biggest problem.

Skateboarding adventures and Lion update.

2009-03-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sleet and Wren have continued to have skateboarding practise here and there out in the street now as there's not enough room on our backs anymore. They've both learnt to keep three feet on and push with the 4th and to just ride the skateboard with all 4 feet on it when it's gotten moving. They still need more practise to get even better. Meanwhile, they've been attracting quite some audiences in the form of local kids and bunches of chavs..some of which have filmed them on their mobiles with permission mind. I suppose it's not everyday you see dogs skateboarding along your street. Here's a couple of pics, One of Wren and one of Sleet. The photos make them look stationary but they were both pushing themselves along pretty quick.

I've also been getting on with the Lion painting. I need more paintings to enter into exhibitions this year so, along with knightshade, this will be the second of the new paintings I'll have for exhibitions this year and need several more at least.

I've been working on getting detail over more of the lions face and into the mane. Still more work to do mainly on the mane and top of head etc...plus, I'll need to add whiskers last thing.

Emerge - Lion painting in progress.

2009-03-18T17:31:00.001-07:00

I started on a new personal painting as I don't currently have any commissions and I need to cary on building my portfolio and also need new stuff for exhibitions.
I decided to do this Lion.
The ref photo was a little lighter and the lion was laying down. He also had bars going across him as he was photographed in a zoo so I had to get shut of those.
I stood him up and made the whole thing a bit darker so only the more highlighted areas could be seen along with minimal partially lit areas.
I love to paint this type of light...it excites me, lol!!!

Just the first two stages so far. I tend to paint different paintings differently and that something inside my head told me to do this one my painting over the whole thing with base colour and then gradually build up layers and refine...working lighter and lighter on each area. I often paint totally different to this and paint sections at a time which is a bit more unusual.

Ref photo credit:http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/190841

Wrens first flyball win.

2009-03-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we were at Markfield yet again and, as is usual for Markfield, the weather was nice and sunny and pleasant. My sister and I managed to get Wren and her young dog Storm into another team to make numbers up. We ran with the Kaos Krew (Many thanks to Joanne and co for having us and making us feel welcome all day)
I was a little concerned about Wren as she gets very little training in because of my work. Despite this, she ran fine but decided that she was going to change which way she turned. We noticed her missing the ball and fumbling a few times and then it became apparent that it was because she was now wanting to turn the other way. I don't know whether it was because Kaos Kew use a Boomerang box and Wren is used to Canadian but we tried her with the ball in the other side on a test run and it worked so we kept it there. I also started getting the hang of being at the start and knowing when to release her from looking at the lights. Again, many thanks to Joanne for the advice on that.
The team did really well and we won all the races throughout the day despite the few minor mishaps. There were just a couple of legs we lost but we still got best out of three each time and so won 1st place in Division 4. As we were running a newly concocted team, we had no idea how we'd do so it was a very nice surprise for all of us.

No photos of them running for obvious reasons but I have a photo I took of Wren enjoying a little run about with Storm just before we put them back in the car and left for home.

Sleets first anniversary of being with us.

2009-02-23T07:29:00.000-08:00

It is exactly a year ago today when we went to buy Sleet as a 12 week old puppy. She was one of two bitches left, the other one being quite a little bully who barked a lot at Sleet whilst we were there. Sleet on the otherhand was a nervous little recluse but I took her anyway over the other one. Within a couple of days of being with us, she was a different pup. She was running all over the house, would bring all her toys into the front room one by one, run around like a mad thing, wanted the cats to play with her, playing tug of war with us and using those needle-sharp teeth generously in play and beating up my sisters adult male BC when she brought him round. Getting away from that bullying sister was the best thing that happened to her. She still sits there and looks scared if a dog yaps at her in play though. She never forgets that. Normally, she LOVES to play with other dogs but she still doesn't like them barking AT her. At the same time, she soon learnt ground rules and tricks and our general routine. She only ever chewed her toys, never anything of ours...other than our hands, feet and arms, lol. Not like Wren who wanted to chew everything she shouldn't..and still does sometimes.
Sleet has thrown quite some challenges and has proven to be a very smart dog...learnt to open doors as soon as she could reach the handle. She has quirks I've never had to deal with previously and has taught me a whole lot more than what my previous dogs had taught me and still does. She's definitely a character..and a poser!!
Here is a recent pic taken a couple of days ago. Sleet just knows how beautiful she is and makes sure everyone notices...or else:D

Beating Monty up as a puppy....

Sleet and Wren news..and a bit of art.

2009-02-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Most of this is old news as I've just gotten around to updating this blog regarding Sleet and Wren. Firstly, after several weeks of not training due to being in season, Wren had her first tournament at Markfield on 31st of January. Considering her lack of practise and the fact that she's hardly done any changeover work period, she ran really well. The team didn't get anywhere because a couple of other dogs that ran with us didn't want to play ball but I had no complaints about how Wren ran. On a team with other reliable dogs, I'm sure she'll do well. At least I know she'll run fine in a noisey hectic atmosphere which is a little different to training. The other good thing about Wren is that she saves her energy for racing. Even next to the ring with other dogs racing, she's as calm and laid back as can be but then is ready to go once we line up ourselves to race. She doesn't even try to turn herself inside out when we line up and waits patiently. Not like Sleet who's constantly barking and pulling to join in and then bucking like a rabied beast when we line up.
Sleets feet are also finally on the mend after being mauled and re-opened numerous times by the little rascal. She still experiences some slight tenderness of the pad on hard ground but is fine on grass and soft ground now. The pad is healed but just needs to harden again.
The pair of them also got to experience some decent snow. I was hoping they'd get to see some but the last few winters here have seen hardly any snow..then this year we have well over a week with snow on the ground and more falling and settling each time the last lot starts to melt away. It has finally gone now and we have the crappy sludge back instead. Boohoo!! I enjoyed coming home from walks clean for a change. My poor camera was smokin by the time I'd done with it over those first few days of snow. I took hundreds of photos of the dogs in it.
This week has been my week off work. Back to the gulag tomorrow.:( I've taken the extra time do to more training with the dogs. They've both had a couple of skateboarding lessons. Sleet is pushing it about really well now but then she responds better to a bit of assistance whereas Wren doesn't and needs to be left for more free shaping to figure out what i want her to do. She's learning that she needs to push the skateboard forward with her front feet and sometimes puts one of her back feet on it too which is even better or she just stands on it with all four feet but only when it is still. They both love playing with it though.
I've also been working on heel work. Mainly for focusing more than anything else. I'll not be doing obedience in a serious way. I started off with both just walking about and changing direction and rewarding eye contact and following me in general then I started to reward better positioning until they were right up against my leg and looking at me. Sleet has been coming along really well and has developed good positioning and left turns when on right side. Today, I also had her backing up in a circle turning left when she was on the left. She found this dead easy being as she circles round my legs backwards anyway. Within a minute or so, she figured that she needed to wait for me to turn around with her this time and did a very good tight little circle with me. I also, just for fun, had her standing facing me with nose touching my legs and turning in a circle with her needing to stay in that position so she has to move sideways. Again, she seemed to pick this up very easily. She was slightly destracted a few times because there were a couple of motorbikes zooming around just down the hill and she could hear them but she seems to be developing quite a liking for our little heelwork sessions...especially as she comes to try and heel when I'm working with Wren also. I sometimes let one heel on one side and the other on the other side and reward them both.
Wren hasn't been doing heelwork quite as long as Sleet and was a bit put out at the thought of being really close to my legs at first but she's now definitely getting the hang of it. I am still just working on walking straight forward and some gentle turns away from the side she's on at the moment.
Tricks wise, they've both learnt to scratch the floor on command, Wren has learnt backward figure of 8 and just needs a little more practise alternating the legs, Sleet worked a lot on upright work whilst her paws were bad as she didn't need her front paws to do that. Wren has also started taking a few steps forward with hind legs up. They've also both learnt to lift a front leg and a rear leg on the same side at the same time but this takes a lot of balance practise and is ongoing.
We had some flyball training yesterday and both dogs really enjoyed themselves and seem to get faster each time they go. Sleet has a nice little turn on the box but Wrens boxwork is clumsy. She's not quite sure what to do with her back legs yet and needs some work on that. Otherwise, she's doing great.

On the art front, I had Emerald Gaze, my tabby cat painting, accepted into an exhibition in Hull. I'm yet to see how that gets on. I'm also working on a commission right now. It needs completing by the end of this month so I need to get a move on. The subject is a recently retired flyball dog but it is a secret for the owner so I daren't say more than that. I'll have to wait until the painting has been presented before I post it anywhere that such a person might just look.

Below are some photos of Sleet and Wren enjoying the snow.

Knightshade - completed..

2009-02-05T16:06:00.001-08:00

I finally completed Knightshade last night. Here it is. Tricky to photograph because all that black wants to reflect the light. Here is a closer up photo of the horse.

My next project is a commission of a recently retired flyball dog.

Knightshade update and Sleets paw.

2009-01-21T08:40:00.001-08:00

I have been working more on Knightshade when I've had chance between work and dogs etc...
I layered everything up on the body but still remaining quite loose at first. I started to refine a little in this one and also did a bit more work on the mane and a tad on the tail. The front legs had more detailed work on them along with the head.

Here you can see the serious detail starting to appear. Still a lot more work to do, especially on the backend, mane and tail. The furthest hind leg will be kicking some of that muck up so I need to paint that in also before I can finish the nearest hind leg.

It is finally starting to look more convincing anyway.

Back to dogs, Sleet was stitched up at the vets and is now home and as perky as ever. She's putting a bit more weight on the paw with the gash now and the other has a little fetching red bandage on it. She hasn't been on walks until today when I took her for a little stroll around the block because I worry about the stitched up gash getting covered in sludge etc...

I've taken the chance to be able to focus on Wren when I walk her and do some training and playing.

Sleets first flyball tournament.

2009-01-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Sleets first flyball tournament at Markfield. Wren is in season so she had to stay at home. We got there before 8am after a drive down in heavy rain and blasting winds. Fortunately, it cleared up and turned into a bright and sunny day for the most part. Racing that morning didn't go too well. There was also another first timer on Sleets team. We didn't win any although the dogs were running ok but then Sleet suddenly decided to start spinning round at the box and try to get my sister who was box loading to play ball with her. She's never done that before...ever. The other first timer did the same thing also. With the noise and such in there, it was evident that the dogs got a little confused on occasion but they still got on with it and weren't phased by the noise so it's just a case of getting used to it. We changed boxloaders and neither Sleet or the other dog faltered again.
Inbetween racing, a few of us had a sneaky naughty go on the agility equipment that was set up there. Only a couple of minutes just to try it out. Sleet has never been anywhere near anything agility but she seemed to take to it pretty well...when she wasn't too busy watching the other dogs doing it. I used the clicker on the hayframe and seesaw as that always makes her feel like she's invincible and she didn't have an issue doing either. My sisters fingers started freezing up though so she didn't get any seesaw pics.

In the afternoon, we won all our races so that was three losses, three wins during the day. Our starters team also gained the fastest couple of times by starters for the day. We ended up coming 5th in our Div but it was a good experience for the dogs and us handlers and a fun day as well.

Below are a couple of videos of the afternoons racing. Quite close which makes it all the more exciting although I was concentrating that much on what I was doing, I didn't even know if we were winning or losing until I asked the others.:D Sleet is second dog in both videos.

That evening, I nipped sleet and Wren out to relieve themselves and, somehow, Sleet managed to acquire a deep hole in the top of one front paw and badly gash the pad on her outer toe on the other. She's back at the vets tomorrow to be stitched up and she's not even putting any weight at all on the gashed paw. Neither has she been for a walk since it happened. Boohoo!! I'm hoping she's healed sufficiently by the 31st because thats her next tournament which our team is hosting here in Rotherham. Wren is due to finish her season two days before then as well so I'm hoping at least one manages to make it...why can't things be more simple?

Knightshade - black stallion painting in progress.

2009-01-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

This is my current painting in progress. I acquired the ref from another artist friend who took it herself. We did a swap with her having some photos from me that I took of Sleet and Wren which she wants to paint. I gave the horse a new background. In the photo, he was just playing in a field with green grass, and some sort of barn/shed behind him and trees. I've always wanted to do a painting like this where the shadowed side of the horse sort of blends into the shade although there will be some very faint blue highlights on that side just to give it a little extra life. The ground looks sort of blurry and manky in the photos. A lot of detail seems to be lost. It looks a lot better in the flesh.
In the first photo, I have painted in the background and I'm still working on the highlighted part of the ground. The horse has masking fluid around him to maintain the general outline.
I have done more work on the ground and now that I don't have to paint around the horse, I have removed the masking fluid.

Here, I have used a black watercolour pencil (WCP) I basically just coloured all the darker areas and then with a wet brush, wetted it all down and blended it out a little.

In this next one, I added some colours using WCP and some more black with coloured pencil (CP). I wetted the coloured WCP in and then I started on the acrylic. I added some black to some of the dark areas, faint white to the highlights although they will have more of a creamy tinge once done and some browns and ochres. I'll add more blues later. No focus on detail as of yet. Just messy underpainting.

More updates coming soon.

Snow? Never!!!

2009-01-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

We actually got some here. Normally snow will deliberately take a special detour around where I live and dump itself on everywhere alse surrounding us. There wasn't much but I thought I'd get some photos anyway...mainly of Sleet and Wren. There wasn't enough snow for them to really take notice of it mind. Tyres being rolled down hills by a big kid and each other were much more interesting.

Happy new year!!!

2009-01-01T08:15:00.001-08:00

Instead of going out and getting drunk like most people, I decided to go get some photos of the fireworks from our local playing field which is on a hill and so has a good view. It was a bit foggy and there weren't as many fireworks this year but I still managed a few good pics. It was absolutely freezing mind. I was glad to get back in the house afterwards.

Merry Xmas and more.

2008-12-25T11:02:00.001-08:00

I have been waiting until this day to post my latest painting. It was an Xmas present for my sister of her Border Collie Monty and she looks in here so I couldn't post it before now. I completed it a couple of weeks ago. Monty does flyball so my sister decided on a head shot and two smaller flyballing studies.
I went through to her house today and took the painting with me and she had a present ready for me in return. Also being the creative type, she had made me a lovely lead/harness hanger and had painted small images of Sleet and Wren on it, one at each end and there are 4 hooks which is great because I'm sick of there being about 12 leads and harnesses all being on one hook and am always needing the one at the back. Just need to find a spot to put the hanger now.
I took some photos of me holding my hanger and my sister with her painting but I took them on my phone so quality isn't very good. You get the idea. I have posted a proper photo of the Monty painting too. I got a little snap of the dogs all waiting in their kitchen along with me at our house with one of our cats next to the tree. I took my two scallies over to her house with me to see Monty and Storm and took them for a quick run on the park over the road. Sleet and Wren had a go on my sisters skateboard. She's been teaching Monty and Storm to get on it but, after I saw two kids with one out in the street and mentioned that I wanted to get one for my two, she said she'd got one and so we let them have a go. They both got on with it really well, climbing on and trying things to get a click and treat. They didn't seem phased if the skateboard moved or anything and a few times were even pushing it forward, without meaning to mind, but doing it nonetheless. I'm now going to try and get hold of a skateboard for them, they seemed to really enjoy messing about with it.
First thing, I gave sleet and wren their first stocking to rip open. Sleet could feel that there was a ball in it and tried to rip it open but was finding it awkward so she started to throw the whole stocking at me...to see if I'd do it for her. I agreed to hold the stocking whilst she continued to tug at it. Eventually, she ripped a little hole and manipulated the ball through it, realised it was a SQUEAKY toy...then we never heard the end of it until I took them out for a walk.
When I took them out, I decided to take the nyladisc I have thats been sitting there collecting dust. My last two BCs loved chasing and catching that but I never introduced Sleet and Wren to it before today. Of course they loved it. Sleet started to get the idea that she needs to catch it before it hits the ground and managed a few good catches..Wren just wanted to get in the way..then grab it to play tug of war when sleet was trying to bring it back to me. She needs to be on her own to take this type of thing seriously. Sorry, no photos of that.
I'm working on preperations for a new painting and I also got an airbrush for xmas that I'll be able to use once I learnt HOW to use it and I'll be posting regular updates on the paintings here so keep an eye out for those among other news.

The dogs all waiting in my sisters kitchen:

Me with my lead/harness hanger

Kath with her painting

Me with Gizmo

Monty portrait.

2008-12-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Whilst I am still preparing for my next painting, I have been taking the opportunity to do a little loose sketching. I decided to sketch the dogs..mainly sleet because she's the one who always sports the most interesting poses in photos. I did do one of wren for good measure but I'm not too pleased with it. It's a 5 minute job. The ones of sleet are all action ones.
I enjoy sketching like this from time to time. I should do it more often though to keep my freehand drawing more polished. There is always room for improvement no matter what.

The problems of xmas and how creativity rather than consumerism can save the day!!

2008-12-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

Well, this year, I've had a real problem finding out what people want for Xmas and my mum has been one of the worst. She says she doesn't want anything and when you do finally "Make", her think of something, it's always something daft that she'll not really want or need just to shut you up. Anyway, the other day, I thought maybe a couple of nice pictures of our two cats would do it. We don't have any pictures up of them but, at 15.5 years old, they are both part of the furniture in our house so I thought they deserved a portrait each on the wall and, being my mums cats and all, she'd appreciate it. Photographing cats is trickier than photographing dogs because they are notorious for not playing ball. Also, I had the issue of my mum NOT being around when I got some photos and making use of the sparse winter light...I HATE flash. I was going to get some in the porch today when I got home from walking the dogs but my mum went and turned up from shopping the minute I brought the camera downstairs so had to rush it back upstairs again. I decided I'd have to photograph them in my room out of the way but they were both fast out in the living room downstairs. They both love chicken so I stole some from in the fridge. When my mum wasn't looking, I stole both cats and shut them in my room then went for the chicken. I draped a pale yellow blanket over a chair and sat Gizmo on it. She's the tortie. Using the chicken, I got her to pose and kept feeding her bits. I got some quite nice photos of her and she sat still often enough to get some sharp ones. The lighting wasn't the best and I had the ISO bumped up to 800 which wasn't ideal.
Gino was next. She's easier to focus on because of her white markings but she was more fidgety so a little more tricky than Gizmo. They were both very unimpressed when I first took them upstairs but they were soon enjoying themselves when being indulged with chicken. Gizmo purred LOUDLY throughout the session and I got some lovely impressions from her in the photos. She has such a cute little face..like an owl. I got loads of shots of each to be more sure of getting some good ones. A lot came out blurry because the cat moved etc..as I knew would happen. I checked through them on the computer to be sure I'd gotten some decent ones before releasing the cats from their hostage state...after letting them finish off the chicken. They aren't perfection but they'll suffice for what I want them for. I have printed one photo each off and will get them framed up for my mum for xmas. One more present finally sorted. Phew!!

Team flyball training.

2008-11-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

I was able to attend the team training this week as I'd managed this Sunday off. Itb was a nice dry day but very cold and the ground was a little muddy and sticky as it always is when it's been frozen and thawed out. We managed to train fine though other than half the field wanting to stick to our boots.
Sleet started a bit of loose change over work. She veers to the side a little after the last hurdle when she sees another dog running at her but doesn't seem to be overly bothered so, hopefully, that will gradually disappear as she gets used to it.
My sister tried running her dog storm before her but sleet was more interested in her when she was running back with storm than going down to the box so we put sleet first and then she ran fine. Just needs to build up her speed although she isn't too bad. We moved onto a lane where there was only netting around the area between the box and the hurdle closest to it then just wings on either side of the other hurdles. She tried to run out a couple of times but soon realised there would be no ball as usual if she did and she didn't try again.
Wren only had one period of runs today but she did really well and looks like she'll be really fast. She comes down fast from the box for her tuggy...just have to watch to make sure she doesn't spit the ball before she's meant to but she only did that first time and, as long as I keep the tuggy hidden until she's well past the start gate, it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. She's also going down to the box much faster to get the ball in the first place and her catching skills are definitely improving.
We wanted to get videos of all our 4 dogs running a leg but, as sleet and storm were running together, my sister wasn't able to get a vid of Sleet or me of Storm so Wren was the only one to get a couple of legs captured today. As you can see, she's coming along really well and her enthusiasm is getting ever stronger.

Happy 1st birthday Sleet.

2008-11-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

She was 1 year old yesterday actually but I was working a 9-8 shift so didn't have chance to post or take photos. Fortunately, I made the most of the nice day before to get some photographs.

Today, I did a little more flyball training with them both. They're both doing great now with Wren still just having the minor issue of not grabbing the ball fast enough off the box and having to fumble for it. When my sister raised the hurdle just in front of the box to make her turn, it seemed to cure that problem mind. Otherwise, her enthusiasm is 100% with her making funny noises and yapping as I release her at the start point and rushing down to the box at good speed.

We trained them on the garden path and there was no netting but, on there, it's easier and quicker for them to go over the hurdles than round which they do and will, no doubt, give them good practise for running out of netting.

Lets now hope the weather is ok on Sunday for team training.

Tricks wise, both Sleet and Wren are learning to circle me backwards and are doing well. Wren has learnt the putting her paws on my feet and me walking along and also to back through my legs and the figure 8. Sleet has learnt those and has been learning more upright type stuff such as jumping up at my back and walking along with me in this position, doing a circle round me in "jumped up", position and letting me do a swirl whilst she stays in position. She hardly needed any training for any of these and seems to be a natural at that type of stuff. She's doing more steps on the limp and also on her front legs with hind legs up.

On the art front, I am still currently working on my sisters xmas present. It's a montage of her older dog Monty with a head study and two smaller flyballing studies. I can't post it in here because she looks in on this. It'll have to wait until after xmas. I have done the head and am currently working on the first of the two smaller studies.

Some flyball training today and general trick training..

2008-11-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

Today, my sister and I arranged to do some flyball training whilst she had a box loaned from our flyball club. I'm often made to work on Sundays so I can have trouble attending the club training and when I do have sunday free, the weather decides it's going to be atrocious so training gets cancelled. The forecast for this weekend isn't good either.
Today, it was dry, if a little windy, and we got some decent training done. Sleet is coming along well. She was a little fairy like on the box at first but after she was shown how to really treat a box, she's well away and developing a nice swimmers turn.
Wren has a few little issues to iron out. At our club training, she has the problem of not actually going down to the box for the ball straight away and just turning to look at me. If my sister box loads, she doesn't seem to do that so maybe she just needs somebody she knows to boxload until she gets more into it. We didn't have any of that today as my sister was boxloading.
I used a tuggy to encourage her back quicker and it works...my sister mentioned that she was the only dog she knew that went back ten times faster than she went down but she has the issue of spitting the ball sometimes on her way back or not bringing it back at all. Of course, no ball, no tuggy and she goes back to get the ball when told. As Sleet never allowed her to get a ball that was thrown for them, she hasn't developed quite the ball drive that sleet has. It took some clicker training and encouragement just to get her to want to pick a ball up after chasing it and then bring it back and she's come along quite well considering.
She now has some drive but it just needs developing that bit more....plus she needs to improve her catching skills. She jumps onto the box and always misses the ball which falls to the ground and she has to fumble about trying to grab it before she can come back.
She's still only young though at 8.5 months so there's plenty of time before she can even compete in starters, nevermind sanctioned tournaments.
She's enthusiastic about the whole experience which is the most important thing.

On the trick training front, I've generally been teaching them in the evening using their suppers as the food rewards. The sessions last as long as their supper does.
They've both learnt quite a lot already and have been learning several new things at a time.
They are both currently learning the quite difficult trick of walking on their front legs. Sleet is coming along well with this and took her first few steps forward on her front legs last night. Being light and skinny, she doesn't find it as hard holding herself upright like this. Wren being that bit bigger and heavier needs a little more practise keeping her back end off the floor a little bit longer but she knows how to lift it up fine and do a quick handstand.
Sleet has also been learning the limp the last couple of nights and took her first steps last night with one leg lifted and without physical aid from me so I was dead pleased with that.

Ok, So I decided to start one too.

2008-11-20T07:26:00.001-08:00

Everyone seems to be starting a blog these days so I thought I'd follow suit.
I'll be talking about everything in this blog, not just dogs. I'll also talk about my art (pet portraits and animal art), photography, cacti and any other interests and pastimes I get up to.
There's just too many things I do to create a seperate blog for each...would take forever keeping them all up to date...