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.

"A glimpse of Youth" in progress.

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.

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.

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.