More agility.

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.

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.

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.

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.