Summer Fun Day!

This June we opened our doors and welcomed everyone to our Open Day and Fun Dog Show.
Have a go agility, have a go rally and have a go flyball. All for free! We want to encourage as many people to try something new with their dog and have a go at a dog activity.

The Dogs Trust attended to provide free microchipping and advice and a total of 20 dogs were chipped!

Our Fun Show started at midday and was very popular! Judge Dawn from The Paw Wash Groomers had a tough decision to make. As we rolled through the classes every aww'd and coo'd as we reached the Pleasant Puppy category. Aaron Roscoe, Signal 1 Producer, came along with his tiny pug puppy and they got 1st place! Everyone was nodding in agreement, she was just gorgeous and so well behaved. 

It all got a little silly as we got to best 6 legs and the deserving winner was a spotty dalmatian and its spotty legged owner! Now that's what you call Best Spotty 6 Legs!

The show finished with a great laugh in The Egg and Spoon Race! Hold your spoon and your dogs lead in the same hand and race to the other side. Such fun!

Once the fun show was finished there was still lots for everyone to do and we must thank Oscar Pet Food for kindly sponsoring the whole show. Monkey Dog Wear brought their great selection of collars and leads to sell, plus Windyways and Instructor Bex successful made a good amount for their fundraising with their table top sales. Of course we can't forget Bret in the Brunch Box who completely sold on of burgers! I'm glad I had mine as a cheeky late breakfast before the rush.

In the afternoon the Carrry On flyball team gave us a great demonstration and Lydia & Freddie got to show us that they are not only amazing at agility but flyball too!

We are pleased to announce that the Fun Show raised a whopping £100 for the Dogs Trust and thank you for everyone who came and participated in the day! The weather was glorious and we hope that you all enjoyed your day.

Check out our full gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitdogtrainingclub/sets/72157645069884742/

See you next year!

May the Forth Be With You!

Our UKA Shows are normally the more serious of shows at Dig It (not that we ever do serious), however this show was by far the silliest we have had for a while!

It all started well with a bright, fresh start. Dark clouds were looming but the rain held off for most of the day. Chief Agility Judge Michelle opened her ring with a tricky but fair beginners Agility. Gaz and Izzy smoothly made it around the 270, pulling off from the A Frame in style, unlike Milo who didn't even think to avoid the A Frame! At least he did a beautiful 2on2off at the bottom, leaving Katie behind still near the start line.

As a few Eliminations started tumbling Rachel and Daisy stepped up to get 1st place (despite 5F) in Standard Beginners Agility and Lydia pulled off a cracking run with Freddie for a 1st in Medium Novice Agility. 

Instructor Bex was making some yummy home made treats (well the dogs seem to enjoy them, they sound quite tasty for humans too) plus a raffle and she made a whopping £85 for her biology conservation trip!

As the Steeplechase courses were set up and everyone had eaten one to many cream eggs, things started to get a little out of hand! Instead of writing about it we've captured all of the best bits in this funny video... trust it to be the Dig It Instructors larking around the most!

On a serious note we all went away with great plus points. Avril was happy to see her shy little Oakley running with such confidence (so much so he kept on going and didn't turn the corner despite Avril shouting "Stop Running!"). Adele and Luna pulled off a great Steeplechase run at their first UKA Show, Sue and Rosie won a class at Champion level and Guinness and I pulled off some nice handling moves, despite getting E'd in everything.

We finished late afternoon with everyone going home still chuckling about the fun and laughter we had. There are always lovely comments made about Dig It Shows being a nice, friendly atmosphere and I think this show was no exception!

It's going to be a good year!!

Amazing April: Winter Series Show

Ahh. April is here! Daffodils. Lambs. And the last of our Winter Series Shows!

It was a mostly dry day throughout with one or two short spells of heavy downpour. Ruth kicked things off with a fast, flowing Beginners Jumping that rocketed out some sub 30 seconds times. Over in Ring 1 Matt's Intermediate Agility tested the handlers ability and in Ring 3 the Veterans and Anysize plodded around a comfortable Agility course.

The day ran quickly, although help was surprisingly scares at times, and everyone was itching to hear the overall series results!

Gill Vann from K9 Skool was running a Rescue League throughout the Winter Series and she was busy scurrying around collecting results, while also running her dogs and doing a spot of scribing.

Onto Steeplechase and everyone cheered as Deb and Beanie managed a great clear run! 3rd place! Hurrah Deb, all of that patience is starting to pay off.

Everyone was in great spirits as the day started to come to a close and jokes and laughter were wafting across the radios from ring parties to scorers box.

The Rescue League was announced and up in 1st place, our very own Sue with Rosie! Not only that but they also took Winter Series Medium Advanced 1st place! Two very pretty rosettes for them.

More instructor success came as Lou and Poppy took 1st place in Small Advanced Winter Series and Bex and Gemma 1st place Small Intermediate Winter Series! 

Back to Dig It and both trailers were unloaded onto the field and the rings were erected for our outdoor training rings and our summer shows! It is so exciting to see the field set up in all its glory. Summer is definitely close by!

Thank you to all for making our Winter Series the enjoyable, friendly and fun atmosphere that we all love!

Crufts Ahoy for Multiple Michelles!

Michelle and Sheli, two Dig It Members, both found fame at Crufts 2014!

Michelle qualified for the Final of Kennel Club Special Pre-Beginner Obedience Stakes with her Boston Terrier Donny!

Donny almost didn't get to perform on the day as he had a nasty allergic reaction when he arrived at Crufts, however it quickly settled down and the show went on.

Donny was a super star, showing his cheeky character as normal, and finished 10th out of 21!! He was 5th non-Collie! Woooooo!!

Sheli's dog Willow qualified for the final of Scruffts in the Golden Oldie category. Sheli entered a qualifying show for fun while at a Dig It Display Team event and went through to the semi-final at Discover Dogs and won that to earn her ticket to Crufts!

They didn't win but had a fabulous experience and did a great job promoting the child therapy work Sheli and Willow do!  Since then famous Sheli has been on Radio Stoke!

We're so proud!

January 2014 Winter Series: Pudding Bellies

We welcomed January 2014 with our Winter Series Show. Everyone was running a little slower than normal and complaining about tighter waist bands, and I think even the dogs were feeling the effects of a big Christmas dinner.

We were very privileged to have Agility Champion Amanda Hampson judge the Jumping for us. She put out some challenging but flowing Advanced and Intermediate courses that were praised highly.

Karen Stubbs got the Agility started with Veteran and Anysize, followed by Beginners. Katie's Labrador Dave (known more commonly as Doofus) had 3 storming clears while being handled by Sally, and Sally had success with her own Veteran Collie, Bob, who won Agility. After all of that running she welcomed a "rest" by Judging in the afternoon. Rachel's dog Daisy was obviously feeling much better after her recent ill spell and she ran like the supersonic Whippet that she is! Nice to see the competitive Daisy is back.

Post-Christmas diets were ruined by the cheeseburgers and bacon baps (it's good to have a naughty day) and people were starting to flag as the day got later. Eventually the Steeplechase courses were laid out and those who stayed until the end ran it with great spirit. The Large ring was very competitive with friendly Advanced handlers watching each others time and seeing who had the fastest round. 

Avril's youngster, Dodger, won his class despite a tricky course and Sue had a break while Bex stepped in to handle Polly and had a blast running her Not For Competition. 

Lydia was missing from the show due to being on a sunny beach somewhere with a handsome man, but the Dig It family banded together strongly and kept the show running as normal (..hopefully..). We had some fantastic helpers and first time Show Manager Rob was enjoying himself so much that he carried on throughout the whole day! Thanks to Charlie for coming in the morning to show him the ropes.

As it got darker and colder we eventually wrapped up for another late finish. Back to the Club to unload and Lydia's Dad, Rob, took center stage by organising the trailers and getting the equipment to and from the club. 

Thanks to all for another lovely show and what a great way to start 2014!

New Year's Resolution

New Year Resolutions are lovely opportunities to make small changes, start new things and leave behind old habits. Change is healthy at any time, but something about a New Year gives that extra spur to really make it happen.

New Year Resolutions don't just have to be about yourself, it's good to make Dog New Year Resolutions.

It could be to get up 30 minutes earlier to give your dog a longer walk in the morning, to go to a workshop or seminar, to brush your dog once a week, or something more specific in regard to your training activity.

The majority of Dig It Instructors compete at Agility with their dogs, and here they have shared some of their New Year Resolutions;

Rachel 

• To start Chip on the right paw with foundation agility
• To learn to handle more smoothly and effectively
• To continue to look for the learning in life

Katie

(one for each dog)

• Bonnie - Continue with classes to get better at handling
• Milo - Stop being a pushy mum and work on achievable goals in training and competitions, breaking it down to succeed and not getting frustrated
• Dave - To keep him in good shape and have fun in everything he does
• Ben - To help him gain confidence and to push on with gundog training, especially with directions and longer retrieves and increase distance for the stop whistle

Sally

• Work on verbal cues and schooling
• Run faster

Avril

• Teach Doger to weave in 10 days

Audra

• Not to be complacent and never put my dog in a situation at training where she can get her self into trouble, or end up adding to her dog-reactive problems

Bex

• Retirement for Gemma

Sue

• Stop doing Kennel Club competitions with Rosie 

Ruth

• Write a training plan and stick to it
• Attack every course - run with purpose, drive and competitiveness

We'd love to hear what yours are! Here's to 2014!