Can You Dig It Summer Show 2016

This weekend we were in Cheadle for our three day Can You Dig It Summer Show.

It takes months and months of planning and organising and weeks of heavy graft leading up to the show to make it happen. From taking entries and emailing out confirmations to mowing the grass and rolling the field. There's a lot of hard work done by a small amount of people before we even get dogs and people onto the field.

After weeks of heavy rain with little let up everyone knew it was going to be muddy, and the rain continued to come down in showers on the Friday. But the ground held, although we were all resembling a slightly unglamourous spa treatment by the end of the day, and a certain instructor could be heard complaining about "trench foot". 

None the less spirits were high, the dogs and handlers safety was paramount and only a few people needed a tow or push off the field. Come to think of it... it was the same instructor complaining about trench foot who also needed a tow off the field... The rest of us found this highly amusing of course.

With the show over for one day and the remaining campers onto the field without much issue we settled down, cracked open a can of cider and successfully ordered pizza to a field in the middle of nowhere.

Saturday morning arrived and it certainly felt good to roll out of bed and straight into the show. Best commute ever. The ground had dried out slightly overnight and superhero Nick jumped in the tractor and rolled the field to help the day parking area.

There was some great competition in the rings with some cracking runs from beginners at their first ever show and some impressive handling happening in the advanced class.

Outside of the ring a tombola was being held in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, plus we donated the funds from the practise ring and the have a go flyball to the charity throughout the weekend. In the end we successfully raised £180 for Hearing Dogs! Amazing. 

Having recovered from her trench foot and getting stuck in the mud, Katie ran a Have a Go Flyball session on the Saturday and Sunday and we saw lots of people enjoying the chance to try a new sport. Katie had their dogs successfully retrieving a ball over a few jumps and even doing box turns after just a 10 minute session.

On the Friday and Saturday we ran pairs and team agility classes. Everyone was having fun with their friends and their dogs and some teams were formed from people who didn't know each other. In true Dig It spirit they all joined to have a blast with their dogs.

On Saturday night we moved the rings and secretaries marque onto fresh ground and were grateful of the help from the campers to get this done quickly. Kathryn Stickney taught some fantastic workshops, more cider was opened and chinese food was successfully delivered to a field in the middle of no where.

As it was going dark and we left for bed a slurred out-of-tune rendition of "I Will Survive" filled the campsite followed by hysterical laughter and then silence. Sounded like a good time was being had and it certainly gave a few of us a chuckle!

We were on fresh grass on Sunday and with no rain since Friday the ground held out with only minor mud issues here and there. 

Everyone was cheerful and happy and headed home after a very enjoyable weekend. The comments on our facebook page and agility group since have been overwhelming, with lots of praise to the organisers and team and thanks to the judges, ring managers and helpers who are a vital part to the running of an agility show.

It was great to have the support of Canine Magnetix and The Howl Emporium there and overall it was a brilliant weekend. Thank you to everyone who came along, competed, helped out and made the weekend what is was. 

British Flyball Association Championships Report

The flyball champs is the biggest competition of the year and has steadily grown over the last few years until we are now at the maximum capacity of 330 teams racing over 3 days spread over 55 divisions.

The slower teams start the racing off on the Friday and this builds until we get to division one on the Sunday when there is standing room only to view!

This year Carry on's had three teams entered meaning a team racing every day.

Fridays team was the team I thought had the best chance. They they didn't disappoint and went on to win division 43. We had some super tough racing and the last race meant the difference between winning or third place in the division.

The team consisted of three collies, two labradors and super height dog Millie (who keeps the fences low for the other dogs).

Saturday and Sundays team didn't do quite so well but worked hard to get a 3rd and a 5th.

The racing on Sunday was spectacular and we got to see the first ever run where both teams went sub 16 seconds (only three teams have done that so far) and the British and European record is currently set at 15.79 (by the team that did the 15.80 here).

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!

Instructors Take on Success

Success is this theme for the latest Dog Agility Bloggers Action Day. Which is today! Success is broad, everyone has a different interpretation and everyone takes different successes from different situations. The Dog Agility Bloggers Action Day brings together a whole range of people to discuss one topic, and creates a huge varity of answers. The Dig It Instructors have each given their brief take on Success, as part of today's Action Day!

Ruth Turner: My idea of agility success is taking at least one thing from each run that I was pleased with, and that we did successfully, and celebrating that thing.

Audra Hurst: Success for me is when you run your dog and it flows, and you feel like you are a team and you just want to go and do another run straight away because it felt so great.

Katie Burns: Success is competing in partnership with my dog and having mutual trust in each other so smoothly.

Michelle Dakin: To work the dog I have in training at competition. 

Sarah Stokes: Depends on which dog I'm running, for Greg it's the team work as others have stated. For Ffi Fo it's having her confident to be in the ring and having er wagging her tail all the way round.

Rachel Richards: Success for me with Daisy is her having a real BLAST and ending the run with a huge smile on her face no matter what happened in between start and finish.

Lou Cadman: Success is getting the awning down dry! Arriving and having everything set up, dogs walked and dinner on before it gets dark
Beating the course/judge and doing the best run you and your dog could possibly do.
I think success changes as you progress up the grades. When you start out it might be remembering the course or dog staying in the ring. As experience is gained it might be nailing a weave entry or a specific sequence etc.

Sarah McLean: I like to be consistent, so success to me is trying to get as many clear rounds as I can! I love going home from a show saying 5 runs 5 clears :), 2013 we had 1 Elimination all season. Its not all about winning, if I feel we have run the course and stuck to criteria in my handling and also Kita has stuck to criteria then I am happy!
Oh and if you are consistent winning comes without trying.

Bex Bebbington: Success for me and Polly is having focus and having that connection walking into a ring so I know she isn't going to just run off sniffing. Even if she goes wrong or makes up a new course, success for us is just her being focused and staying with me, actually wanting to do agility. Success with me and Gemma is when she does those spot on weaves or gains some speed from nowhere. Gemma also makes me feel success after any run, and never fails to lighten my mood after a lack of interest and concentration from Polly

Read about others interpretation of Success here: http://dogagilityblogevents.wordpress.com/success/

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!!

Easter Eggility Show

Easter Weekend is a busy time for agility shows which makes our little competition perfect for new or experienced competitors looking for a gentle day.

Our combined Intermediate and Advanced courses gave the competitors the perfect balance of small sections of handling mixed with smooth, skill testing parts. We had a large entry of new beginners coming along for their first show and we were really pleased to see everyone getting involved and learning new jobs such as scriming! 

Newly qualified Judge Bex did a full day in the Agility ring and newbie Judge Nigel covered the Steeplechase. They both said they had a marvous time (honestly, we didn't force them to say that) and we look forward to seeing them in centre spot again soon. 

As the results started rolling in the chocolate started rolling out, with cream eggs and chocolate bunnies for those lucky rossette winners!

Instructor Holly and Indie had a storming time winning Agility and Jumping! Rachel & Daisy pulled off a 1st in Agility and a 3rd in Jumping and Sue and Rosie fought off some close competition to get a 1st in Steeplechase! 

Ruth was there with her camera and got some great shots, except for the short rain break in the middle of the day. You can see all of the photographs on our Flickr page! 

http://www.flickr.com/people/digitdogtrainingclub/ 

Not long after a hearty lunch of burgers and bacon baps from The Lunch Box, the day started to come to a close around 2pm. A gentle day finished in style and rumour has it that a certain Dig It Chairperson spent the rest of the afternoon having a well earned snooze! What bettter way to spend your Easter Sunday!

Mild March: Winter Series Show

March is upon us and spring is definitely in the air! I thought I was late when it was light and I was still at home but no, thankfully the sun is starting to peek its head out for longer each day!

Lou had staggered out of hospital and right into the show on Sunday, looking a little green around the gills, but stubbornly Judged for half of the morning. We were all pleased to see her up and about although also pleased to see her go home to rest at lunch time.

Three rings were running once more with FAB and On Track Agility Clubs taking charge of a ring each. The Show ran quickly and smoothly, although the exercise arena was a little stretched at times with some of the little dogs being run over by 100mph collies.

Avril championed the day by doing the triple with her youngster Dodger! Agility, Jumping and Steeplechase Win! Adele and her newbie Luna also performed really well and Rachel and Daisy got 3rd place with Daisy's first show on Standard height in Beginners Jumping. Wowie. It's so heart-warming to see dogs that have come through Puppy and Bronze Obedience at Dig It now starting to find their confidence and produce results at Agility Shows.

One of the comedy moments was Christina running Echo for Rachel! Poor Echo did a lovely stop contact on the dog walk, and Christina, not expecting it, was looking all around thinking she'd lost him! Her fellow Advanced competitors were very... supportive?! (We're laughing with you honest!).

Quickly we were finishing up and the scorers were struggling to keep up! With the night still light we had packed up and gone home for a reasonable finish time!

Only one more show left to do and at the end of March our Club Competitions start outside. Winter shows are brilliant for training and keeping our dogs fit, but we're all itching to start getting out onto the grass!

Fantastic February: Winter Series Show

What's this, no rain! February brought the sunshine to our show, but of course we couldn't avoid the mud. Three rings were opened up with FAB Agility Club and Tailwaggers Agility Club running a ring each, the show was nice and relaxed! Big thank you to them for their fabulous ring parties!

Becky Sargent honoured us with her first time judging and said she loved seeing the high standard and different breeds in Beginners Agility. We gave her a bright rosette in her favourite colour!

It was nice to welcome back lots of stalls and we even had a charity selling cute little fluffy chicks and cream eggs! The atmosphere was friendly as always and Bex was approached by a stranger and asked to run her dog which she thoroughly enjoyed! Oscars became our new sponsors of the Veteran and Anysize class and the rosettes looked great with printed tails.

Deb and her youngster Beanie managed half a clear round which was met by much cheering from Lou, be it quiet and collected cheering! There were many new entries and it is always a pleasure to see new handlers and dogs starting their agility journey at Dig It.

Nick was back on the scene and Lydia set him to work scoring on the laptop, without telling him much about what to do. Despite this he took it on like a pro! Watch out Ash, you may be getting replaced.

We finished in style at a reasonable time, with all hands on deck to pack away. Don't forget you get half an hour free arena hire if you help to pack away and unload at Dig It, plus half an hour if you help to set up on the Saturday!

See you in March! Our Club Competitions start in March also, last Friday of the Month!

A Labradoodle at Gundog Classes

Back in September last year Dig It advertised a series of gundog training sessions with Mike Crawford of Cheshire Canine Services and an assistant.

There will be 6 workshops covering...

• Basic Heelwork and The Retrieve
• Distance Control and Memory Retrieve
• Steadiness
• Taking Direction
• Stop Whistle and Redirection
• Assessment

I looked avidly at the course details and fleetingly saw images of my big fluffy labradoodle Pixie in the field, expertly retrieving and delivering items to my hand and sitting calmly by my side. The moment passed and I realised it was probably not going to happen. Pixie is a great flyballer and loves the excitement, noise and flat out sprinting of the race. How would she and I manage the steadiness and direction and I have never used a whistle with her either? However Pixie is a bright dog and loves to learn so I enquired about the course with Katie and Lydia, who both thought she would rise to the challenge. So enroll we did and off to our first class in October.

The first class was held indoors at Dig It - I was a little apprehensive as I thought we may be too inexperienced and be embarrassed by others with much higher standards. Mike introduced himself and his assistant Emma and explained the course content and objectives, and that the first session inside allowed him to assess the overall and individual standards of dogs and handlers in a safe and contained environment. I was pleased to see a wide variety of dog breeds and handlers of differing levels of competence. 

Mike Crawford, Cheshire Canine Services

Mike assessed our on lead heel work followed by our off lead handling including some sneaky drops of tasty treats to tempt our dogs away from our sides and I have to say Pixie fell for it hook line and sinker!  We quickly moved on to retrieves and how to make it so interesting for the dogs to return to handlers by getting down to their level and releasing the dummies into your hand. We were given 'homework' to continue retrieve training at home and practising heel work and stays/waits ready for session 2 a month later. Pixie loved the session and stayed focused and challenged throughout.

Sessions 2 and 3 took place out doors at the Dig It show field. I was worried that the great outdoors and abundance of bunny poo would distract Pixie and wreck her concentration for the lesson. Mike explained that he wanted to ensure that the dogs and handlers really crack the steadiness element of the course as this is the foundation stone to all the gun dog skills to come. A long line of dogs and handlers practised on lead and off lead stays/ waits, walk pasts and recalls. I was very pleased with Pixie - she demonstrated good steadiness and focus except for the time when she did an amazing low slung commando crawl to me when she should have been at a stay!! Mike addressed all training issues both on a group basis and individually so that advice was tailored to your specific requirements. Both Mike and Emma conduct on going assessments of all our training throughout and provide advice and feedback frequently during the sessions. We started exercises using retrieval items beginning with short retrieves, waits before retrieves, heel work away from the dummy then retrieve, which was all to build up foundation skills leading to more complex double dummy retrieves and blind retrieves in the following session. I really learned a lot in these sessions and Pixie responded well although she did steal Ben's dummy bag and run off with it once! 

Session 4 - the first of 2014 and I had to admit, to my shame, that I hadn't done much training with Pixie over the holiday period - but I was not alone in this so Mike concentrated on revisting our previously learned skills to ensure what issues needed to be addressed before we moved onto whistle work and double retrieves and a blind retrieve. Up to now our dogs had seen where the dummies were before retrieving although we had extended the distance over the sessions but the blind retrieve is exactly that and you have to direct your dog with arm and whistle signals to find the item.  I was very proud of Pixie for doing so well with this.

So now off to practice all our new found skills ready for the whistle work session and the much anticipated final assessment. 

~ Kathy

Pixie, doing what she does best

Christmas Show and Party

Our Christmas Show signals the end of the year and a time to be merry and high!

It was a quiet start with the jumping ring inside whizzing through Intermediate and Advanced classes. Onto the Beginners and we were pleased to see a lot of first timers. Lesley with Buster from Bex's agility class was one of these newbies and they only went and got placed in every class! Bex was really excited.

The Obedience Hall was transformed into a Fun Games Arena - Temptation Alley, Fastest Retrieve, Fastest Recall and sausages galore were enjoyed by over 50 dogs and owners alike.

Sue's spaniel Rosie had us all amazed as she ate (more like inhaled) a bonio in 4 seconds to be crowned the winner of Fastest Bonio. Even the labradors' couldn't keep up with that!

Diane's collie, Jess, won Fastest Recall in an amazing 1.99 seconds and Amy's Jess won Fastest Retrieve at 5.26 seconds. Arthur, Tess and Bella all tied at the Tennis Ball Catching with a huge 17 each.

There was punch, food and stalls for dogs and humans alike and we hear Judge Sally was on the mulled wine in the afternoon! Good job that wall was there to keep her propped up!  ;)

The traditional Fancy Dress competition was well-attended with angels, elves and a burnt Christmas Pudding! Diane and Jess returned to fight to retain their Championship and won it for a second year running!

Although consolation places were given to Woody and the Elf-Dogs for also having fantastic costumes.

The agility stayed very relaxed throughout the day with everyone in good spirit. Jenny's Poppet decided to aim for the "wrong" end of the tunnel each time during her run and I found myself running over a jump by accident, leaving Guinness wondering if we had switched job roles!

The day finished nice and early and we presented Lydia with her Christmas present, a canvas picture of her dogs (taken by Cat's Dog Photography) which she was very impressed with. 

Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for 2014!

Open Day

Wowie what great weather we had for our Open Day today! This is a new event that we've not done before at Dig It and we haven't done anything similar to an Open Day for some years.

Have a go Agility, Have a go Flyball, Have a go Rally! All free of charge. Plus a Gundog Scurry that you could try out for free then enter a Scurry Competition. It was a fun filled day to encourage people to try out new activities with their dogs plus learn about what kind of classes we have at Dig It.

The yummy Brunch Box got the saliva flowing, plus the dogs thought it smelled pretty good too, and Eddie the Toy Man (that's his official nickname) was there with some great toys and treats for sale.

Also throughout the day we had several workshops running such as Tricks, Clicker Training and Agility at Home. The tricks workshop was particularly busy and everyone came out smiling and showing off the cool new things they have taught their dog!

Special guest Mike Crawford from Cheshire Canine Services ran the Gundog Scurry for us and he had a good crowd of people watching and having a go. Mike is running some gundog classes at Dig It over the winter and a lot of people that are booked on enjoyed their chance to try out what they will be learning.

A number of Flyball dogs were here and the Scurry started to develop into a competitive flyball feel, with fast collies coming first and second! Huge congratulations to the fantastic Steve who runs our website for coming 3rd with his Cocker Spaniel Digby! Mike later tweeted saying flyball collies are banned next year, teehee.

We saw a lot of new faces as well as familiar ones, and everyone said how much they had enjoyed the day. Rosettes were given to anyone who completed all three stations and many dogs were seen proudly sporting their hard earned prize.

Maybe we'll do this Open Day marlarky thing again?!