Twiglet the little star!

It has been a while since I have written this blog but since I last posted Twiglet has become a little star!  He has got very good at K9 Aqua Sports and managed to win both heats in the last 2 competitions and to come in 2nd place in the last 2 finals, beating Elvis!  He is catching Harry!

We went to the East Anglian Game and Country Fair today and nearly entered the lurcher show, but had to leave after an hour of waiting as it was time for his K9 Aqua heat!

He now knows when we arrive at the shows and starts whining in the back of the van!

It's only April so we're not doing loads of training with him yet as it's still a bit chilly and he gets very cold.
He is far too excited to wait at the back of the dock, so my technique is to take him to the edge of the dock, throw the toy into the pool at about 23 feet, and to make sure that he sees it, and then to take him back to the far end and release him!  It is so brilliant to watch him as he tries with every inch of his body, runs at full speed, and leaps at full stretch!  It is one of the funniest things to watch and everyone loves him (except for the excited barking!).  Today he had a whole fan club of lovely ladies from the show who came to cheer him on  - thank you ladies - you were fantastic!
If he could launch a little higher, he may start to beat Harry!
He has now jumped over 20 feet which is great for a little scruffy black dog!

One of the highlights of the day was watching Twiglet have a go at the gundog scurry!  There were lots of serious handlers there, but the people running the scurry were really happy to let Twiglet try and he did manage to bring back 2 dummies.  Someone took some photos which I'm keen to see!  I think I now need to train him to do this really well as it would be such fun to beat some of the more serious gundogs - Twiglet is fast and doesn't know that he's not a labrador!

Twiglet has made it to Club Class

What a day!  Twiglet has made it through the training programme at Charlie's and has been promoted to Club Class - the highest level class.  I am so proud of him and he has worked really hard.   2 weeks ago we did a heel work to music workshop with Richard Curtis and Twiglet loved it and didn't let himself down at all.  Today we were concentrating on directional work and flyball.  Twiglet is very good at flyball and VERY FAST!  He does, however, get over-excited and so I periodically leave the room with him to calm him down and give everyone some peace and quiet!  He still doesn't like travelling in the car and tends to cower down as low as he can in the boot for the entire journey - but he doesn't mind getting into the car so he's getting better.  He still has scavenger in his blood - I came in from the garden on Monday to find him standing on the dining table- that's a first in our house!  He now manages to find his tennis ball again when he puts it down on his walks and he is still swimming in the lake most days - but needs to run around a lot afterwards to get warm.  Good job he has a good coat to wear, and we even managed to use a hair dryer on him this week- real progress!  I just love watching him run around the field at full stretch - he is awesome!  Still our gorgeous scruffy little black dog.

Update with photos you can actually see!!!

This is Twiglet taking part in the "Have a go Search and Rescue" activity at Paws in the Park.  I had to hide in a tent without him knowing which one, and then he had to find me - clearly he was looking for me at speed!!  He also took part in Dash n Splash at Paws in the park and came 3rd in the small dog category, jumping 15 feet!  Twiglet does get cold, so unlike Elvis and Harry who can jump several times, Twiglet needs to do 3 jumps maximum and then be dried and wrapped up in his coat!  Any excuse for a cuddle!

Since my last post, Twiglet and Harry have become firm friends:

Clearly my dogs are not allowed on the furniture - although they seem to have other ideas and I couldn't resist the photo!

Twiglet came on holiday with us to Southwold for August where he learned to battle the waves and charged about on the beach.

I love this photo as he looks like such a happy dog!

He's come such a long way since we first saw him.

Twiglet tries flyball!

Twiglet has done so well with his dog training that we were asked to demonstrate some weaves in class the other day - impressive!  He now has one 6 week course left before we enter the Club Class which is the highest level class at our training school, and where Elvis and Harry are.
Now we have reached this stage we were allowed to try Fun Flyball for the first time this week.  We started on in a polytunnel with sand on the floor - just like a beach - and one at a time, the dogs, having warmed up with obedience work and different-paced heel work, had to go over 4 agility jumps off-lead and then stop!  We watched the first 2 dogs complete this with ease and then it was our turn.  Couldn't believe it, he went over the 4 jumps and stopped in a perfect sit at the end!  However, my relief was short-lived as, before I could get his lead back on, he launched into a "beach frenzy", completing 4 laps of the polytunnel in about 10 seconds, and was clearly not in the mood to be caught!!  Fortunately everyone found it amusing, but the only way to stop him was for me to leave the tunnel.  As I got to the door, I found Twiglet by my side in perfect heel-work position, panicking that I was going to leave him - one advantage of his separation anxiety!
When we progressed to the other indoor area to do flyball, Twiglet was a star, running to the box really quickly, retrieving the ball (he does still think he's a labrador), and returning to me faster than he went out (usually dogs go out faster than they return).  He was beside himself with excitement and we had a fantastic fun evening.  Can't wait to try this again!
Everyone at dog training thinks he's lovely and he had lots of cuddles.  Having DNA tested him we now know that he is first cross Bedlington Terrier and Whippet.  My trainer and I both thought that he had Collie in him as he is so clever and loves working, but this is not the case.
Twiglet and I are now booked into a heel work to music workshop with Richard Curtis in January so I'm sure there will be plenty of fun stuff to write about.

Autumn Update

This is Twiglet taking part in the "Have a go Search and Rescue" activity at Paws in the Park.  I had to hide in a tent without him knowing which one, and then he had to find me - clearly he was looking for me at speed!!  He also took part in Dash n Splash at Paws in the park and came 3rd in the small dog category, jumping 15 feet!  Twiglet does get cold, so unlike Elvis and Harry who can jump several times, Twiglet needs to do 3 jumps maximum and then be dried and wrapped up in his coat!  Any excuse for a cuddle!

Since my last post, Twiglet and Harry have become firm friends:

Clearly my dogs are not allowed on the furniture - although they seem to have other ideas and I couldn't resist the photo!

Twiglet came on holiday with us to Southwold for August where he learned to battle the waves and charged about on the beach.

I love this photo as he looks like such a happy dog!

Officially ours! - July 2013

We are pleased to announce that we have notified the District Council that we are keeping Twiglet and they are happy for us to do so, so it is official!  He is microchipped, vaccinated, insured, and ours!!!  Be have subsequently met so many people who witnessed him running around the village chasing other dogs months and months ago, so are delighted that he is now part of our family.

Twiglet does uninvited dock diving! - July 18th 2013

Came home from work and decided to get my swimwear on and go for a dip in our garden frame pool while there was no one around! Was lying on a semi deflated barbie lilo with my eyes closed enjoying the solitude when I heard whining. I opened my eyes to see that Twiglet had, like a mountain goat, climbed up a series of planters and was there, bright-eyed and ready perched on the highest plant pot!  He had a true dock-diving glint in his eyes!  With visions of it all going very pear shaped I intercepted the forthcoming leap into the pool and helped him in for a swim.  I then had to get both of us out of the pool safely. We achieved this with no elegance whatsoever only to find Harry at the bottom waiting for his turn.!! Dock dogs through and through! 

Twiglet has now moved from the Special Dog training class into Novice where he is doing really well.  His off-lead recalls are pure comedy due to the speed and enthusiasm involved and we are now walking him with the other dogs off-lead without incident!  We haven't even chased any rabbits.  Twiglet now looks really well - all his fur has grown back, his ears are repaired, he is a healthy weight, with bundles of energy and enthusiasm for life!