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! 

Twiglet Goes Dock Diving - 7th July 2013

Off we went to All About Dogs Southend-On-Sea with all 3 dogs to compete at Dock Dogs.  As Twiglet's experience of being with Elvis and Harry has led him to believe that all dogs jump into the water, it came as no surprise that parking our caravan next to the Dock Dogs pool created huge excitement!  He has now watched Harry and Elvis train, compete, and win 2 competitions and quite rightly felt that it was time for him.  George took him up on the Dock with a tennis ball.  Twiglet barked and leapt about, got to the end of the dock, looked down and stopped.  Oops - I think it was higher than he thought!  We took him onto the ramp, dropped the ball in, and let him make his way down the ramp to retrieve it in his own time.  This, we repeated throughout the weekend until we decided to let him watch Elvis jump from on top of the dock.  This was it - Twiglet, leapt off the ramp with gusto and retrieved his ball.  George then took him onto the dock where he ran down the dock, put the breaks on at the end, and leapt from a standing start!!  Brilliant!!  Harry has always just jumped off the dock - his first jump was about 18 ft and he has won all competitions in the UK this year, but Elvis started the Twiglet way, with tentative 8 ft jumps from standing and now jumps 19 ft plus!!!  George entered Twiglet into a wave (competition) and he (Twiglet) jumped 9 ft 4".  What an achievement. We are now a 3 dock diving dog family!!!

Sunday 16th June 2013 - Twiglet's not so great escape!

Three days post op, Twiglet has decided that he can now revert back to running as fast as he can up and down, round and round the garden, in through the patio door and back again.  Noooooooo!!! To my surprise he did an excellent "stop!" mid garden when I shouted with my arm raised, only to look at me and continue at the same speed - need to work on that!  I then caught Elvis barking at his crate, only to discover that Twiglet had settled himself down in Elvis's crate for a snooze.  He was promptly removed!  He does like to sneak into Harry's bed when Harry emerges, and I get him out immediately to stop him getting another pasting!  I did not see him get into Elvis' bed so have to watch this.  It is possibly because their beds are more comfortable because they have not shredded their vet bed!
Just had my neighbour knock on the door to say that Twiglet was in her garden and she didn't know how he got there but didn't want to scare him!  Whilst we were having a conversation over the fence, Twiglet appeared looking very smug!  This was a huge surprise to me as having had 2 labrador puppies with no escape, we were convinced that our garden was escape-proof but Twiglet, being part Whippet, is distinctly slimmer than a labrador puppy and had pushed one of the fence sticks across to make a hole just big enough to get through!  There was also a clear trail of flattened plants showing his route through the fence so he was not stealthy enough!  We then set about sorting out the fence which typically was between  a holly bush and a Yukka plant - poor Chris, trying to do a professional repair whilst being attacked by prickly plants, was a true comedy moment!  Having said all that, Twiglet is doing well with his training and has almost learnt to "stand".