Well, I’m late with an update again as it’s now January 2016 and we have a brand new web site thanks to our web site wizard Pete.  It must be fifteen years ago that Pete and his then partner came along to RDTC dog training and shortly afterwards said that he would like to write a website for us to replace the poor one that I had put online.  And at the time, it really was the ‘bees knees’ but of course technology moves on and he has done another one for us.

Mary is now getting ready for Crufts so, as well as doing a bit of Obedience training, she’s putting together her new HTM routine.  It is just going to be Mary this year as Richard has decided to take a break and she’s putting together a special routine for Levi because this will be his last routine in the Main Ring at Crufts.  Yes, retirement is on the horizon for him! It’s going to be a touch of strictly come dancing this year and having not seen the completed routine yet I am really looking forward to it, the music is really good !!

We had Christmas at home as usual and I was rather unwell with the worst cough and bad chest that I think I’ve ever had, probably picked up during the week I had at the Olympia International Christmas Horse Show managing the Kennel Club Agility Finals.  Of course, being incapacitated and in a bad way over Christmas, I suffered all the usual taunts about ‘man flu’ but that didn’t last long as both Mary and Pauline promptly went down with exactly the same problem – and they were both rather unwell with it.

At the beginning of December, Mary did a repeat weekend down in Devon at a village just outside Sidmouth for Cheridah.  We didn’t want a repeat of the performance the last time we went when there was a ‘jumper’ on the M42, so we left earlier on the Saturday to drive to Sidmouth where we were staying at Cheridah’s home – and what a lovely place she has.  Mary then held an evening on the Saturday night with a day’s HTM training on the Sunday.  They’re really lovely people and it was a most enjoyable evening and day.

November was a little busy as we had a new booking in Northumberland at the Northumberland Dog Training Centre.  So off we toddled up the A1 with the forecasters saying that it was going to be the worst weather of the year.  And the sad part about it was that it was true, with wind and rain being the order of the day.  We did start early enough up the A1 to try to avoid the traffic, which was fine, and in some ways it was a voyage of discovery; firstly because I didn’t know that the A1 went to a single carriage road once we were north of Newcastle and, secondly, when we got to Newcastle with twenty plus miles to go the Satnav lost the signal and we never got it back again, and I hadn’t got a map, so to say we found the venue by accident would be an under-statement!

But what a great venue – a new-build barn with kitchen facilities, a large, fully carpeted training hall and another small separate area for training as well.  There was also a big car park and masses of exercise area.  Mary did an evening on the Friday night which was pretty well for their own members, and the same for the rest of the weekend, then two days of training.  They were a great bunch of people, really keen and made us feel very welcome.  They all went to have a meal on the Saturday night while I stayed with the dogs at the camper van which is usual for me, as I don’t like leaving the dogs anywhere new by themselves, although we were in such a quiet place that no doubt I could have done.  Mary enjoyed the weekend because everyone had a thirst for knowledge.

In mid-November, we had the usual weekend for Jackie Muir and an evening at a lovely venue in Jarrow.  It’s a church hall and we were able to park right outside the door and within a few yards of the entrance is a huge park which is great for the dogs.  Also of course we had lots of friendly northerners.Mary loves it at this venue as well, as it always has a nice friendly feel to it and the handlers there are always good to work with.  Another supreme sacrifice for me again as I stayed at home with the dogs while Mary had a night out with the girls.

Early in November, we both went over to help the Obedience Class Championships run by Fran Bush and her merry bunch of helpers.  She has done a great job at starting up this whole class championship event from the qualification process to running such a lavish and professional final at the Kennel Club Building at Stoneleigh.  She has obtained some sponsorship and gave everyone a superb day.  We did a little bit on the tannoy and generally helped all day and I also managed to get a new caterer for her which is Eleanor’s Catering from Hinckley.  We have used them for our show for a number of years as well as the Kennel Club International Agility Festival and they did another great job for Fran at the Class Championships.  So if anyone is looking for a caterer at their show within striking distance of the Midlands, they have a superb trailer and specialise in home-cooked food.

At the end of October, we were up at Moreton on the Wirral where Mary was doing an evening and a course for Kathy Russell.  This was a great venue with lots of room and another great bunch of people, both on the evening which was hilarious at times and on the training days.  We were parked right outside the front door and the only shame was that some of the locals decided that bonfire night should start a week earlier hence we did suffer a little with fireworks.

Unfortunately, Mary had to miss East Grinstead Show due to her commitments at Discover Dogs BUT we did manage to get to Tunbridge Wells and what a great shame that this was the last Tunbridge Wells Championship Obedience Show ever to be held – how sad is that!  Shows do suffer from two problems – lack of help beforehand at the events and lack of profit – and I think it was a combination of the two that actually forced the end on Tunbridge Wells.  But well done to Jenny and her team for keeping it going for as long as they could.

In mid-October we were at Discover Dogs which was held a little earlier in the calendar this year and, of course, a new  venue. It’s always a little unsettling going to somewhere we’d never been before and we had never been to the Excel Centre before.  The usual concerns are whether there was anywhere to take the dogs, how far away was the hotel, what the traffic would be like getting there …  Well, it was pretty brilliant with the hotel over the road, places to exercise dogs around the exhibition centre, a great main ring and a really good weekend.  Mary did some training demonstrations and with a reduced cast did their Crufts routine as Richard Curtis was there with her .  In fact, Richard even brought along his ducks for a demo – which must be a first at a dog event!  I’m sure there were some teething problems but it certainly was a good venue for the show and there were masses of people there.  While Mary was busy doing her demonstrations of course, I ran the main ring and commentated along with Paul Moore and Kate Smith helping on the commentaries.

On 11th October, we were at Cheshire Show as usual.  This is a great venue which never changes and I dread to think how many years we’ve been going there.  Anyway, it’s a very well run show and Mary was thrilled to win the Dog Ticket under judge Kath Mangan.

At the beginning of October it was our usual date at Thurrock, another ‘must enter’ weekend for Mary, and an extremely well-run show as usual.

Along with just about everyone else in Obedience, Mary stayed for a week at Birmingham and did the two consecutive weekends competing and she loves staying in the camper van at Birmingham.  And I love staying at home, waiting for the telephone call saying something has gone wrong with the van, whether it is a gas or electrics problem!  But it wasn’t too bad this year with no big panics, although I do have to go there two or three times to empty the toilet for them and fill up with water (I somehow got that wrong!)  Mary loves the training between the shows and the atmosphere and camaraderie between everyone and, of course, everyone tries to park in the same place every year.  And that is probably the most stressful part of the whole show – finding the same spot every year!

Mary didn’t stop for the final day of that week so we left on the Saturday night and went home.  The previous year, we’d gone straight from there to the GSD of Wales Show but this really was too much, so we took the camper home and went down in the VW van on the Sunday.  It’s a shame that they seem to be struggling for entries a little as it is a lovely venue in the grounds of a castle

 

2015 OB. CH COLLIEWOOD BLUE JEANS ( Levi )
Date	Show	Judge	Place	Class	Points
4th April	Midlands BC	John Farr	1st	Open C	5
4th April	Midlands BC	Kath Hood	1st	Champ C	20
5th April	Midlands BC	Kaye Ball	1st	Open C	5
18th April	Oxhey	Geraldine Steadman	1st	Open C	5
4th May	Leicester	Roger Gunby	3rd	Champ C	8
10th May	Wirrel	Heather Gray	3rd	Open C	2
16th May	Loughborough	Di Cobin	1st	Open C	5
17th May	Loughborough	Nigel Slater	1st	Champ C	20
23rd May	Waldridge	Mo Graham	1st	Open C	5
24th May	Waldridge	Ann Shearer	1st	Open C	5
7th June	Petersfield	Jenny Goode	2nd	Open C	3
7th June	Petersfield	Jane Wood	1st	Champ C	20
14th June	Newbury	Jo Northfield	1st	Open C	5
11th July	Eastleigh	Dee Steadman	1st	Champ C	20
11th July	Eastleigh	John Farr	1st	Open C	5
13th July	Winchester	Bev Hughes	2nd	Champ C	12
25th July	Middleborough	Kath Hood	1st	Open C	5
26th July	Redcar	Ken Boulton	1st	Open C	5
1st August	Hatchford Brook	Roger Gunby	1st	Open C	5
8th August	Woburn	Jane Bint	1st	Open C	5
9th August	Woburn	Keith Gwillian	1st	Open C	5
9th August	Woburn	Lyn Tozer	2nd	Champ C	12
22nd August	Ditton	Teresa Patterson	1st	Open C	5
23rd August	Ditton	Pat Burford	1st	Open C	5
23rd August	Ditton	Wendy Hagger	3rd	Champ C	8
31st August	Worcester	Jenny Goode	2nd	Open C	3
31st August	Worcester	Kath Hood	1st	Open C	5
31st August	Worcester	Sue Garner	1st	Champ C	20
5th September	Lichfield	Mick Vessey	2nd	Champ C	12
5th September	Lichfield	Ken Boulton	2nd	Open C	3
12th September	Thames	John Taylor	1st	Open C	5
13th September	Coventry	Roger Gunby	3rd	Open C	2
13th September	Coventry	Pat Batchelor	2nd	Champ C	12
19th September	B-ham & District	Roger Gunby	1st	Open C	5
26th September	B-ham & District	Roy Page	2nd	Champ C	12
21st September	BAGSD	Lou Jackson	1st	Champ C	20
27th September	GSD Wales	Gerard Paisley	1st	Open C	5
3rd October	Elm Park	Russel Beque	3rd	Champ C	8
4th October	Thurrock	Nick Buxton	3rd	Champ C	8
11th October	Cheshire	Kath Mangan	1st	Champ C	20
24th October	Tunbridge Wells	Sue Johnson	2nd	Open C	3
25th October	Tunbridge Wells
					343
					Points
2015 SARKHAM SINGS THE BLUES ( Lyric )
Date	Show	Judge	Place	Class	Points
5th April	Midland BC	Carolyn McConnel	1st	A
3rd May	Rugby	Stella Henstridge	1st	A
10th May	Wirrel	Pat Werner	1st	A
17th May	Loughborough	Pam Clayton	1st	A
7th June	Petersfield	Kathy Killock	1st	A
9th August	Woburn	Roy Page	1st	B
22nd August	Ditton	Lorraine Bennett	1st	B
23rd August	Ditton	Barry Fitter	2nd	C
31st August	Worcester	Sandra Trainer	1st	B
5th September	Lichfield	Roger Gunby	1st	B
12th September	Thames	Barry Fitter	1st	B
12th September	Thames	Janet Oliver	3rd	C