Multi-Sports Dog Adventures

28/04/2024

Unexpected! Bea and Merry have qualified for the BCOS Grand Prix final in November! 🎉

25/04/2024

23/04/2024

What a weekend! First obedience show of the year and Bea and Merry won the GCDS Special Pre Beginner stakes, only losing 1.25 points, and qualified for the final and the YKC final at Crufts 2025! Super proud of my girls.

Well done to everyone who made the line up and for all the club successes over the weekend, that’s a LOT of cake!!

17/04/2024

You’re probably wondering where our Sunday writeup is for Striders…

Well. Let us introduce you to what can only be described as the “Yogi Fiasco” 🙈🐸

Sunday at Striders two weeks ago, Yogi Bear made his return to the lanes after some time away working on his relationship with flyball and frustration tolerance with dedicated handler Sophie. He raced all day and was super steady, looking confident, committed and having an absolute ball. He didn’t tire at all throughout the day, he was consistent and happy and that was our entire goal achieved - the boy was out there enjoying himself, bucking bronco on the line like he does, enough to connect a pretty painful headbut with Sophie’s jaw 🫣

A few days before, Yogi had swallowed a frog. No, not a real one, a small plushie, GULPED straight down whole before anybody could do anything about it. After painstaking waiting and worry, the frog reappeared, still whole. Nobody thought anything of it - eating, drinking, toileting normally all weekend, totally fine and dandy. What we later discovered upon our return from Striders, was that Frog #1 had croaky friends.

Yogi raced with TWO more frogs in his belly on Sunday 😥 to second place might we add! 🥈

Tuesday morning back home and unpacked, Frog #2 reappears, much to our absolute horror. Then things started to take a turn. Yogi was taken very ill, and we were all extremely worried. A lot of drugs, x-rays and an explorative surgery later, Frog #3 was retrieved from deep inside his gut, handed over in a beautiful ziplock bag, slimey and green. Several vet trips later and even MORE drugs, we are pleased to say the boy looks to be finally on the up.

If he can claw a second place with his teammates with a stomach full of frogs, quite honestly the sky is the limit for The Bear.

He has absolutely no regrets 🙄

17/04/2024

🤒

11/04/2024

Loving your dog is easy. Being passionate about the trials is easy.
Success is hard.
Improvement doesn’t happen overnight yet, with the first 2 in place + a growth mindset, you’re well set up to help success happen.

There are 5 traits that come up time and time again that can setback handler/dog teams and there are 6 things you can do to unlock you and your dogs full potential……

Setback traits include:

1. Fear of failure
2. Perfectionism (“perfect is the enemy of good”)
3. Focusing on results, rather than the process
4. Expectations are too high or too low
5. Lack of self awareness

Losing your ego and being humble does away with much of this pretty well.

When you realize if you’re not at the top, very few are watching, you don’t need to be self conscious.
‘Perfect’ isn’t attainable. Not for you, your dog or anyone else, full stop. If you strive for perfection, rather than greatness, you’ll put unrealistic and unfair expectations on your dog, likely spoil a good bit of his enjoyment, risk losing his confidence and miss lots of joy along the way.
Everyone wants to do well with their dog but some don’t want to hear that it takes years of study and dedication to be successful.
It’s the work that leads to the results.
If your expectations are too high, see losing ego above. If your expectation are too low, you’ll not reach your potential, but because you’re humble, hopefully you’ll realize that by trying, you’re already more of a champion than anyone sitting on the fence criticizing and in turn raise expectations.
Self awareness is about honest assessment. Once you can do that for yourself and for your dog, you can get help developing areas in which you or he are not inherently talented. It provides direction and is a key to improvement.

6 Tips to unlock full potential + improve your partnership:

1. Practice consistently and with intention: Clearly outline the objective of the training session bf you start. Focus on specific skills (not just ‘exercise’ for your dog). It’ll not only improve your handling but prepare your mind to react as you recognize situations, even subconsciously. It’ll also grow you and your dogs confidence.(If its not working, you might have to take a step back or revisit fundamentals)

2. Set goals: Make them specific and measurable. If you have lots of goals, sift through them. Try to limit it to 3 at a time.

3. Get feedback: From coaches, trainers, or experienced handlers to help identify areas for improvement. Get an experts input for a new exercise or next steps. It’ll help with motivation.

4. Fundamentals: Mastering the fundamentals is essential. It makes learning the more complex aspects easier and elevates your dogs confidence.

5. Watch and learn: Watch videos of yourself. Objectively. Videoing your training sessions and well as your trials can help immeasurably. It’ll influence both your goal setting and your motivation. Also watch accomplished handlers, study techniques and strategies. Get help from an expert; always be learning.

6. Believe. In yourself and your dog. Follow a proven methodology and believe in the process. Believe in the work. Believe there is not one definition of success and believe that you and your dog will be successful!

macraeway.com

09/04/2024

08/04/2024

🤣

my little angel muffin

30/03/2024

25/03/2024

✍🏽

21/03/2024

Ah the days when I used to put all my rosettes away at the start of a new season to make space … dear Yogi only has these, ever 😆 And you know what? It doesn’t matter. He’s my best boy.

19/03/2024

The Yogi seal of approval for Wild Pack

12/03/2024

They’re happy to be back on home turf

11/03/2024

A costly blip at the start of the heelwork, otherwise only lost 1/2 on the recall ❤️

3rd place in 12-17 years category

11/03/2024

Crufts 2024 - What a blast!

With both dogs competing in two different events each on two different days it was always going to be a bit intense, but it’s Pippi’s third year there and Merry’s second so we knew they’d cope with the unique and often overwhelming atmosphere that is Crufts. It was busier than I’ve ever seen it, by far, so moving around was hard but luckily the benching area was calm and they got plenty of down time there in their safe places in between the hustle and bustle. Pippi loves Crufts and all of the attention and adoring cuddles with strangers. Merry less so, she just doesn’t see why anyone would want to hug a stranger and I’m right there with her!

Wins aside, I am so proud of how they coped around the rings and crowds, we wouldn’t be able to take them if they didn’t, it takes a special dog to actually enjoy Crufts and Pippi is that dog. She’s only 2, and while some of her accuracy in her exercises naturally dropped, she was unperturbed by the noise and commentary and crowds right next to and around the rings and took everything in her stride. Merry was perfect too, doesn’t love it like Pippi does but handles it well and without stress. We thank flyball for their ability to focus on the work in hand despite the noise!

We had the best support crews across the days, with our Yeager Flyball teammates coming to cheer Bea on and also took the dogs back home Friday so they could rest before Sunday, we can’t thank you enough for this, it made a huge difference. Our obedience club Diss and Harleston DTC came to support the girls on Friday, Hazel, Suzanne and Gillian, Pippi’s face when she saw Hazel there was a picture! Gillian your trolley was a total life saver! Cambridgeshire Canines Flyball Mel and Wendy, thank you so much for making the effort to come and see Bea compete and for taking Merry so I could get podium photos! It’s usually just me cheering Bea on, but with this lot the cheer when Bea and Pippi won was incredible! Our YKC friends were all amazing, Laura your girls are going to go far and we can’t wait to see what they do next year, thanks for all of your support and cheering on.
Jon and Barnaby brought the dogs back up to the NEC for Sunday and got to see Bea compete for the first time too.

To everyone who sent cards and gifts, thank you so very much, they had the most amazing array of cards on their benches and Bea loved reading and opening them all and knowing people are rooting for her.

The Good Citizen Dog Scheme, KCAI & Dog Training news from team were absolutely amazing, guiding the YKC lot calmly through the final with good humour, and Dawn Cox as ever, amazing with the commentary throughout.

Outside of the competitions we got to cheer on Tails We Win Flyball Teams in the intense flyball on Saturday, I still have a sore throat to prove it. Flyball at its best, what a great showcase for our sport, those dogs looked incredible.

Anna Herzog Dog Sports Academy was by far our favourite display, what a lot of lovely positive obedience fun in a small ring, you all looked like you were having far too much fun and I loved watching you all, so inspiring.

We also met a new raw brand, Wild Pack who we hope to be seeing more of over the next year, superb food and two amazing ladies behind this new brand. Pippi was very happy to pose for photos!

Thanks to Tug-eeze - Handmade Dog Collars, Leads and More for the beautiful collars and leads and Handmade by Giruff for the stunning personalised kit bags!

Results:

1st Pippi YKC Basic Obedience Final (12-18) -3.5
5th Merry YKC Novice Final (12-18) -8.75

3rd Merry GCDS Special Pre beginner stakes YKC final (12-17) losing -3.5
4th Pippi GCDS Special Pre beginner stakes YKC final (12-17) losing -3.75

Now, a brief rest before our flyball and obedience seasons kick off! The girls are on great form and having so much fun, we’re ready for 2024 and hopefully back at Crufts 2025

Thanks to Michael Knowles for capturing these moments for us

07/03/2024

Pippi being photogenic

05/03/2024

Judge’s report from Grade 1 on Saturday

Grade 1 pm - 02/03/2024 Report Jackie Laverty

Thank you to the whole BCOS team for inviting me to judge at one if your regular shows. BCOS holds a really special place for me as the atmosphere and support at these events is unsurpassed. It is an absolute honour and pleasure to be able to judge at one of your shows and makes me very proud to play a small part.

Massive thanks too to my fabulous steward and great friend Maggie Wills. Maggie kept the ring running smoothly, put everyone at ease and expertly guided everyone around the course. She kept me firmly in line and looked after me as well as the competitors – Maggie you are a delight and I spent a wonderful day in your company doing something we both love.

I hope all the competitors who entered had an enjoyable and profitable time in our ring and that you left feeling that you had had a positive experience. I tried to set a free flowing round which allowed you to show off your dogs and ‘strut your stuff’. As well as accuracy I was looking team work, motivation, drive and focus with an equal contribution from both sides of the partnership.

As not everyone gets feedback I think it’s worth just mentioning a few general observations for you to perhaps consider going forward.
The round was made available the week before, we also walked the round a couple of times at the start and, if you weren’t first in the running order you could watch a few competitors. I know that everyone is super nervous especially when things are new etc but if you could be just a bit better prepared it would give you more opportunity to concentrate and focus on your dog while you are in the ring.
Again I know it’s hard but when the steward is talking to you try to keep your dog engaged – we really don’t mind if you appear to be ignoring us, listening with just one ear, while you focus on your dog.
Finally at BCOS we actively welcome training rounds. It’s hard when you personally want to compete and there is an argument sometimes for seeing ‘where you are with your training’ but, I really would encourage you to take advantage of being able to train in a show environment.. For those who did training rounds well done it’s always money in the bank – just try to have a plan and then a couple of back up plans just in case to make the most of your time in the ring.

1st-ARO - Louise Dexter with Our Own Little Izzy Whizz (Izzy)
Fabulous little dog who worked her socks off for Louise. Izzy strutted around the ring with pizazz as only a terrier can. Attention and attitude in spades her tiny legs just whizzed through the heelwork hardly taking her eyes off Louise apart from on the AT. Speedy and committed recall showing that she knew her job just a slightly crooked present. A great team and a pleasure to watch both of you are you both clearly thoroughly enjoying yourself too.
Congratulations on your win. I hope you are extremely proud of what you have achieved.

2nd– ARO – Beatrice Rolf with Fressinghill Spitfire (Merry)
A super stylish round from this dog whose attention never wavered from Bea. Merry clearly knows her job and just wanted to get on with it. Her attention between exercise was a treat to see with her eyes never moving from Bea – this is something so many struggle with – well done. Heelwork was super committed but did mean that she occasionally moved forward. Merry was calmly handled throughout the test ensuring the spaniel exuberance was channeled into the set exercises – lovely teamwork.
Congratulations on your place on any other day this could have been the winning round.

3rd– Sophie Rolf with Fressinghill Mr Yogi Bear (Yogi)
Another dog who obviously really enjoys his work and showing off. A little loss of position in heelwork moving backwards and forwards together with a few hand touches which you can easily iron out. Consistent focus across all the exercises. A lovely team to watch and I’m sure you will be winning this class very soon.
Well done in your place today

4th – Amber Taylor with The Runaway Storm (Sadie)
A team that made me smile as both Amber and Sadie approached the round with such enthusiasm. An excellent set up clearly demonstrated that Sadie knew her position and was eager to start heelwork. A little inconsistency in heelwork position with slight lagging but Amber was encouraging throughout helping Sadie to success. The recall was an exhibition of intense energy which was a delight and just what you want to see but perhaps just a little bit of self control needed in the present. Just a pleasure to watch such enthusiasm.
Well done!

5th– Tracey Farren with Catello Leela (Leela)
This was my ‘if only’ dog . Best heelwork marks of the day just a little forward and leaning particularly evident on the left hand circle – but what a lovely team these pair make. Working together really well during the exercises would have been nice just to see a bit more engagement between exercises but so well handled. And then came the recall – Tracey I know you were disappointed but you have a stunning dog and you won’t make that mistake again.
Well done!

6th– Beatrice Rolf with Pippilotta Starlight (Pippi)
Two dogs in the line up says all you need to know about this young handler. Pippi was sensitively guided through the round. There were minor errors throughout heelwork mainly due to Pippis enthusiasm as she just seemed to want you to ‘go faster’ as she surged forward. The present in the recall was a little untidy with a double motion followed by an excellent finish showing that she really does know her job and where she should be. I’m sure you will both flourish together a lovely partnership.
Well done.

BTR– Karen Callendar with Overmarch Double O’Seven (Baby Oscar)
You had a plan which is exactly what I wanted to see in a training round. You’d considered the round, the reward placement area and how this could be used to your dogs advantage. You knew exactly what you wanted to work on and did just that. . Training rounds are the best way to get your dog ‘ring ready’ and used to distractions and that’s what you achieved. Well done.

Three quick mentions
India Coulson with Boo – a lovely lurcher who just had the most fun in the recall and made us all happy to be able to share the joy.
Emma Benton with Kami – a gentle soul sensitively handled by Emma well done
Catherine Dickinson with Harley – a spaniel who just wanted to sniff but at the end of the training round Catherine had some focus and engagement it was lovely to watch this develop.

04/03/2024

Judge’s report from G2 on Saturday, how lovely of her to mention Bea, even though she was out of the placings ❤️

03/03/2024

I almost shared this yesterday before our obedience comp but didn’t. And do you know what, for the first time ever, Yogi went in the ring and did as well as he’s capable of doing, as well as he does when we practice at home. This is huge for him. Scores are great but a dog who is happy to work in a show environment? That’s everything. I couldn’t be prouder of him and his behaviour around the rings as well as in them. A glimpse of what he’s capable of.

Can’t wait. 😂

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