Black Jack Dog Training Centre

Nail clipping advice

2012-02-01T10:10:00.003Z

Source: facebook Grooming by Elaine

Canine understanding

2012-01-25T08:40:00.004Z

Christmas pyjamas

2012-01-16T13:57:00.000Z

Jo's dogs Grace and Hannah in their Christmas pyjamas :

Wizz

2012-01-02T20:19:00.000Z

laying lazily on the sofa....Wizz has a hard life!

Happy 2012

2012-01-01T17:10:00.001Z

We hope that 2012 will be a fantastic year for everyone.....

Harry

2011-10-06T14:11:00.005+01:00

A sad day for us at Black Jack as we have learned that Harry, a German Shepherd of one of our members has sadly passed away. Harry was rewarded with the prize for best dog this year at the club obedience championships 2011. Our thoughts are with Harry's mum Pat, his dad and his two four legged friends who all will surely miss him.

Dog development

2011-09-27T08:35:00.002+01:00

3rd Club Obedience Competition

2011-09-18T19:31:00.001+01:00

Margaret Reed was keen to come to judge again, which gave me a chance to play a bit with Wizz in the competition, which is a good experience for him as well, as we did not get to any competitions this year :-(

The dogs & handlers did well, even though it wasn't easy for them to work without the food but they did well.

Results class 1:
1. John & Gem 95%
2. Pat & Harry 95%
3. Mandie & Lulu 77%
4. Stephany & Jacob 63%

Results class 2:
1. Sarah & Missy 88.5%
2. Sharron & Gracie 88%
3. Kate & Buster 86.5%
4. Gillian & Honey 75.5%
5. Megan & Rogie 74.5%
6. Sally & Molly 73.5
7. Trish & Daddy 69.5%
8. Nick & Billy 54%
9. Jo & Grace 41%

The final scoring of the club championships:
Best dog: Harry (Pat)
Best bitch: Gem (John)
Best obedience agility dog: Buster (Kate)
Best junior handler: Megan (with dog Rogie)
Most improved dog: Lulu ( Mandie)

Save energy!

2011-09-15T07:57:00.003+01:00

Agility final

2011-09-04T15:58:00.000+01:00

We all got a bit drowned today as it was pouring down on us. After the first round we had to abandon the rest of the final as we had about 2 inches of water on the field and it could not drain away quick enough as the rain was so bad. We discussed with the people involved what to do and decided that we would leave it at this and all points gathered so far would be counted up and that would make the final placings as it would be impossible to find another date on short term notice that everyone could take part.

The results for the novice groups:
1 Kate with Buster
2 Gillian with Honey
3 Laurel with Paddy
4 Steve with Sam
5 Lucy with Max
6 Leanne with Toby
7 Caroline with Jack
8 Lily with Bailey
9 Laurel with Molly

The results for the beginner groups:
1 Jo with Grace
2 Sally with Molly
3 Sharron with Gracie
4 Alex with Gem
5 Alex with Max
6 Mary with Billy
7 Sandra with George

The overall placings were the following:

Our Club Agility Champion 2011 is Kate with Buster
Our Reserve Club Agility Champion 2011 is Gillian with Honey
Third is Jo with Grace
Fourth is Laurel with Paddy (Club Agility champions 2010)
Fifth Steve with Sam
Sixth Lucy with Max

Mary and Billy got a special prize for most improved dog.

Next week.....

2011-08-28T08:38:00.000+01:00

is the final agility competition of the Black Jack DTC Club Agility championships.

We will have to think of a suitable course for this breathtaking (literally!!) final :-)

2nd Club Obedience Competition

2011-08-13T22:46:00.010+01:00

Roger and Margaret Reed were there to judge for us again and did a great job as usual. First they judged class 2. We only had 3 competitors in this class today as some of our members couldn't come to the competition. First to start were Sarah and Missy and even though Missy was a bit distracted in her heelwork the rest of the round was lovely. Sally and Molly did a cracking job as well, but Molly let her mum down a bit in holding the dumbbell as she did not want to do it when she needed to and after the judging finished she did it perfectly. The best heelwork of class 2 was done by Grace who was handled by her mum Jo. Grace does not like our horse very much in the other field and of course during the stays he came over to have a look and Grace was not impressed, got up and walked to her mum! This has cost them lots of points :-(((

Results class 2:
79% Sarah + Missy - first place
72% Sally + Molly - second place
48% Jo + Grace - third place

No one got the needed 80% to go up to the next class, so they will still be competing in class 2 next time.

Then we started with class 1. First we did the stays and that proved a hard exercise again as Dexter got up and started inviting other doggies to play with him. Honey sat perfectly still until it was nearly the end and both Dexter and Georgie nearly walked all over her...... The big improver of the day was Nick with Billy who came 11th last time and now did a super job. If Billy had not lost all his points in the sit stay (walking away from the other dogs) he would have been placed first. Kate and Buster and Trish and Daddy had the same amount of points at the end of the judging and both had to redo their recall. Buster anticipated and came too early and Daddy wandered off during the recall and was away with the fairies, which left Buster in first place and Daddy in second!

Results class 1:
92.5 % Kate + Buster - first place - moving up to class 2
92.5 % Trish + Daddy - second place - moving up to class 2
86 % Gillian + Honey - third place - moving up to class 2
82.5 % Peter + Georgie - fourth place - moving up to class 2
79 % Nick + Billy - fifth place - moving up to class 2
64.5 % Steph + Jacob - sixth place
62.5 % Jo + Gus - seventh place
53 % Carol + Dexter - eighth place
38 % Pat + Bertie - ninth place

The semi-final scoring in the Championship is now:
94% Megan with Rogie - Border Collie
92.5 % Kate with Buster - Springador
92.5% Trish with Daddy - Staffordshire Bull Terrier

92% Sarah with Missy - Border Collie

87.5% Sally with Molly - Cockapoo

86 % Gillian with Honey - Golden Retriever
82.5 % Peter with Georgie - Springer Spaniel
79 % Nick with Billy - Cavelier King Charles Spaniel

78.5% Sharon with Grace - Irish Water Spaniel

76 % Steph with Bolly - Boxer

71.5 % Jo with Grace - Whippet

70% Alex with Max - Border Terrier x Jack Russell

64.5 % Steph with Jacob - Husky x Alsatian

62.5 % Jo with Gus -Munsterlander

53 % Carol with Dexter - Labrador

52.5% Steve with Sam - Cocker Spaniel

50.5 % Joan with Tilly - Cairn Terrier

42.5% Mandie with Lulu - Bulgarian Street Dog

38 % Pat with Bertie- Manchester Terrier

Well done everyone and thank you for such a lovely day with the doggies!! :-))))

Club Agility Championships 2011 scoring so far

2011-07-03T20:09:00.001+01:00

After two competitions the total is now:
51 points Kate with Buster
50 points Laurel with Paddy
47 points Toby with Bolly and Gillian with Honey
43 points Jo with Grace
38 points Lucy with Max
37 points Steve with Sam
33 points Sally with Molly
25 points Alex with Gem
20 points Alex with Max
16 points Leanne with Toby
15 points Caroline with Jack
10 points Sharon with Gracie
7 points Lily with Bailey
5 points Mary with Billy
4 points Laurel with Molly
2 points Peter with Georgie

Novice group had 9 dogs in today so first place 15 points, second 10 points, third 8, fourth 6 points etc., beginner group had only 5 dogs in today so first place 10 points, second 6, third 4, fourth 2 and fifth 0.

Second Agility Club Competition

2011-07-03T19:46:00.000+01:00

The weather today was very warm, so it was not easy for dogs and handlers to compete under these circumstances, but apart from a few little problems with concentration of some of the dogs they all did really well. This time in the novice classes there was a standard course time and if a dog was slower than that time they would get 1 fault for each 5 seconds they were over the standard course time.

We started with a jumping. The novice group started first it was a combination of jumps, tunnels and weaves and the jumps were set in straight lines but as the dog would have to do part of the course again but in a slightly different order the handlers really had to pay attention that the dog would go the right way.

Results:
1. Steve with Sam (Cocker Spaniel)
2. Laurel with Paddy (Border Collie)
3. Lucy with Max (Beagle x Staffy)
4. Caroline with Jack (Border Collie)
5. Leanne with Toby (Patterdale Terrier)
6. Kate with Buster (Springador)
7. Gillian with Honey (Golden Retriever)
8. Lily with Bailey (Schnauzer miniature)
9. Peter with Georgie (Springer Spaniel)

Then it was the turn of the beginners. The set up of the course stayed the same just a different sequences over the obstacles, so it would be slightly easier. The beginner group did really well in this, sometimes the owners were getting a little confused in where to run in order to get the fastest course, but the dogs were just brilliant.

Results:
1. Jo with Grace (Whippet) - clear round
2. Toby with Bolly (Boxer)
3. Sally with Molly (Cockapoo)
4. Sharon with Gracie (Irish Water Spaniel)
5. Mary with Billy (Cavelier King Charles Spaniel)

Then we changed the whole set up of the obstacles and added the see saw, A frame and dog walk to it. We started with a gambling. Here the obstacles are awarded points and the handler and dog have 60 seconds to collect as many points as possible, but before the 60 seconds are up they have to jump over the finish jump as else they will lose all their points. Here we did the same game for both novice as beginners so we counted the results as one group:

Results:
1. Kate with Buster (195 points)
2. Lucy with Max (185 points)
3. Gillian with Honey (170 points)
4. Sharon with Gracie (165 points)
5. Steve with Sam (155 points)
6. Toby with Bolly (150 points)
7. Sally with Molly (145 points)
8. Mary with Billy (140 points)
9. Caroline with Jack, Leanne with Toby and Lily with Bailey (115 points)
10. Jo with Grace (100 points)
11. Peter with Georgie and Laurel with Paddy both losing all their points!!

Then we did the agility course. Here we had two tunnels in the middle under the dog walk with both openings next to each other but both turning another direction. That was a bit hard as the handler would have to send the dog into the right opening and then send it over a jump when it walked out of the dog walk but the handler would still be on the other side of the dog walk. Otherwise is was a straight forward course.

Results novice:
1. Gillian with Honey
2. Kate with Buster
3. Lucy with Max
4. Lily with Bailey
5. Laurel with Paddy
6. Steve with Sam
7. Leanne with Toby
8. Caroline with Jack
9. Pete with Georgie

The beginners had a slightly different round but still had to send the dog in the tunnel underneath the dog walk. Not an easy task at all!

Results:
1. Toby with Bolly
2. Jo with Grace
3. Mary with Billy
4. Sharon with Gracie
5. Sally with Molly
Results beginners:

Agility photos 11 June - Caroline & Jack

2011-07-03T19:18:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Pete & Georgie

2011-07-03T19:17:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Megan & Violet

2011-07-03T19:16:00.000+01:00

Agility photos 11 June - Jo & Grace

2011-07-03T19:10:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Toby & Bolly

2011-07-03T19:09:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June -Leanne & Toby

2011-07-03T19:08:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Alex & Max

2011-07-03T19:06:00.001+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Alex & Gem

2011-07-03T19:05:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Lucy & Max

2011-07-03T19:03:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Gillian & Honey

2011-07-03T18:56:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Steve & Sam

2011-07-03T18:54:00.002+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Kate & Buster

2011-07-03T18:53:00.001+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Laurel & Paddy

2011-07-03T18:49:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Laurel & Molly

2011-07-03T18:47:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Agility photos 11 June - Sally & Molly

2011-07-03T18:45:00.000+01:00

All pictures by Megan Hayes

Club Obedience Competition

2011-06-25T17:59:00.001+01:00

Our first ever club obedience competition was held today. The weather was just perfect, dry and not too hot or too cold. Everyone that trains at our club was able to participate today, no matter what group they were in, so we had people from our beginners, novice, advanced & competition groups here today. We had invited Margaret and Roger Reed to judge for us today and they did a wonderful job. Everyone that scored 70% and more are now eligible to start in the second class. I think the stays were the most difficult exercises for the dogs today as a lot of dogs failed their stays.

Results:

1st with 94% - Megan with Rogie - Border Collie

2nd with 92% - Sarah with Missy - Border Collie

3rd with 87.5% - Sally with Molly - Cockapoo

4th with 78.5% - Sharon with Grace - Irish Water Spaniel

5th with 76 % - Steph with Bolly - Boxer

6th with 71.5 % - Jo with Grace - Whippet

7th with 70% - Alex with Max - Border Terrier x Jack Russel

8th with 67% - Trish with Daddy - Staffy

9th with 52.5% - Steve with Sam - Cocker Spaniel

10th with 50.5 % - Joan with Tilly - Cairn Terrier

11th with 50% - Nick with Billy - Cavelier King Charles Spaniel

12th with 42.5% - Mandie with Lulu - Bulgarian Street Dog - they won an half hour private lesson with Hetty

Exercises done in class 1 were: down stay, sit stay, heelwork around the group, heelwork on lead, Recall, interaction handler and dog and interaction dog with other dogs.

Well done everyone!! Some impressions below:

Sarah and Missy - group work

Getting ready for some sit stays

Sarah and Missy - heel on lead

Steph and Bolly - heel on lead

Sally and Molly - heel on lead

Steve and Sam - heel on lead

Megan and Rogue - heel on lead

Joan and Tilly - heel on lead

Nick and Billy - heel on lead

Mandie and LuLu - heel on lead

Alex and Max - heel on lead

Jo and Grace - heel on lead

Sharon and Gracie - heel on lead

Trish and Daddy - heel on lead

Club Agility Competition

2011-06-11T18:12:00.003+01:00

Our first of a series of 3 agility competitions was today. Thank goodness it had stopped raining and even though it had been sunny in the morning it was a bit clouded in the afternoon, but it stayed dry until we had done the last competition.

We had 2 groups of people: starters and novices and so we had to set up several courses. I had designed the courses in such a way that we only needed to change the numbers between the novice and the starter courses, which meant we only needed to change the course 2 times. We did a gambling, jumping and an agility course.

We started with the agility course for the novice group. Because no one really wants to be the first to start we had Megan and Violet starting every time as they can't take part in the competition as Megan is of course Adrian's daughter. The start of the agility course was difficult as the dogs could see the dog walk and a tunnel straight behind the first jump but they had to ignore that and turn right towards a jump. Then into the tunnel which was placed next to the dog walk, which made it hard for many dogs as they did not want to go in the tunnel but onto the dog walk. After that back to the second jump and on to the dog walk. Lots of dogs wanted to go back into that tunnel, which made this a very hard start. After that beginning the course was set up a lot easier. It made it a breathtaking course for spectators as well as the people running their dogs!

Placings:
1 Gillian & Honey (Golden Retriever) with a clear round!!!
2 Kate & Buster (Springer spanmiel x Labrador)
3 Steve & Sam (Cocker Spaniel)
4 Laurel & Paddy (Border Collie)
5 Caroline & Jack ( Border Collie)
6 Lucy & Max (Staffy x Beagle)
7 Laurel & Molly (Border Collie)
8 Leanne & Toby (Patterdale Terrier)
9 Peter & Georgie (Springer Spaniel)

Then we had to change the numbers and take an obstacle away for the starters group. Alex & Gem did the first 2 obstacles, a jump and the dog walk in 3 seconds!!! They were super fast, unfortunately they made quite a few mistakes, so they ended up as 5th (out of 5 competitors today, as some people couldn't make it today). Jo wasn't sure if her dog Grace would do the tunnel, but she did a lovely round only making a mistake on the weaves which made them the winners of this course!

1 Jo & Grace (Whippet)
2 Alex & Max (Border Terrier)
3 Sally & Molly (Cockapoo)
4 Toby & Bolly (Boxer)
5 Alex & Gem (Border Collie)

Then it was time for the novice gambling. Here all obstacles get a value, so the jumps were worth 10 points, dog walk and A frame 50 points, weave 30 points and the tunnel 5 points. In 60 seconds the handler and dog need to collect as many points as possible, but if you miss the finish jump within those 60 seconds you lose all your points!!! For the novice group we had made it a bit harder as well as we stipulated that the weave had to be taken after every contact zone (A frame and dog walk), which made it hard as the weaves were not close to the dog walk at all!! Leanne and Toby did well until Toby decided at 55 seconds that he really needed a wee, walked to the fence and relieved himself, missing the 60 seconds deadline and losing all their points.

Results:
1 Laurel & Paddy (Border Collie)
2 Lucy with Max (Staffy x Beagle)
3 Kate & Buster (Springer Spaniel x Labrador)
4 Steve & Sam (Cocker Spaniel)
5 Laurel & Molly (Border Collie)
6 Peter & Georgie (Springer Spaniel)
7 Gillian & Honey (Golden Retriever)
8 Caroline & Jack (Border Collie)
9 Leanne & Toby (Patterdale Terrier)

We also did a gambling for the starters group. Now people only had to collect points, but could take the obstacles in any order they liked. Alex & Gem did really well, which resulted in a first place and a very happy Alex! Jo fell over on her way to the finish and lost all her points :-(

1 Alex & Gem (Border Collie)
2 Sally & Molly (Cockapoo)
3 Toby & Bolly (Boxer)
4 Alex & Max (Border Terrier)
5 Jo & Grace (Whippet)

The last course for both groups was a jumping and speed was important here as a lot of people had a clear round or lost the same amount of points in mistakes and then the faster dog wins. Leanne & Toby did a super round and he was really focussed and worked well. They got a clear round and a second place, losing from Laurel and Paddy who was 1 second faster over the course.

Novice results:
1 Laurel & Paddy (Border Collie) - clear round
2 Leanne & Toby (Patterdale Terrier) - clear round
3 Gillian & Honey (Golden Retriever) - clear round
4 Kate & Buster (Springador)
5 Caroline & Jack (Border Collie)
6 Steve & Sam (Cocker Spaniel)
7 Laurel & Molly (Border Collie)
8 Lucy & Max (Staffy x Beagle)
9 Peter & Georgie (Springer Spaniel)

The beginners jumping was exciting to watch, one clear round and also one dog, Max, who had worked well all day and completely lost concentration. It must have been frustration for Alex, but she was ever so patient with him and in the end they finished the course. Well done Alex for being such a super handler and remaining fair and honest to her dog!

Results starters:
1 Toby & Bolly (Boxer) - clear round
2 Sally & Molly (Cockapoo)
3 Jo with Gracie (Whippet)
4 Alex & Gem (Border Collie)
5 Alex & Max (Border Terrier)

Every handler and dog gets points rewarded for their results. A first place gives 15 points, a second place 10 points, a third 8 points, a fourth 6 points, a fifth 4 points and a sixth 2 points. All these points will be calculated together and over 3 competitions people can gather points. The person with the most amount of points will be the Black Jack Dog Training Centre Agility Club Champion 2011.

Points awarded:
36 points Laurel & Paddy (Black Jack Dog Training Centre Club Champion of 2010, but will they do it again in 2011??)
29 points Toby & Bolly
28 points Sally & Molly
27 points Jo & Grace
25 points Alex & Gem
24 points Kate & Buster (Black Jack Dog Training Centre Club Reserve Champion of 2010)
23 points Gillian & Honey
20 points Alex & Max
16 points Steve & Sam
12 points Lucy & Max
10 points Leanne & Toby
8 points Caroline & Jack
4 points Laurel & Molly
2 points Peter & Georgie

The next club agility competition will be on the 3rd of July.

Club Agility & Obedience Championships & the Overall Champion 2011

2011-05-18T10:14:00.001+01:00

We are organising 3 AGILITY competitions for our members in 2011. The goal is to get some competition experience in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. The competition is open for all participants of our agility classes. The 2010 Agility Club Champions were Laurel Larder with her dog Paddy. Up to the last competition it was exciting to see who would win the trophy.

We ask for a donation of £5/dog to be able to pay for the prizes.
The competition dates will be: Saturday 11 June, Sunday 3 July, Sunday 4 September.
The time will be from 2 – 4:30 pm

We are organising 3 OBEDIENCE competitions for our members in 2011. The goal is to get some competition experience in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. The competition is open for all participants of our obedience classes, no matter what training class you are in. We are organising 3 competitions and have invited Roger and Margaret Reed to come and help us judging at the first two of them. As it is a fun competition and it is the first year we are organising this, you are allowed to use food or a toy in the ring.

We ask for a donation of £5/dog to be able to pay for the prizes.
The competition dates will be: 25 June, 13 August, 18 September
The time will be from 2 – 4:30 pm

This year there will be an extra trophy for the dog and handler scoring best on our club obedience championships and the club agility championships: Overal Club Champion 2011.

Please not that these competitions are only open for people that train in our weekly classes at Black Jack Dog Training Centre.

Monday Agility Training

2011-05-04T11:59:00.000+01:00

Picture from our lesson on Monday :-) It was fun!

workshop dates

2011-04-30T22:17:00.000+01:00

21 May - Clicker Training at Black Jack DTC
28 May - Barrel Racing Session at Black Jack DTC
23 July - HtM and Freestyle Day at Black Jack DTC

More information: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/trainingday.html

At other clubs:
26 June - HtM and Freestyle Day at WaggaWuffins in Manchester. Jane invited me over to do a training day at her club. More information: http://www.waggawuffins.com/index.html

Walk in the woods with Gillian and Honey

2011-04-26T15:23:00.000+01:00

Gillian and Sarah and I had planned to go to the woods today. Unfortunately Sarah didn't come with us, so it was just Honey and Violet, Wizz, Koda and Rogie . Gyp stayed home as she is too old to go for such a long walk. They all enjoyed themselves lots. Honey was not keen on being photographed, but after a bit of persuasion she let us take some pics of her as well.

Honey on the way back in the car.......

Agility Club Championships 2011 & Obedience Club Championships 2011

2011-04-11T10:42:00.001+01:00

This Summer we will do another club championship for agility and as the agility competition was such a success and as we have some cracking obedience dogs at the club, we will also organise an obedience club championship this year.

As it is the second year we are teaching agility, we will have 2 groups of competitors (beginners and novice) and the competition will be set up like that as well. The novice dogs will compete against each other and the beginners dogs will compete against each other. A team in each group can get an equal maximum amount of points (135) over 3 competitions and so at the final scoring each group has the same chance of winning the Black Jack DTC Agility Club Championship title.

In obedience we will start with two levels at the first competition for all competitors. In one level people can use a tidbit and in the other level all has to be done without rewards in the ring. Roger and Margaret Reed have kindly accepted the invitation to judge 2 of the competitions and I'll judge one myself as well. I am looking forward to these new series of club competitions.

For these competitions only club members can enter and take part and they are just supposed to be fun and as a helpful experience towards official competitions.

Line up Agility Club Championships final competition

2011-04-10T22:46:00.000+01:00

Molly & Laurel & Paddy

Kate & Buster

Missy & Sarah

Caroline & Jack

Sam & Steve

Honey & Gillian

Max & Lucy

Georgie & Pete

Paddy is the Agility Club Champion of 2010!

2011-04-10T22:18:00.001+01:00

It was a wonderful day today. The weather was really nice, so it was all perfect for this exciting final. We had a stand from Megan's Mutt Munchies where Megan herself sold home made delicious dog treats / cakes and cookies.

All these products were made from the finest ingredients and without additives, colourants etc. Megan also kindly donated 2 large K9 cookies for the competition prizes. All these products of Megan's Mutt Munchies have been tested by the Barking Mad Divas and given their highest paw of approval.

I had a set of 3 courses for the final: a gambling, a jumping and an open agility course. We started off with the gambling and here people had 60 seconds to gather as many points as possible. The contact equipment was worth 10 points when taken correctly, the jumps 1 point, the tunnel 5 points and the weave was worth a whopping 20 points! In the gambling the rule was that the points could be gathered in combinations of 3 or 4. You had to do a contact equipment, a tunnel and a jump and then you could start with your next set. The fourth obstacle in the combination was the weave but that was up the the handler if they wanted to do them or not. So if the dog would take an obstacle that was out of this set then it would not count. It turned out to be more tricky than I had imagined but everyone did really well.

Gillian and Honey did the sets without the weave and they managed to get a second place with that, gathering 81 points in these 60 seconds.

As the weave was worth so much more they had to really speed it all up. The only person and dog topping that result was Paddy who managed to scramble 89 points together.

Caroline and Jack and Steve with Sam got the same score of 73, so they shared the 3th place together.

Fourth was Laurel with Molly and fifth was Pete with Georgie who actually only did his first competition today.

The course of the gambling and of the open agility was nearly the same so we hardly had to change anything in the set up. Here the competition turned quite dramatic with 5 dogs gettting a disqualification due to a wrong course. Gillian had misunderstood that she would have to try to finish the weave even if she had made a mistake and ran on after Honey came out of the weaving poles so she got a disqualification. A very expensive one as else she might have won this course!! Caroline with Jack, Sarah with Missy, Steve with Sam and Laurel with Paddy were the only ones completing the course, but all had made mistakes. There was no dog that did the course in a clear round!

The last part of the competition was the jumping. I had set up a helter skelter version with tunnels and jumps and sometimes the dog had to take the tunnel and the next time they had to take the jump next to it and were not allowed to go in the tunnel. Control is very important here and the faster dogs were struggling to stay on the right course, Kate with Buster did a splendid job there and won this course.

One person was very unlucky today and got a disqualification 3 times in a row, but the rest of the time they did really well. This were Lucy and Max, who were placed 3rd in the overall scoring up to today and then plummeted to the 7th place and just missed out on a rosette.

When the people cleared up the equipment I had to calculate everyone's points and see how they ended up in the final scoring for the championship trophy. It was nerve wrecking as the 2 top dogs had the same amount of points, but as Laurel and Paddy had no disqualifications today and Kate and Buster disqualified on one course, we decided it was Laurel with Paddy who had done best and they won the trophy. Well done Laurel for working so well with both your dogs today!!!

People also got a chance to nominate another person (they could not vote for themselves) for a special prize, as they thought this dog was the black horse of the competition or this combination of handler and dog made them laugh most. Whatever people's reasons, most votes went to Kate and Buster, who won a beautiful rosette, a cookie from Megan's Mutt Munchies and a half hour private lesson with Hetty.

Final results over 3 competitions (2 were held in 2010 and the last one was today)
1st Laurel Larder with Paddy - Border Collie - 60 points CLUB AGILITY CHAMPION 2010
2nd Kate Smart with Buster - Labrador x Springer Spaniel 60 points
3rd Sarah Eccleston with Missy - Border Collie - 53 points
4th Caroline Forrester with Jack - Border Collie - 51 points
5th Steve Flannery with Sam - Cocker Spaniel - 50 points
6th Gillian Mc Bride with Honey - Golden Retriever - 39 points
7th Lucy McMillan with Max - Beagle x Staffy - 36 points
8th Lily Charity with Bailey - Schnauzer - 22 points
9th Adrian Long with Bramble - Bouvier des Flandres - 20 points
10th Laurel Larder with Molly - Border Collie - 10 points
11th Peter Brigham with Georgie - Springer Spaniel - 6 points
12th Alison Bark with Bertie - Springer Spaniel - 2 points

All agility pictures by Megan Hayes

Sunday 2-4 pm club agility championship final

2011-04-07T10:57:00.002+01:00

Sunday, 10th April 2011, we will hold our final competition for the agility club championship. It will be an exciting competition as there is not a lot of difference in points between the first 8 dogs and this final will decide it all. The final will consist of a gambling, a jumping and an open agility course.

And this is what they are all competing for:

Now, who will take this beautiful trophy home and the red rosette??? And who will become second, third, fourth etc.? One way to find out!! Come on Sunday 10th April 2011 to watch the competition. Or have a look on the blog after the competition as I'll try to put some pictures and the results up as soon as possible!

Agility training has started

2011-04-04T20:37:00.001+01:00

Tonight we had the first 2 groups starting their agility training, as the agility season at Black Jack has now officially started. All novice dogs were very keen and they had remembered all how much fun agility was. They did extremely well. It was good to see how much more control some of the handlers had, now their dogs had done more obedience training over the Winter period.

The beginners group did extremely well and all dogs seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

Sunday 10-4-2011 we will have our last agility club competition from the 2010 season. It will be an exciting final and can't wait to see the dogs and owners compete! The points are not too far apart and the line up can still change.......

Good luck everyone!!

Equipment has been taken outof storage and set up at the field

2011-03-28T09:22:00.000+01:00

We are ready for the agility classes to start!!!

Rogie in class with Megan

2011-03-28T09:20:00.000+01:00

Patiently waiting for her turn....

Walk at Bourne woods

2011-03-18T09:54:00.001Z

Koda, Wizz, Violet and I went to Bourne Woods with Sarah and her collie Missy. We had a great time and the sun was out and it was just a lovely afternoon. But after such a long walk (over 2.5 hours) the boys and Violet still weren't tired! Unbelievable as my dogs ran 4 times as much as we walked and Missy was tired on the way home and had a snooze in the car. At home Koda was sure he needed to go for another walk as he said hello to Rogue and Gyp and then ran back to the front door with this questioning look "Are we going for walkies now?" Ungrateful little sod ;-)

Missy found this stick in the water. We do not throw sticks for dogs as it is dangerous!

agility classes

2011-03-05T18:55:00.002Z

From April 2011 onwards our agility training season starts again. The April classes are fully booked, but we start new courses in June. If you would like to enter for a June agility course, please have a look on the website: www.blackjackdtc.com/agility.html

Leslie heelwork training, session 1

2011-02-13T09:42:00.000Z

Leslie in action, first training session...she is having a wonderful time!

Leslie

2011-02-11T12:50:00.000Z

Leslie keeps asking for heelwork so she can earn some sweeties. She sees it works for the horse (see his blog for more about him) and quite likes the idea of being trained with the clicker. So while all other sheep keep grazing on the other field, I am being stalked by Leslie, as she follows me around everywhere and keeps going into the heelposition. However when she does so, I do get a bit of a horn pricking in my leg......have to figure out how to make her do heelwork without that. Horns are beautiful but can be a pain sometimes......literally!

Below a picture of Leslie after she has stolen a bit of Zeb's haylage from the storage shed, after she walked in there with me......Isn't she cute?!!!

new competitive class is starting up on Thursday evenings

2011-02-10T17:46:00.000Z

Competitive Obedience

We've got another competitive obedience group starting on Thursday evenings ( 8-9 pm ) from March 2011 onwards.

Entries for agility classes are now taken

2011-02-01T10:44:00.000Z

Agility classes
A new season of agility training will commence from Monday the 4th of April. From today onwards until 15th of March we will take your bookings for these classes.

More information on : http://www.blackjackdtc.com/agility.html

Entry form: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/news/agility%20letter%202011.pdf

Hetty and Wizz at Doglive

2011-01-31T20:40:00.002Z

Wizz and Hetty posing at the room where Hetty was giving workshops each day. (Picture: Claudine Melein)

Barrel Racing rules and patterns

2011-01-30T20:00:00.000Z

The rules and 4 patterns are now on the website: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/barrel.html

See a preview of one of the barrel racing patterns below.

Barrel Racing, Clicker Training and Heelwork to Music

2011-01-27T14:12:00.001Z

Hi everybody,

We have been very busy planning some activities for Black Jack Dog Training Centre. We will be doing several Barrel Racingsessions again in 2011, starting on the 30th of April.

More information: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/trainingday%20barrel%20session.html

Entry form: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/news/entry%20form%20barrelsession%20april.pdf

Also we will give a clicker training day on 21st May, where we will be working with dogs, sheep and a horse. This day will hopefully help you improve your clicker skills and get more knowledge about the method. Everyone that is interested and would like to have a go with one of our sweet sheep, can do so, as it will help improve your skills. Derwen Zebadee, our horse, will do a little demonstration on clicker training with horses.

More information:http://www.blackjackdtc.com/trainingday%20clicker.html

Entry form: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/news/entry%20form%20clicker%20day%20may.pdf

And last but not least in the planning is our Freestyle and HtM day on 23 July, where you can improve your routine, sequences of moves or work on some new tricks. It is a day that is suitable for all levels as we will work individually for a large part of the day.

More information: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/trainingday%20htm.html

Entry form: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/news/entry%20form%20freestyle%20day.pdf

We look forward to seeing you on one or all of these days :-))

Hetty & Adrian

DOGLIVE GALA - Germany

2011-01-27T08:52:00.004Z

We were invited to come to Münster to do a few demos and workshops at Doglive. Doglive was a large indoor event located in the Messe und Congres Centrum Halle Münsterland in Münster, Germany. On Saturday we did a freestyle workshop and on Sunday we were supposed to do an obedience workshop but some people got mixed up dates so we did a mixed workshop for freestyle and obedience. As I work with most people individually it did not matter so much and we were able to work on each team's training problems and already saw some dramatic improvements in these 90 minute workshops! :-)

On Saturday evening and Sunday late afternoon there was also a gala show. Imagine large tribunes, lots of public, total darkness and some spot lights on you and you have the atmosphere. As we had never worked with such a light show, we had a practise session on Friday evening to see how Wizz would react to it all. In short: he just did his job perfectly, it was me who got slightly disorientated due to not being able to see the boundaries of the ring and not quite knowing where I was in the room. But after a bit of practising that was not a problem any more. Wizz was the opening act and just before his routine would start we would walk into the ring during a light show with loud music. The floor of the ring was sand, which made it a bit of a job for Wizz to walk so much on his hind legs, but he is very muscular (all this training, running and cycling with him certainly must have helped) so he managed it all fine.

We opened the show with our Madonna routine and later did another little routine to Hello Goodbye of the Beatles. The people loved the music and clapped with it and in between that cheered Wizz on when he did his signature moves. They were very impressed by my little boy. As Wizz got poorly at the end of the evening and was vomiting all night he needed to see a vet. Dr. Manuel Tücke came to our rescue with the perfect homeopathic treatment for Wizz and with his help he has recovered more or less by now, hopefully just in time for the Crufts semi finals this Saturday. As poor little Wizz was in no state to perform on Sunday afternoon, Koda stepped in and we did a little demo on how to train some moves at the gala show, so people could go home and have a practise with their own dogs. People seemed to enjoy that very much and we got lots of nice remarks on both performances.

This picture was placed on the facebook page of Messe und Congres Centrum Halle Münsterland with the following text: To watch Hetty van Hassel and Wizz during Freestyle is an experience. No wonder that this Dutch resident who lives in England is seen as one of Europe's most renowned dog trainers.

The Ahlener Zeitung published the following pictures of our show:

More links to articles & photos of our show:

http://www.westfaelische-nachrichten.de/lokales/muenster/nachrichten/1483408_artistik_fuer_den_hund.html

http://www.mv-online.de/lokales/muenster/nachrichten/1482151_Jimmy_schwingt_die_Tanzpfote.html

http://www.ahlener-zeitung.de/lokales/muenster/nachrichten/1483408_Artistik_fuer_den_Hund.html

Last but not least I want to give my special thanks to Claudine Melein for coming with me this weekend and looking after Wizz while he was poorly when I had to give a workshop and demo with Koda and Dr. Manuel Tücke who, with his amazing treatment, got Wizz all better again.

Agility Club Championships 2010

2011-01-17T20:14:00.000Z

Unfortunately due to the snow we were not able to hold our last club competition on the 4^th of December 2010. Even though the weather is a lot better now, the field tends to be a bit muddy, so we have decided that we will postpone the competition until April 2011.

We plan to do the final competition on Sunday the 10^th of April from 2 pm onwards. Catch up and refreshment lessons will be done the week before.......

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T10:31:00.000Z

Happy New Year to you all. Hope it will be a fantastic year for all of us :-)

Christmas! Santa has been.....

2010-12-25T11:57:00.001Z

All the doggies got a present each and Wizz got a bit overexcited and started unwrapping other doggy's and people's presents :-) Megan made some nice tuna treats for the dogs and cats to enjoy on this special day. The rabbit, Alfie, got some wild berry sticks, Zeb got a jolly ball and the sheep got lots of nice food.....

Today at the field

2010-12-24T22:11:00.000Z

"Come on girls!"

Foooooooooooooood!! (they did have breakfast and loads of hay during the day, but they are greedy)

Is she coming????

YESSS!! Food is here!

Rosemary

Doris

Rosemary after eating :-)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

2010-12-19T17:03:00.000Z

Getting ready for Christmas

2010-12-14T20:09:00.000Z

This week are the last lessons at Black Jack DTC for this year. The lessons continue from Wednesday the 5th of January.

In the mean time our own doggies are getting ready for Christmas:

Gyp getting all wrapped up.....

Wizz helping to decorate the Christmas tree...

Violet asking Santa to stop at our house.....

Rogie is already waiting for Santa to arrive.....

Koda keeps thinking he hears the reindeers coming.....

We hope you will have a fantastic Christmas together with your doggies, friends and family. We look forward to seeing you all in 2011 :-)))

no agility club championships this weekend :-(

2010-12-03T12:17:00.000Z

We were supposed to do our last competition of the year for agility, but it will not take place. It is postponed till further notice. This is why:

brrrrr - cold

2010-11-29T19:13:00.000Z

The sheep do not seem to mind the cold, they do not want to go in their shelter and keep digging up the grass even though there is plenty of hay and dried food. They are also very curious about our new addition on the field and keep hanging around the stable in the hope to see a glimpse of him when he sticks his head over the stable door......

Perfect Christmas Present

2010-11-09T10:40:00.000Z

Are you wondering what to give someone for Christmas?
Why not buy them a Black Jack DTC gift voucher. This can be for any amount and you can even have it personalised. People can then exchange these vouchers for training DVD's, clickers, classes & private tuition.

new addition

2010-11-07T08:55:00.000Z

We have a new addition at the dog training centre. A foal will move in with us in December. When he is older he will be used to socialise dogs with horses......More on our foal : http://derwenzebadee.blogspot.com/

Barrel Racing Training Session 30th October

2010-11-01T13:10:00.000Z

On the last barrel racing session of this year we again had a large group of barrel racing enthusiasts. New people, but also a lot of people that had been to us before, worked together to get a better understanding of this new sport. The dogs loved it: many happy tails wagging and cheeky little grins of doggy's faces.....

I can't wait till next time! Unfortunately this won't be until spring 2011, but it gives us something to look forward to!

why the watch exercise is so important!

2010-10-24T08:41:00.000+01:00

Dogs recognise their owner's face

By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

The study was the first to measure how much dogs "prefer" their owners

Scientists have shown just how much dogs rely on seeing their owners faces in order to recognise them.

The researchers also measured how much dogs prefer to gaze at and follow their owners, rather than a stranger.

In the journal Animal Behaviour, the team described how dogs had difficultly recognising their human "best friend" when the person had their face covered.

The study sheds more light on how thousands of years of domestication has affected the behaviour of canines.

This is very likely to be a by-product of thousands of years of domestication

Paolo Mongillo, University of Padua

Paolo Mongillo from the University of Padua in Italy led the study. He explained that, although many researchers have studied how dogs interact with humans, no one had yet investigated how the animals focused on one person in preference to another - or just how much companion dogs "prefer" their owners.

Dr Mongillo's team invented an experiment to measure this.

"We had the dog in an empty room and we instructed the owner and another person - someone unfamiliar to the dog - to walk across the room several times," the scientist explained.

"The people walked in opposite directions, so they crossed many times in front of the dog and we measured how long the dog looked at one person versus another."

The research team then instructed the two people to leave the room via two different doors and allowed the dog to approach one of the doors.

"Most of the dogs gazed at their owners for most of the time and then chose to wait by the owner's door," said Dr Mongillo.

ANCIENT CANINES

More about wild dogs and wolves from BBC Wildlife Finder

He described this as an "expected" result but something that no one has measured before.

"If you imagine a dog in a real setting in a city or anywhere in the middle of a crowd or a crowded space, you can see how the animal must have adapted to give preferential attention to its owner," said Dr Mongillo.

In the second part of the study, the scientists asked the people to cover their faces; the human volunteers then walked across the room with bags over their heads.

During this phase of the experiment, the dogs were much less attentive to their owners. This revealed just how much the animals relied on human faces for recognition.

Wild dogs rely on body signals and on cues from other animals in their social groups, but studies including this one suggest that domestic dogs are so attuned to human social groups that they are even able to recognise some human facial expressions.

When the people covered their faces the dogs paid less attention to their owners

"This is very likely to be a by-product of thousands of years of domestication," said Dr Mongillo.

Studies of the genetic differences between dogs and their wolf ancestors suggests that canines were first domesticated between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago.

Dogs and dementia

In the same study, the team investigated the effects of ageing on the dogs' attention.

They found that "aged" dogs - seven years and older - were less able to focus on their owner and also were less likely to choose the owner's door.

SOURCES

Visit Animal Behaviour to learn more about dogs and their owners

"There have been studies to show that dog ageing is similar to human ageing in terms of cognitive impairment," said Dr Mongillo.

So studying ageing in dogs could help our knowledge of human as well as animal age-related diseases.

This article was copied from the BBC News website 24-10-2010

Barrel Racing Training Session

2010-10-11T14:10:00.000+01:00

Last chance this year to come to one of our barrel racing training sessions. The session is held at 30 October from 12-2 pm at our outdoor training location at Black Jack Road near Swineshead.

http://www.blackjackdtc.com/trainingday.html

new seminar dates for Italy

2010-09-30T10:25:00.000+01:00

Several new dates in 2011 at Power Dog Training Club in Ilassi, near Verona, Italy

5 & 6 February 2011 Dog Dance Seminar

2 June 2011 Barrel Racing Training Day

3 June 2011 Private Tuition in dog dance, obedience, barrel racing

4 & 5 June 2011 Dog Dance Seminar

In June there will also be a dog dance competition at Power Dog Training Club, where Hetty will be the main judge.

In September and December Clicker Training Seminars and in December Clicker Challenge. Exact dates to be announced.

Please contact Stefano Zanini for more information and to book your place.

Molly and Antonella during our last seminar in September 2010, photo by Elisa Carnevalli

demo in Italy

2010-09-29T12:43:00.001+01:00

Photo of our demo in St Boniface. Picture by Maura Flisi.

Agility Club Championships 2010 - results so far

2010-09-18T17:01:00.003+01:00

1st with 42 points: Kate with Buster
2nd with 36 points: Caroline with Jack
3rd with 34 points: Lucy with Max & Sarah with Missy
5th with 31 points: Steve with Sam
6th with 27 points: Gillian with Honey
7th with 22 points: Lily with Bailey
8th with 20 points: Adrian with Bramble & Laurel with Paddy
10th with 2 points: Laurel with Molly & Alison with Bertie
12th with 0 points: Peter with Georgie

(the points are from the first and second competition added together)

2nd agility club competition

2010-09-18T16:49:00.000+01:00

Agility:
1. Caroline with Jacky
2. Gillian with Honey
3. Kate with Buster
4. Lily with Bailey
5. Lucy with Max
6. Laurel with Paddy
7. Sarah with Missy
8. Megan with Violet

Gambling:
1. Lucy with Max
2. Laurel with Paddy, Kate with Buster, Megan with Violet
5. Caroline with Jacky, Gillian with Honey
7. Lily with Bailey
8. Sarah with missy

Jumping:
1. Lily with Bailey
2. Sarah with missy
3. Laurel with Paddy
4. Megan with Violet
5. Caroline with Jacky
6. Kate with Buster
7. Lucy with Max
8. Gillian with Honey

Video of the Fun Day of 17 -7 2010

2010-09-11T10:20:00.003+01:00

Italy

2010-09-11T07:26:00.002+01:00

Doglive - Münster, Germany - demos and workshops in January 2011

2010-09-01T15:55:00.001+01:00

22 & 23 January 2011 Hetty and Wizz will be giving 4 demos at Doglive in Münster, Germany. Hetty will also be giving two 90 minutes workshops each day. More information and to enter for the workshops, please have a look at www.doglive.de

Wizz, Koda & Hetty look forward to meeting you all at Doglive!!!!

Wizz qualified for Crufts semi finals

2010-08-29T18:42:00.000+01:00

Wizz got a second place in advanced freestyle yesterday in Stoneleigh and got himself qualified for the Crufts semi finals. I am so proud of him, getting his second place out of 21 entries with a lot of more experienced dogs and handlers than us ;-) He is a superstar!

Anyone interested in such wonderful dogs as mine?? Then go and visit the website of the breeder of Wizz www.detania.com

Wizzy won 1st intermediate HtM and 6th in Advanced Freestyle

2010-08-09T09:40:00.000+01:00

Wizz has done well. Every show this year we have been to he has won his HtM class. He got a first at Findon Downs & Barnard Castle in novice HtM and now a first in intermediate HtM in Blackpool. I had entered for Anglesey in July but unfortunately I got ill myself and was not able to walk so could not go. The last 8 weeks I have been solely focussing on my new freestyle routine as on the evening before Barnard Castle I heard this song of Madonna (Hung up) and all night I had been thinking of what we could do with this music as this music fits so well to Wizzy's personality. I asked some help of Hayley Austin who is a choreographer / dancer and together we made this choreography, with her ideas on how I should move and my ideas on what Wizz should do we got a nice routine together. The public was very enthusiastic about my freestyle routine as well as our heelwork to music routine. I am very proud of my little boy! *love*

Barrel Racing and Longe Training Day - 25 July 2010

2010-07-28T22:46:00.001+01:00

We have made an album of photos of the barrel racing and longe training day. Please click on the link to have a look. Below is already a little preview! The pictures were taken by Lucy McMillan. Thank you Lucy for sharing them with us!

We have had a lot of enthusiastic reactions from the people that came to this day. In fact everyone was so excited about the training day that we are going to do shorter training sessions on a regular basis. The first one is a barrel racing session and will be held on the 18th September 2010 from 12-2 pm. More information: Barrel Racing

Rogue was spayed today.....

2010-07-26T17:02:00.000+01:00

As we had decided not to breed from Rogie, we had her spayed.......Here you can see her in her basket after she got home this afternoon....She is still a bit sleepy from the anaesthetic......

pictures Black Jack Games - fun day (afternoon)

2010-07-21T09:14:00.000+01:00

Gillian Reece took several pictures at the fun day. Thank you Gillian for sharing them with us!

Ellie has rolled the die and Malcolm is now reading the team exercise card

Because Ellie was a little bit too big for this team challenge we decided that Malcolm was the one riding the wheel barrow and little Max would have to sit in the wheel barrow for Ellie one time as well.

Part two of the challenge: Buster in the wheel barrow and Kate riding it.

Team captain Sally instructing Missy of Sarah on what to do.......

Another team challenge - recall relays, Hetty is instructing Liz, Peter and Alison on what to do.

Part of the fun was watching the others do their challenges..... Margaret with Barney, Wendy, Laurel with Molly, Brian and in the chairs Sarah's parents, Sandra and Dave

Caroline with Jack, Roger in the chair with Tilly, Megan, Sally, Sarah with Missy, Jenny, Hetty reading out an agility card and in front you can just see Alistairs face.

Peter and Georgie on the start of their agility challenge, where Georgie has to go through the tunnel by himself and come back to the start, while Pete is not allowed to go past the white post. They had one minute to do that as many times as possible. Georgie really excelled at this challenge, getting loads of points!!! Well done Georgie!!! :-))))

Bear rolled a 5 and he and Liz had to take a barking mad divas card. They had one minute to eat all the cookies out of the dog spinny. Any cookies left in in after a minute would give them reduction points. Bear had never seen a spinny before, so was not quite sure what to do. Here we have the proof that Liz indeed did cheat a bit on this challenge :-)))))

Oh my goodness Rogie has got such a hard life!!! Sally was cuddling with her sister's dog Honey in the back ground .You can clearly see that this day was exhausting for the dogs, being cuddled all day, having to do silly games etc. etc.

Eye test Koda

2010-07-17T17:52:00.000+01:00

Detania Dancing Koda passed his official eye test by Prof. Bedford and also passed his gonioscopy. The easiest eyetest he had ever done he said as Koda just sat still and was a perfectly behaved little boy.

Results Black Jack DTC fun day

2010-07-17T17:51:00.001+01:00

In the morning we did a lot of fun obedience exercises with the beginner dogs and their handlers. The judges were Roger Reed, Margaret Reed and Adrian Hayes.

Musical Chairs Champion - Debbie with Patch
Musical Chairs Reserve Champion - Cheryl with Sorrel

Fastest Recall:
1st - Jill with Dennis
2nd - Sally with Molly

Best overall beginner dog:
1st - Kelly with Neala
2nd - Sally with Molly
3rd - Mr Jones with Benji

Best junior handler:
Robyn with Cassie

In between we had 2 lovely demos from a few of our HtM members. Thank you Roger and Margaret.

In the afternoon we played the Black Jack Games with the novice and advanced dogs. It was a lot of fun. Time just flew by and before we knew it we had to finish the games......

Best team: Liz with Bear, Peter with Georgie and Alison with Bertie after their impressive recall relay races and sausage retrieves.
Best individual was Lucy with Max.

Well done everyone, you made me proud to have such nice members in my club!

tomorrow - fun day at the dog training centre

2010-07-16T09:24:00.000+01:00

Last day to get everything sorted for our fun day at Black Jack DTC. The game is finished and it should be good fun to play it with everyone in the afternoon. In the morning we have little fun competitions for all the beginners and puppies that come to our classes. Unfortunately not everyone is able to make it but there will be enough people around to have a lot of fun........

Pictures by Wendy Coyne of beginners / novice group on 30th June 2010

2010-07-12T11:24:00.001+01:00

Box exercise of FCI obedience

Sit

Come

Walking on the lead

Dogs in this group have either first done the puppy & young dog obedience classes at our club or have already had some basic obedience lessons somewhere else. They have learned a lot of basic skills that we are now trying to bring to a higher level. In this class we work on general behaviour & obedience as well as some exercises of the competitive obedience.

We don't select dogs on ages, but on skills so you will find dogs from different ages & breeds in our groups.

Results after 1st competition of Agility Club Championships.

2010-07-06T22:17:00.002+01:00

It was a fantastic competition. Adrian and I ran our own dogs as well, but we were not competing with them, as this competition is for our members and our dogs have had a bit more training so Adrian and I felt that would be unfair.

The atmosphere was great and we all had a good laugh. There were 3 courses that the dogs and their handlers had to run. An agility course, a jumping and a gambling.

Steve & Sam won the gambling and the agility. Megan & Violet won the jumping. Adrian L. & Bramble got 2 second places: one in agility and one in the jumping. Everyone did really well. The black horse of the competition was Missy of Sarah, who suddenly had seen the light in the last few agility lessons and was just working amazingly well tonight! We gave everyone points for their placings: a 1st place gave 15 points, a second 10 points, third 8 points etc etc.....

The results so far are:

1^st Steve with Sam with 31 points

2^nd Megan with Violet with 25 points

3^rd Sarah with Missy & Kate with Buster with 22 points

4^th Adrian L. with Bramble with 20 points

5^th Lucy with Max with 14 points

6^th Caroline with Jackie with 13 points

7^th Gillian with Honey with 12 points

8^th Alison with Bertie & Laurel with Molly with 2 points

Not competed this time: Lily with Bailey & Peter and Georgie (0 points)

Well done everyone!! And thank you all for such a nice evening! Adrian and I can't wait for the next competition :-)

Agility Club Championships 2010

2010-06-30T15:54:00.001+01:00

On Tuesday the 6th of July we will have our first club competition for agility. There will be a total of 3 competitions and the points will be added together at the last competition. The competition is open for our members that train agility with us.

This first competition we will do a agility course, a jumping and a gambling. It starts at 6:30 pm. Spectators welcome.

Pictures of the first outdoor sessions this year.

2010-06-22T12:44:00.000+01:00

In April we went from training in the hall to training outdoor on the field. For most dogs this was a new experience as up till April this year all the classes were held at the village hall in Wigtoft. But as we acquired the field we finally could offer outdoor obedience classes which has made a tremendous improvement in a lot of dog's training. Here are some pictures of the first sessions on the field. Dave was so kind to make some pictures of one of these first outdoor sessions in April for us, so we can share it with you.

Competitive obedience class (we have several levels in this class, but all handlers in this class train for competitions)

Stays- Doozer and Missy

Stays - handlers standing behind the dogs, you can see the dogs are not used to this yet and have turned round a little bit to see what their owners are doing.

Heelwork - Megan with Violet

Heelwork- Gillian with Honey

First step in training the recall with stand - Liz with Doozer

And also some pictures of one of the first lessons of the young dog obedience:

In the young dog obedience classes we do some socialisation as well as the regular obedience exercises. This lesson we taught the dogs that walking through a tunnel was great fun! Kelly with Neala in the tunnel.

Fast recalls, Bear is running to his mum Liz.

Neala is one of the fastest dogs in the class (recalls)

Cheryl and Sorrel doing some attention exercises

Bear is already a large dog but believe it or not, he is only 4.5 months old in this picture. Liz and Bear doing heelwork.

With special thanks to Dave Bruns for taking the pictures.

Mia on holiday

2010-06-22T08:58:00.000+01:00

Well trained dogs can be taken anywhere. One of our members on holiday:

Mia the beach bum

FCI World Championships Freestyle and HtM in Denmark

2010-06-18T19:02:00.000+01:00

We wish all participants and judges of this event the best of success and loads of fun.
If anyone is interested in reading up to date information and results, have a look at the following blog:

HtM and Freestyle World Championships 2010

Working hard

2010-06-16T16:11:00.000+01:00

on my new routine with Wizz.

Two weeks ago I decided in a spur of the moment that I was going to change my music for my next HtM competitions. New music, also means new routine. After playing with it a bit myself & training some new moves on it I phoned Hayley for some advice on moves. Together we worked out the new choreography. I am so excited about this. Hayley and I work really well together and it was so much fun. Must admit I was completely knackered yesterday after 2.5 hours of running around and so was Wizz. Today Wizz and I trained a bit (well one and a half hour) on the transitions and the moves and it is really SO MUCH FUN!!!!

our contact zones.

2010-06-08T11:44:00.000+01:00

After we had been let down by a local supplier of equipment (unsafe, and not ready in the time that was promised) we have ordered our A frame, dog walk threstles and see saw from Jaycee jumps. Adrian covered it with the rubber granules, and it is all looking really nice now. And above all it is safe and to KC standards.

Jaycee Jumps

Shearing pictures

2010-05-23T08:20:00.000+01:00

Before

during

after

Yep all of a sudden she looks a bit naked....all the other sheep were sniffing her and nuzzling her afterwards...was quite sweet to see.

Sheep shearing

2010-05-22T22:19:00.001+01:00

As we have started to shear the sheep you can already see one of them without a woolly coat when you drive by. The others will be done over the next few days........Must say the battery operated clippers are not working as well as we had hoped so the shearing takes longer than we would like. But so far the sheepies are very cooperative....pictures to follow :-)

Demos at Brant Broughton

2010-05-22T20:17:00.000+01:00

Black Jack DTC was invited to do some freestyle demos at the village faire at Brant Broughton. They asked for 3 people to do a demo, so Megan with Rogie, Adrian Long with Bramble and me and Wizzy did two demos and at the last demo we also let other people have a go at the sport with some hints and tips. The first demo was a huge success and we had a lot of spectators, but the second demo was at the end of the day so a lot of people had gone home by then. All dogs worked really well and we had a lovely time.

Here are some pictures of the second demo

Adrian Long with Bramble

Megan with Rogue

Hetty and Wizzy

Crazy stuff......

2010-05-21T15:59:00.000+01:00

Koda is such a funny boy to do training with. I had decided to click Rogie for walking on a barrel while the thing is rolling over the floor as she is frightened of everything that moves underneath her little feet (pavement slaps that are loose make her jump a mile in the air). But before I try something like that with her I would rather have a bit of experience, so had a go with Violet (not afraid of anything).

Koda watched and was determined he should have a go as well. So when I finished training with Vi and it was Koda's turn to train (obedience and freestyle) I took him off the lead that was hooked on a ground pen to put Vi on it and turned round to see him laying next to the barrel, looking very determined this was what he was going to do as well......He did really well actually (yes who could resist those sweet little eyes)...but he watched Vi so probably already figured out what to do.

Just got back from ....

2010-05-17T16:28:00.000+01:00

Germany late last night. It was the last flight still being allowed to come to London before the airspace was closed due to volcanic ash clouds. It was the last seminar of a series for Obedience Kreisgruppe 06 in the south of Germany. The series of seminars were meant only for trainers to help them teach others how to train their dogs for competitive obedience. It was nice to work with such an enthousiastic group of people. I hope they will all do well at competitions this year and the following years and I am sure I'll see some back at competitions or another seminar.

Happy training!

Hetty

what other people say about us

2010-05-17T10:08:00.000+01:00

I've added a new page to the website: http://www.blackjackdtc.com/references.html where other people write about their experiences with our training at seminars or weekly classes.

holiday in Italy - even during our holiday the dogs need to be trained

2010-05-11T09:59:00.003+01:00

Adrian and I were in Italy for a little break and also because I gave a clicker training seminar in Illasi. But even though we are on holiday, my dogs still like to be trained and continue their education. Some pictures of our training sessions below:

Koda doing heelwork

Koda - heelwork

Wizz - retrieve

Back to back

Back to front

Koda - jumping

Holding the stick with 2 paws

Holding the stick with one paw

Wizz having a drink

Skipping / being lame

Koda bowing away from me

Violet kicks

Violet kicking her legs

Wizz walking on his hind legs away from me

Lausen in the mountains jumping over a tree

Stefano had also organised some herding for us, unfortunately the way they train their dogs was not quite the same as what we do at home and I didn't want to confuse the young dogs, so in the end I only had a go with Violet on my own without the teacher. The field was hidden in between the houses in between the mountains. Pretty impressive scenery to do some herding! Thank you Stefano, we had a nice day !

My little flower boy in Illasi

Violet - just being Vi

How to teach your dog to drive a car

2010-05-11T08:36:00.000+01:00

Explanation on how to teach your dog to drive a car has been put on the Black Jack Website :
Teach your dog to drive a car :-)

Training days

2010-05-07T11:12:00.000+01:00

We are organising a barrel racing and longe training day on 25th of July and a clicker seminar on the 4th of September. More info on http://www.blackjackdtc.com/trainingday.html

I hope to see you all there!

Summer Fun Course

2010-05-06T12:56:00.000+01:00

Details of our Summer Fun Course are now online. We have 3 handlers places still available.

www.blackjackdtc.com/summer.html

Agility training last night

2010-05-05T17:47:00.000+01:00

Adrian had the chance to take some pictures at the agility training last night. It's a beginners group and it was their 4th lesson and first time on the contact zone.

Bite prevention for kids

2010-04-19T10:59:00.000+01:00

Something I found on the net and wanted to share with everyone. Dog bite incidents are very often in the news but not how to prevent them. According to the Centers for Disease Control and the American Veterinary Medical Association, most dog bite victims are children, and most bites are by the family pet or another dog known to the child. More dogs are euthanized for behavior issues, including biting, than any other cause.

We can help children and dogs by teaching kids and families how to read dog body language and act safely around dogs. Promoting clicker training as a hands-off way of building a bond of love and respect between child and dog is an excellent approach.

Doggone Safe is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to dog bite prevention through education and to dog bite victim support. More: http://www.doggonesafe.com/

Trees are boring to dogs. Be a Tree and a dog will just sniff and then go away. When was the last time you saw a dog chasing a tree?

Be a tree in any of these situations:

A strange dog comes near you (even if he seems friendly).

Any dog is making you feel uncomfortable, worried or scared.

A dog is chasing you.

Your own or a friend's dog is acting too frisky or excited.

Count in your head to the highest number you know and then start back at 1 again until the dog goes away or help comes.

Most dogs do not intend to scare or bite people, but they do like to investigate new people. Most dogs will chase a person who runs and will get more and more excited the more the person runs. Shouting or screaming is also exciting to dogs and can frighten some dogs. Being still and quiet is the best way to show a dog that you mean no harm and that you are not going to play with him or threaten him.

Links: Tools for Dog Bite Prevention Week 2008 by Joan Orr