huski Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Yay SnugglePuppy worked...it actually WORKED!!!!!!! The toy that mimics a real puppy with heart beat and heat pack had Miss Willow sound asleep within 2 minutes last night. No sreaming, whimpering or whining like the horrible last 3 nights...absolutley nothing, we didnt even have to cover her crate. She didnt stir until Maple woke her at 4.30am and then she went straight back to sleep :D We had one happy puppy which is all we wanted THANKYOU K9 Pro and Huski especially, your an absolute gem!!! You are welcome WL, great to hear it worked well :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 An update for anyone interested in Miss Willows going on's. She has slept through the past 2 nights...yippee!! wearing her big girl pants indeed :) She now doesn't make a peep through the night and is even silent 95% of the time in her play pen which compared to the first few days of screaming is a huge difference. The second crate I got from K9Pro is AMAZING!! Love the door system which is good because at first I was unsure about it but its actually great!! I was really lucky that the breeders booklet I got went through all the crate training and having a separate playpen etc so I was very prepared before we got her in that way....thankfully. The breeder also let me ask her a million questions some of them 2 or 3 times! Today I had my first what im guessing may become multiple phone consults with Steve from K9Pro and it was great! He was easy to talk to, informative and seemed to be a wealth of knowledge. He helped me a bit with both my dogs and I now have somethings to work on till our face to face lessons in June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 An update on Willow Her toilet training is going well, she now reliably goes out and goes pee and poo to the world toilet when ever we take her out. We still have an odd pee mistake but its because Iv'e left her too long. So the training has worked well. Her show training is going well and we had a great showing practice session with her breeder on Saturday. She was very good considering she was out with her sisters (3 of them). They had a really good play and run around at the end. Its was so good to see my breeder having them play and have fun at the end of the end of the session. Its so important to keep it fun I am finding out. I have a lesson with Luci Ellem today for our show training at 4pm. Im really looking forward to it. I have no idea if its the right path as ive heard she can be quite strong (everyone trains differently) but my puppy is pretty laid back and relaxed so im sure she can handle this training. We will find out :) Then I have also called Pauline Hartwell who runs the Castle Hill training classes. She is back at the end on June and has said she will give me some one on one before joining the group class. Then I can decide if I join Pauline or Luci's group classes depending on whose training fits best with my breeders. We then have our lesson with Steve from K9 Pro not this Wednesday but the next (this coming Saturday I have a lesson with my other dog). Im really looking forward to both lessons. I have had one trouble with Willow and thats her eating, shes not carrying enough weight but I just cant get her to eat enough, she is incredibly picky...any idea's?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stressmagnet Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 No ideas sorry on the eating. I own a Labrador! Just wanted so much to say how pretty Willow is and how she reminds me so much of my sister's first dog Casey. He was an absolute wonder and I miss him. I'll always have a huge soft spot for the breed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 I thought I would give you some feedback on my lesson today with Luci Ellem. We arrived and it started with me telling her about Willow, temperament, age, where I got her etc. Then I showed her how I stacked her and of course she was really good to stack - none of the wriggling we have had before. I explained to Luci about my shakes (due to medication and about the difficulty I have controlling her head and she explained that so long as the shakes were consistent it shouldn't worry Willow once she's use to them. She had me hold the lead high on the neck right on her ears with the ring under the middle of her chin to stack her with Willows chin resting on her palm which seemed to give me more control of the head, my thumb was also free for more control when I could coordinate everything. Every time willow would turn her head I would immediately place it back into position with my other hand. Luci handled willow really well, not too rough or forceful but direct.saying that Willow is a very easy going puppy so doesn't present much issue. To move her legs the front was moved from the elbow so her leg did not bend and the line was kept through the shoulder to the foot. She said the hind legs should be placed as wide as the hips. She wasn't even pulling back and we didnt have to bait her which was great. We practiced running encouraging her head up with no pulling, I took cabonossi, roast chicken and cheese so she enjoyed bits of all 3. She also loves to sit so we started encouraging her to stand on command. She then had a big break whilst Lucci and I chatted about the ring, crating, horses, about Willow and her confirmation, temperament etc. She seemed very impressed with her on all fronts!! Said I was also lucky to get a puppy from a breeder such as I have, I strongly agree!!!!! We then did triangles which, because we were doing in a confined area indoors it was good as I had to be very precise and small unlike when I tried with you. She taught me the turn in front of the judge at the end also and try to get willow to free stack which we got 75% of the time. Everything was very much what I have been learning from my breeder already just through different eyes. Next was up and back which willow performed perfectly straight...now we just need to practice with other dogs around! Lastly I stacked her again and she stacked perfectly twice :D Luci mentioned that I dont actually shake if I do things quickly its just if im slow and over thinking...maybe I just need to not think lol. Overall an amazing lesson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 A long awaited update and so much has happened. In order of whats been happening First off was a lesson with Steve Courtney fro K9Pro, I have already touched on this in another post so wont write much but he has set me on a great path with her. She is obsessed with her prey/tug toy and we have a great time playing with this. She is also learning her restrained recalls really well with great enthusiasm. We then went off to our first show in Gunnedah (it was actually the Coonabarabran show but held at Gunnedah). Gunnedah present some gorgeous show grounds and we stayed at the near by Mackellar Hotel because of the expected cold nights. Willow turned 12weeks exactly on the first day of the show so we got to compete in all 3 days which made the trip very much worth the 6hr drive. She travelled amazingly, especially as we had a longer trip than expected on the way up as we had to go up the coast road so I had reception as I had a phone interview. She was the only baby puppy entered in the bitch class so 'won' all 3 classes, it would of been nice to have some competition but it was great experience for both of us. I learnt so much all weekend. She was very very playful and some classes she ran out superbly other she stacked superbly, some she leapt at the other puppies wanting to play others she tied to play with me but one thing for sure she loved the experience right until we left the show ground on Sunday afternoon with a tail wag to say goodbye. She even got a 2nd run out in her sweepstakes the first day, the placings ended up going to the older puppies but she was the youngest in the class and it was my first class ever so I was stoked!! This weekend were off to the ACT for our 2nd show which im super excited about. I will admit were staying in a hotel again....it will be brrr cold in Canberra and my Mum and Dad have the bike caravan in Mildura for a motorbike competition with my brother so no option but the hotel. Were in for the Sweepstakes and the Baby Puppy Bitch classes and I hope we will be ok and not last in every class especially her baby puppy class Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Well we survived a freezing Canberra last weekend and I mean -6 degrees at night and when we lefts the show on the Sunday at 12pm it was still only 3 degrees!! My hands were so cold and purple I tried to stack Willow for one claass but couldn't feel my hands and had to apologise to the judge how embarassing Anyway my girl was a star and although at this show we had some issues with our running our stacking improved . We even got a second call out in the sweepstakes! She also won both baby puppy classes from the line up of her....cant wait till we have some competition, all good practice for me though and thats exactly what I need. I think the best bit of the weekend was when the sweepstakes judge pulled me aside after the judging and asked if I was new (I think he already knew this lol but was being polite) and said I have a really good puppy there but I just need to work on my confidence and lead work. Talk about a boost of motivation and drive to keep working even harder and push myself for more :D :D :D !! So now back into hospital where I have been for the last 2weeks. I got a weekend pass to compete at Canberra and will hopefully get a weekend pass to compete at Bungendore this weekend. It might take some pleading with my doctor but I really really want to go even if I do sleep for the next 24hrs straight lol So for now Bye to All WL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 Well for 7 days things have just been a whirl-wind of training and events!! First off was a well deserved rest day for Willow from training on Monday. She just got to play chases with her best buddies 6month old Border Collier girl Oaki. I dont know where she or they get their energy from really... Tuesday Mum brought Willow into me in hospital and we went to the local park so I could train her. It was ok but for the first time I felt a bit stalled in our training, just like it wasn't coming together especially after watching the video's my husband took of us from Canberra. Wednesday was a huge day, firstly we had an amazing session with Willows breeder working through some training routines and little bits and pieces. I learnt so much as I always do. Then we went to the Castle Hill Training Night which was great. Thursday we took the big drive to Hill Top (1.5hrs away) for a 2nd lesson with Luci Ellem and I learnt so much. Coming from a horse world it was the equivalent of going for a lesson with one of the 'big wigs of the australian scene' lol I learnt so much. Of course I have no idea if Luci is a 'big wig' but at this stage she is helping and thats all that matters. I guess her way of teaching is working for me well. Friday we headed in two directions, Willow went to the hair stylist to be washed and I went for a pre employment medical then we were off to Bundgendore :) I also clipped her up for the first time myself that night, a bit rough but not too terrible Lucky my doctor gave me a pass to get out of hospital for the 2 nights to compete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 So now the competition, it was cold but no where as cold as the weekend before in Canberra! We did get snow on Sunday in the surrounding hills Saturday brought us no placing in the sweepstakes but she worked amazingly and everything I had learnt in Luci's lesson I brought forward to the ring which is all I could ask for. She also won her Baby puppy class but no luck in the best puppy in group. The best part of the weekend came on Sunday when she placed 3rd out of 14 puppies in the sweepstakes 3-6months!! I have won so many national horse titles but I have never been so happy to win a 3rd place lol. She also won her Baby Puppy Class the clever thing :) So now another Monday rest day then training tomorrow, I say training but training only ever goes for 5-10 mins and its all fun. A lesson with Luci on Thursday and the North of the Coast on Saturday and Sunday at Erskine Park. Its going to be a big show for the springers with 31 entered on Saturday and 29 on Sunday including having 3 of her siblings in her Baby puppy bitch class oooh no we aint in Kansas any more I got some photos taken while we were in Bungendore so will put some up if they come up ok :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 This weekend we took on the big leagues at North of the Harbour at Erskine Park and whoa was I nervous! The first day was terrible, I just couldn't get my things together but by the 2nd class on the 2nd day things had improved quite a bit and we managed to come 2nd to her full sister in her baby puppy class. I was really happy with this. It just showed me how much I have to learn!!!!! I was so down on Saturday night but every day is a new day I guess. and it was only my 4th show ever as my husband kept reminding me. Im buying a photo of her from Bungendore will post it as soon as I get it in my inbox she's grown up so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliecat Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) I love reading these updates! Congrats on taking out 2nd place, I don't know much about the show side of things but it sounds like you're working hard and learning heaps! Edited July 20, 2015 by Taliecat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poocow Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Keep battling on Just remember your breeders are seasoned showies who have been doing this a long time. You're onlu learning so don't stress about making mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 I love reading these updates!Congrats on taking out 2nd place, I don't know much about the show side of things but it sounds like you're working hard and learning heaps! Thanks for posting Taliecat :) I didnt know if anyone was reading the posts as I never get any replies or comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 Keep battling onJust remember your breeders are seasoned showies who have been doing this a long time. You're onlu learning so don't stress about making mistakes. Thanks Poocow x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlaznHotAussies Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I read through this last night :) very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing - Willow is gorgeous, English Springer Spaniels are definitely on my list of "One day" dogs :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 you and Willow are learning together :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogs Are Forever Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Not true!!!! I am following Willow with great interest, had hoped to get out to EP last weekend but it didn't happen. Poocow is an experienced exhibitor and she is right, just keep getting out there and giving it a go. Hopefully I will meet you and Willow soon. Looking forward to the Bungendore pic when you receive it! Thanks for posting Taliecat :) I didnt know if anyone was reading the posts as I never get any replies or comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackiemad Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I've been reading and loving it - I just didn't have anything useful to contribute! So please keep posting as it's a really interesting journey to have documented and I'm sure others besides me are reading and enjoying :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Willow - Bungendore July 2015 3months 3weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogie Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I am enjoying it too - but like others didn't have anything useful to add. Thanks for sharing your journey, don't stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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