Midge - Another Successful Weekend

Wow! Midge did so well at the weekend. 

Karen's amazing girlie is now qualified for Advanced HTM and Intermediate FS.

Thanks to Fylde K9 Dancers for a super show.

Midge Competes Successfully

Good news from one of the youngest members of the Top Lodge Team.

Midge competed on May 3rd for the first time at the Intermediate level in Heelwork to Music where she took second place.

Karen is also very happy with the 3rd place rosette that Midge earned competing for the second time in Novice Freestyle.

A tired Midge posing by her rosettes and prizes from her successful weekend.

Oberammergau, Germany - A Return Visit

This was the third year for Kath and Karen to be invited to return to the beautiful "Passion Play" Bavarian Village of Oberammergau where their host Inge has fabulous facilities for the many dog training courses she organisers every year.  Her hotel "Hundesporthotel Wolf" is the centre point of the town - except every ten years when the Passion Plays are performed.

There are several spacious halls where the training takes place and once again, Kath and Karen were allocated Hall B.

Inside the roomy hall with  a non slip rubberised tiled floor and windows giving natural light down one side - the hall is approximately 50m x 20m and is perfect for training HTM and Freestyle.

A return guest was Sabine from Switzerland with her adorable "Snoopy".   Sabine had purchased a beautiful lead for Snoopy when supporting the Auction raising funds for Team GBR 2014. A delightful little dog, full of character who knows when to take "time out"!

 First on the list of "needs" from those attending was heelwork.

And of course how to keep your dog motivated whilst training so intensely, which another returning attendee, Barbara demonstrated perfectly!

 Barbara and her beautiful dog Pia.

Another candidate for Heelwork - this lovely young Blue Merle is usually chasing and catching frisbees so HTM makes a big difference!

And of course with such a huge area for training - everyone can be on the floor together with plenty of room for their personal space.

 Lunch break - and what a beautiful view.

 Snoopy perfecting his roll in a towel

And to finish - Sabine wanted him to be laid flat on his side - clicker training soon sorted this move out!

Midweek through the training and Wednesday was just half a day - luckily Karen and Kath were taken sightseeing by Barbara and her husband Kurt.  A chance to see more of this picturesque country.

They arrived at a Lake where Kurt thought he could hire a motor boat to take them around the lake, however he was to be disappointed as they were only hiring out pedalos!   Kath was suffering from a bad back (again!) but Karen and Kurt took to the pedals and off they went, only to be greeted by some wild horses who lived on an island in the lake.

This handler, Katharina, was another return attendee and during the year had given birth to a lovely baby girl. She certainly wasn't going to miss any opportunity to train and the baby was very comfortable in the sarong she wore.

 A very happy Claudia with Rufus the Frisbee dog who knows his reward very well!

And the week was soon over, finishing with a gathering around the hotel pool.  The weather had been remarkably good.

Time to say "Goodbye" to friends old and new - Kath and Karen thank everyone for supporting their training week and look forward to another return trip in 2016.

Westglen Show - Kath, Amber and Denby

Super results for Kath with Amber and Denby at
the Westglen HTM Competition,
Saturday 21st March 2015.

Amber was placed 2nd to the Crufts 2015 Winner and Denby placed 3rd in the first Advanced Heelwork To Music Semi Final Qualifier of this year.
The first two places qualify for the Crufts 2016 Semi Final in HTM so Amber is hopefully back on form after her burst eardrum at the semi finals 2015.  And Denby is gaining in confidence.

Westglen Show - great results for Karen and Midge

Well done to Karen and Midge. A great weekend at Westglen HTM Show where she was awarded one first (Novice HTM) and two second places (Novice HTM and Novice Freestyle).

Crufts 2015

Lesley and Dewy at Crufts 2015.
Dewy  had his first experience of working at Crufts this year.  

Lesley and Dewy had won their place in the Final after competing in the Semi Finals in January, so with new sparkly costume they set foot into the huge arena to dance to "Rasputin" by Boney M. 

There were a few scary moments for Dewy when he noticed the big overhead TV screens and the Boom Camera which kept zooming down to film him, but he kept his nerve and gave a great performance . Lesley is very proud of him!

Thanks to Allan Brown for the photographs

The Crufts 2015 Semi Final

CONGRATULATIONS to Lesley and her young dog Dewy for gaining 8th place in the Crufts 2015 Semi Final for Heelwork To Music.

If you want to support her in the Crufts Heelwork To Music Final, they will be competing at 11:35 am on Friday 6th March in the Main Arena.

GOOD LUCK LESLEY AND DEWY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!