Thursday 30th October

Hello,

Here is the current scene at LGT! We have had a very unusual 4 inches of snow over Wednesday night. I was actually training until 7pm in possibly the worst conditions Ive ever trained in!

Today I had to cancel all of my lessons but im hopeful that tomorrow the course will be okay!

I have a training day on Sunday on the Welsh coast at Aberystwyth, thankfully its in doors!

Enjoy these pictures I took earlier!

Denmark - Sunday 26th

Today was very productive if not a little bit wet! We covered contacts, discrimination and courses. I started the day off with a talk (inside!) with the use of a laptop and some of Scott’s videos from my website to demonstrate foundation training, progression and long term results.

We then went on to break the group up in three groups of four, and despite the rain and wind, built on the contact theory we had previously discussed. After an 90 minutes and an assessment of everyone’s method we moved on the discrimination of obstacles, using seesaw and weaves, tunnel under A-frame and dog-walk.

We then went on to look at this course in the afternoon, which enabled handlers to draw together everything we had done over the weekend. The group worked really well and I was very pleased with the progress.



I would like to especially thank Lars Bang for the fantastic time I have had here in Denmark, and thanks to everyone in the training seminar for being a pleasure to train!

Keep up the hard work!

I fly back to BHX at 10am (UK time) tomorrow morning. Lee

Denmark - Saturday 25th

Today was a really good day. I had a group of 12 for the whole day and had decided upon a list of things I wanted to cover over the weekend, these were as follows:

Warm-up Theory/Routine
Waits
Directional’s
Turns & Cross Behinds
Send-A-ways
Boxes
Weave Entries & Pick ups
Pull Through’s
Contacts & Contact Method Theory (including teaching and reinforcement)
Obstacle Discrimination
Course Walking
Handling Courses




Today we got as far as doing the pull through’s. Everyone worked really well and enjoyed what we did. The weather was great and we had a lot of fun (and some very nice Danish Cakes too!)




Tomorrow the weather forecast is not great though, and I want to do everything on the list from contacts, which is first up tomorrow!
I’m feeling pretty tired now, early night I think! Lee

Denmark - Friday 24th

Hello - I’ve had a fantastic time in and around Copenhagen today. Lars showed me a Castle called Kronborg from which I could see Sweden, and we went to visit the iconic Little Mermaid in Copenhagen docks.



Tomorrow we will be training for around 6 hours. Saturday I intend to do lots of exercises and cover everything (contacts, turns, weaves, etc) and Sunday build on that to work on handling courses.








Enjoy the photos (It was raining/windy so hard/much!!) Best wishes to everyone - Lee

Training weekend Denmark - Thursday 23rd

Good day,

Today I fly to Copenhagen, Denmark for my training weekend. The flight is at 7pm from Birmingham and Im looking forward to the weekend. I have lots planned.

The weather is however very rough, and Im not looking forward to the flight quite as much!!

Have my camera also :)

Newton Heath Training Day Review

Firstly I would like to thank NHDTC for their great hospitality, food, and banter! It was a real pleasure doing the training day and I had great fun. We covered and built upon the stuff we had done 7 months ago in March, and everyone went away pleased and having learnt something. That always makes me happy.


We did 3 x 2 hour sessions, which enabled me to focus on each group very specifically. We looked at sending dogs on to obstacles from a tight angle turn, cross behinds, discrimination (decision making), and weaves (I in fact based a lot of the exercises on weave entries and pickups). There is a diagram of the hardest weave approach we looked at. All the dogs got it in the end, we had to break the exercise down and look at directing the dog from the first of the jumps, not the second. I encouraged handlers to take their time at the first jump, not rush to the second.

I had Scotty with me also, and he found this weave entry also. I was very pleased with the day as a whole and look forward the NHDTC show in November.

Im heading to Copenhagen this Thursday for the training weekend and I will try and keep the blog updated!




Check out the photos. Best wishes, Lee

16 October Update & 6-7 Jumping Course

Hello, Ive been doing lots of training with Scott this week, as well as planning my training day on Saturday.

I said I would upload a course plan for everyone to practice, its the course I used in Belfast for grade 6-7 jumping. Course time 50 seconds! Enjoy... and dont rush the weave entry!!!

Update 13th October

I have not been up to much of particular relevance for the last few days, so haven’t had much to post here!! It’s been a weekend off from agility spent down in Cardiff.

I have been training Scotty on the weaves again, and he is picking some really good entrances up, I’m very pleased. I have a fairly busy week this week of training, and also am going to Hereford for a training night tomorrow and Manchester for a training day Saturday, which should be fun as I had a lot of fun when I was last up there!

Hope everyone is well, best wishes - Lee

Belfast Judging Review

Sunday 5th October: Sunday was also my birthday (thank you to everyone who sent best wishes etc) and I was pleased that the weather was dry and not wet like the day before. I had 12 classes to judge and had designed a jumping course that I could easily adapt for each class. I will just like to say that I don’t actually like judges to set course similar from the one before, but I had a flight booked at 6.30pm and also I built the ring myself as there was very few ring party, so I decided to keep changes to a minimum!

The classes ran well, and I enjoyed my day. I had a particularly challenging grade 6/7 jumping course that was really fun to handle. (I will try and get a copy on here soon).

I flew back into Birmingham at half 7, and drove home. I was shattered by the time I got home. I would however like to thank the lovely people I met, both in training, at the show and socially. I was looked after so well all week (I can’t seem to get an Ulster Fry in Shrewsbury!) and the friendliness of everyone was fantastic.

Next up in three weekend’s time is a training weekend in Denmark with some of the people I met at Dania Cup 2008.

For now it’s training in the tipping rain back In Shropshire. Will get Scotty back into weave training soon!

Judging October 4th Belfast

Today was one of the most eventful days judging ever! The ground was not good at the venue, I ran 3 classes before calling a halt due to dog/competitor safety. The whole show then ground to a halt as conditions got even worse.

I stated on record that I would not judge on that ground, but an alternative venue had been found (some ones training venue) and the show was moved to that venue for tomorrow.

It was suggested that the YKC qualifier class should be at the new venue today, and after I saw the new ground it was agreed to run that class there, which we did.

I have about 11 jumping classes to judge tomorrow and then my flight home at 6.30pm. Im hoping for some dry weather...

Well done to the LGT crew at Lune Valley.

Belfast Training & Judging - Friday 4.45am

Hello.

After finally going to bed about half 4 after a good night out in Belfast, most of today has been spent relaxing.

Yesterdays training sessions was really good. I had some really good feedback and I think everyone went away having learnt something and understood some of the key points I made.

I made a point of thoroughly explaining the contact foundation work, and the importance of sticking to the key concepts and stages to achieve consistent reliable contacts. I use my training with Scott as bases to work/talk through the stages.
Here is a small selection of photo’s from yesterdays training session.



I am setting up my courses later today ready for judging tomorrow, rain is forecast apparently!

All the best - Lee

Belfast Friday 2.50am

This afternoon and evening have been very busy. I trained two groups for 3 hours each, we did loads of work on turns and contacts. A certain handler who goes by the neame of Louise, did very well, and I told her that if she tried a little harder, she could do a bit better!!

Full report to come tomorrow + pics.

I have been out in Belfast City this evening :)

Thursday 10.30am

Arrived safe and well in Belfast. Am now taking a power nap before training at 2pm. I have the group lists and information.

The people I am staying with seem lovely, I had the biggest breakfast ever (yes I have had two today) and have a pot (yes a pot not just a mug!) in my room... Bliss!!

The venue this afternoon is indoors, but the weather here so far is great. Am hoping to do some turn work and motivational work also this afternoon.

Am heading out into the city this evening, not sure how im getting back yet!

Sleep time now, and then an "ulster fry" at 12pm... I await with interest :)

Belfast Training & Judging - Thursday 6.30am

Good day,

Sat here with bacon roll and a tea (what else!) waiting to board my flybe flight to Belfast City. Was a 3.30am alarm call this morning, so I am hoping for a sleep or so on the plane and where I am staying before training kicks off today at 2pm. I am hoping to do some good work with the groups, giving them an idea of the key issues I believe are important (what I train at LGT) and help improve the training methods used.

More updates soon. Now I have a plane to board :)

Lee