Happy New Year 2010
Well, a simple message from me for the dawn of 2010.
It has been an eventful last 12 months, there have been many highs, lows, moments of sheer joy, and moments of utter disappear.
There will have been exciting, happy times. Times that you will always remember, moments you wish had never ended, experiences that you were all too glad that they had, and as it turned out most recently, moments in your life when you realise your surrounded by so many fantastic people who when you really need them, are willing to do all they can to help you.
That is a special feeling. In fact it keeps you even more motivated and determined to succeed.
That is, as I believe, is what we should embrace and take into the New Year. The special people in your life are special for a reason. Mine are, and I will try my best to be for them.
I wish a healthy and successful 2010 for everyone.
Live it, and live it well.
Lee
www.leegibsontraining.com
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Thank you to everyone – the happy ending to this story!
Thank you thank you thank you everybody!
Scott and Flynn are back home and safe. I was reunited with them at around 7pm Tuesday evening. They had been missing since 12.30pm Christmas eve. We are still not sure quite why they went, they certainly don’t chase sheep, and maybe followed a walker or were encouraged to follow them... we really don’t know.
They firstly were sighted at All Stretton, at a farm. They were fed, but not caught and were still roaming around. Sometime in the evening of Christmas eve, they were sighted in the town of Church Stretton. I have been told that they were very close to being knocked down by a car, so they are very lucky.
A lady and husband managed to catch the dogs. The incident was reported to the police but they failed to make a connection between two missing border collies on Christmas evening in SY5, and two border collies found on Christmas evening in SY6.
So Scott and Flynn were taken to their new home about six miles away from our house at a farm / small house. They were looked after by a lady and two men for the next few days...
Meanwhile my parents had a horrible Christmas, having rang national trust, police, local farms etc, nothing at all came up. Every few minutes they went out to shout and look, however most of the time they were out anyway searching the hills with our neighbours.
As some of you know I was in fact abroad in Scandinavia, and only found out about the seriousness of the situation on my return 10pm Sunday evening. I was gutted, as it was already a few days on. However I believed I could & would find them, or what happened to them if I dug deep enough, and acted fast. Both dogs were micro chipped, so I was hopeful that they would be scanned!
So at 10pm, driving back from Birmingham airport, we set about getting the word spread everywhere. I contacted some of my close agility friends who took on certain aspects of the search for me. Clare Donnelly is my vet, and she immediately started networking those avenues. I posted on my blog, twitter, and Facebook. Many of you saw the news through this.
Ceri Jones and Dave Russell also took on a lead role in the next few hours. Monday morning I was up early and phoning numbers I had pulled off the net, and liaising with Ceri, Clare & Mum (who was speaking to every farmer in South Shropshire!) about any possible leads.
After speaking to a nice lady at www.doglost.co.uk and another national search co-ordinator (who also went to great lengths to tell me off for being a bad dog owner!) Ceri, David and I began littering various area’s with posters.
The information was now circulated nationally on websites and related forums. Agilityaddicts forum being one.
My phone was going crazy, so many kind offers of help and people wanting to come and help look, or asking what they could do. This was amazing and really humbled me, but my belief was that the dogs were not loose and running, but were somewhere being held, or taken, or, well you know what you think in those situations. We had to get some clue.
Alice and Christine took charge of ringing the radio stations for me, and after I had driven around to Church Stretton to put up posters, I returned home at about 4.30pm with still nothing to go on at all.
At about 5pm Monday evening I got a call from Ceri, who sounded positive about something. She had heard from a friend, that someone had seen the posters and recalled a convocation in a local pub that two strays had been picked up on Christmas eve. She gave me a description and a pub to head to, which I promptly did.
The put was the called the Crown Inn, at Wentnor. I went in with my poster and asked if anyone knew of this person who had claimed to have taken in two strays. The locals were very helpful and sent me toward a nearby farm...
This farm turned out to be the wrong place. It was a double farmhouse with a old lady being the only one in. I could see her sat in her front room in her arm chair, asleep in front of the TV. Of course I was desperate to speak to her, and eventually nearly gave her heart failure by banging on the living room windows. She thought I was a thief, and would barely open the door in case I robbed her. So I had little joy so headed back to the pub to ask again.
This time a local fella spoke to me and said the place I wanted to try was down the other way, so we both jumped into the van again and drove to the small building in the middle of nowhere. Sure enough we had located them!
We opened the front/barn door, and were greeted by two men and a very content Scott & Flynn. They had been looked after very, well, and I was told that they were not going to take these lovely dogs to a kennels or anything, but wait for someone to claim them... they also said they would miss Scott & Flynn a lot as they had ‘settled in so well!’
I went back to the pub to tell them the good news, and then I took them home and let them barge in on Mum and Dad, the dogs were happy, Mum and Dad were happy, and I was overjoyed. Really over joyed.
What has amazed me the most is the amount of support I have had over the last few days. I have so many people to thank, the local vets, kennels, councils, national trust, pub owners and drinkers. The people who helped me especially, there are so many to name but Ceri Jones and David Russel did such a lot without asking. Thank you so much.
To everyone who has posted on the forum, on my Facebook (I have not had time to get on there yet, as we only have dial-up internet but I will do!), the people who offered to come and help look from literally North, South, East and West.. it means such a lot, it really does.
A big thank you to everyone who contacted me by mail, phone, and internet, and everyone who helped. I am trying to get round to speaking to everyone, but the story ended happily for all!
Happy New year to everyone!
Lee, Lyn & Row, Scott & Flynn (from their ball and chain!)
Scott and Flynn are back home and safe. I was reunited with them at around 7pm Tuesday evening. They had been missing since 12.30pm Christmas eve. We are still not sure quite why they went, they certainly don’t chase sheep, and maybe followed a walker or were encouraged to follow them... we really don’t know.
They firstly were sighted at All Stretton, at a farm. They were fed, but not caught and were still roaming around. Sometime in the evening of Christmas eve, they were sighted in the town of Church Stretton. I have been told that they were very close to being knocked down by a car, so they are very lucky.
A lady and husband managed to catch the dogs. The incident was reported to the police but they failed to make a connection between two missing border collies on Christmas evening in SY5, and two border collies found on Christmas evening in SY6.
So Scott and Flynn were taken to their new home about six miles away from our house at a farm / small house. They were looked after by a lady and two men for the next few days...
Meanwhile my parents had a horrible Christmas, having rang national trust, police, local farms etc, nothing at all came up. Every few minutes they went out to shout and look, however most of the time they were out anyway searching the hills with our neighbours.
As some of you know I was in fact abroad in Scandinavia, and only found out about the seriousness of the situation on my return 10pm Sunday evening. I was gutted, as it was already a few days on. However I believed I could & would find them, or what happened to them if I dug deep enough, and acted fast. Both dogs were micro chipped, so I was hopeful that they would be scanned!
So at 10pm, driving back from Birmingham airport, we set about getting the word spread everywhere. I contacted some of my close agility friends who took on certain aspects of the search for me. Clare Donnelly is my vet, and she immediately started networking those avenues. I posted on my blog, twitter, and Facebook. Many of you saw the news through this.
Ceri Jones and Dave Russell also took on a lead role in the next few hours. Monday morning I was up early and phoning numbers I had pulled off the net, and liaising with Ceri, Clare & Mum (who was speaking to every farmer in South Shropshire!) about any possible leads.
After speaking to a nice lady at www.doglost.co.uk and another national search co-ordinator (who also went to great lengths to tell me off for being a bad dog owner!) Ceri, David and I began littering various area’s with posters.
The information was now circulated nationally on websites and related forums. Agilityaddicts forum being one.
My phone was going crazy, so many kind offers of help and people wanting to come and help look, or asking what they could do. This was amazing and really humbled me, but my belief was that the dogs were not loose and running, but were somewhere being held, or taken, or, well you know what you think in those situations. We had to get some clue.
Alice and Christine took charge of ringing the radio stations for me, and after I had driven around to Church Stretton to put up posters, I returned home at about 4.30pm with still nothing to go on at all.
At about 5pm Monday evening I got a call from Ceri, who sounded positive about something. She had heard from a friend, that someone had seen the posters and recalled a convocation in a local pub that two strays had been picked up on Christmas eve. She gave me a description and a pub to head to, which I promptly did.
The put was the called the Crown Inn, at Wentnor. I went in with my poster and asked if anyone knew of this person who had claimed to have taken in two strays. The locals were very helpful and sent me toward a nearby farm...
This farm turned out to be the wrong place. It was a double farmhouse with a old lady being the only one in. I could see her sat in her front room in her arm chair, asleep in front of the TV. Of course I was desperate to speak to her, and eventually nearly gave her heart failure by banging on the living room windows. She thought I was a thief, and would barely open the door in case I robbed her. So I had little joy so headed back to the pub to ask again.
This time a local fella spoke to me and said the place I wanted to try was down the other way, so we both jumped into the van again and drove to the small building in the middle of nowhere. Sure enough we had located them!
We opened the front/barn door, and were greeted by two men and a very content Scott & Flynn. They had been looked after very, well, and I was told that they were not going to take these lovely dogs to a kennels or anything, but wait for someone to claim them... they also said they would miss Scott & Flynn a lot as they had ‘settled in so well!’
I went back to the pub to tell them the good news, and then I took them home and let them barge in on Mum and Dad, the dogs were happy, Mum and Dad were happy, and I was overjoyed. Really over joyed.
What has amazed me the most is the amount of support I have had over the last few days. I have so many people to thank, the local vets, kennels, councils, national trust, pub owners and drinkers. The people who helped me especially, there are so many to name but Ceri Jones and David Russel did such a lot without asking. Thank you so much.
To everyone who has posted on the forum, on my Facebook (I have not had time to get on there yet, as we only have dial-up internet but I will do!), the people who offered to come and help look from literally North, South, East and West.. it means such a lot, it really does.
A big thank you to everyone who contacted me by mail, phone, and internet, and everyone who helped. I am trying to get round to speaking to everyone, but the story ended happily for all!
Happy New year to everyone!
Lee, Lyn & Row, Scott & Flynn (from their ball and chain!)
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Two Missing Dogs Shropshire - Please Help
On Christmas eve around 12.00pm two of our dogs went missing. Scott is a Tri colour, and Flynn is a Red and White. Both Intire Males, Both Microchipped.
Both dogs were at home - Ratlinghope, 5 miles west of Church Stretton (SY50SR) when they went missing
Police and local authorities have been informed...
Any help really appreciated.
Lee - 01588650638
Both dogs were at home - Ratlinghope, 5 miles west of Church Stretton (SY50SR) when they went missing
Police and local authorities have been informed...
Any help really appreciated.
Lee - 01588650638
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Tonsberg, Stavangar, Frankfurt, Hotel, Birmingham, Shrewsbury.. home!
Hi,
I have just returned to England.. only 19 hours late and after 3 separate flights, two rescheduled journeys, and a overnight stay in Frankfurt...
I am shattered.. still in the clothes I left Tonsberg in yesterday morning, tired, fed up of queuing in lines at the airports, cancelled flights and hundreds and hundreds of stranded passengers struggling to get home for Christmas.
My route originally was from Tonsberg to Amsterdam and then to BHX, but they rerouted me first flying from Tonsberg to Stavanger (5 hours later) then fly to Frankfurt, and then to Birmingham, however when we made it to Frankfurt, the flights were grounded due to the horrendous snow. So then ensued hours of lining up for a hotel voucher, transport to a nearby hotel, trying to phone Lufthansa (which was a joke!) dinner at 1.30am...
This morning I woke up at 6am to go and start queing again at Lufthansa tickets (the que was an hour and a half long) and then I was only placed on a ‘waiting list’ for the morning flight to Birmingham. To be honest Lufthansa and Frankfurt airport were pretty poor with communications, and I will avoid using either again. However once I was flying back to Birmingham I was just pleased to be back. Am writing this from a train trying to get back to Shrewsbury now. I sometimes think about planting a tree for the CO2 with all this touring of Europe!
Today I did have lessons booked, but I believe the ground is frozen anyway, so the fact I was stuck abroad did not ultimately matter, I guess!
Good luck if you are travelling this Christmas, and as for wishing for a white Christmas, +15 would do me nicely thank you!
www.leegibsontraining.com
I have just returned to England.. only 19 hours late and after 3 separate flights, two rescheduled journeys, and a overnight stay in Frankfurt...
I am shattered.. still in the clothes I left Tonsberg in yesterday morning, tired, fed up of queuing in lines at the airports, cancelled flights and hundreds and hundreds of stranded passengers struggling to get home for Christmas.
My route originally was from Tonsberg to Amsterdam and then to BHX, but they rerouted me first flying from Tonsberg to Stavanger (5 hours later) then fly to Frankfurt, and then to Birmingham, however when we made it to Frankfurt, the flights were grounded due to the horrendous snow. So then ensued hours of lining up for a hotel voucher, transport to a nearby hotel, trying to phone Lufthansa (which was a joke!) dinner at 1.30am...
This morning I woke up at 6am to go and start queing again at Lufthansa tickets (the que was an hour and a half long) and then I was only placed on a ‘waiting list’ for the morning flight to Birmingham. To be honest Lufthansa and Frankfurt airport were pretty poor with communications, and I will avoid using either again. However once I was flying back to Birmingham I was just pleased to be back. Am writing this from a train trying to get back to Shrewsbury now. I sometimes think about planting a tree for the CO2 with all this touring of Europe!
Today I did have lessons booked, but I believe the ground is frozen anyway, so the fact I was stuck abroad did not ultimately matter, I guess!
Good luck if you are travelling this Christmas, and as for wishing for a white Christmas, +15 would do me nicely thank you!
www.leegibsontraining.com
Monday, 21 December 2009
LGT on Twitter
I have set up one of these "Twitter" accounts for myself and LGT...
http://twitter.com/LeeGibsonLGT
Regards - Lee
http://twitter.com/LeeGibsonLGT
Regards - Lee
Tonsberg agility training
Hello, This is the first time I have been able to get onto my blog since I have been away! The last two days over the weekend have been really good fun. We have been training contact pieces and the importance of fine exact details with regard to the contacts. Yesterday we developed the idea of independence with the weaves also, encouraging dogs to be independent and drive into the weave whilst remaining accurate with the weave entry itself.
The weather has been very wintery here over the weekend. It was -14 when I arrived. This morning it was still -6. Has snowed most of the time also, although everything carries on!
Here are the two course plans from the weekend – (see below)
Thank you to Birgitte for another great stay, and everyone on the course for a fantastic attitude and application. Keep up the good work! A well done to my fellow trainer Lars Bang who was teaching cross behinds and worked his group really well.
Nina Hansen has taken some great photos of the weekend, so I will get some of those loaded up on here as soon as I can! Thanks for letting me use those.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Flying
Flying to Norway today (16.40)!
Slighly colder than the UK, but not much im sure. Will update later!
Lee
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
The LGT xmas meal... pics!
These are a selection of pictures from the LGT meal last Saturday. Thank you everyone for coming, it was a super evening!
Lee
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Rugby show and LGT meal
Hello,
I had a very energetic weekend. At Rugby show Scott and Jack both were clear in the agility and both knocked a pole in the jumping class. I left before the prize giving so don’t know where I finished.
The LGT Christmas dinner was Saturday evening. I have some pictures and I will try and get those uploaded to here. It was a fantastic evening.
Sunday I had a day of lessons and then Monday took Anna to Heathrow to fly her and her dog back to Finland. I left at 2am!! Never had so much pro plus and coffee in one day. After visiting my Aunt in London and coming back to Shrewsbury, we had 3 40min games of 5-a-side, I collapsed in bed last night!
Today I have spend shipping DVD’s!
I am now looking forward to training in Norway this weekend. I have heard it is rather cold in Scandinavia right now!?
Pictures coming soon..
www.leegibsontraining.com
I had a very energetic weekend. At Rugby show Scott and Jack both were clear in the agility and both knocked a pole in the jumping class. I left before the prize giving so don’t know where I finished.
The LGT Christmas dinner was Saturday evening. I have some pictures and I will try and get those uploaded to here. It was a fantastic evening.
Sunday I had a day of lessons and then Monday took Anna to Heathrow to fly her and her dog back to Finland. I left at 2am!! Never had so much pro plus and coffee in one day. After visiting my Aunt in London and coming back to Shrewsbury, we had 3 40min games of 5-a-side, I collapsed in bed last night!
Today I have spend shipping DVD’s!
I am now looking forward to training in Norway this weekend. I have heard it is rather cold in Scandinavia right now!?
Pictures coming soon..
www.leegibsontraining.com
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Wyre show, update of where and what I am doing & a fun course plan
At last I can write a few positive things on here for a change! Although when I planned to do this Monday I was in no fit state to write anything because of possible food poisoning or a viral bug. Which- ever it was, I do not want it again. A very un-enjoyable 24hours!
In fact I am a bit concerned about my ill-fated last few . First it was my ankle, two weeks later some idiot writes my car off by driving straight into me, another two weeks and I am crippled with food poisoning... and what am I doing in two weeks from now? Taking a flight...
Any way enough of that fate, I don’t think I have ran over mystic meg recently or broken any mirrors (yes Q the “did you look in one joke!”) so here’s my decent interesting blog update that I promised!
Tuesday was my recovery day, but being a man and not wanting to make a meal of anything ;) I had a couple of lessons and then a training night in Hereford.
We focused on discrimination and also so jump space exercises. It was a fun night, especially the hot punch that was served, went down a treat! The course plan is below. I have merged the three exercises in to one big super-sized discrimination course. It is fun, just don’t knock the first pole down, kind of ruins the rest!
Back to Saturday and the show at Wyre, we had a successful day. Jack had a 2nd in G7 Agility, a 7th in jumping and a 11th in the other agility. Che had a 15th in the jumping. Scotty was working very nicely. A couple of poles in the first two runs, but a great clear and 8th place in 6&7 agility at the end of the day was pleasing. Scott was 1.12 from the winner’s time, and 0.9 from second place.
Mum did well at the show with Flynn, having a 4th in 1-3 jumping and a 10th in 3-5 agility. Well done!
Sunday was another day of losing lessons because of the horrid weather, and the general state of the ground. The ground is not really in great shape this week but I have trained Tuesday, Wednesday and all being well some on Thursday & Friday.
Saturday the 12th is Rugby Christmas show, the warm up for the LGT Christmas Dinner in the evening. I am dead excited about it and look forward to seeing everyone in something different from muddy tracksuit trousers and fleeces... or should I say full waterproofs considering the recent weather! It was fun last year and this year will be just as good.
I am also planning for my up-coming training trip back to Scandinavia. I am returning back to Norway in a week and also meeting up with Lars Bang (Denmark) as we do a joint training seminar in Tonsberg, Norway (19th & 20th).
I will put some dinner photo’s up here soon. Yes I will wear a suit, and not the Santa suit I won at the Wyre raffle on Saturday, as amusing as it maybe, the leg piece is ultra small and would not leave much the imagination ;) and I do try to be modest if I can.
Before I go I have to make a shameless plug I am afraid. The LGT Workshop DVD. It would make a fantastic Christmas present. The DVD is packed full of exercises, course plans and training tips and ideas. It is broken down into 7 sections, including waits, obstacle discrimination, contacts & common traps, amongst others! I have had fantastic feedback and would like to thank everyone who has ordered it for supporting myself and Gina who helped me produce the DVD. I am sure you will find it useful.
Order direct from http://www.leegibsontraining.com/
Best wishes everyone. I will update hopefully after the dinner (I am sure there will be some very mature pictures from that!) and also from my time training in Norway next week.
Lee Gibson
http://www.leegibsontraining.com/
In fact I am a bit concerned about my ill-fated last few . First it was my ankle, two weeks later some idiot writes my car off by driving straight into me, another two weeks and I am crippled with food poisoning... and what am I doing in two weeks from now? Taking a flight...
Any way enough of that fate, I don’t think I have ran over mystic meg recently or broken any mirrors (yes Q the “did you look in one joke!”) so here’s my decent interesting blog update that I promised!
Tuesday was my recovery day, but being a man and not wanting to make a meal of anything ;) I had a couple of lessons and then a training night in Hereford.
We focused on discrimination and also so jump space exercises. It was a fun night, especially the hot punch that was served, went down a treat! The course plan is below. I have merged the three exercises in to one big super-sized discrimination course. It is fun, just don’t knock the first pole down, kind of ruins the rest!
Back to Saturday and the show at Wyre, we had a successful day. Jack had a 2nd in G7 Agility, a 7th in jumping and a 11th in the other agility. Che had a 15th in the jumping. Scotty was working very nicely. A couple of poles in the first two runs, but a great clear and 8th place in 6&7 agility at the end of the day was pleasing. Scott was 1.12 from the winner’s time, and 0.9 from second place.
Mum did well at the show with Flynn, having a 4th in 1-3 jumping and a 10th in 3-5 agility. Well done!
Sunday was another day of losing lessons because of the horrid weather, and the general state of the ground. The ground is not really in great shape this week but I have trained Tuesday, Wednesday and all being well some on Thursday & Friday.
Saturday the 12th is Rugby Christmas show, the warm up for the LGT Christmas Dinner in the evening. I am dead excited about it and look forward to seeing everyone in something different from muddy tracksuit trousers and fleeces... or should I say full waterproofs considering the recent weather! It was fun last year and this year will be just as good.
I am also planning for my up-coming training trip back to Scandinavia. I am returning back to Norway in a week and also meeting up with Lars Bang (Denmark) as we do a joint training seminar in Tonsberg, Norway (19th & 20th).
I will put some dinner photo’s up here soon. Yes I will wear a suit, and not the Santa suit I won at the Wyre raffle on Saturday, as amusing as it maybe, the leg piece is ultra small and would not leave much the imagination ;) and I do try to be modest if I can.
Before I go I have to make a shameless plug I am afraid. The LGT Workshop DVD. It would make a fantastic Christmas present. The DVD is packed full of exercises, course plans and training tips and ideas. It is broken down into 7 sections, including waits, obstacle discrimination, contacts & common traps, amongst others! I have had fantastic feedback and would like to thank everyone who has ordered it for supporting myself and Gina who helped me produce the DVD. I am sure you will find it useful.
Order direct from http://www.leegibsontraining.com/
Best wishes everyone. I will update hopefully after the dinner (I am sure there will be some very mature pictures from that!) and also from my time training in Norway next week.
Lee Gibson
http://www.leegibsontraining.com/
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Update Thursday
Sorry for the lack of updates, have had na ‘eventful’ week and have also been busy doing my lessons, in amongst the bad weather! I am hoping for some better weather soon for the ground to dry out a bit. I have trained today and its not been too bad.
Am off to Wyre show Saturday, should be fun. I am looking forward to it.
Some more and interesting updates soon!
Lee
www.leegibsontraining.com
Am off to Wyre show Saturday, should be fun. I am looking forward to it.
Some more and interesting updates soon!
Lee
www.leegibsontraining.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
