Adventure Dog...

[Kay]

How did the Adventure day go with the girls? Did you and Ruby win or Martin and Maddie?

[Fran]

Well it was Adventure dog today The girls competed against each other in different teams. Both girls surprised both us and the trainers at Adventure dog just how well they did and we have been invited back and have been encouraged to get the girls trained up for working Trials
Maddie who was handled by hubby gained her Adventure dog excellent certificate and Ruby, handled by me but very ovbiously much younger than Maddie at not quite 14 months, handled by me, gained her Adventure dog certificate

We are so proud of both girls, who behaved impeccably throughout the day and put their heart and souls into the tasks set, having never done these things before. Well done girls!!

Needless to say that both the girls and hubby and I are absolutely shattered this evening but what a lovely day. We shall certainly go again! I'm afraid that it was such an intensive day that we didn't managed any piccies

[Fran]

Originally Posted by Kay

How did the Adventure day go with the girls? Did you and Ruby win or Martin and Maddie?

I'm afraid Martyn won But both girls were winners in our eyes and Ruby for her age and experience, impressed the judges very very much, they seriously want me to consider training for her

[smudgley]

Sounds excellnt fran, glad it went well.

[Kay]

That's brilliant Fran. Well done all of you. Lets face it though you trained them both so Martyn didn't really win did he . Don't tell him I said that . Give Maddie and Ruby a big hug from Auntie Kay.

[Fran]

Thanks Kay, yes I did a bit of work with the girls to get them ready for today as hubby works a lot and has less time. I could never have predicted what the tasks would be as they differ on each adventure day and we have never been to one before....

The first task was a search a square, Ruby managed to find 9 articles including 3 'bonus' articles (The most any dog found in our team ) Maddie was not as good at this but managed a few articles.

The second test and both girls excelled at this - agility. Bear in mind that the girls have never been through tunnels or jumped through tyres and have never climbed up ramps walked along a plank and back down again but both girls did all these tasks Maddie was a littel quicker in time than Ruby. We missed out the really big jumps and 'A' frames, seesaw etc and we were not penisilzed as these could be dangerous for dogs that have not been trained in these.

The next test was searching for people. One group hid and the other group and their dogs found and then the roles were reversed. Our group managed to find one more person than hubby's group

The last test involved a number of articles which you had to use to get all the dogs in your team to the other side of the field (and this was quite a distance) but without any dog's paws touching the ground Each dog had to have a different method for doing this task and this was the most demanding task of the day, trying to work out our options with the materials available Both Maddie and Ruby got to the other end of the field on bails of hay. The bales were rolled and the girls walked on them like on a treadmil is the best way I can describe. maddie was slightly quicker at this than Ruby who was a little unsure at first until she got the idea and understood what was expected of her.

It was a brilliant day and far from being red faced as we imagined we might be, we came away, very proud labbie owners indeed!

[Kay]

That is really fantastic. Bet you can't wait till the next one now.

[random]

Sounds great, I wish my Maddy was more sociable as she'd love this.

Glad you had a good time! Well done to the girls too!

[charliebubs]

Sounds like it was a wonderful (but tiring) day!!!

Well done to your girls - and to you and Martyn.

Keep us posted on their trials.

[borderdawn]

Sounds excellent, well done the girls!