Hoax Diary
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Hoax Diary |
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The Hoax Diaries... 27/05/08 My little girl continues to improve but still baffle me at
times! She has had a few really 17/03/08 Hoaxey has now started competing but is still very green. She is doing well at the moment although we have only just done our first show so will keep seeing how she goes. All my updates are going onto my blog at http://smoketrail.blogspot.com/ have a read! 23/01/08 Well, Hoax continues to change week to week, I really don't know what kind of dog I am going to end up with still! The last few weeks has seen Hoax gain in confidence. The seesaw doesn't seem an issue now although weaves have reverted to training. She seems to know what to do in the weaves and quite often flies through, single pacing and very quick. Then, she suddenly blocks and just does one or two of them before dashing off or just popping out and looking at me. I feel that maybe they aren't proofed enough on the channels/ V weaves so I am going back to these for a bit. Grrr, one step forward, two back! BUT her jumping and contacts continue to improve all the time. The last two weeks have seen hoax step up a gear- eek! I worked her Monday evening over some fast snakes and rear crosses etc. She absolutely flew- I had to run flat out in a straight line to keep up with her over the snakes! I think what I find so different with Hoax is the acceleration from a turn. Where over the high jumps and with Boo being bigger, I have time to execute the turn then start to move to catch up again- it flows wonderfully. Hoax seems to land and the power just is carried through the turn which makes everything feel rushed. I must make sure I take my time and don't panic when working her. Contacts this week were fast, although when I start moving to the side for more independency she tends to sense it and follows down the edge of the ramp- her final position with nose touch means she is almost falling off the side. We tried to correct this with Nic feeding her- but she just ignored me totally and performed beautiful targets for Nic! LOL. So I think we need to switch between us in FP. So Hoax hits target, gets rewarded from Nic, repeats behaviour, gets rewarded from me etc. Will see how this works over the next few weeks! Updates will hopefully keep coming... watch this space! x 07/01/08 Twenty One Months Sorry it has been soooooo long since I posted here. My little
madam continues to develop and improve all the time. Her contacts are pretty
good now, although I would hope that she She is also pretty much weaving now, although she still skips the odd pole or misses a weave entry. Strangely enough, her entry from the left is much better than her having to 'wrap' the first pole, which is the opposite to what Boo finds easiest? Odd! We still haven't trained her seesaw. I kept switching between methods on this and messed her up. I have gone back to the table method now and will see how that works. Her jumping is going very well. At the moment she feels a little
'mechanic' with all her Agility. She feels like she is thinking too much and I
don't see her looking natural yet. She is 04/10/07 Eighteen Months Weight: 12.5kgs Height: 17" Well Hoaxey has now finally come into season! I am very happy as
in some ways the timing is good (no shows etc etc). But I will miss Toni Dawkins
training next weekend which I am 21/08/07 Weight: 12.35kgs Height: <17" (official KC) MEDIUM Well I have done Hoax first competition now, although I ran her NFC so I could take the toy in. She performed really well and seems to keep growing in confidence. I videoed her run which you can see on our You Tube page. I was pleased with the whole run but most chuffed that she recognised grids within the course. Her last grid was really nice, I have cropped the clip and slowed it down, you can see she really selects her take off spot and strides. You can see her extend her stride for the bounce between the first two jumps. I am a proud Momma. See it on our Videos page. She is also incredibly pretty, with her blue eyes and prick ears. Her coat is fantastic and although she is very petit she is perfectly formed! She is altogether utterly perfect! I really couldn't have hoped for a more fantastic girl. She was so worth the wait!
07/08/07 Sixteen Months Weight: 12.5kgs Height: 17" Hoax hips have now come back as a 9 (4:5) and elbows as 0 so I am very happy! Her agility continues well and I have just started taking her over the whole dogwalk and AFrame now. She is going well and is quite neat when she is working. Her jumping continues to improve and her confidence is fair although I think she still has more oomph in her which I hope will show as she gains confidence. The gossip is that Hoax has now been measured into medium! This means she gets to work over the lower heights when she is ready to start competing. There is a short video of Hoax jumping taken July 07 on videos page.
Fourteen Months 07/06/07 Well I have received Hoaxs' TNS test back now and she is a carrier. I know this means that I can still put her to a 'normal' dog and at worst pups can be carriers but it is still a disappointment. Her training is going really well. I am not sure how fast she going to be but she seems very neat at the moment. She enjoys everything and gets faster with confidence. We have begun front crosses and she responds real well to them. I did do lots of flat work using these though. I guess rear crosses will follow... yuck! Her targeting on contacts continues well but we have done very little weaving. I really need to start doing this more or I will end up with weave issues when she comes out! Ah well- all in good time! Thirteen Months Weight: 12.5kgs Height: 17" The princess is doing great, we have been working very hard lately on hand targets to plexiglass and jumping grids etc after doing the Susan Garrett training. She is doing very well and hugely enjoys her training sessions! She also went to the vets last week and had her hips and Elbows XRayed and blood taken for TNS &CL testing, we just have to wait for the results now. Here is a photo of the 'brat pack' taken the other evening at training. From left to right is Eddy, Mac, Una and Hoax. Click to expand!
Eleven months Hoax continues to thrive and learn really well. She is doing fantastically in her agility and is a pleasure to work and train. She is still very focussed and learns with ease. The only thing I have found she really hates is heavy rain! She is far too much of a princess and comes running to me to be shielded if it's too wet! She LOVES her swimming though at Aquadoggies and has to be caught to get her out the pool! Can't wait to start seeing all the pups round shows again!
Approx ten months Weight:
Height: 17" approx Wow! How time has flown. My baby is developing into a beautiful little lady. She has now had her first few agility lessons and has taken to it very well. We are only working on poles on the jump feet etc and wide channels but she's doing great. We are training twice a week at Thatcham (our own club) where Nic trains and also at MAD where Don Curtis is taking us. Both are fab teachers with strong basic training and the pups will do well going to them. Hoax looks quite quick but who can tell yet! She has also grown a bit now and I think she's about 18" to the shoulder. She's such fun! I must admit I utterly adore this little dog. She really is everything I looked for for so long! Nearly eight months old Weight: 11 kgs Height: 17" We had our first intro to Agility with Toni Dawkins this week. Hoax was a total star and did everything I asked of her. Her waits, playing, turns etc were all brilliant I was so proud! There are some photos under her main page in the gallery. She has also passed her foundation agility course through our other agility club Millennium Agility Dogs so now can progress to proper agility when she's old enough! My little girl is still as tough as anything and I know I will have my work cut out with her. however I adore her totally. She's fast, bright and so pretty. Thanks Nik & Jayne for producing between your lovely dogs my little princess! As Jayne says " we'll never get another like her"!!! Seven Months Old Weight: 10kgs Height: 17" Well we have been busy in the last few weeks and thought it was update time. Hoax is awesome, what a perfect pup she is. Don't get me wrong, she's naughty as anything but exactly what a wanted from my pup. She has an abundance of beauty and brains and her affection with people makes her very popular. Training is going well and her nose targets, directionals, flat work, waits etc are spot on. Most importantly she LOVES tug games. She will chase, growl and generally just go manic about her tugger! She is a perfect shape and finds acceleration and turns physically quite easy. Whether this progresses onto agility I don't know! Not long now till our first foundation for agility lesson and I cant wait... Will I be able to keep Hoax quiet and calm? Watch this space!!!
Weight @ 20 Weeks: 17.63 lbs (8 kgs) Height @ 20 Weeks: 16" (41.5cms) Well we are back and we survived the trip! The little missie has been having a great time. She has played and played with best mate Eddy and has discovered the joys of walking with the dogs and me but as I want to protect her bones she doesn't get to do it for long. She has now started targeting to a perspex target and has picked it up really well, she gets so bouncy when she sees her target. This is great as I want her to be totally enthusiastic about it. My bright button continues to keep learning and having fun.
16 - 17 Weeks Old (03/08/2006) Weight @ 17 Weeks: 15.43 lbs (7 kgs) Height @ 17 Weeks: 14.8" (37.7cms) This will be the last report for the next few weeks. Hoax AKA 'Ears' continues to thrive and is looking and acting great. Her puppy coat is going now so she's looking a bit sparse but some nice long hairs are growing through. Her ears are still massive but she is so cute! She hasn't grown much this week for the first time but for the lack of growing has been learning lots, she loves her training sessions. Hoax is however beginning to look slightly less puppy like and more like a young dog, my little sweetie! We also met sister Roxy this week. She is bigger than Hoax and def has more 'bone, she also has adorable 'naughty spots' a real nice lady! My happy puppy is doing so well. Back in a few weeks with another update! BFN :) x ps she has a new collar with lots of bling! I do love it :) pps please excuse the slight sticky out tongue in the photo, she doesnt have enough teeth to hold in it properly at the mo!!! 14- 16 Weeks Old (27/07/2006) Weight @ 16 Weeks: 15.21 lbs (6.9 kgs) Height @ 16 Weeks: 14.6" (37.5cms) My girlie's learning fast! We are doing some great training and she's really clicking with things. This week we have begun to learn 'reverse' (walk back) and also beginning work with her headcollar. I want her to be happy wearing it if we need to so I have started clicking her for putting her nose through the loop and will continue work with it until she is happy before going out with it on. She has started to get some legs now but is still quite a compact dog, so we will just have to wait and see what she grows into! She's also begun teething so is looking really gummy at the mo! 13-14 Weeks Old (13/07/2006) Weight @ 14 Weeks: 15lb 0oz (6.8kgs) Height @ 14 Weeks: 14" (35.5cms) Quite a quiet week this week. Well experience wise not noise wise! On Monday Hoax passed her puppy end of term test with Flying colours. Ok so it's pretty simple but I was very proud anyway. She has continued to learn well and is becoming quite a mummys girl. Her legs have sprouted this week and if it wasn't for her coat she'd look really weedy. Oh I also took her around her first agility rings with a visit to GT UKA show. She caused quite a stir with people coming over the whole time to fuss her and she behaved very well with the other dogs working. She is quite hypey so each time she focused on me I would click and reward her. Boo is a NOISY dog when he watches agility and I am no way having her do that.... I hope!!! Also got a photo of her sister Tizz sent through from Nik, and Kit from Janet. They are both lovely too! 12-13 Weeks Old (06/07/2006) Height @ 13 Weeks: 13.5" (34.5cms) What a week. Hoax is such fun! She is learning Rights and Lefts, hand targets, recalls, waits, sits, downs, heelwork and most importantly play, play, play! Her ears are still pricked and I can't see them changing. She still has blue eyes with green wash in them. I think Hoax has more attention than any pup we've had or see. Her beauty seems to capture hearts along with her happy nature and huge enthusiasm for everything. She is outgoing and confident but not stupidly so. She knows when a little caution is needed. She also adores children as they do her and is VERY into her tug games and chase! I have no idea of her current weight but she's a right little porker at the mo! Her legs have grown a lot in the last week and she is looking almost a little gangly but is still in beautiful proportion. I don't know if you can really tell at this age but she seems to me a lovely shape and is still soooooo pretty! 11-12 Weeks Old (29/06/2006) Weight @ 12 Weeks: 12lb 01oz (5.4kgs) Well we do have a happy lady this week. She has been let out and about. She came to agility with me on Tuesday and wasn't in the least bothered about the noise, dogs, people etc. She had a good run around while we were packing everything away but was more than happy to come back to me the moment I called her. Her training is going well and we are keeping everything huge fun. She will play tug as a reward as well as taking food so I can use high energy rewards for certain things. Hoax has GROWN and GROWN this week and looks so well. Her ears unfortunately are growing faster than anything and the rest of her can't quite keep up!
10- 11 Weeks Old (22/06/2006) This is Hoaxeys last week of being cooped up as she had her second vaccinations on Monday. She was so brave and was busy eating so didn't even notice the needle. She had her third puppy class this week and was a star as always! Her best buddy Una came to play for a bit on Tuesday afternoon so she is very happy! Her eyes are still blue now but with green tinges in. We don't know if they are going to change or not? Also her colour has begun to deepen, she's gorgeous! 9 - 10 Weeks Old (15/06/2006) Weight @ 10 Weeks: 9lb 4oz (4.3kgs) This week featured the puppy party! Yay! We had fellow agility hopefuls Una (11 weeks) & Mac (15 weeks) over. They had a whale of a time getting tired and wet and muddy from the paddling pool. We had a pretty good time with food and wine (yum)! Hoax is so confident and although was way smaller than the others had absolutely no issue with being the bolshy one!
8 - 9 Weeks Old (08/06/2006) Weight @ 8.5 Weeks: 7lb 5oz (3.4kgs) Hoax had her first vaccinations and microchip this week. She didn't notice the vaccs but had a sqeak at the chipping needle poor sweetie. She also had her first puppy class and was great. She wasn't any different around other puppies and remembered her sits and recalls. She is quite pushy but that's what I like! She is just perfect! Oh and the other ear has joined her one up now!
7 - 8 Weeks Old (01/06/2006) Weight @ 6 Weeks: 5lb 7oz (2.6kgs) Hoax is home! She is quite confident and is busy investigating everything. We are spending lots of time socialising her and getting her playing and just generally doing puppy stuff! One ear has gone up during this week!
Growing Pics...
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successful weekends. It started with her first ever jumping clear round which
gave her her first ever win! She continued this with three clear rounds over the
next three shows (consecutive weekends) each resulting in a win! I am really
pleased with her. I must admit though, that up until the last one I wasn't
really happy with any of the runs, she either had slow weaves or just felt a
little steady round the course. The last run was nice, had some lovely turns and
some speed where needed, although we still aren't attacking the courses the way
we would in training. I still feel she is holding back a lot, even in training
and I know she has more under the hood. However she has only just turned two
years old so I am sure that with confidence and understanding we will get
quicker! (Although I am not convinced we can ever rival the likes of Minx and
Dizzy)!!! 
will gain more speed over them in time.
I have now switched to toys on the bottom of her contacts, as although the food
developed a neat target behaviour it was very controlled, but I was finding it
hard to get the mad drive aswell. The tuggy game in final position gives her a
much 'crazier' target behaviour, which is much more what I want.
so willing to please me that she is
questioning me. Not by looking back the whole time, but I can just feel she
isn't really letting go. The straight lines are fine as she lets go and blasts
these, but when I start handling, then you can see her come off the pace and
question things. I haven't done anything on purpose to create this. A fantastic
friend of mine told me something like this. "Hoax naturally is a dog who
wants to work fast, wide, and at a distance. But, with all the work you have put
into her from day one, you have created a dog that really wants to please you.
Pleasing herself is pleasing you. This is going against her natural grain, and
therefore she is taking longer to feel confident and smooth". I guess this
is ok, and once she understands my handling and that speed is an important
factor she will gain her confidence and speed. Well her first KC show is meant
to be Chippenham Small/ Medium in March. I hope she is ready for it!
so sad about as I know she can help me a lot with Hoax. Ah well, we are booking
her again for February so I can wait! Hoax continues to improve is huge leaps
and bounds. She is gaining confidence with her jump work and is jumping between
17" and 26". She ran a few full courses at Scrambles UKA and worked at the
'Standard' height which is around 20" I think. She was quite quick and really
looked confident and happy. She is still 'zooming' round the odd jump on a turn
but I think that's my fault for driving her too hard down the lines and not
learning when to pull back rather than anything else. Her nose targets on her
contacts were lovely too, we did all Nursery classes NFC so I could play tug on
her contacts. I love working the princess, she is such fun! Oh before I forget,
seeing as she has come into season now I have possible dates for breeding! Yay!
I think I will use her around this time next year all being well. Which means
all going to plan she should have puppies around the middle of December 2008!
Phew- nothing like planning in advance! Opposite is a photo of her jumping at
UKA. I am really pleased with her style at the moment. You can see how dinky she
looks- the jump is only 20" and looks quite big compared to her!
20 Weeks Old
