Animals

I have worked over New year and now on to day 7 out of 9 in a row.  One of the things that keeps me sane is coming home to our beautiful bush block here in Waitakere and the lovely animals we own.  We have 3 border collies, 3 cats, 2 rabbits, 1 guinea pig, 2 ducks, 3 roosters and several hens. 

Shilo my 3 year old border collie is still in training for agility.  Last year we competed in Starters and we plan to compete in novice this year.  We need to do some serious training though.  Shilo has been trained using different methods to the others and I must say I have enjoyed her more for it.  She is a midi and I didn't start competing with her until she was 2 years old.  Casey started at 18 months which was a mistake as she was strong willed and was a steep learning curve for me after my first dog Tess.

Casey is retired now in her competing years, had a total of 16 clear rounds.  She won out of Starters as the 2003 NDTA which was a major thrill for me.  When Casey went clear she won a ribbon.  I did Obedience with her and she eventually won out of Special Beginners.  Casey is a fast learner and knows lots of tricks.  She makes lots of noise when excited and was often heard doing agility.  At home she my constant companion.  My husband uses her as his gun dog.  She doesn't retrieve but will put pheasant up and help find game.  Casey will be 11 in March.

Rocky has been competing in agility since he was 18 months old too.  He will be 9 in April and is a big male border collie.  I started training him in Obedience at 10 weeks old and he showed real potential.  I started him in Special Beginners and was going to stop competing with Casey, however when we went in the ring he didn't perform at all well.  I was given a photo of him competing and he looked really miserable so we gave up Obedience.  He love Agility and has done well over the years.  He is in Senior and although he is no longer competitive we still enjoy it.  Rocky is and independent boy and will entertain himself.