My friends, I have really appreciated you, all of you, I have certainly been a responsibility, and I hope not too difficult a responsibility but you have all looked after me so well, sweet gifts, hot food at training, drinks, gorgeous baby things - it is really funny how you suddenly realise how many lovely people there are in your life at times like these, a real transitional time. Thankyou all......:)
I am lucky, my body has looked after me incredibly well, if the baby is not here by Thursday I will still hope to be working, I have not had to take any time off, just had to adjust my hours, call in the DD LLAAI to help with some of my regular commitments and ask other people to be as flexible as possible. Everything has gone so well and I can't believe that 40 weeks can pass so quickly.
Attending the midwife appointments has been interesting, they think we are barmy, yet dedicated - probably a fairly accurate interpretation. We have enjoyed it and it is certainly informative, we are complete newbies like those pet owners asking about food/crates/beds/routines - it is no different - we are clueless, but getting more knowledgable all of the time!
In the mean time we have been walking ALOT and training regularly. We live in the most beautiful area - we are very lucky....Below is Glen Free x Reef and Fiji my Darleyfalls baby :)
Training is going really well even though it has been cold people are still arriving - well done to you all!! We have just let people know of some last minute spaces available, here is what we sent out;
Canine Behaviour day – for all of you who have a want to understand more about your own dogs, we have an excellent day on 18th February which will cover relationship building for both puppies and adult dogs, with our excellent Dog Behaviourist Jan Windsor. This day should be full of variety as well as great for those of you that want to add it to your CPD. Her Day 2 on 4th March – How do dogs learn? This will cover Classical and Operant Conditioning, Aversive and Rewarding Reinforcement, Stress, Anxiety & Depression, Counter Conditioning & Extinction. This day is aimed to refresh and renew your understanding of dog behaviour, both for professionals and those who are interested in their own dogs learning. It is a day not to be missed with invaluable learning opportunities.
Life Skills dates – the next one we have available is on 12th February, we currently have 2 spaces available. This is invaluable for all young dogs, and dogs currently in obedience/foundation training. The next date is 14th April and we cannot recommend these days highly enough.
Walk the Course – our February DD membership offer is a great one. We are offering you the opportunity to buy one – get one free. The Walk the Course workshops are paramount to your learning of how a course works, and being able to talk through the various exercises in a comfortable atmosphere.
Kamal Fernandez Obedience Maestro – we have one working space left on 12th February, this is a must for all of you who are developing attitude with your agility dogs. The day is aimed to cover lots of motivational and control games to add to your box of tricks. He is not only an entertaining trainer, but a vastly knowledgeable one and we are very fortunate that he has travelled down to the South West especially for Devon Dogs. We also have unlimited spectator spaces on both 11th and 12th February.
Sian’s next workshop is on 31st March. The Young Dogs group is completely full, however there is currently one space on the Grade 3+4, one space on the Foundation, and 2 spaces on the Grade 5-7. If you or anyone you know of that would benefit from Sian’s championship and international level expertise, please come back to me.
Her partner Anthony Clarke is also visiting on 3rd March and he currently has one space on Young Dogs, and 2 spaces on Flatwork. Again if you are interested contact me asap as we expect these spaces will go quickly now that we have let people know of their availability.
Training on the Ring day is on 17th March, this day is invaluable to all customers and we thoroughly recommend it. The day is not only of huge value to your learning but also an opportunity to meet and talk to lots of other like minded folk.
We also have the Lakers visiting on 10th March for the day, Karen working with Relationship Building, and Mark working with Pushing Your Course Work, we currently have one space available on Karen’s day and 2 spaces available on Mark’s day. They are also visiting us on 25th March where Mark currently has space in his G3-4, G5-7 and G3-7 and Karen currently has some space on all of her workshops.
Lastly Jo Tristram is with us on 8th March, here G4-7 group is full, however she currently has space on her Contacts and Weaves, G1-3 and Young Dog sessions.
If you havent already joined www.ultimateagility.com keep an eye out and do join for free newsletters and tips - we have recently submitted an 'Ultimate Instructors' article which should make interesting reading for you all.
We really hope to see you all very, very soon. Takecare, please contact us if you would like to come along and join in the fun, you will be made more than welcome here.
Lauren
www.devondogs.co.uk
carole@devondogs.co.uk for enquiries
