Karran
Well-Known Member
Its been a busy few weeks for mrs spaniel.
We have had several long walks, and some swimming lessons. A battle with the dreaded fleas and I changed her food!
Super excited about this (I need to get out more).
We were on the natural instinct working dog which I topped up with lumps of heart, liver and poultry necks but she just didnt seem to gain weight. When she got stressed she dropped even more and her spine and hips became visible. She was on double the recommended daily amount of NI and like I say had additional feed added and was fed twice a day but nothing seemed to help.
I am also really lazy and wanted a better option than going to my local raw pet food shop and stocking up every two weeks and then bagging it up for her. So we switched to raw to go. Its prebagged and i really think it's helping her even though its roughly the same daily amount.
Spaniel experts what do you think?
I had her weighed and she is now 12.5kg. I'd like a little more on her but the vet was happy with it (we previously were struggling to hit a consistent 11kg).
So extra feed means extra energy and she's even more full of beans which is great for flyball as she would really struggle with energy levels come the end of a hard day racing.
After the debacle of mothergate and her completely downing tools at Paws in The Park it was decided as we had a few points left till our flyball dog award to pull her back a few steps and rebuild confidence and pop her into a starters class with netting on the sides and no pressure.
I was a bit disappointed but its what's best for her and i certainly embraced the idea once i realised it was a local venue and i didnt need to be there until 11am for a change!!
Our team consisted of an experienced handler with a new dog in her first competition, a brand new pairing who have simply been smashing training and two others from my starter class back in October.
Dillion is a mini schnauzer and prone to tantrums and that terrier cheekiness where he goes off and follows his nose and that's far more exciting than flyball.
And Theo the boxer. We were all surprised by Theo. He absolutely adores flyball and is very good and quick in training. However the competition atmosphere gets to him a little so he is taking it slow and puttering along in starters for now.
So really we had no idea what to expect! As always i hoped to get at least one solid leg from her and to arrive without getting lost.
She however was really up for it from the start and grew and grew in confidence, barking encouragement to her teammates, lunging to be let go and getting into a frantic rolling on the floor mess when we sat out legs (we all took turns to rotate and sit out a leg being 5 of us and only 4 allowed to race)
(photo taken by one of the racers and not a pro shot)
We didn't push times or changes but yet were amazingly consistent with only one light gained for the whole day and we won Every. Single. Race with a best time of 22.45.
It was completely unexpected! We had anticipated errors from all the dogs. But all of the team ran fantastically together.
We have some pro photos - I adore and have ordered this one! I love her paws and focused face!
http://galleries.flyballphotos.co.uk/gallery/1469038/album/1935270/photo/352991883
You can also click through the gallery and check out the rest of her team.
http://galleries.flyballphotos.co.uk/gallery/1469038/album/1935270
A week off, then a training week and then we're going to Discover Dogs in Peterborough for Saturday racing.
If anyone's going please come cheer on the team with a more than slightly hyperactive Mrs Spaniel!
We have had several long walks, and some swimming lessons. A battle with the dreaded fleas and I changed her food!
Super excited about this (I need to get out more).
We were on the natural instinct working dog which I topped up with lumps of heart, liver and poultry necks but she just didnt seem to gain weight. When she got stressed she dropped even more and her spine and hips became visible. She was on double the recommended daily amount of NI and like I say had additional feed added and was fed twice a day but nothing seemed to help.
I am also really lazy and wanted a better option than going to my local raw pet food shop and stocking up every two weeks and then bagging it up for her. So we switched to raw to go. Its prebagged and i really think it's helping her even though its roughly the same daily amount.
Spaniel experts what do you think?
I had her weighed and she is now 12.5kg. I'd like a little more on her but the vet was happy with it (we previously were struggling to hit a consistent 11kg).
So extra feed means extra energy and she's even more full of beans which is great for flyball as she would really struggle with energy levels come the end of a hard day racing.
After the debacle of mothergate and her completely downing tools at Paws in The Park it was decided as we had a few points left till our flyball dog award to pull her back a few steps and rebuild confidence and pop her into a starters class with netting on the sides and no pressure.
I was a bit disappointed but its what's best for her and i certainly embraced the idea once i realised it was a local venue and i didnt need to be there until 11am for a change!!
Our team consisted of an experienced handler with a new dog in her first competition, a brand new pairing who have simply been smashing training and two others from my starter class back in October.
Dillion is a mini schnauzer and prone to tantrums and that terrier cheekiness where he goes off and follows his nose and that's far more exciting than flyball.
And Theo the boxer. We were all surprised by Theo. He absolutely adores flyball and is very good and quick in training. However the competition atmosphere gets to him a little so he is taking it slow and puttering along in starters for now.
So really we had no idea what to expect! As always i hoped to get at least one solid leg from her and to arrive without getting lost.
She however was really up for it from the start and grew and grew in confidence, barking encouragement to her teammates, lunging to be let go and getting into a frantic rolling on the floor mess when we sat out legs (we all took turns to rotate and sit out a leg being 5 of us and only 4 allowed to race)
(photo taken by one of the racers and not a pro shot)
We didn't push times or changes but yet were amazingly consistent with only one light gained for the whole day and we won Every. Single. Race with a best time of 22.45.
It was completely unexpected! We had anticipated errors from all the dogs. But all of the team ran fantastically together.
We have some pro photos - I adore and have ordered this one! I love her paws and focused face!
http://galleries.flyballphotos.co.uk/gallery/1469038/album/1935270/photo/352991883
You can also click through the gallery and check out the rest of her team.
http://galleries.flyballphotos.co.uk/gallery/1469038/album/1935270
A week off, then a training week and then we're going to Discover Dogs in Peterborough for Saturday racing.
If anyone's going please come cheer on the team with a more than slightly hyperactive Mrs Spaniel!
