Dylan’s first snow! And we’ve had a lot more of it that expected. Not quite as bad as Wales or the Southern counties, but still a couple of inches more than we were predicted to have. Anyway, Dylan has had a fantastic time playing with the girls and generally being loopy, and he also thought this morning would be an excellent time to go chasing the ducks. So he came back from his walk dripping wet as he swum right out into the center of the res after the ducks, despite the water being absolutely freezing. He didn’t seem bothered though! Dyl was very chuffed with himself, and luckily he didn’t get cold.

Obviously because of the weather, any outdoor training is a bit difficult! So I’ve been working on his tricks again, and this week we’ve almost mastered Speak (bark on command) and Stand-up (on hind legs), and he’s doing Back (backing up) really nicely now too. I can see why people get so hooked on having collies; they really do have a lot of enthusiasm for whatever you ask them to do.

Dylan might be coming to the flyball competition tomorrow with us (providing it the snow clears up!) but he might also not, since it depends on how we fit the box into the car. Due to a whole bunch of unforseen circumstances, my mum has ended up being team captain for tomorrow, and so we have to take the box, the balls, myself, my mum, Katie, Poppy, Kim & Mollie down to Newark. Unfortunately there might not be room for Dylan! He will definitely be coming to EMDAC with us next week though, and probably to Newton Heath the week after.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I have been completely caught up watching Dare (Altricia Wishing Silver at Borderstorm AW) on her webcam, waiting to see if the latest litter of Borderstorms have arrived yet! Very sad, but we’ve been following Dare’s Puppy Blog since her last litter in 2006, and it looks like she’s got a lot of people wondering what she’s going to come up with this time! From the number of hits on the webcam, it looks like I’m not the only one being nosy …

Finally managed to get Dylan up to the club! This was our first Sunday training session of the new year, and Kim worked nicely in the morning on her dogwalk contacts in particular. Dylan and I only worked for 10 minutes or so after Kim and finished, just playing around the equipment and through a few pipe tunnels. He really enjoyed himself, and so did I; he’s really responsive, but looks to me for direction a lot more frequently that Kim did. Hopefully his confidence will grow as he works more and more around the other dogs and on working a course by himself. He’s still a bit leggy so his speed can be a bit hit-and-miss, depending on where his legs are going!

The A-Frame was on a lower height as well today, so I took the opportunity to walk Dylan over it a few times. The first time was a bit scary for him (!) but after that he was trotting over it beautifully, completely unfazed. I left it at that; no jumps or weaves, although they were available, since I want to make sure his growth plates have settled before he begins anything overly strenuous. I think that will end up being at about 14-16 months, so we have a long time to perfect everything else first! He also had a great time making friends with Bailey, Tilly, and Farley, and trying to say hello to Woody who shares Kim’s general dislike of puppies, and tried to bite his nose.