New layout! Well, technically just a bit of an update on the old one. New header/footer, some slight colour changes on the links, nothing too noticable except the header image. This post is a run-down of various UMb related things, one post is better than many.

Shows: Show Diary has been updated. Results pages have been split into Agility Results/Flyball Results, and I’m also keeping a page of more detailed stuff that reminds me what happened on each run. So far Dylan’s is a long line of E’s. The Agility Qualifiers and Classes links have gone. It was too hard to keep updated, although I do still have all the information so if someone wants it to try and set up another database, they’re more than welcome.

Media: Video Archive has been updated and reformatted to make it easier to use/read. New photos in the photography section, let me know if I’ve missed any credits. I’ve also added a page for the Agility Eye covers, although I’m not sure exactly when they were used (if anyone does, please let me know!)

Links: have been updated.

If you spot any problems let me know! Sitemap can be viewed here: http://www.undermybed.co.uk/sitemap.php

Stats

I’m a sucker for Wordpress Stats, I love it. undermybed.co.uk averages around 1,100 hits a month, although generally that figure is on the rise by 100 or so hits since I first installed WPStats. (That’s an average of 40 hits per day). Not a huge amount but always more than I expect.

Most people on my blog click off to:
http://bouncingbackbailey.blogspot.com
http://jetpops.undermybed.co.uk
http://flyinkai.blogspot.com
http://giruff.blogspot.com
http://summerick.blogspot.com

Most people arrive via:
http://flyinkai.blogspot.com
http://summerick.blogspot.com
http://giruff.blogspot.com
http://ruffdogs.myforum-online.com/viewtopic.php?t=6601
http://bouncingbackbailey.blogspot.com

Hosting

On a slightly unrelated note, I’m on the hunt for new hosting. Streamline.net have been good for the past couple of years but I’m getting loads of 500 errors since they changed some of the servers, and a couple of friends had a horrendous experience with their customer service over the summer.

These are the important things for me:

• PHP
• MySQL database
• bandwidth
• no more expensive than what I pay now (I pay annually but it works out at £2.35 or $3.74 a month)

I’m currently using the Streamline Power User plan which has tons of features, most of which I don’t actually use. But it’s so much cheaper than anywhere else that I’ve found, so I’m not sure what to do! Recommendations or suggestions welcome.

I finally got my camera back yesterday. Two weeks after they said I should have got it because apparently they “forgot” to call and tell me it was ready for pick up. Anyway, opened up the bubble wrap and it was a total mess, scratches all over the screen and even on the silver circle bit around the lens at the front. I definitely did not drop it off in that condition! We called and asked them about it and they couldn’t care less, so I’ve sent it back. They probably can’t do anything except replace it, and I sincerely doubt they’ll do that, but at least they can see what a mess it is.

In the meantime, here is an old pic of Kim, circa 4 years ago. Sadly I don’t have the original of this shot anymore, it got lost when we switched computers.

New layout! Hopefully this explains why the site was down all day Monday. I loved my green layout but I wanted to try a different colour and some new techniques for the pages. I know it doesn’t quite work in Internet Explorer, I’m still working on it, but as IE tends to render code totally differently to every other browser I might be fighting a losing battle. Everyone should just use Firefox instead!

Anyway, Leeds ‘Owlers had a fab weekend at the Summer Champs! Barney’s came home as Div 4 Champs and Marsh came a very respectable 4th. I’m loving hearing about everything but it’s a bit tough to listen to sometimes, I’m so disappointed we couldn’t go and it sounds like we really missed out on a great weekend with some fab racing. I’m trying not to wallow in self-pity and be miserable but it’s a bit hard at the moment!

Jetpops (UK)
http://www.jetpops.co.uk/
Updates about once a week, with a range of post lengths. Following the progress of her younger dog Jet, particularly in flyball but also in agility. Powered by Wordpress.

Kai’s Blog (UK)
http://flyinkai.blogspot.com/
Updates every few weeks, training progress of her future agility dog Kai. Some photos, mid-length posts. Powered by Blogspot (G/B or OpenID only)

Disco Dogs Show Blog (UK)
http://discodogs.blogspot.com/
Updates with brief show reports and progress of her own dogs, usually every week, plenty of videos/photos. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

A Bailey Blog (UK)
http://bouncingbackbailey.blogspot.com/
Updates about once a week, mainly flyball related but also agility progress of her crossbreed Bailey. Powered by Blogspot (G/B or OpenID only)

Summerick (UK)
http://summerick.blogspot.com/
Updates once or twice a week, mid-length posts covering agility and obedience training and shows. Currently following the rehabilitation of her younger Border Collie Tia, as well as improving the fitness of her retired Border Collie Ricky. Powered by Blogspot (G/B or OpenID only)

Dog Blog (USA)
http://fjoiris.livejournal.com/
Daily blog of a professional dog trainer for dogs in media work as well as agility. Long posts with training discussion and video examples. Plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by LiveJournal, anonymous comments allowed.

Agility Nerd (USA)
http://www.agilitynerd.com/blog/
Updates every few weeks with topics for discussion, mainly relevent to the US agility community but also with training exercises and courses applicable everywhere.

Sure Shots Flyball Blog (USA)
http://www-s3.sunshinerain.com/SureShots/Sure_Shot_Flyball_Blog/Sure_Shot_Flyball_Blog.html
Updates infrequently with useful training articles and tips for flyballers. Mid-length posts.

Giruff (UK)
http://giruff.blogspot.com/
Updated frequently with progress reports on her 5 dogs, particularly on her crossbreed Pippa and Border Collie Inca who compete in agility, obedience and flyball. Also following the progress of her puppy Diesel’s training from 8 weeks onwards, with videos. Plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

Raven, Cypher and Spryte — an Agility Blog (Aus)
http://ravencypher.blogspot.com/
Updated infrequently, following the progress of her three agility dogs in Australia. Recently has been following the diagnosis, recovery and then relapse of her older Border Collie Raven’s Lymphoma. Long posts but well-written with lots of photos. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

Obay Shelties (UK)
http://obayshelties.blogspot.com/
Updated frequently, following the daily life of an American Shetland Sheepdog breeder in the UK. Varying post lengths on her own dogs’ successes (particularly in agility) with show reports, photos and videos as well as updates on her breeding plans and puppies. Well-written and articulate, with plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

Elite Forces of Fuzzy Destruction (USA)
http://brisbeethewhite.livejournal.com/
Updated frequently. Covers a lot of agility topics, plus runs a variety of dogs and has a lot of discussion of various training methods and competitive venues in the US. Plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by LiveJournal, anonymous comments allowed.

Taj Mutthall (USA)
http://www.finchester.org/dogs/dog_diary/

Team Small Dog (USA)
http://www.teamsmalldog.com/blog/
Updates regularly with occurances from her daily life with her small agility dogs. Photos, show reports, satirical discussion. Witty, well-written posts with plenty of comments.

Jump Start Agility (USA)
http://cflyrun.livejournal.com/
Updates frequently, primarily following the progress of her Border Collie Solar’s training, particularly on his running contacts. Interesting training discussion and videos, varying posts lengths, generally lots of comments.

There are other blogs listed on my Links page. I can’t include everyone on the main page so I’ve tried to take either the blogs who update most recently or update with the most useful posts. Apologies if that doesn’t apply to you!

The Crazy Cannons always put on a good tournament but we’re not usually very successful! Kim has a 2nd rosette from about 2 years ago and that’s it, which is a shame because the pink and black rosettes look very swish! We got our act together this year and the Owlers had a fantastic day. It definitely helped that unlike the rest of the country, we were all absolutely frozen and never saw any sunlight. Mollie and Dylan were very appreciative!

Mollie was in Division 7, back with her old team Night Owlers. They came 2nd in the end and had a great day’s racing, and finally broke the magic 22 seconds to hit 21.73 — when I was handling! My mum slipped and hurt her knee, and as she was due to run Murphy in the second half of Div 1 later, I said I’d run Mollie for the final 3 races. Mollie also picked up her Graduate award, in a lovely frame that Jane organised. Thank you guys!

Kim was running in Div 4 with her normal team, but down to 4 dogs and with a bit of a switched round line-up! We had Jet down from Barneys and Lolly up from Nights, and with old pro’s Kim and Buffy. They all ran really well, 13″ jumps all day and Kim was so consistent! I’m very proud of her, she ran just under 5 seconds all day in a 7 team division. We ran around 20 seconds all day so plenty of points, about 350-400 I think, which is a nice addition to our goal this year to reach 10,000 points. Sadly I think we’re losing speedy Jet to become a permanent Barney addition, although we do get gorgeous Brooke in the swap so not too bad!

Dylan was running in Starters again, and his Little Owlers team were brilliant. Dylan’s box was still pretty bad but he didn’t make any serious mistakes and we did get a couple of practise runs with the cone in and showed everyone what a cracking turn he can have! His turn makes all the difference, I think if we can get his turn sorted he’ll be running sub-5 second times which will suit him nicely. Just one problem - Dylan is just like his dad and likes running as lead dog, I think someone should tell him that I can’t do the lights! He really shifted up a gear running first, less for him to think about and he focussed a lot faster. We definitely had an improvement since last time though, and he kept going consistently all day, just a bit quicker when he was lead dog. I’m more concerned about my dogs running consistent times than throwing up an odd faster one, it plays havoc with seed times and means they can’t settle in a team properly. I’d be thrilled if Dylan somehow pulled off a 4.3 but it would hardly be very good for whatever team he was in! I think the team ran a 23.?? in the end, so not too bad considering we weren’t running changeovers or starts!

I was also scribing for Barneys so didn’t get a moment’s rest all day, and I mean that quite literally! When I was actually running a dog I was helping with one of the other teams, so I was absolutely exhausted when we got back last night. I wasn’t the only one either, as mum normally just has Mollie to run and then helps out, but she had the additional task yesterday of running Brooke and Murphy! James is off on his stag weekend and mum started off running Brooke for the first couple of races, and then swapped to running Murphy. Her first time running either dog and in Div 1, and her changeovers were absolutely perfect!

Photos from Sunnyside Photography http://www.sunnyside-photo.co.uk/