February 12th, 2010:
It's been a busy week. Last Friday night we had the South Wales Sheepdog Trials Association dinner in Llandeilo, opposite the venue for the 2008 World Trial. We feasted on Roast Beef and yorkshire pudding, Roast Turkey and cranberry sauce, innumerable vegetables and the obligatory boatload of gravy. Dessert was equally as stunning, although I begged off this but not before asking the servers if Akihiro could try all 3 desserts on offer. He must have been hungry as all three were eagerly consumed. English food seems to appeal to Akihiro and he is good naturedly surviving my cooking.

We came home from the dinner with 10-week old Rose! Now before you get the wrong idea, this was planned and not a spur of the moment thing. Rose is starting to settle in and after a couple of days of not eating, is starting to enjoy being spoilt, living in the house and terrorizing Bailey. Zoe has taken quite an interest in Rose, and Rose can certainly hold her own with her.

Sunday we took a 'flying' trip over to Mike and Nora's place, and then to Brecon to visit Kevin Evans and his parents. Sunday afternoons at Kevin's remind me of school 'show and tell' events. Various dogs - young and old, experienced and just starting - are put through their paces in front of an admiring, eclectic and international audience. This bores Kelvin silly but I can't get enough of it, and nor could Akihiro, by the looks of it. Of course we took a camera with us and managed to spy a couple of very nice young dogs. It's quite amusing to see a few young dogs taking advantage of the crowd by 'playing up.' I bet they get another turn on sheep (and sorted out) after the tea cups are empty and the crowd safely on their way home! :-)

We also visited Nigel Watkins this week although our planned trip to Richard Millichap's farm has not yet happened. A day spent ferrying dogs back and forth from the vet put paid to that trip.

The week has been filled with training-and the ups and downs that go with that. Some days it's been one step forward and two back, and other days the opposite. We have put the quiet 'puppy' sheep in the top hayfield so one day I had 4 trips up and down the hill with various dogs. Akihiro's record is now 3. One thing is for sure, he will be going home to Japan very fit! Today we were demolishing the old hen houses so Akihiro got to throw around a sledgehammer for a while.

Akihiro learnt some new 'training' commands this week like 'there,' 'steady,' 'stand' etc. At the end of the day one day, he asked me what a certain word meant that I had been using. It took a wee bit to work out what Akihiro was referring to...and it only clicked when he said I used the word with Blade and Cian. Now this day, Blade was being used to hold sheep for two new dogs. As soon as our Cheviots see a new dog, they bolt...and frequently demolish a makeshift gate (hint to Kelvin to replace this!) so a dog is engaged to dissuade the sheep from such unsporting behaviour. Well Blade was being an absolute toad and he, not the new dog, managed to send the sheep through this makeshift fence and out onto the hill. I was not happy. Later in the day, Cian was being a right sod too and in the battle of wills, he almost won - almost! I think, well, I know I muttered something about the illegitimacy of these boys! Ah, Akihiro, those are not training words you need to know!

Tomorrow we are Scotland bound for a few days of training with Bobby. It's just a quick trip as Kelvin is off to India at the end of the week. Shiela (Dalziel) emailed me to ask if I was ready to drive the tractor. HECK YES! I've always wanted to learn to drive a tractor... perhaps Bobby will not only teach me to steer a tractor but a dog too!