Hiya!

It's been a good number of years since I posted anything blog-style, but alongside dog training, writing is my passion.  So, I figured it was about time I got back to writing stuff on here and combing my 2 loves once again. 

The obvious place to start is by introducing myself and my gang.  

My name is Abbey, I am about to turn 26, and I have been completely and utterly animal-crazy since I was tiny.  I begged my parents for a dog as a young child, so when I was 9 years old, after much research they relented.  We settled on a beautiful, well bred flat coated retrievers as our first family dog and I was the happiest child alive.  

I threw myself into the dog world immediately once Jess came home.  I attended all the puppy classes and handled her at all of them.  I trained her and taught her tricks.  I took her to ringcraft and showed her in the ring, including at Crufts.  Sadly, she had an eye condition which meant as she'd had surgery to rectify it, she couldn't be shown anymore.  I was devastated, but soon discovered agility and so began attending classes, having spent the time before that making jumps in the garden for her! 

2 years after we got Jess, we introduced the second flattie into our household.  I showed her in the breed ring too, again going to Crufts with her, but soon realised I was becoming hooked on agility, so I quit breed showing.  

I became completely obsessed.  I did everything with those dogs and attended classes and club matches regularly, before dipping my toes into competing.  Jess had an early retiremement as she didn't care much for agility.  However, she taught me a lot because she was difficult to say the least!  Inca was my trusty competing dog - my comfy pair of slippers.  She took me to Crufts multiple times and aided us in getting many a clear round! 

When I turned 15, I begged my parents for a dog that was faster for agility.  They resisted for a while, but soon gave in and I got my first border collie, Maisie.  She was a typical, crazy collie.  I was so besotted with her and trained her up to be a wonderful agility partner.  She reached grade 7 and retired after competing at Crufts 2022.  She's the boss of this household and now at nearly 11 is still the most active dog I own! 

2 years after getting Maisie, I got Envy!  She is Maisie's neice, and was a beautiful bundle of fluff with a lovely little blue eye!  I fell in love immediately and she joined us in Spring 2016.  Unfortunately her agility career was somewhat short lived as she struggled with a reocurring shoulder injury and despite extensive imaging, therapy and treatments I could never get her sound enough to compete without jeopordising her comfort as she aged.  She now lives with my parents as she is happiest as a single dog, so she is spoilt absolutely rotten now!  

In 2020, I got my third collie, Hoax.  He came home on the day the first lockdown was announced, but he was a complete joy during such a turbulent time.  I did so much with him and once lockdown rules relaxed I travelled up and down the country taking him to agility training days and he turned heads everywhere he went.  He was fast, powerful and full of potential.  As he got older, I decided that I didn't think the agility enviromment was going to be a good place for him to be, and at the same time started to fall out of love with the sport.  He has since dabbled in allsorts of different sports.  I have had my fair share of challenges with him, which I will go into in some future posts, but he has taught me a huge amount about training and dogs in general. 

In 2021, I got myself something a bit different - a kelpie, Evo! This boy was a rollercoaster.  He taught me a lot, but in a very different way to all of my others.  He has always been super social and bombproof and wonderful, but he had an incredibly high prey drive, which was the reason for my transitioning over from a 'force free' approach to a more balanced approach.  Again, this is something I will touch on further in future posts, but I have an awful lot to thank him for.  He's an amazing boy and an absolute dream to take anywhere, but it hasn't always been plain sailing! 

I always knew I was going to do something with animals.  From when I was tiny I loved everything animal-related, with a particular soft spot for dogs.  I had flitted between wanting to be a vet, animal physio, zookeeper and eventually dog trainer.  It's always been my passion and I am always happiest surrounded by all kinds of creatures. 

When I left school, I got myself a job with a dog groomer and breeder.  I gained a vast amount of experience here working with a large number of dogs with a very mixed range of personalities!  It got me lots of hands on experience with dogs outside of my circle and spurred me on to pursue a career in dogs. 

In 2016, at just 18, I was fortunate enough to find myself a field and I set myself up with a full set of agility equipment.  From here, I started building my client base and a reputation and the business has gone from strength to strengh ever since.  In 2017, I took on the adjacent field and turned that into a secure exercise area.  In 2020, I took on an all-weather menage for my training and extended the secure field. In 2022, I took on another training venue and for a while also ran another secure field. 

In 2019, I decided to expand my offerings and qualified as a Mantrailing UK (now Mantrailing Global) instructor.  I really enjoyed offering something different and learning truly how incredible our dogs' noses really are!  It was also lovely to be able to work with a range of different dogs who for whatever reason wouldn't be suitable for agility. 

During this time, I was busy competing.  I competed in agility for over 10 years all across the country and competed at Crufts multiple times.  It was such a huge part of my childhood and teenage years and I have made some absolutely incredible friends and memories as a result. As soon as I passed my driving test at 17, I was driving myself everywhere, as my poor Mum had set me a limit of a 1 hour radius for shows, mainly as they were all such early starts! 

In 2022, having already done various bits of general training work, I closed down the agility side of my business and decided to focus on general training instead.  Sadly, some of it was caused by venue issues, but mainly that during lockdown, my priorities changed and I lost a lot of passion for the sport I had grown up with.  I often still miss it, however it was the right decision for me and I do very much enjoy a more relaxed approach to weekends now! 

I have spent many hours attending workshops, expanding my knowledge and completing mentorships and training to ensure I have a variety of skills and methods to bring to the table.

And that brings us to today! 

My partner and I moved out to the gorgeous Shropshire countryside nearly 3 years ago now, and since then I have been working on expanding my menagerie! We have the 3 dogs living here with us, as well as 2 very naughty ragdoll cats, 6 sheep and 3 cheeky pygmy goats.  I have extensive plans to increase these numbers once we have somewhere with more land, and have set my sights on starting a small pedigree sheep flock, amongst other things.  As I said before, happiest around animals and they all bring me so much joy! 

In recent years, I have dabbled in a range of dog sports.  Currently I am nursing an ankle injury, however I have developed a love for canicross and the boys and I did a very hilly long-half marathon in the Brecon Beacons earlier this year!  I enjoy herding, bitework, scentwork, hoopers, mantrailing and anything else I can try!  We hike lots, making the most of the breathtaking Shropshire Hills and the boys have both come on European roadtrips with us.  We are just having a camper comissioned as we speak to that we can take them on even more adventures across Europe! 

I enjoy training my other animals, and my cats have even done a bit of TV work too, which was a fantastic experience and very much enjoyed by them also. 

I am fully itending to use this blog regularly to document the ups and downs of dog ownership and training, travelling with dogs, my struggles with training methods and just generally all things dog.  

The dog world can be a toxic, judgmental place and I am doing my best to do what I can to create safe, judgement-free zones where absolutely everyone is welcome. 

So, I hope you stick around and please do leave a comment and introduce yourself!