For the love of dogs

Agility is my main hobby - dogs are my main love.

Through agility my dogs and I get both mental and physical stimulation.

When we created Wag and Tone we partly wanted something equally stimulating and rewarding that would be fun for people and dogs that were less competitive in nature and didn't have whole weekends to dedicate to agility.

For my agility dogs it is a class where we can slow down and focus on key muscle groups to improve performance.

Rhyme GymBall Tap


I am so excited about starting a new class near to were we moved to but also a bit nervous. Most of my initial class came from people who knew me through agility and were either agility dogs or older retired dogs so I was in a comfortable place. Once started we had a few pet dogs join us and it was great to spread the word about movement helping build a relationship with your dog.

It is a beautiful thing watching person and dog wrapped up in their own little world stepping in time with the music (or not depending on their want) enjoying the moment.

Watching other dog sports which revolve around a performance it is easy to get locked into that performance and appreciate the bond and work that helped create the performance. I don't think we fully appreciate the dogs enjoyment of that moving together.

In the Wag and Tone class the focus is on fun, on getting a bit fitter, on teaching the dog to do movements on command. It doesn't take long to discover the dogs don't really need the commands - they understand what you are trying to do and how to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2RYyCQl7Xk

Some dogs even put their own slant on it - Herbie would lift his legs higher in time with Jenn when we were doing high steps in the warm up.

Sue's Dexi would go to the ladder when he heard the track we initially used on that exercise.

Sue and Dexi Ladder

As I have been writing I notice my nerves have gone:) I am so looking forward to sharing the Wag and Tone experience with a whole bunch of new dogs and people.

The only thing I have to worry about is if the hall is big enough :)

If you're interested in running your own Wag and Tone class the eBook Wag and Tone available through https://www.vivebooks.com/shop/wag-and-tone/?affiliates=16
will tell you all you need to know and we're happy to hear from you and help when we can :)

In a Nutshell

At last a few moments to catch up with the blog J

So much has happened. To be fair it has been a while but I think even if I had blogged every day there would have been enough to fill a full page each time.

The précised version and not necessary in chronological order is

• ·      Sold house and moved out
• ·      Passed UpAndOver on to a dedicated committee (& boy are they dedicated to UpAndOver)
• ·      Publication date decided and ready to go on Wag and Tone eBook
• ·      Dogs kept fit and happy and enjoying break from agility
• ·      First article published in a Pug Bulletin
• ·      Found a lovely house to buy and just waiting to exchange contracts
• ·      Preparing for Seminar in Houston, Texas
• ·      Weekends for 2014 filling up with seminars, family and friend visits and GB Squad events
• ·      Mark sent out invites to candidates for GB Squad
• ·      My son Michael settled in Australia with a promising job in a Restaurant
• ·      Accounts done
• ·      Further inroad made into ICAT canine remedial massage theory plus 3 dogs massaged
• ·      People I trained qualifying for various finals and moving up grades
• ·      Some enquiries relating to me continuing to train when we move.

All in all there are so many things moving in the right direction and promising a great year in 2014.

The only 2 things causing worry is Flint and Tim. They are two of my best friends. They are both doing a brilliant job of fighting cancer and both continuing to enjoy life in spite of it.  So many bittersweet moments of spending time with them savoring every moment whilst trying not to think about when they go.

Flint does not know so he is just being his usual happy self and enjoying doing dog things.

Tim and Sharon are an inspiration in positivity in the face of it all. Helping all their family and friends to deal with it along the way. 

Moving away from them will be very hard. Using their positivity I will look at it as a new way to explore the different communication forms out there, writing emails, skyping etc and of course looking for opportunities for those memory days (or weekends) that they having cleverly come up with to make the most of the precious time Tim has.