On Monday  10th May my husband Anthony, myself and our dogs, Tom and Poppy (cavs) and Sonny and Buddy, the chins, set off for a five day break to Ilfracombe in Devon. We stayed in a cottage at Widmouth farm, which had it’s own private dog friendly beach and enclosed exercise field. Each day we helped to feed the lambs, alpacas, pigs, goats and were able to collect eggs from the chickens and ducks. On day one the dogs were a bit wary of the resident turkeys ,however they soon got used to them, and became firm friends with the goats who popped their heads over our garden wall each morning looking for bread.

The owners, Jeremy and Elizabeth have three dogs of their own  and were most welcoming, even providing throws for the sofas and towels for the dogs’ trips to the beach. North  Devon is a beautiful part of the country and had  a surprising amount of dog friendly beaches. The dogs were in heaven running in and out of the sea and rolling around on the sand, and Sonny was very fond of rock climbing, even though it made my heart skip a beat once or twice, I’m sure he thinks he is a mountain goat!   Wherever we went we were always being asked what breed Sonny and Buddy are, as most people had never seen a chin.

All in all we had a brilliant holiday and can’t recommend a trip to Devon with dogs highly enough. There really is something magical about seeing your dogs go tearing along a near empty beach, chasing one another and having the time of their lives, especially if they come from inland Buckinghamshire!

Living as we do in the frozen north (Dundee) means that although I have owned chins for 23 years (god am I that old!) I don’t have the opportunity to attend many of the big shows or get to club events due to distance and family commitments.  Being in Scotland does mean that we have loads of opportunity to experience the great outdoors our two chins.

Razzle has totally amazed me at his first two competitions. At the first he was in a class of 19 beginners of all size dogs. He performed to perfection! He was focused, listened to every command and never took his eyes off me looking for my hand signals. As a result he gained 2 super clear rounds and 2 clear round rosettes. He was sadly not placed as the big dogs took all the placings but nonetheless I was thrilled.

He repeated his amazing performance at the second competition. This time in a class of over 30 this time he was placed a very respectable 9th with a rosette nearly as big as him!!! We also managed a clear as well.

It is hard to believe how well he has taken to the competition ring. He was such a good boy unlike the naughty chin at training club.

Julie Godbehere

Razzle is a 2 yrs 4 months bundle of mischief. He was re-homed from a breeder at 10 months as he had grown too big for showing or breeding. He is 12 ins tall and 5.2 kg, so definitely not to standard. This was of no concern to me as I was actually looking for a small dog to have some fun with doing agility. I already compete with one of my Cavaliers, Tim.

Razzle is a very lively dog and most certainly not a lap dog! He settled very quickly with my 4 Cavaliers .It soon became apparent he was very bright and responded to clicker training in an instant. However as far as his agility training has gone .....well that is a different matter.
He did not start at my agility club until 14 months as he had to have the ok from the vets that he was physically mature enough. He learnt very quickly and was very confident so much so he has had to be slowed down for his own safety!

He brings great joy to my fellow club members and great frustration to me.

Please spare a thought for us as Razzle is entering his first two agility shows in March. I am sure he will enjoy himself very much but not so sure if he will run the courses my way or his.