Penycloddiau - a short walk today.

I walked up Penycloddiau  (440m) today!  Lovely sunny weather today for my short walk in the hills with my humans.

Wags and woofs, Dexter.

Pre-Agility Training

I'm back at school with k9brats and I started my agility training today.  My humans only managed to get one photo and it's a bit blurred because I'm so fast!

First lesson

Today I did jumps and a tunnel, I have to do lots of homework this week and practice putting my front legs in the right place while moving my back legs.  I'll keep you updated on this blog on my progress.
I'm now in week three so on to moving a bit faster over the jumps and through a tunnel, have a look at the photos of me in action (and don't I look smart with my coat stripped!).  It's great fun and my tail wags so much I hope it doesn't fall off.

Now I'm up to week 5 and hurtling over the jumps, I went over a bridge (no fear; I love it) and through the tunnel.  Next week I'm going to climb a small A-frame and then it's the doggie Christmas party.  I'll try and get my humans to take some more photos of me with all my friends.

Week 6 and I've finished pre-agility - and I got a certificate!!   Week 6 was a chance to put everything I had practiced together so I went over three jumps at right-angles and through the tunnel all in one go.  I did this three times in a row correctly and my humans were so pleased with me I had lots of treats.  I went over the A-frame and a bridge, I can stop when told to and wait for the 'go' command before I start running. I've added some more pictures of me in action - wow I really love this !

Woofs and wags, Dexter.

Mabinogion Sculptures

I promised to tell you about the Welsh legends of the Mabinogion, well it's really complicated for a young dog to explain the story so I thought I would show you some wood carvings at a campsite where I stay.  At the Pen y Bont site there are sculptures by Simon O'Rourke which are based on the Mabinogion legends. 

My humans tied me to a sword called Caledfywlch which is the origin of the sword Excalibur. 

Dragon

Tegid Foel

Bodeuwedd

In the Mabinogion there are two dragons who fight, this sounds very scary so I would bark at them and then run away as fast as I could.  Bodeuwedd was created by druids and after a bit of that falling in love stuff was turned into an owl. What about Tegid Foel?  Well he gave his name to Llyn Tegid and was a giant whose wife was a sorceress.  

So that's the world's shortest summary of some elements of a really important series of tales about Welsh history.

wags and confused woofs,

Dexter.

My first named summit

Hi folks,

It's been a long time since I wrote about my adventures but I have been having lots of fun over the summer. I have been sailing and swimming in Llyn Tegid while the weather was warm. I had lots of fun with the grand-kids (humans) in the summer, sometimes they are bit frightened of me because they are very small but they run around a lot which I like. Now that I'm older I can do some longer walks, a few weeks ago I walked to the top of a proper hill, Moel Emoel which is 549 metres high.  There's more information on Moel Emoel on the website Backpacking in Britain and more photos as well if you want to make it a longer walk. I walked about 4.5 km in total and climbed  about 300 metres, I walked really slowly, my humans thought I might get tired, ha, ha.  

Moel Emoel from Llyn Tegid.

Some photos from the top of the hill, I love hills!

There's a lot more walking to do and my next hill will be Penycloddiau (440m) in the Bryniau Clwyd (Clwydian Range) sometime very soon.

wags and woofs , Dexter.