Bailstails - Astra Kep

I was so very proud of Kep on Sunday at Chipping Norton show 20th August 2006, he only had one run in intermediate jumping and he came an amazing 5th, Kep is a very strong dog to handle and he doesn't go clear very often but he worked his little legs off for me in this class.

Kep was bought for Charlie. We viewed him on the internet at five weeks old. He is from the Astra line by Janet Beale. Janet was most helpful in helping us make the right decision, as we had a choice of four pups. Charlie liked a Black and white and I liked the tri dog. So we let Janet decide which pup would suit our requirements better. The tri won over, and we made arrangements with Janet to pick Kep up near Manchester airport, as Janet lives in the deepest part of Scotland, and was taking a dog to America to live. Janet couldn’t make the trip so we met up with her mother at a service station to pick Kep up. He was travelling with his litter sister who was destined for Sweden to be trained as an agility dog.
Kep and his sister were very tiny eight week old pups, and when let out to go to the toilet ran straight back to their mum. I picked Kep up and gave him a cuddle, then put him in a small cage in our van, he cried nearly all the way home, which was a two hour journey. He came into our house to live and we have never looked back, this little chap made himself at home immediately. Kep was never an easy dog to handle or train, far to strong for Charlie, who is used to a more gentle type of dog. He is amazingly fast. Charlie couldn’t get the measure of him, so I had a go and loved the way he was. I just needed to channel this great dogs enthusiasm. So off we went for a six week course with Nicola Garrett. He was all over the place, and I felt out of my league in the class, as every one else was getting better and we were going nowhere. Then suddenly, we seemed to be getting somewhere, Kep could weave, then he could jump without knocking all the jumps down. This was a massive improvement, and I was beginning to enjoy working him. The six weeks were up, and I felt we could be going places. Then I had a phone call and was asked if I wanted to go on a further two weeks with Nicola and jumped at the chance. This time things were harder, and boy could this dog work hard when he wanted too.

We didn’t bring Kep out at the usual eighteen months as he wasn’t ready, so we left it for a few months more, so we could get a bit more consistency under our belt. Kep's first show was a disaster, he was all over the place and out of control. I was told to be firmer with him, and this seemed to work, he was getting places, and as our confidence grew together, we won our first agility. I just let him do all the work, while I worked him from a distance. There is no way I can keep up with this dog, so it isn’t worth trying. We started getting places in both agility and jumping, mostly top three, always missing that elusive second win. Then in August 2005 we made it again, another agility win taking us into seniors. Unfortunately we haven’t had any nice senior courses yet. I have also had to reduce his protein level in his food as he is getting more and more hyper when working.
Now he is on eighteen percent protein, down from twenty four but nothing different yet. Keps best friend is Lucy, he idolises her. When out on walks, they are always together blasting around the field and joining up in the middle, then working the other dogs, who are oblivious to what they are doing. Sadly Kep had to be castrated as he tried to be top dog at an early age. Can’t have bossy dogs with the amount we have, he is such a nice boy now, so something good came out of it.
Kep is a very “on the go” type of dog, never tires and has to be told to lie down and rest, or he drives you mad wanting to play all the time.

Kep as a teeny pup! Kep at Dordale 2006

Picture taken at our R.D.T.C. show 2006

Keps winning into Senior certificate