What a difference a dog makes...

I got to work Sampson in the Practical Living class we are doing now (Tom's away). What a gentle lovely sweet fellow he is. We worked on leave it, sitting calmly while dogs passed us and some positioning ... he was an angel .. I had F O C U S to make a more advanced dog weep - he barely broke eye contact for anything. Amazing ... might be hard to hand the leash back to Tom and work crazy Sally next week :) Speaking of which ... Sally got to play agility last night - she was OUTSTANDING - dog walks from all over the place with hard solid contacts at the bottom; tunnels on a whisper; outs and overs in all directions. It was a good thing as I turned my ankle and was mostly just walking sending her from spot to spot. Amazing work in it's own right. Brody go to run one little course and was very happy doing so as well ;)

feb 3 - think it's time to goal set for 2010?

Me too! Last year was a bit of a blur so I could simply repost last years goals but I think instead I'll start over and then look to see what I thought I'd do later on ...

Super Sally
keep training when I can catch a minute
work her perfect downs on tables everywhere
run CPE level 1 and 2 classes as appropriate
run AAC gamblers, snookers and maybe jumpers classes through the spring and summer
add standard and stepplechase as she levels out

Terrific Thea
either enjoy Cpe level 1 whenever possible or put a whole whack of time into training then follow Sally's plan above

Brave Brody
get him fit enough to play - do some drop in training to get him running again
trial one day a month
go to regionals (and qualify for nationals - goal at this point)

hey I was actually pretty reasonable at the beginning of last year - look:
Sally is maturing into a wonderful dog. Maybe she'll more than 1 Q in 2009.
She did - she earned 2 more q's in the only trial she made it to - a wildcard q and a jackpot Q - she makes my heart sing in a way that's hard to describe - it's like working with a real fine wire - when it's right it's sheer poetry!!
Thea needs some work on chutes and teeters - if I can get that done I'd love to take her to regionals.
Now that they've shortened chutes - all is good chute wise - teeters will still need work ... and regionals weren't in the cards for any of us ..
Looking forward to hopefully having Brody at regionals too, and maybe nationals as well if all goes well.
Sad not to be doing CPE this year but I'm going to finish the qualifications for the nationals then move him down a height level anyhow - hopefully he can qualify for 2010
we (being the dream dog Brody and me) did knock off the qualifications easily for Cpe nationals - maybe I should plan on Florida :) he's such a good boy!!

I cannot tell a lie

I am not sorry to say good bye to this year (actually started in the fall of 2008)






One CPE agility trial for ONE day and one day of a judges clinic and that was IT if memory serves me right for agility


Losses like I have never seen - human, cat, dog, rabbit - everytime I turned around someone I loved or cared about was getting slammed in some way ...




I'll do some goal setting soon - but all I can say right now is GOODBYE 2009!!

Brody ...

is aging ...

I can feel his backbone

and after having a year + off agility I worry about bringing him back - I guess all I can do is start slow conditioning and cross my fingers he's fitter and younger feeling than he's looking right now ...

I hate this part of living with, and loving, other species ....

wow - long time no see ...

My fall is always busy but this has been insane

I'm taking a course every other weekend in Kingston ..Saturdays and Sundays and while it's good it's made for a very long three months

we lost Hank, 3 cats (one 12 year old who was born here- 2 fosters - one after about a year with us the other after 2 weeks here) and 2 rabbits. They all died in a very short period of time - and while each death was awful and tragic non was preventable or predicatable.. it was a rough couple of weeks ...

I ended up with more rabbits here - just don't ask ... but I think I'd better get bunny agility going asap ...

we also have a new farm dog - Sampson. He's a young golden retriever .. and while he has some bagage he's a dear fellow and working very hard to learn basic manners ...I feel terrible that life has been so busy lately he's pretty much had to swim with the big dawgs ...
Tom is taking him to class and they are doing great - Sally and I go along for fun and the trainer hasn't figured out yet that Sally already knows everything she is teaching plus a whole lot more - too funny!
My father in law fell last week - he's still in the hospital and Tom and I live closest of all the kids so we are spending a lot of time with him .. never fun ..if it takes awhile to get another update I hope you'll understand why.

another dog who will NEVER do agility ...

This is Kismet

He isn't old but he is "special". He is blind (mostly); he spins in circles; he can't wear a leash; and he is one weird and wonderful litle dude.

He needs to find a new forever home that will love him to pieces and let his real personality shine. He is getting more confident and more affectionate day by day. Sometimes fostering is pretty darn rewarding.

Full circle?

we may have a new dog .. a golden retriever .. did I want a golden? not really but sometimes fates conspire and things just ARE ..
Sampson appears to be a just is

WE have loved sporting dogs as a family for a long time .. our first dog was an irish setter, my aunt and uncles have lived with spaniels and goldens and my first dog as an adult was a golden .. a sporting dog with a love of running and a soft malleable temperment suits us it seems .. smart but not nearly as smart as a herding dog (SALLY!) active but able to relax in the house.. keen but not desperate .. I'm hoping Sampson fits in well for many years

does a golden do agility?
don't know and don't care
Brody is coming up 9 so probably won't play too many more years but Thea at 6 and Sally at three both potentially have lots of years left to train, compete and play .. if Sampson is a good agility dog that's awesome but I'm no rush - I have lots of work left with the three that do have some training ;)