This & That

Well, it is now 2011! Hard to believe, but true!
Last year was a difficult year for me, I had to retire my little Boo at 6 yrs young due to disk problems in his back. Bizzie also had back issues, which thankfully we got sorted out with some chiropractic & massage. I had some minor surgery so was not able to run for a couple of months. Then my mom was in hospital for about 2 months, so I was visiting her daily. Anyhow, all of these things took time away from any kind of training plan. Hopefully we can now get back on track.

Bizzie was just bred over the Christmas holiday, so she will be out of commission for a few months. This should be her last breeding, so hope all goes well.

Blast is always a work in progress! He is running much faster with more confidence now, but now I have to really be in the right place at the right time. When he is paying attention, he is very responsive to the slightest move by me, so it is a challenge to keep him on course. He is such a goofy boy - he gets freaked out by anything new or changed in our home. We just got a new front load washer & dryer & he's absolutely freaked by the washer - it makes new sounds & you can see things move inside the washer! Very scary!

My goal for him this year is to try to find a way to get him to work with more distractions. He is much better at indoor trials since there is less to distract him. My goal for myself is to get into better physical condition so that I can run faster myself!

I have been doing rally classes with Boo, & he's doing quite well. His heeling position isn't great, but because he is so small, it's hard for him to stay right beside me cause he can't see my face. We're working on a straighter sit & he has to learn a "stand", which is something I've never trained before. We may take him to a trial this year just to see how he does.