Everything happens for a reason...

...And, when I unknowingly let Wally and Vivid out together to go for a hike that fateful day, 9 weeks later on July 19, 2007 the reason was clear, these 5 beautiful babies needed to happen because I was supposed to have my beautiful girl SoBe who popped out as an after thought, after her 4 wonderful brothers were born :-)
Of course I am a very proud grandma of all of the wonderful babies that were born on this day 4 years ago, they include Brix, Propel, Nixon, and, Crush 4 beautiful boys who have grown up to do wonderful things for their mommies.
I am, of course, a bit biased about the last born and of course the cutest, my little SoBe DoBe Doodle Bug! She is the apple of my eye, one of my best friends, the one who makes me laugh, and, gives me gray hair! I cannot at this point imagine my life without her so thank you Wally for knowing what needed to be done and getting it done :-) LOL!!
Since these babies 2 more awesome litters of little SoBes have come into the World each loved and cherished by "their people" as much as I love SoBe.
These pups take athleticism and work ethic to a whole new level and are as smart as can be. Of course they are not perfect, there is no such thing. But, they are perfect for their people and the jobs they have been destined to do, whether it is agility, obedience, or, hiking buddies.
Happy Birthday my dear SoBe, Brix, Propel, Nixon, and, Crush!

Another camp come and gone...

I am having one of those days where all I want to do is lay on the couch and vegitate, it would be the weekend right after camp :-) Camp was AMAZING!!! I am so incredibly thankful for all of the help I received before, during, and, after camp that made such a wonderful camp possible!
The campers were fabulous, the instruction, even if I am biased, was superb and a great time was had by all :-)
I am already very excited about next year and as soon as the details are ironed out there will be an announcement of when camp will be, who will be instructing, and, of course, the theme!
Once I can actually keep my eyes open and formulate a coherent thought, I will be getting ready for my next adventure, the European Open!
Maze and I are heading to Austria on Tuesday to compete in the European Open the weekend of the 29-31 of July.
The European Open is said to be the largest Championship event in Europe and I am super excited to go for the first time. Maze and I are definitely ready for the event, or, at least we will be by the time we head over :-)
I am especially excited to watch all of the wonderful European dog and handler teams that will be there, I will be doing a lot of filming!
I am also really excited about "continuing education" that I have planned for myself this year.
SoBe and I are once again going to be working with Silas Boogk at Ann Braues center in Eau Claire, we will be traveling out east to work with Jenny Damm the end of August, and, I am hosting a seminar with Crufts winner Dawn Weaver in November. It is going to be a great year!
The dogs and I have been doing a fair bit of trialing recently, which has pretty much come to a screeching halt for the time being but it was a great run and I came away with lots of IFCS points for Maze, semi finals byes for Nationals in both GP and Steeplechase for Maze and Wally and a Steeplechase semi finals bye for Steeplechase for SoBe!
Hmmmm.... what else has been going on? Well, as of 3 days ago when I last trained him, Danger was doing 12 weave poles in a row!!! Now, if we could just get these contacts in order we would be all set :-)
Mooch is growing up and at the same time being allowed to be a puppy, that is dog trainer speak for I have not had much time to work with him :-) He was a super boy at camp though and we did get a lot of socialization as well as training Moochie to be a good quiet boy while watching agility, very valuable!
Well, I think I may hoist myself up and go work a few dogs, just for fun!

Back to the Dark ages... sort of :-)

Today I deactivated my Facebook account, yes that's right, I am taking a break, maybe permanently from Facebook. Why you ask, because it is time to get back to communicating with people on a face to face basis, or, at least by phone call or even email.
I find that although it has been quite nice to reconnect with people that I have not seen or talked to in a long while, and, it is a great way to get information it is also an addictive, time consuming way for me to procrastinate the day away :-)
I am constantly amazed by how quickly technology is taking over the World and how things have changed during my lifetime, I have managed to avoid a lot of it by refusing to actually learn how to use a computer properly, and, I even still keep a paper calendar!
I will admit, I am a cell phone addict and am not sure what I would do without it. I also appreciate the awesome power of email and the ability to communicate with people around the World almost immediately.
The availability of on line education, YouTube, and, the various other mediums that allow us to peek at what is going on worldwide are awesome, but, it seems to me we each have to draw the line somewhere. I am drawing my personal line by getting off of Facebook and not joining Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, or, any of the here is what I am doing at this moment technological advancements.
I know a few people that have managed to avoid the addiction and have been able to survive just fine :-) They also do not have to suffer the withdrawals I am sure to face given the fact that I find myself on Facebook numerous times a day, just browsing!
I plan to utilize the time I would have spent browsing Facebook to reconnect the old fashioned way with various friends, spend more time on my various agility related projects, training my dogs, and, taking some time to smell the flowers.
I, completely understand the addiction and hopefully can hold onto my resolve and not fall off the wagon. I also applaud those that can use Facebook in moderation. I will definitely miss seeing the awesome accomplishments, funny stories, beautiful photos, and, happy moments that so many of my "friends" share, but, I will cherish all of these things even more when I see them in person! Adios Facebook, I am sure that I will miss you!

It's been a crazy wonderful month!

I realize it has been almost a month since I have posted anything to my blog, my how time flies!! It has been a great month! Geoff and I hit the road the beginning of June heading to Minnesota for the MAC 4 star event, we had a great time and it was the beginning of a trip packed with trials, seminars, vacation, and, some well deserved Stacy and Geoff time :-)
Although Geoff had to cu the trip short and miss the last trial we had planned on attending, it was really great to get to spend some "real" time with him.
The trip started with the MAC trial where all of the dogs were incredible! You are quite possibly going to get tired of reading that phrase because it pretty much describes each weekend:-)
I had the opportunity to work with my peeps in Minnesota after the trial and it was the usual awesome time!
I worked for 2.5 days then it was off to Calgary for the AAC Regional Championships, what a great event!
First, it was held in the most incredibly beautiful setting on a perfectly groomed rugby field overlooking all of Calgary and the Rocky mountains in the back ground.
Geoff and I showed a total of 5 dogs at the event and all dogs not only qualified for the AAC Nationals but all ended the weekend in the top 10 placements in their divisions.
Maze was the superstar winning all 3 rounds of Steeplechase, and, winning overall 26" dog becoming the 2011 Regional Champion!
Wally was a superstar in his own right also winning all 3 rounds of Steeplechase, to become the 22" Steeplechase Champ! Wally finished the weekend in 5th place overall.
SoBe always an adventure ended up 10th overall but did have a few really impressive moments, including but not limited to winning one of the gamblers classes after completing all available gambles! In Canada the gamblers courses include mini gambles as well as the main gamble, in this particular class SoBe completed a total of 5 gambles :-)
Rumor and Geoff brought home the bronze medal from the 16" specials class and Xtra 6th overall in 10" Veterans. She had so much fun!
After the trial ended Geoff and I headed to Banff where we hiked and played with dogs :-) A lovely night of camping and a campfire really made the trip fantastic as well as quite relaxing! The Banff area is so incredibly beautiful!! I was quite amazed at how dog friendly all of the parks are as well. We swam dogs, hiked with the dogs and just basically hung out with the dogs for a couple of days, it was heaven!
Then is was off to Salt Lake City where I once again got to spend a day working with my awesome students!! Geoff headed home after he dropped me off in Salt Lake and the dogs and I once again had the pleasure of staying with our dear friends Colleen and Kevin for a few days as I was yet again trialing :-)
Guess what? The dogs were BRILLIANT!! I have had a most incredible year of trialing thus far and I attribute a lot of it to really exploring the mental part of this game and essentially relaxing and enjoying the ride!
Somehow, I managed to forget to mention that Danger made his debut in Jumpers, gamblers and Snooker at the MAC trial :-) We have a VERY long way to go but he did manage a jumpers Q!
This past weekend he got a gamblers Q, although I was quite surprised as I was under the impression you had to actually get some points in the opening portion of the class as well as get the gamble :-) I thought it might be fun to post the video, if I had one :-), and play a game called find the points! Did I mention we have a ways to go...
Anyway, back to Salt Lake, suffice to say that over the past several weekends my dogs and I have done our fair share of winning, but, most of all we have had some amazingly spectacular runs, whether they were winning runs, placing runs, or, in some cases, NQ'ing runs :-)
The long and the short of it, I love my dogs, I love my family, I am seriously grateful for my friends, my students, and, all of the wonderful people that I am lucky enough to get meet along the way. I am a very lucky person indeed and I am already looking forward to a great weekend at the Rocky Mountain Regional this coming weekend! I am sure over the course of the weekend I will learn lots, have some majorly memorable moments, and, possibly some disappointments as well, but, when all is said and done I will still have my dogs, my family, my friends and lots to look forward to!

You Gotta learn to walk before you can run.

Today the pups and I were at an AKC trial at this wonderful indoor soccer center in the Denver area, the dogs did really well :-) Wally had a beautiful standard run with an unfortunate bar... SoBe decided to see if I was willing to maintain my criteria at an AKC trial where we pay premium dollar for 2 whole runs. She learned that I will still maintain criteria even with those very tempting reasons to potentially falter on that a bit. Her standard run was by far the fastest of them all, of course she only did a tire and 1 jump before being carried off the course for breaking her start line! I do love my ever pushy Doodle Bug!
Maze had a beautiful standard run and Q'd with a 1st place :-) We got to play role reversal in JWW, where SoBe took the message to heart, had a very nice stay and a smokin' clean JWW run! Wally also decided that he could Q in JWW since we got that pesky double Q possibility over with in standard :-)
Maze did the always unusual for him, he dropped a bar. So, we were 50% today but alas, no double Q's.. Tomorrow we head back down for another go at it, and, if the weather decides to improve and be as beautiful as they are predicting we may play hooky and go hiking on Monday instead of to the trial, sometimes a lovely hike is a way better idea than a day indoors at a trial :-)
We have a very busy few weeks of trialing coming up, next weekend is a 4 Star USDAA trial in Minnesota, followed by the Alberta Canada Regionals, then another 4 star in Utah :-) There will be a little vacation in between as we are taking the RV and making an extended road trip out of it.
So, what's with the title of todays post? Actually I was thinking about starting a young dog again and it got me thinking about all that is involved in starting the babies trialing.
Next weekend Danger will make his debut in USDAA in jumpers and gamblers. To say I am a bit nervous is sort of an understatement, but mostly I am super excited!!
Danger is such an incredible boy I truly cannot wait to get into the ring with him. I do realize, however, there are a multitude of potential things that can happen and yet, I have know idea what actually will. I just know that he is ready to try out a real trial and I also know that there are going to be tons of things that do not go exactly as planned which is totally fine! I know what I have taught him to do, I know what my criteria is and I know that my expectations can only be for him to do the best he can in a totally new environment on totally new equipment in a very high charged environment.
I am prepared to praise the living daylights out of him, I am prepared to get a full unobstructed view of all of holes that we most certainly have at this point in our training, and, I am fully prepared to enjoy every second of our time out on course no matter what happens!
He is a baby, we are not yet a team, and, I have yet to actually run a "full" course with him even in a training situation. Danger will need experience in the ring to know what to do, "we" need experience in the ring to become a real team, and, my wonderful, beautiful, super smart baby boy needs to learn to walk before he can truly run!

That's Life...

It is a totally gloomy day here in "colorful Colorado", we have gone from serious draught to monsoon! It has been raining for the better part of 2 weeks, thank goodness I have had "breaks" traveling, here, there, and, everywhere!
I am not a fan of rain but I am seriously scared of fires as well, so, for now I will take the rains which will green everything up and keep the fires at bay at least for a few weeks.
This rain will of course end and we will very quickly ascend into the heat and inevitable draught of summer.
This weather also puts me in a bit of a thoughtful mood, as it were. I have been thinking about the twists and turns that life brings, trying to sort out why things happen the way they do and for what reason. Trust me when I say that I think everything in life happens for a reason, sometimes the reasons are hard to determine but never the less, there are reasons!
Starting with the horrible natural disasters that seem to be rampant in our country and around the World.
These latest tornadoes in Joplin, MO really should put the trivial things into perspective shouldn't they! I am overwhelmed with sadness for all of the people that have lost their homes and even worse, loved ones. I cannot even imagine having such a horrible tragedy hit close to home.
Even with this fresh in our mind, as long as it does not affect us directly we still seem to find a way to feel bad about something that is by comparison not even on the radar of the most minute importance.
I guess this is just one of the many things that make us human, not bad, just human!
Today the news of who will be representing the US in France on the AKC World team was announced, I barely slept at all last night in anticipation of the phone call I was hoping to get, trust me, I have been playing this game long enough to know that there are no guarantees, and, anything can happen, however, Maze and I did an amazing job at tryouts ending up 4th overall proving that we have the skills, patience, experience, and, ability to represent the US at the 2011 World Championships in France.
Well, although I carried the phone with me everywhere, stared at it pretty much continually, and, seriously willed it to ring, it did not.
To say I was not disappointed would be a very big lie, however, when we put it into perspective and weigh it against the grand scheme of things, it is but another blip on the radar of life.
I am going to allow myself to be disappointed, but, most importantly I am going to allow it to help me to continue to work hard at achieving the goals that I set for myself and my dogs in agility.
I am going to use it to push myself to continue to try new and different things, push myself to train and handle even more aggressively than I feel that I already do, and, most importantly, I am going to use this experience to continue to remind myself to enjoy the process!
I have worked hard to get where I am in the wonderful sport of agility and I have been very fortunate to experience a lot of firsts, meet a lot of awesome people, go to the most fabulous places. and, experience what success feels like both in competition and my love and passion for teaching!
There are many more awesome experiences to come for me in this sport I am certain of that, so, todays feeling of disappointment will pass and it will be replaced with euphoria over some wonderful thing, then there will be more disappointments, more euphoria... that's life!
So, before this mornings emotional smack down, I was actually in one of those awesome euphoric states after having the most wonderful time at the SC Regional in Fort Worth, TX. Again, the events, or lack there of :-), of this morning certainly did not take away from the awesomeness of the weekend!
The trial was fantastic! I got to once again see bunches of friends that I have not seen in a while as well as hang with some folks from right here in Colorado, a great time was had by all!
The Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona contingency did super and truly represented the area in an amazing way.
The courses were great, and, my dogs were AWESOME!!! Before I talk about me, I want to say how incredibly proud of Geoff I was! He and Rumor came with me to Fort Worth and after a crazy tax season and truly zero training he and Rumor earned byes into the semi finals of PGP and Perf. Speed Jumping! They also Q'd in both Masters classes offered and took third place in IHC Perf. Jumpers, they are a great team!
Now, about me :-) Maze was a very good boy! He came home with 53 IFCS points, placing in 5 of the 7 IFCS classes, a bye into the GP semis after a 4th place finish, a bye into Steeplechase semis, taking 2nd place overall in the 26" class, and was a member of the third place DAM team!
Wally kicked butt in several classes but my crowning achievement of the weekend with the Wally man was getting a GP semi final bye by going clean through both rounds and doing so without a voucher!
SoBe was my very best doodle bug ever! She placed in team jumpers, team gamblers, and, won masters gamblers in a very competitive 22" field. She looked fabulous and did not have a single run that I was not over the moon about!
So, overall, a FANTASTIC time was had by all :-)
In summary, on occasion life hands us what we consider to be lemons, but, most often life gives us countless things to be appreciative of, happy about, and, down right lucky for! Try not to sweat the small stuff, have a seat and enjoy the lemonade! My friends... THAT'S LIFE!

World Team Tryouts!!!

I could not be more proud of Maze, or, myself for that matter! World Team Tryouts were held in Hopkins, MN this past weekend and it was fantastic!!!
I honestly do not think that Maze could have run any better, nor, has he ever run better than he did at tryouts.
We were focused, rested, and, ready to rock and roll! The tryouts are such an incredible competition with amazing dog and handler teams from all over the US competing for a coveted spot on the team. These few spots could go to any of the awesome dog and handler teams and to have landed in 4th place overall has me seated securely on cloud 9!
The courses were so much fun! I truly wish we had opportunities to run these types of courses on a more regular basis, they really push you to better yourself as a trainer and handler.
The organization of the event was amazing and the facility wonderful!
The atmosphere at tryouts although highly charged, is also laid back from the standpoint of support among competitors. Each and every person there is genuinely excited for the other competitors, the support is fabulous and the environment competitive and FUN!
The surface was great and Maze handled it brilliantly, no slipping at all.
We came away from the weekend with 3 clean rounds, 3 placements, and, 2 rounds that although not clean were fantastic none the less. Maze never missed a weave pole, touched a bar, pushed a contact or second guessed a single direction. I cannot tell the future, and, at this point have no idea whether we will be going to France this year, but, I can say in all honesty that we are ready, willing and able to represent the US and the AKC, and, whether we are here in the US or over in France come October I could not be more pleased with our performance at the tryouts!