And Here We Are Again

It's the end of one year and the beginning of another. This time of year always brings a lot of hope and a little bit of sadness. I read a great quote about New Years by Bill Vaughan: An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. I feel like a little bit of both this year. 2010 was filled with a lot of downs, and only a few ups, but those ups were pretty amazing. I'm a little worried about what 2011 will bring, but I am still hopeful that it will be better than 2010.

People all over the place are writing down their new years resolutions. Some include exercise, eating better, spending less $$; but among my circle of friends the resolutions come more in the form of training goals. Goals that they will try and achieve with their dogs - these are also known as titles. Earlier in the year, I blogged about titles and that we (meaning Abby and I) don't need titles to show the depth of our training or our relationship, but this year might bring one. And I will be proud of the both of us if we get one.

But my actual goals for 2011 don't include titles. There is no training plan laid out. I'm not even sure what phase of training we are in on our old plan - phase 5 maybe??? My only real plan for 2011 is to hang out with my dogs more. I know that seems silly as all I seem to do is hang out with my dogs; but most of our time spent together in 2010 was spent driving to classes, or trials, or fun matches, or to hiking/training spots. I don't want to drive so much with my kids this year. I want to enjoy our time together doing the little things that they love to do - walk around the block, have breakfast at a cafe, go to the beach, sit in the reading chair, etc. As my kids continue to get older, I want to ensure that they are having the best time possible. And if that means fewer classes and more vacations, then so be it. Or maybe, more sick calls into work and more day trips! Regardless of how it eventually works out, I want us to be having a great time for as much as we can of 2011. And my goal for myself is to take as many photos as possible. Ideally, we would have one awesome family photo, but even if we only end up with a few out takes, that would be ok too.

For now, we say good bye to 2010 and all the tears (both of joy and sorrow) that it brought. But I think that Brooks Atkinson said it best, Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.

Ok, So I Lied. . .

A few posts ago I said that I needed a break from dogs, and that we were going to take a break from training. I was hoping that the training break would last until January... I had a feeling that it wouldn't, but I was still hopeful. All sings were pointing to a nice long break until our rally instructor said that Abby would be ready to move up to level 3 for the next set of classes.

Normally, this would have made me very happy and proud. A few months ago, I fully believed that Abby would be in level 1 for the rest of her life. I truly thought that I would never be able to ask her to do all of these exercises and do them off leash. But, Abby proved me wrong, as she continues to excel at this odd little sport. I am very proud of her, but now I have to start training again!

Most of the level 3 exercises are built off level 2. Some are new to level 3, but not new to Abby - we just haven't practiced them in awhile. But there is one new exercise that I knew was coming, but I had since chosen to ignore: the retrieve. Ack! Abby can't retrieve! How in the world am I supposed to teach Abby to retrieve? Sure, there was a time when Abby couldn't do an A-frame, or a tunnel, but those were different! This is a retrieve!

So, now our *vacation* from training is now a super intensive retrieve training. Luckily for me, a wonderful trainer is teaching her dog to fetch (aka, retrieve), and she is posting videos on her blog. Her dog started out a lot farther along than Abby. Right now, we are just C&T for a touch on her absolutely awesome new retrieve toy:


I was trying to find something plushy and small enough for her to carry. I also wanted something that squeaked as she *sometimes* gets excited about squeaky noises. When I saw this, I knew it was made especially for us. I know it is technically a Christmas item, but Abby is naughty all year long, so I figured it was ok.

Hysterical Fun

Christmas Present: Family Foto Outtakes

ummm. . .this isn't going to be easy:


Well, at least we got everyone's head in:


Looks like Mole and Abby are trying to tell me something:


Let's try a different set up:


Pocket obviously hates this pose:



well, we still have a few weeks left before Christmas. We have plenty of time for more family photo fun.

Christmas Past

Pocket decided to help light the tree up with her alien eyes.

Working with Sean Connery

I have been working with Sean Connery for the past 10 weeks or so. Sometimes it's heaven, and sometimes he annoys the sh*t out of me. I can't help it, I love him, but sometimes he can be so demanding! I guess it's to be expected though. . .

If you know me at all, you can probably guess that Sean is an animal. A cat. A RAGDOLL cat. The most purrfect cat ever. He gets along great with my feral office cat and with my kids. In fact, I believe he thinks he is one of my kids. When pocket stays home, he takes her place in the dog bed line up.



I'm kinda in love with him.