2013

Susan Garrett challenged those of us in  one of her online courses to set goals for 2013 by visualizing them and looking back on the year from a perspective of having met these goals.  I'm going to put them down here so that I have something to look back on.  Now some of the goals are wishes as I don't have any control (how fast my bones heal) but I do believe in the power of positive thinking.

January - I start the online nosework course.  Although Max is my "official" dog I do the exercises with both.  As expected Max loves it and shows talent for it (Mr. I'll do anything for a treat) but Rylie also enjoys it a lot.  Being one of the working students in the class challenges me to video and record keep and I find it becoming a habit as well as an excellent tool for showing where I can improve.

February - WooHoo!  My arm is healed.  Thanks to my excellent surgeon and my therapy team I have recovered full range of motion and am given the go ahead to return to agility training and fitness classes.  Since I have been doing a learn to run program on my treadmill (with my bum arm all trussed up) I find that I haven't lost that much fitness and the strength comes back relatively quickly to my left arm.  Soon the whole broken arm thing is a distant memory.

We spend spring fine tuning the foundation we worked on over the winter.  Our first trial of the year Max is super excited and blasts off the start line.  His efficient lines and focus makes him far faster than he looks but even I am surprised at the speed at which we cover the course.   It's a good thing I kept up my cardio.  My greatest sense of joy comes from the two of us staying connected from the time we walked through the gate to the end of the run.  It's Rylie's turn and he doesn't disappoint.  Our training over the winter has convinced him that it's okay for me to be the team leader.  Also I've become more timely in my cues so he can count on me more.  Another lovely run.  During the spring we take a distance work course to help us conquer those scary gambles.  The first real chance to see how it paid off was at regionals.  All I can say is WOW.  Both Max and Rylie rocked the gamble.  I was so proud of him.  It was Max's second regional and he now felt like an old hat - fast and fun all the way.  I've learned to control my nerves better and Max has learned that it's okay when the mama is a bit nervous - we're still going to have fun out there.  It's Rylie's first regional and he says "holy cow batman - I was born for this".   We're finally ready to try Rylie's running contacts in a trial - thank goodness we worked on directionals over the winter.  Lots of fun.  I'm thrilled with our teamwork and grateful to my trainer and training partners for all they have done.

In summer we go to Say Yes summer camp where once again we learn tons.  We continue to train and trial over the summer and fall and our teamwork just keeps getting better and better and we have more and more fun at each trial.

I look back at 2013 and I'm grateful for health, family, friends, and the all the fun that the dogs and I have shared over the year.