Looking Back on 2012 and Moving Forward to 2013

So 2012 has left us so I guess it's time to review a bit. We've travelled farther than we ever have gone together, went to more trials than ever, won more ribbons than ever, made the AAC top dog list for 2012, earned the #4 rank in Canada for rally obedience Pugs, and earned 8 titles while having fun being together as a team.

Titles earned in 2012:
ADC
AADC
AGNS
AGNJS
AGIS
AGIJS
RN
RA

Pretty successful if I do say so myself.

But success isn't only measured in the letters. Izzie has accomplished so much more and grown in ways that aren't measurable by trials and things for which they don't award rosettes or rankings.

The biggest is confidence. Izzie hasn't been the most confident dog, she never used to stick up for herself. There was no desire to play if things got tough. That makes for playing with people too. She's grown leaps and bounds this year however. Who knows what it's from really but personally I believe it's from simply watching and being around other dogs. Specifically Gyp. Or maybe she's just possessed by the Jane collar. Anyway, I believe she learned some things about being brave from Gyp and its funny to watch but Izzie kind of idolizes her. I still have a little piece o' sheep from her tug at the Terry Simons seminar back last January that Izzie still loves to play with because it has Gyp spit on it.

Other than confidence, she's gained experience. We've competed for a full year in agility and she's done three CKC rally trials and even competed in her first race for scenthurdle. We've moved from an inexperienced starters team, to a slightly more experienced masters team that holds their own and from a nervous wreck very novice rally team to one who earns HIC scores and well, is still pretty nervous out there.  I'm working on that.

I've personally had a few come to jesus moments. Many attitude checks and figurative smacks upside the head or ass kickings from the all mighty instructors, and some times when I've questioned if I'm really doing the right thing. No one can answer that but me, and I don't have a solid answer. But for right now, what I've chosen is the right path for now. It could change, we all know how awesome life is at throwing curveballs, but for now I start believing in myself and my dog and what we're doing because what other people think doesn't matter any more. I'm looking at you, household. There are going to be some changes in routines, rules and schedule. My household may not be on board with some of it but tough, she's my dog.

Some of the changes I plan to implement this year:
- Scheduling: I need to manage my time better. This includes getting my sleep schedule worked out. I work different shifts all the time and never have the same schedule one week to the next so it's hard to fit in my own training or conditioning time with the Pug and hard to motivate myself to get to bed at a good time to wake up earlier to train my dog. Well now it's time to make time. I'll be buying a day planner to help me.
- Rules: I have had none for Izzie really. She's pretty much free reign in the household. I'm going to be a little stricter, not mean but just teaching her to "work" for her rewards. Hopefully this builds more value for rewards in our training in sports.
- Crating: After Izzie came up limping at the last trial I've been strictly crating her when I'm not around to make sure she's not being an idiot. I plan to continue with this. My household is not a fan of this as they believe crates are cruel, but personally I'd rather have my dog somewhere contained and not jumping off things that she shouldn't.
- Conditioning: I've never really had a plan for Izzie. She's skinny but she's not in top condition. I plan to focus more on this in 2013. More moving (but building up to long distances), more peanut ball, more stretching, more tricks. We'll get there together. I ultimately think that getting her into better working condition will have an impact on her speed and confidence in the ring as well.
- Prioritizing: I can't do everything. I frankly don't have the money to train and trial my dog in all the sports I want to in the ways that I want to. So something's gotta give a little in order to focus on my main love and priority this year. Agility. There's going to be plenty of time for Obedience and Rally in the future and I will still work on it as I do find it fun, but I want to focus on Agility and I can't keep bleeding my bank account dry to take lessons in every sport as much as I wish I had unlimited funds to do so.



It'll take some time to find the balance. It probably sounds like I'm going to become a drill sergeant but I'm not. In the end Izzie is still my dog and I'm still her human and there will still be plenty of time for us to do nothing but be. That's just as important as her endurance or mastering distance skills or tugging on a piece of icelandic sheep fuzz. I have no specific title goals or training achievements for this year as of yet. The plan is just to train to improve and the winning will take care of itself (I'm pretty sure that's paraphrased from Terry Simons actually).

Anywho... Happy New Year all my readers, hope this year is good to you.