Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody! A new start, new beginnings. Let's hope this year is at least as good as last year, if not better! We're expecting some great new stuff at the shop. We'll be training our dogs with more enthusiasm. I'm not making resolutions, but if I happen to be more productive, waste less time, lose a couple of pounds... - Fran

New Year Routine

I don't know about you, but the first few days of a new year are exciting to me. The year is fresh and anything is possible. This is the year that I'll write down all my appointments and not forget any. This is the year that I'll file papers right away and not let them stack up. This is the year that I'll spend five minutes, twice a day, training my dog! (Okay, let's not go crazy. Once a day is enough...) Something - anything. Just looking at me for treats!

I was inspired by a picture sent in an email. A friend has been training her Brussels Griffon in obedience, and she's at the point where he's taking his dumbbell. If you know anything about obedience you know that this is not always an easy accomplishment. Far from it. It took many months for Golly to take her dumbbell, much less sit with it or walk with it in her mouth. So here comes this picture with the little Brussels Griffon practicing the long sit exercise with his classmates - with dumbbells in their mouths! This is three minutes! Amazing. And there's another picture with him jumping over the bar jump with a toy in his mouth! Good practise for jumping with the dumbbell! So - thanks Pam - I'm inspired for the New Year! Starting off slow can lead to great things.

You know you're a dog person when....

you get up around 5 a.m. on New Year's Day to go to an Agility Trial. That's where Dax and I will be - along with a few hundred of our nearest and dearest. It's the first day of a three-day trial and one that's relatively close to home.
We're expecting to have a wonderful time - we always do at dog shows of any kind. It would also be very, very nice if Dax and I qualified. We're getting better all the time and it's wonderful to see progress. I'd really also like to see ribbons! (Green ribbons are awarded to all qualifiers at AKC trials.)
So I'll be fast asleep when the new year and decade roll in. My wish for all of us: health, happiness, prosperity and peace. Happy 2010!