Getting Started

I don't know how many people will follow this blog but bear with me, I'm new at this :-)  I have 2 really amazing dogs that I have been known to write and/or talk about ad nauseum.  Since I'm sure that some people tire of hearing or reading about them this gives me an outlet.  I also like to write.

So, what do I want to write about on this, my very first blog entry?  Well, since it also happens to be January 1, 2011, I guess I'll write about my goals for the dogs this year.  I'm sure they will change over time but here goes.

Gata - What to do next with The Amazing Gata Sombra??  She has a few AKC titles - CD, and RA.  She also earned her Schutzhund titles last year - 1, 2, and 3.  This year I would like to get her FH1 and maybe even an FH2 (that DEFINITELY counts as a stretch goal) and maybe start her in Agility.  We have just started doing some basic training for Agility so that's a bit of a stretch, too.  Her foundation is good but I don't have any equipment and don't see spending a lot of money on Agility lessons.  Gata will almost certainly demand that we continue doing some Schutzhund.  She loves it :-)  For me there are 2 issues - 1) money - it is expensive to work on a helper and 2) injuries - Gata is a dog that has been known to injure herself and I hate to see it.  So, we'll continue doing some stuff in Schutzhund but much more selectively.  There really isn't much left to prove with her - she is a very impressive Schutzhund dog :-)  I guess we could also set our sights on some more AKC titles - Obedience, Rally, and Tracking but those could also wait awhile until she gets a little older and isn't as athletically active as she is now.

Tor - Who knows - he's just a 6-month old twirp ;-)  By this time next year I would like to have his BH and have him competing or at least ready to compete in Schutzhund.  That's a lot to accomplish in a year.  He is already tracking pretty well and will bite pretty much anything that you put in front of him but we certainly don't have much Obedience or control yet ;-)  I would also like to have exposed him to a variety of different environments by then so that when he does start competing I won't have to worry so much about distractions.

I should join the ODTC so that I can start taking both dogs to their monthly OB matches.  That would be a good idea all the way around.  OK, I think that's enough for my first post :-)