Happy 2010!

Bella and Sophie wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Just waking up from their New Years Eve catnip induced coma....

Ya had to use the flash didncha! You know I hate the flash!

Seriously, get that box outta my face before I scratch it right outta your hands!

I'm just going to lay here and make like a rug and maybe that crazy canine will leave me alone!

This year on the blog I am going to try to include more things about Bella and Sophie. There should be quite a lot of goings on with Reese with her back in official training for agility and herding will continue as soon as the weather cooperates. 

It has been cold for the last week or so and looks to be cold for the coming week as well. Reese is getting antsy to get back outside and so am I. Today I had to put Reese's booties on just so she could go outside to potty, didn't want to use the wax just for that so we opted for the booties. Since the previous explorations into the netherworld did not produce what we wanted in the way of doggie doodoo, the booties allowed enough time outside to produce the results we wanted. Yippee. Back inside we went.

The cold is giving us a good opportunity to work on our tricks. I hope to have a new tricks video of some of our older tricks better perfected and be able to show off some new ones in the next month or so. We are also continuing to work on our running dogwalk and other agility homework.

In terms of training goals for Reese I am not looking at anything in particular except that I want to continue to build on the relationship we have forged last year. I want to continue to foster and build it. Much of that relationship has been built by working stock and building the partnership that comes from a working relationship based on trust and learning to read each other and being there when the other needs it.

Our relationship/partnership/bond has also grown leaps and bounds by simply playing with each other. Really playing - just being goofy. Chasing each other around the yard, rolling on the floor together being silly. Playing fetch because we like to, playing tug just because we can. Sitting together snuggling on a cold night watching a movie or reading a book. Taking long hikes together. Learning new tricks and just being together.

We do of course hope that trialing is in our future this year for at least one of the venues we have been working on, but as I have aged I have learned the value of patience (to some extent). Yes, we want to trial, but I don't want to trial before we are ready. I am not in a hurry to trial "just to trial". We have waited a long time and when we are ready, we will trial, but not before.

So here is to a happy, healthy 2010!