Friday, January 21, 2011

2011

2010 was a good year overall. I will say 2009 was probably the worst year ever, and 2010 was a whirlwind if moving, paperwork, more paperwork and generally trying to get life back into some semblance of normal. While we aren't there quite yet, we are getting there. The barn was raised for training, and we started having regular classes inside in June. I held my very first seminar, courtesy of Jennifer Crank, who owns Incredipaws. It was successful, if only a little bit colder than we had hoped! We also had a really good time in december with our first agility league. All in all, it was a good year for TNT.
 This year, we have even MORE in the works! Another seminar, to be announced soon, and other exciting news to be revealed. I say "we" because, even though TNT is my baby, I definitely feel like we are developing our own little family. I am sure I have said this before, but I will say it again and again. I have the best students any trainer could ask for. They are hard working, funny, serious and as dedicated as anyone could ever hope for. I appreciate them more than I can ever express. They allow me to be tough on them, to tease them mercilessly during class, and still they come back. I never feel like I am giving them as much as they give me. It's truly a joy and an honor to have them come back, week after week. Thank you TNTers, I love you all.
 As for 2011, my personal goal this year is to qualify for both AKC and USDAA Nationals with Moxie, and qualify for USDAA nationals with Sally. Hustle, I would like to just get him started and develop in him a love for the game. He's a good little man, and he is coming along nicely. I would like to grow my business to incorporate more things this year, like more clicker training classes, some obedience classes and perhaps some other fun dog sport training.
 I am going to try and keep up with Blogging this year too. I said that last year, I know... But this year, hopefully, I'll have more to blog.
 Speaking of last year, I have to take a second to thank my phenomenal girls. Sally, who is a legend in my eyes, was amazing. I decided to run her at 16 inches and move her to Preferred AKC and Performance USDAA. All I can say is, it was the best move ever. She FLEW through P1 USDAA, and EASILY earned her USDAA National qualifiers, her P1 title, and half of her P2 title as well. She was a Superstar at USDAA Nationals. I could not have asked her to do more than she did. She earned her way from Grand Prix Quarterfinals to Semifinals, and probably would have done okay in Semis if I would have only trusted her a little more. Sorry Sally girl, but what a ride you gave me... I will remember it forever. How good she was in her team events too, in standard, and Gamblers, and Jumpers even though I mishandled her. Her partner Haze was equally as good, and they finished in the top half of the Performance teams. So proud I could have burst. I love my Sally girl.
 Moxie certainly decided to step up to the plate last year. She finished her AX, AXJ, MX, MXJ, her Open and Excellent Fast titles, and got 4 Masters Fast legs. She flew through her AD title in USDAA, and flew equally as fast through her AAD title. So now, on to Masters. She qualified for the USDAA Nationals in Team and Steeplechase, and was 6 little points short of qualifying for AKC nationals in 2011. This year, we plan on trying to qualify for both, perhaps a little earlier this year ;)   She went from having weave issues early in the year, and contact issues, to being a solid little competition dog, and for that, I am terribly proud of her. I am also glad, in some weird way, that we did not qualify for AKC Nationals. Being so close will only make me work harder, and train harder. Had we qualified, I think it would have led me into a false sense of security. Thank you Moxie, for teaching me that failure is not fatal, and never give up on your dreams. I also learned that if you never fail at something, you aren't reaching high enough. This year, I will reach higher, and set my goals at an attainable, but very high, level. We will see how it all plays out. Either way, it'll be a fantastic ride!

1 comment:

  1. It sounds like it is going to be a busy and really fantastic year!

    ReplyDelete