13th annual “What are you going to do with your dogs” thread

[Sabine]

Hi everybody! Here's your 2019 "goals" thread. I'm stepping in for Katie this year, since to her current life circumstances she isn't up for posting. Hopefully she'll join in later.

So, in Katie's words:

This is an ODO tradition for me to start a thread where everyone can list their goals for their dogs for the coming year. It can be show/performance, training or health ... anything you plan to achieve with your dogs next year!!

Here's last year's thread:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32142

Tell us how you did, and what you're hoping for this year!

[Trademarkbark]

Thanks for starting it for me. I’ll go ahead and join in:

Our 2018 Goals:

2018 Goals:

Roxy - Rally titles, Novice at the least. Still looking for what gets her going. Maybe Barn Hunt, maybe Fast CAT if her prey drive kicks in. She will visit AKC and UKC conformation off and on as the urge strikes me, but with no real goal in mind. Roxy has passed her hips and elbows, so she will also be starting work as my full time counterbalance mobility service dog and hopefully pick up some of the medical alert duties from Grytz.

OE - she has taken to FastCAT and we will be focusing on moving through the titles in this venue with her.

Spud - she is basically retired from sports, but she may do some trick dog training to earn some titles.

Grytz - she will probably do FastCAT, get higher level CGCU and CGCA, and hopefully attempt the AKC Farm Dog title. And she will continue in AKC conformation, working on National Owner Handled Series rankings. But most of all she will continue as my medical alert service dog.

Doozy - hope to have AKC and UKC Championships by the end of the year. Once she's a year old (July) she will be eligible for Fast CAT and we'll do that when trials pick back up in the winter.

And another new addition, for Tim not me, is Hopps. He is Grytz's litter brother and he is "retiring" with us from my breeder friends to become Tim's new service dog. Hopps is also a primo racing dog, so he will be doing Fast CAT and this is also working as therapy for Tim, so double bonus.

What actually happened:

Spud - earned Farm Dog Certified title and CGC titles

OE - earned Farm Dog Certified and CGC titles, as well as her first level FastCAT title (BCAT) she is currently #4 in the breed and the fastest female.

Grytz - earned Farm Dog Certified and CGCU titles. She only showed sparingly but had some nice Best of Breed wins in AKC and UKC.

Doozy - earned UKC and ICE Champion titles, as well as CGC, Farm Dog, and Novice Trick Dog all before 10 months old. Never got to try FastCAT due to heat.

Hopps - hit the ground running and became one of the first AHTs to earn the DCAT title (second level FastCAT). He is also #3 for the breed.

Roxy - unfortunately, when we got the report back from OFA, her hips actually did not pass, so she went to a nice calm retirement home because the activity level at my home would have eventually damaged her joints.

Sadly, 2018 ended on a very sad note with the loss of my fiancé Tim, so our goals are pretty minor for 2019.

(Hopps went back to the breeder, as he wasn’t coping with Tim’s death, but he is settling well back with his original family (the breeder had him until 5 years old when he came to live with us).

Doozy will do conformation, working towards AKC Champion and is training to be my next service dog. May also do FastCAT.

Spud is going to attempt BarnHunt as available

OE will hopefully get her next level FastCAT title.

Grytz is semi retired in conformation but will come out for fun while working towards her Bronze Grand Champion title. Maybe some K9 Parkour too if I get around to it.

Looking forward to see what everyone else is doing.

[Bari]

My goals are my health related.

I am not renewing my club membership due to physical health issues so I won't be doing much and my geractic crew will have to settle on being retired.

Carnegie will be 15 this year, Shadow is about 9 and Marley is around 10. I'm running a home for aged black Cocker Spaniel❤

[maxs_mommy]

I was reviewing Max's records the other day and I realized we found the Cushing's disease in Nov 2015 with a longevity prognosis of 2-3 years and we found the cancer in June of 2017 with a prognosis of 6-12 months. Max will be 13 in March and we've beat the standard prognosis so we're going to do more dog and enjoy whatever we can. More walks, more snacks, more naps, more cuddles when he'll let us, more t-shirts, more slow hikes in the woods, more life while we have it. And more Cat because they're not always a$$holes

[Sabine]

First of all, I can't believe my little dog will be 7 next week. SEVEN!!! Where did the time go?

2018 Recap

Training

* I want to step up my training again this year, after things fizzling out somewhat around the middle of the year in 2017. Plans are to work through several Fenzi classes in my archive again, take some new ones, and I'd really like to achieve at least Team 1, if not 2 as well.
--- I did take a couple new classes, but didn't really push for achieving Team. This will be on the menu again for 2019.

* In addition to the above, I also joined a DMWYD Facebook Group and want to work toward Trick Dog titles. Novice and Advanced shouldn't be an issue as far as capability is concerned, but I need to work on my video recording skills.
--- This has completly fallen by the wayside. I didn't work on it at all.

* Agility classes are still on the wish list. Now that I'm not going to group obedience class anymore, hopefully it will fall into place.
--- Nothing has materialized yet. No really safe, fenced options within reasonable driving distance for me. I might have to commit to a place farther away. We did run some more on-lead "baby agility" classes at JRTCA trials though, both standard and jumpers, and won several big ribbons for high combined scores and/or reserve.

* Continue to work on the Open routine, first by rebuilding the retrieve. Practicing Team skills should help as well.
--- This is working pretty well here at home, but I really, really need to find some good public places to train, where it's safe for Dax. Our main issue is dumb people letting dogs run loose and out of control.

Events

* The most exciting thing for 2018 will be that Dax becomes eligible for
1. the JRTCA Bronze Medallion conformation class and
2. JRTCA Veteran classes (6+ years of age) for both conformation and performance. This gives us some new competition opportunities.
--- This was exciting for the year. Most often Dax was the only entry in Bronze, and didn't get picked for Best Working Dog or Reserve, but it's great to see his name in the trial results. He was Reserve Best Veteran on Sunday at California Commotion though, and at Nationals he placed 5th in Veteran Terriers and 2nd in Bronze Medallion Terriers in the Miscellaneous division.

* Although Dax earned his Bronze, I want to take him hunting again. He needs two more NHC's (doesn't matter which quarry), earned after his 6th birthday, to qualify for his Lifetime Achievement Award. We have to wait until Nationals 2018 to pick up his Bronze, so hopefully the Lifetime will fall into place by then as well.
--- This is the biggest deal of 2018, and I'm so glad it all fell into place. It turned out Dax actually needed only one more NHC for his Lifetime Achievement, and the judge under whom he earned his Bronze in 2017 was happy to accommodate us for one more hunt, a month before Nationals. So we took a trip to Illinois, the rain eventually stopped long enough to actually go out intot he field for an afternoon, and Dax found - Surprise! Not! - another nice, big opossum. All paperwork was in time, so I was able to pick up both awards at the Nationals dinner. Dax was one of only two!!! terriers earning the Lifetime Achievement in 2018.

* Attend some more JRTCA trials. Texas in March is already a firm plan (yay for another road trip with my mom!). 2018 will be the last Battleborn weekend, and I won $100 worth in entries for California Commotion in an auction, so these are firm commitments as well. I'd really like to add a new trial I haven't been to in 2018, so I may not go to WA, but we'll see. Due to 1. above Nationals are also in the plans for 2018.
--- We went to TX in March, WA in July, NV in September, Nationals (MD) in October, and had our California Classic in Tulare in December. The December trial was the first one I ever attended where we had to shut down the obedience and rally ring (outdoors) due to heavy rain, and had to do make-up runs for missed classes on Sunday. It was hard work for the dogs!

* There might possibly be some WCRL rally trials on the radar on the West Coast, so we'll see about that.
--- Unfortunately there was only one trial weekend, and it was in conflict with another event, so we didn't go. Still hoping for improvement in 2019.


* Whatever else we can find, hopefully some lure coursing, maybe we'll give weight pull a shot. I bought him a harness but haven't started training yet.
--- We had a lot of fun with this in 2018! Dax earned his UKC RO1 rally title in January, in a single weekend no less. He also passed his SPOT (UKC Socialized Pet Obedience test). In April he completed his UKC CA (lure coursing) and started on his CAX legs.
We did start training for weight pull, but he's not steady enough for an actual competition yet.


2019 Goals

Training

* I definitely want to continue working towards earning Trick Dog and TEAM titles. Ultimately it would make me immensely proud to put a CD on Dax (ASCA or UKC), and we'll certainly work toward that, but who knows when we'll have opportunities where I feel entirely safe working him off leash in a busy area. He's been really good about staying in the ring at JRTCA trials, even under very adverse circumstances, but ever since he got attacked (twice) at obedience class, and the second time resulted in a trip to the emergency vet, I just don't know. I don't want to risk group stays.

* Definitely continue working on weight pulling, so we can compete eventually.

* Dabble more in scent work (nose work, trailing & locating, shed dog), and maybe see if Dax would be interested in barn hunt again. He's been doing ok at JRTCA trials, but got bored with the BHA format.

Events

* Once again the JRTCA trial in TX in March is happening, yay for another road trip with my mom! Beyond that I haven't really made plans yet, so we'll see. I had a great time traveling to JRTCA Nationals in 2018, with one day of dog show and two days of sightseeing and hiking in places I haven't been to yet, so there might be another excuse to visit the East Coast.

* When available, I want to do some more UKC performance, like racing, rally, and lure coursing.

* Possibly ASCA rally, if there are trials at locations where I can reasonably hope that Dax can focus. The park where most of the recent trials were held is full of bunnies, so that's entirely pointless.

[Amanda]

2018 turned out to be so, so different than I had anticipated. Here's my recap:

Landis:
Keep him comfortable and happy for as long as we can. When/if his foot is healed up some more, I would like to commit to getting some sport dog workouts for senior dogs going for him. He needs hands on motivation to keep him moving.

***Three days after posting this, Landis passed away early in the morning. It was a bit of a shock, even though he wasn't doing well physically. He went on his own terms though, and we had a really sweet time together the night before. I didn't know it was goodbye, but I am glad he gave me that gift.

Jovie:
Build her basic obedience knowledge. Get a trick dog title or 3. We started agility this week. I would like to stay consistent in class and hopefully be first trial ready by 2019. And finally, in the next couple months, I want to get her out to some barn hunt and see how that goes.

*** Jovie earned her first trick title. Trick Dog Novice. We stayed consistent in agility, though we aren't quite trial ready yet. We never made it out for barnhunt either. My kids' schedules are busier now and with Rheese joining, our schedules are more full.

Rheese:
Wasn't around yet when I wrote my goals!

***Picked her up in May and we are already off to the races. She is one competitive win away from her UKC Conformation title. We started agility and hunt training. We've introduced nosework as well. Most of the year was spent taking her places and socializing her to life in my busy family. She's taking it all in stride.

2019 Goals

*Jovie: She is going in for her spay next month. Hoping that all goes smoothly and easily.

We are continuing in agility classes, and still hoping for some barnhunt opportunities. I'm also looking for FAST Cat for her. I think she'd love both of those sports.

I would like to get the next one or two trick titles, and maybe CGC, too. She's a jumper, so we have a lot to work on.

*Rheese: We are going to Arizona in February to test for the Natural Ability title from the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Assoc. Zeke passed that with a Prize II. I am really hoping we can get a Prize I for Rheese. If she doesn't get it in February, we will work on weaknesses and retest in April here in California. This title is limited to puppies under 16 months, so we are on a time limit.

We are going to finish her UKC championship and possibly try AKC. It's cut-throat here in AKC and I am not sure I want to deal with it, but it would be nice to add that title if we can.

We will continue agility training (she is so stinking fast.... I'm having to learn to handle her much differently than Zeke or Jovie and they are both fast too).

Another trick title or two. CGC as well.

And would love to try lure coursing and maybe barnhunt, too. BUT, I have three kids all in multiple sports, so much of this will sit on the back burner, I'm sure. Anything I can train at home, I think we can get done though.

[emmas_mom]

I don't think I did any goals for Maggie last year - at least, they aren't on the 2018 thread. She has come a long way from the almost-feral girl I adopted in May 2017, and I hope to continue to build on her successes. At the end of 2018, I tried hiring a trainer for some one-on-one work with her, but I was throwing my money away (trainer didn't address the two problems I'd hired him for, and didn't teach Maggie and me anything we didn't already know), so I stopped before our sessions were up and I'm reconsidering. I work with her at home and on walks, but want something more structured. My goal is to continue building her confidence, especially with people (she is pretty good with most dogs now, and has even made tentative invitations to play to a chosen few). She loves learning (okay, she loves treats), so I want to do more structured work with her, probably along the lines of tricks or nosework. As we recently moved to a new location, I'm still researching who offers what in this area.

[SherriA]

I don't know if I had any goals for Henry last year, but we had a great year - lots of classes, including tricks class which he absolutely loved. He earned his novice, intermediate, and advanced Trick Dog titles!

With the seizures being triggered by excitement, all training has come to a halt. Class is too stimulating. So are treat balls, and even taking out the clicker for a bit gets him wound up.

Our only goal is to keep the seizures as much under control as possible and keep him as comfortable as possible. His hind end is extremely weak very suddenly, so it's becoming a concern. 2019 is all about quality of life at my house.

[emmas_mom]

Sherri, coincidentally I was just going through Maggie's files and medication information, and noticed in the material the vet gave me re Maggie's CBD oil, that it claims to help stop some types of seizures. It also reduces excitability and anxiety (the primary reasons Mags was put on it), so might be worth considering for Henry if you haven't already done so.

[SherriA]

Thanks Jean!

[connie]

Goals and I don't mix well, so I'll just use this as a recap. LOL!

Starting 2018, I wanted to keep it together with seven dogs in my house: I was really getting worn down by that. And that seemed to be an indicator of change to come, because Posey passed away in May, and Charlie passed away in October. In between there was a vituperative exchange with the NY rescue that sent them to me, over their failure to vet the dogs they sent to me, and that resulted in Peekaboo's being spayed and having dental surgery at age 14. Peekaboo is now 15 1/2 and her IVDD is compromising her quality of life significantly, she is on the off ramp, so to speak ...

2018 also saw me treating heartworm in Rowley, which taught me a lesson I will never forget. Thankful that he is back to his old self and his activity level is high again. I don't trial him in agility any more, because I don't care, but he goes to two agility classes a week and he still loves it and I love handling him more than anything else I do with my dogs -- he's smart, he's fast, he's athletic, and I am REALLY close to being one of those people who stands on the course and directs her dog around it. my Rowley Rowley Border Collie.

I wanted Alex to get his NW3 in NASCSW and I still want that. We have a chance next month. Meanwhile, we are back to trialing in lesser venues, for fun. He's almost finished with his UKC Advanced NW title, and is moving into UKC Superior. I may even do some AKC NW trials this year, it would make his breeder happy. (She just was notified by the AKC that since 1988, she has bred 102 dogs that have earned a combined total of 319 AKC titles, which makes her a platinum-level breeder of some distinction -- Alex is one of those dogs, I'm proud to say. He has his AKC Tricks title and is an AKC Achiever Dog, in 2018.)

Dee finished her internship in AAT with Rainbow and we continue to do that. I did 28 weeks of agility with her in 2018 and she thought it was dumb. She would do it -- you can lure Dee with food to do just about anything -- but she did it to get the food. She thought the tunnel was nonsense. I asked my trainer if we could put a few mice in it to stimulate Dee's interest, and she said no, so I stopped paying out money for agility lessons for Dee. She would rather be hunting mice in the back yard!

Beau is my dog who does not work, and he is 11 now, so he is going to be our Elderly Gentleman and will not, I hope, have too many health issues.

In the next few months, my second Lapphund, Siili, will join us. Her third and final breeding was done in November, she whelped a litter of six puppies (five girls!) in December, and they are all placed in performance homes; once they go to those homes, and after she is spayed, she will join us. She is 6 years old. That will complete my group for the forseeable future: Rowley, Alex, Siili, Dee and Beau.

My days of taking in elderly Shelties seem to be over, but never say 'never' -- however, I'm not inclined to involve myself again with any of the rescues I've dealt with in the past. When I see a sad picture on FB now, I send $10 and keep scrolling.

Happy 2019, all! Here's Siili with her babies!

siili with puppies.jpg (40.78 KiB) Viewed 670 times