2009 Recap

As the year comes to a close, it's time for the annual recap.

January brought on the celebration of Bailey's ninth birthday. A happy and sad day. I'm thrilled she turned nine and is still here, but I'm sad that she'll be a double digit dog in not too many more days! No trials for us in January as I was in NYC for New Years and I started student teaching at Stonebridge!

February brought no trials once again, but it did bring all normal bloodwork for Buzz. He got a silver wellness panel this year as I was curious about his thyroid. Everything was within normal limits. It was probably a really boring month with me still settling in at Stonebridge. I can't remember.

March brought an AGILITY TRIAL! The first trial for us since August 2008! I was still concerned about Bailey's overall health so she just ran tunnelers (her first time in open) and qualified! Buzz ran in Tunnelers, Weavers, and Jumpers. Qualifying in all of his runs and his weavers Q finished his Novice Versatility! A long sought after title! We got a picture to commemorate it!

What a good boy he is! Click

April brought ANOTHER trial where I had Very Good Dogs. Buzz was only entered in Novice Jumpers where he qualified to finish his Superior Novice Jumpers title (10Qs). His FIRST Superior title! Bailey was my star that day. She was entered in Jumpers, Chances, and both rounds of regular. She qualified in ALL FOUR! What a good girly dog.

In May Buzz turned 11 and Bailey and I visited the TCVESSA specialty show. We didn't qualify in Open A, but it was a lot of fun to visit with friends. We also got a gift from our friend Ann--a copy of the English Springer Spaniel Illustrated Standard. HOW COOL! I really, really like that book! May also brought the "not-so-fractured" pelvis for Buzz and hip/elbow OFA xrays. The pelvis ended up not being fractured, spondylosis causes the pain, and his hips/elbows were graded as Good/Normal! Amazing results for an 11 year old boy! May also brought MY college graduation (it still feels weird to say "why, yes, I do have a college degree, a BS in Elementary Education") and with that my NEW, beloved CAMERA! It's sitting next to me right now. I really, really, love my camera.

June was my favorite month I think! We went to OHIO, finally! Bailey and I drove a LONG way to visit Kristen, Karin, and Abigail to help with the Ohio 4-H Teen Dog Experience. It was so much fun. We taught tracking, showmanship, agility, and obedience. We had an excellent time and can't wait for next year (except for that whole getting lost on the way back thing... that was not fun).

July contained our whirlwind trial weekend. Bailey ran 2/4 at the MAC NADAC trial finishing her NAC and qualifying in Jumpers. Then she got QQ#4 for her RAE in Duluth with a 1st (and a beautiful, glass photo frame) and a 3rd place. The next day she qualified in all three of her AKC agility runs! Q#3 and new NJP title in JWW, Q#2 in STD, Q#1 in FAST. Sunday Buzz and I went to our first UKC Rally trial. It wasn't the prettiest thing we've ever done, but we qualified with an 80/100.

In August, Buzz and I went to the MMBC APDT trial where we picked up our first RL3 Q and our first ARCH QQ!

September was an up and down month. We lost our resident granny cat, ruler of all, Baby. She is still sorely missed. She had a presence and boy do I miss that. But, Bailey did certify in tracking (on try #2). Though, the MMBC trial did not prove to be very good for us. I thought Buzz was ok with pain meds, but he was clearly not and was scratched. Bailey was also off her game after a beautiful Jumpers run to finish her NJC. We had a better plan of action though and she ran really well for me at the BOTC AKC agility trial. There she finished her NAP (but we couldn't qualify in JWW because she couldn't weave... blerg).

October was a close second favorite month. In October Bailey entered, ran, and PASSED her first Tracking Dog test. That was not only her TD title, but her VCD1! A VERY long awaited title for us. I was/am/will-be-for-a-long-time SO proud of her and of us. She was just wonderful. October also brought a turning point for Buzz. He's been receiving acupuncture and it has been ABSOLUTELY wonderful for him. He has almost returned to normal and is back to his half-age self (he's usually pegged at being about 5-6, and he's actually 11.5). It makes my heart swell to see him SO pain free and happy. He still gets pain meds on heavy activity days (usually Zeel), but day to day life doesn't require pain meds anymore.

November was pretty uneventful. We finally made it to tracking group again where Buzz was wonderful and Bailey was crazy! It did bring Buzz's third and fourth UCDX NQs and his second URO1 Q!

And that brings us to December. It's been a crazy month, feels like it came and left already. We'll be heading out to Leatherdale on Saturday and Sunday for the MMBC NADAC trial. The dogs and I are both excited as Leatherdale is probably our favorite place to run agility.

Title-Wise Year-End

Buzz

WV-N 3/15/09

Novice Versatility 3/15/09

S-NJC 4/18/09

Bailey

NAC 7/3/09

NJP 7/11/09

NJC 9/5/09

NAP 9/12/09

TD 10/25/09

VCD1 10/25/09

With multiple physically necessary breaks... I'm very happy. I have two happy, relatively healthy, senior dogs that continue to play these games with me, happily. That's all I can ask for.

I hope the new year brings more tracking, hunting, agility, obedience, rally, and some altered conformation for Buzz. We're expanding our repertoire...

Happy New Year to everyone out here in the blogosphere.

Rasza & Rascal (12 years old)

Bailey & Buzz (9.85 and 11.5)

Why not include the only picture of both dogs and I, that will hang in our NEW Agile Canines Training School?