My 2011 goals for Teller:
I wanted so badly to qualify for the 2011 championships in Virginia, but things just didn't come together for us. To qualify for each year we needed 400 speed points and 6 double-Q's (QQs). This year Teller had all of his QQs by the end of March and we officially wrapped up those speed points in May.
Teller finished his MX on May 8th and finished his MACH on November 19th. For the year he earned 22 QQ's and just over 900 MACH points
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Photo Credit: Sharon Pica |
I'd been approached to use Teller on a number of bitches - none of them were a good match. One had clearances and some nice starter titles but she didn't have a history of clearances in her pedigree - there were other reasons too, but that is a biggie for me. In general, people crawl out of the woodwork wanting to breed 'fluffy' to titled dogs. A lot of stud dog owners look the other way - have dozens of litters sired by their dogs that will never show up on www.k9data.com, some aren't even AKC registered. The check clears so they breed their studlies to BYB 'fluffy'. Anyhow, back to reflection :-)
I was absolutely thrilled when the possibility of what is now Kipling became a possibility. The pedigrees looked great on paper, the timing was right for all involved and we got four beautiful puppies. Beautiful, smart - so uniform in their temperament testing, personable, biddable, good looking dogs that will excel in whatever they're asked to do: agility, obedience, conformation, counter-surfing, playing ball in the backyard, climbing Mount Equinox....With any luck there will be some more Teller puppies in 2012, but - this is the looking back post not the looking forward post!
Mission accomplished there too.
Murphy's 2011 goals were a bit less tangible:
Keeping Murphy fit has always been a challenge, perhaps the early neuter, perhaps just who he is - but he's never maintained the muscle tone that Teller seems to maintain so naturally. Murphy scared the heck out of me a couple of times this year healthwise.
The first was that damn tick-sized lump on his hock. We were really sure it was nothing - but if it got bigger, removing it was not going to be nothing. So surgery for Murphy to remove the lump on his hock, which turned out to be benign - but evolved into an infection, torn sutures, another infection, another suturing back together again, another infection and finally staples and glue. All told that round of 'life' cost Murphy 45 straight days in a cone....
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Murphy - 10/12/2011 |
Technically whilst Murphy is eating raw he's unable to make therapy dog visits, reading with kids, etc - it's a silly rule (I mean really some dogs eat poop (of all models of origin), dogs eat dead things in the woods, dogs lick their butts, dogs lick patients in hospitals who have dirty hands - how is a piece of raw chicken, consumed hours before a visit really a threat to anyone? Anyhow - I follow rules (I'm a rule follower) - force of habit - and that means that Murphy didn't get to make any visits to the nursing homes this year. I'm bummed - but it is what it is.
Kipling's Goals:
Kipling got off easy, since he didn't exist in the beginning of 2011 - he didn't have any goals. BUT he accomplished a lot:
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Teller on his way to a best of breed puppy |
and have a good time, no pressure - no expectations. Trot around, have chicken, have fun and get some mileage. In the process he picked up a Best Puppy in Breed at just over 6 months! Well done.
Plank work, walking on a leash, gaiting, stacking, stays, waits, tunnels, how to play with a cat without getting scratched, jumps, tables, how to wait patiently for dinner, dogwalks, teeters, retrieving, tricks, coming when called, how to chase squirrels, how to play bitey-face, that bitches are in fact, BITCHES :-) In the process he got his CGC (AKC Canine Good Citizen). All good stuff!
Our Year in Review: