Tuesday, May 11, 2010

"Do Right By Your Dog"

I was really nervous about showing Isabella this past weekend. When I mentioned this to my friend Meredith Acly, dog trainer extraordinaire, she shared her mantra that she uses before running her dog Sully at agility trials: "Do Right by your Dog". In other words, your job as half of the team is to be clear in your communication; to use your body language and cues to set your dog up for success. Keeping this in the forefront of my mind allowed me for the first time in any competition to be calm and focused. We had fun! This is my goal: to have a happy and confident dog who enjoys working with me. Enhancing our bond each and every time we are competing together is what matters the most to me.

Thanks to Meredith for sharing such a wonderful tip. Cheers!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Utah Beehive Cluster--May 8, 2010

Isabella's and my first conformation show. She was 13 months old. We won reserve, beating a 3 year old female! Pretty good for our first show. The judge was kind in her comments recommending that I have a great looking girl and to keep practicing!