02/17/2025
This morning after a long seminar weekend and watching the beautiful snow this morning, I was sitting over in the obedience room drinking coffee, all by myself as the dogs have the day off. I didn't have the radio on and I didn't take my phone, so I was just sitting there looking at the ribbons. And then I thought, I wonder how many Obedience High in Trial ribbons are up there, so I walked around and counted 126. That was mostly AKC, the majority from regular and some preferred, along with some UKC and CKC. I probably missed a few as I was looking for specific colored ribbons. Then I counted Obedience High Combined and came up with 71. That is from 11 dogs, but many of the High in Trials were from Zack (39) and Robert (43). Every dog (except for the extremely naughty Raymond!) got at least one, including the first dog, Basset Hound Esther who had at least two High in Trials in Canada and a Basset specialty HIT. Yes, this post is a brag, but it also made me think about the thousands and thousands of training hours over 47 years that went in to those awards, and that doesn't account for the herding, agility, rally, tracking, and nosework training as well. Always always ALWAYS it has been all about the training for me, not the showing. The showing validates the training and pushes me to improve, and the training validates the relationship. Showing tells me where our weaknesses are, and what we need to work on as a team. Yes, there are disappointments, but those feelings don't last very long. The journey begins again with Rita, who I am so enjoying herding with, and she also shows great promise in her other sports. And the journey continues with nine-year-old Rayna as we transition our main focus to tracking, and with almost 15-year-old Robert, where the journey is now about enjoying every moment. Just some reflections on a cold, snowy day, and now I better quit procrastinating and start working at my desk, where Rita is lying on my feet keeping them warm!
Obedience training, Agility training, Rally training, Tracking training, seminars, camps, and trials
