2009 and 2010

Happy New Year everyone! I really can't believe that it's 2010 already. Seriously, 2009 seemed to go by way faster than any other year!

2009 was a very memorable year for Mika and me! We competed at our first AAC Regionals in May, getting 6th place overall, as well as a 3rd place in Standard, a 6th place in Gamblers, and a 7th place in Jumpers...and qualifying for Nationals with 422.42 points. I was completely in shock!! Then we competed at our first Nationals in August, which was awesome. And to finish off the year, in October we performed at our first SuperDogs show as apprentices, which was a HUGE deal for Mika because just a couple years ago, she was very reactive to other dogs. I also can't forget our first trial of the year, in March, where Mika ran fast without any reservations! She kept up that speed throughout the year and even got faster. I couldn't ask for more. I'm so proud of my little dog who has come farther than I've ever imagined, and I will never forget this year.

In 2009, Baby dog Wall-e got to start his agility training. He went to his first fun match in June at 13 months, and then ran at three more throughout the year. The little man got to work sheep for the first time at his herding instinct test in September. We trained the Silvia Trkman method of running contacts for 7 months, but when I realized that he wasn't generalizing the method, I experimented with almost every running contact method out there!

In 2010, I'll continue to work on Mika's ATChC title, which we probably won't get this year, but that's okay! We'll also definitely try Snooker this year, since she now has tons of confidence in the ring. I would have loved to go to Regionals and Nationals again, but they're a bit too far for us this year, so we'll most likely be going in 2011. I hope to increase Mika's muscle mass, and I will begin supplementing with Sashas Blend. But above all, I want to keep her amazing attitude and drive for agility, tricks, and anything else we do together.

I will complete Wall-e's dog walk and A-frame training, with a 2o2o for the DW and hopefully a running AF. 2010 will be Wall-e's trialing debuting year -- He'll begin trialing in September at 27 months old. I'll start him in Jumpers only, and then add Standard and Gamblers at the next trials. Throughout the year, I'll be preparing Wall-e for the 2011 AAC Regionals. And I'll work on increasing his speed and drive, so that he can run in "car-chasing mode!" :)

2009 was an AMAZING year. Let's hope that 2010 will be a great year as well. For all of us! :)

~Nat