We've Got Goalz

In a recent email, my agility instructor encouraged all of her students to start thinking about goals for the future for them and their dogs. As the New Year is rapidly approaching, this is pretty apropos :). So... without further ado, here are some of the things that I want to accomplish next year with Cedar and Moss.

I'll start with my Cedar girl. This past year has been a whirlwind of fun, learning, and lots of agility! I decided to take a break from stockwork with her this year and focus primarily on building our skills in agility, obedience, and freestyle. Cedar has excelled at all three, meeting and exceeding many of my previous goals. In 2011, I want to continue to build on what we have already learned and accomplish, while also pushing us as a team to conquer more advanced skills and challenges. Here are some specific goals:

1) Achieve more reliable, fast and confident weaves from a variety of entry positions. Be able to perform 12 poles regardless of handler position.
2) Get her more confident on the teeter in a wide range of situations. Continue to reinforce solid 2o/2o contact performance on A-Frame and Dog Walk.
3) Begin competing in AKC agility. Earn Novice, Open and Excellent titles in Standard, JWW, and FAST.
4) Continue competing in NADAC, and earn the rest of our Novice titles.
5) Build confidence on course (mainly for me!). Smooth out my handling with the goal of being able to clearly and cleanly guide my dog around the course with minimum extra motion and incorrect commands.
6) In obedience, earn her Rally Novice (RN) title, and maybe her Pre-Novice (PN) and Companion Dog (CD) obedience titles.
7) Get our competition/travel routine down.
8) Keep having fun, and avoid letting my ego take control of my thoughts and actions! Always remember to keep good sportsmanship and to make it fun for my dog :)

These are some of the things that I hope to accomplish with Cedar this year. I think we have some really exciting things ahead of us in 2011!

I have quite a few plans and hopes for Moss next year, too. This past year has mainly been spent focused on stockwork and letting him grow up. Now that he's two, and has a great training foundation, I look forward to doing some competing next year. Our first sheepdog trial of 2011 is in a little under a month. We will be running in Novice and Nursery. I'm pretty nervous about running Nursery because it will definitely stretch our abilities as a team, since neither of us have been doing this very long! I guess I need to dredge up some confidence :) In addition to herding, I also plan to do some agility with Moss next year. I think that he'll have a blast with it, and am really excited to see how he does :)

Anyways, here are some specific goals for he and I in 2011:

1) Qualify for the 2011 USBCHA Nursery Finals. They are in Carbondale, CO in 2011, and I really want to go!
2) Get used to competing in sheepdog trials in a variety of conditions and on different types of sheep. Gain more confidence as a handler and perfect whistles.
3) Work in different places, and (yes) on more different types of sheep.
4) Strengthen and maintain our trust in each other.
5) Learn more finesse with holding straight lines on the fetch and drive. Improve timing.
6) In agility, I'd like to begin building his foundation skills with the help of my instructor. Get him thinking about his body, increasing focus, teach 2o/2o contacts and get reliable weave pole performance. Channel his toy drive. Etc etc. :)
7) If he does well and progresses steadily, aim to compete at the summer or fall BARC NADAC trial in a few classes to expose him to the competitive environment.
8) Maintain a fun, upbeat attitude about training and competition. Get more comfortable with training two (very different) dogs at once.

All right... there ya go. This is some of the stuff I'm hoping to work on in the coming year with my dogs. I'm sure I will add to/adjust this list as the year goes on... as always.

What are your goals for 2011?