Happy New Year: 2012 goals

Jonah, Dave and I just got back from a few nice days in Vermont.  It was generally a nice time except that now I'm sick and Jonah didn't know what to think of the guests we had.  There was a fair amount of growling and some barking at two men who he decided he didn't like.  It was stressful for everyone involved.  Sigh.

Anyway, now we're back.  Tomorrow we have a private session with Grace and we're going to practice Pairs--having another dog in the ring, taking turns while one dog runs, passing the 'baton,' etc.  Hopefully it doesn't blow Jonah's mind too much.  If it does, I'll scratch him from our pairs run later this month.  More on that all later.

Now it's time for a look at the year ahead.  I do monthly goals, but it's nice to have a long-term look, too.  I wish I'd done this last year because I can only think that we would have far surpassed any goals I would have set then.  We'll have to see about the goals for this year.  Maybe now I'll be too ambitious.

A look back at 2011:

• We went to our first trial!
• Then we went to 19 more trials.
• We took lessons at three different facilities, loved them all, but have now found a home at DogStar.
• We earned our first title...
• ...then we earned 13 more titles.
• We started USDAA.
• We made friends.
• Jonah got attacked...
• ...but he now loves group lessons.
• We trialed in five different states.
• We went on vacations.
• We went running (I know this isn't a blog about me, but I'll just add a few things I did this year:  I did my first triathlon and won my age group with a time of 1:10.  I did my first 10k and my first half marathons, and I was the fastest woman at a 5k trail race.  woo!).
• We got weave poles.
• We built an A-frame.
• We learned running contacts for our A-frame.
• We went camping.
• We went hiking.
• We went swimming.
• We went kayaking.
• We did lots of other things.

Basically, 2011 was a great year.

In 2012, I would like to:

• Have our first pairs run without any calamities.
• Earn our USDAA Starters Title.
• Earn our CPE Level 3 Title.  
• Go to CPE Nationals!
• Earn our CPE Level 4 Title.
• Earn our USDAA Advanced Title.
• Earn our first USDAA tournament Q(s).
• Go to a workshop.
• Have fun.
• Stay healthy.
• Continue to work on socialization with other people, dogs and cars.

That's not a long list but it's some big goals.  I'd like to think it's reasonable, but life can always be unpredictable.  Wish us luck, and we hope you have a wonderful year, too!