One month and counting!

In case you have forgotten, our M&M crew turns TWO next month!  Yes, that is two YEARS old.  Wow!  This summer I'll fondly remember the trip to Knoxville to meet Laura and Mary Ann, our litters co-breeders, and of course the pups for the first time.  Amy and I had great weather for the trip and the miles went by quickly with the help of the audio book Frankenstein (the first in the series) by Dean Koontz.  Matter of fact, we were left hanging at the end of the CD (this was a seven CD audio book if I remember correctly) and we joked that another road trip would be in order to hear the rest of it!

I looked back at last years post when the pups turned a year old and it wasn't until the second June post that I mentioned one thing I wanted to teach Swing, her STAY.  Well I'm happy to report that I have *failed* in accomplishing that feat.  However, she has a decent idea of the word *wait* and that is a big deal with a gal that likes to be in constant motion when she is awake.  Not to say that we've neglected training, we do something almost every day of the week.  But I focused on tracking during the late winter and now that the Nationals are over (and Swing is no longer in season) I plan to focus heavily on her obedience training with the goal of being ready to show in Beginner Novice later this fall.  Our biggest hurdle will be working on her focus and attention.  She's quite the social butterfly and she thinks a release means she is free to run over to visit whomever is in the area at the time.  It will be challenging but she's a smart cookie and as long as I do my job then I believe we can accomplish this goal.  Besides, we will not go on to agility without a more solid obedience foundation.  I know she will be super fast and without the focus and control I'll just have a dog that will potentially run amok and I'm not willing to take the risk of injury, or loss of confidence.

This weekend we pick up the show lead and head to a small show.  She is finally starting to look like a mature dog and perhaps this summer she will be more competitive.  She'll never finish as quickly as Dodge did, she doesn't have the lovely front that he has.  I just hope that she finishes as I like to see that CH in front of our dogs names (but of course the titles at the end of their names are more satisfying IMO).

New pictures coming soon.  I guess it is about time to update the blogs main photo and add some spring green to the look.  Sure would like to feature some of our siblings on the title bar so send me some shots!  And stories too.  I think we all enjoy reading about each others adventures.