General Goals:

1) Balance - As the years go by, I find that I crave this more and more. Maybe not balance in the average American sense of the word, but balance as compared to trialing every weekend, out training every night....never home and never doing anything but "dog stuff".

I'm looking to limit my "away from home" training nights to 2x/wk. This will be tricky to do all that I want in 2 nights, but I so enjoy those nights at home. Hmm...well, in general I did well here, but towards the end of the year, I think I was back towards 3 nights per week, mostly because I need a group environment for Smitty, and since I teach 2 nights a week, that means going out on  a 3rd.  But I do believe that I continued to recognize the value of being at home, and certainly there's plenty we can work on here.

I want to make sure I have 1-2 weekends home a month as well. Given my renewed interest in the Invitational :), I'll need to enter at least 2 AKC trials a month to earn enough points, but I think I can still get away with some level of moderation. Again, mostly successful here.  I continue to crave a weekend or two home a month, more so than I used to.  Plus, I enjoy spending more time on training so that our Q rate when we trial is high.

Keep the gym at 3-4 days per week. This commitment has made such a tremendous impact on my running/turning/acceleration on course, I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, 5 days a week is tough to keep up longterm, so again, I think moderation is key. Huge bonus points here...I lost 23lbs this year, and I did it in my opinion without being obsessive or over the top. I went to the gym 3 days a week, and biked with the dogs the other two mornings during the week.  I purchased clothes that would keep me warm enough to bike in the winter, and have even added trail running into the mix.  The dogs also take pack walks around the neighborhood 3x/wk, and I wear a weight vest.  What I think has helped more than anything is my commitment to eat healthy things, eat only when I'm hunger, and stop when I am full.

I'd like to see myself get back to yoga, even just once a week. It really is good on so many different levels. Something that didn't happen at all.  I'd still like to see myself do it, but I will admit that time is an issue, and I don't want to trade the other things that I'm doing right now to do it.


2) My mental game. I believe this deserves a certain level of investment. It is the strongest that it has ever been, but there is still room for improvement. Not sure that I did focus on this much, although I do believe it's stronger than it was a year ago.  My mother travels with me to the National events, and she said she could tell a big difference in me.  I no longer required that no one talk to me 30 min before my run....zoning with headphones.....or getting impossible to be around. ;-)  I was much more relaxed and calm.  I was quicker to formulate a plan (heck, I ran 3 different gamblers courses with the dogs at USDAA Nationals, and didn't get lost or confused!)  I do feel ready to renew some effort in this arena though, especially as Smitty is coming along.


Goals for Austin:

1) Continue our handling journey together. As we gel more and more as a team, I'd like to see our first 100% AKC trial weekend. I want to be able to react in the moment more and more on course to make adjustments. Boy, we did this and then some...most notably our 5 for 5 weekend at AKC Nationals.  I do still flipflop between running for Q's and running to win with him.  I'd like to see myself able to do both successfully with him, as I think that would be a powerful asset in the future.


2) Contacts. I really need to figure out what we are doing here. I still believe there is a way to get him faster on the dogwalk and aframe. And I think the answer lies with variable reinforcement. Hmm.  I didn't realize that I was thinking about this back then.  Actually, the aframe is fast enough, just not necessariliy reliable...but the dogwalk could use some help.  We'll keep this part of the goal.


3) Drive without reinforcement present. Again, this is something that we've worked on in the past that is time to revisit and take to the next level. He showed plenty of drive at the Invitational, but the fact is, he runs differently when I'm holding food. I want to see that level of drive independent of what's in my hand.  Seemingly magically, this has changed.  I really never thought it completely possible, but I do believe that I see the drive in the ring that I see in practice.  Now there are some exceptions, contact speed and trials where the ring gate (i.e. his reinforcement) is farther away than the norm.  But it has improved tremendously!


4) Achievement Milestones.  Here are a few that I can think of that I'd like to see us hit in 2008.  I don't want to tie our success to things completely out of our control, but I would like to document somethings that I think are doable.
     - Complete his MACH DONE!
     - Attend the 2008 AKC Invitational and make the finals We did attend, and took 4th in Round 3, but did not make the finals
     - Attend Vizsla Nationals and place in top 3 I chose not to attend this year.
     - Attend USDAA Nationals: go clean in steeplechase and grand prix and place in Top 20 in DAM team We did place 10th in the DAM Team Finals Relay; we didn't go clean in STP or GP
     - Attend 2008 AKC Nationals and go clean DONE!
     - Qualify for 2009 AKC Nationals DONE!
     - Complete his RAE Didn't even enter
     - Complete his CDX Didn't even enter
     - Complete his TD Didn't even enter

Goals for Regan:

1) Figure out best dogwalk contact behavior.  Start with variably removing hoop in training and see if she happens to be the only dog in the world that this works for!  :) I think I've done this...it's called "hesitate in the yellow"  :-)  We'll see how that goes!

2) Continue on our journey of becoming environmentally independent.  I'd like to see her speed at trials equal her speed at home. Actually, I think we are there in most regards, which is amazing.  I *can* get her faster at home than at trials, but it takes significant effort on my part and she somewhat has to be "in the mood".  What I'd like to see her do in 2009 is *extend* her stride and drive ahead more in trials.

3) Achievement Milestones.  Again, we won't tie 100% of our success to these goals, but we can still see how close we came to meeting these:
     - Attend USDAA Nationals DONE!
     - Complete her RAE Didn't even enter
     - Complete her CDX Didn't even enter
     - Complete her TD Didn't even enter
     - Qualify for 2009 AKC Nationals DONE!  She also completed her ADCH and MACH

Goals for Smitten:

1) Full height running dogwalk.  Not something we need to be in a rush for, but definitely a goal by the end of 2008. DONE!  This looks almost funny to read to me!

2) Weaving 12 poles.  Able to handle most angles and entries at speed. DONE!  She is amazing!

3) Sequencing advanced level jumpers courses.  Includes a startline stay, significant lateral/distance lead out, front cross, rear cross, serpentine, discriminations. DONE!  Can't believe where we were a year ago!

4) Full height teeter.  Galloping to the end and riding the board down.  Waiting for release. DONE!

5) Full height aframe.  (expecting this to come along easily due to all the dogwalk work) DONE!

6) Competition.  I think she could easily start jumpers courses next year. DONE!  HA!  This is all really funny to me!