So while I may not have been posting here recently it's been because I've been hard at work on another project:
blakerivas.com
^^ up and (mostly) running! Check us out!
Stay tuned as more is added
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Monday, January 5, 2015
Ringing In The New Year
Given that this is a New Year's theme post I feel obligated to say that 2014 was an amazing year. In truth, it actually was. Trixie and I made a lot of progress as a team and racked up quite a few accomplishments include USDAA semifinals byes, a MACh, a C-ATCH, etc. Best of all, I ended up completing almost all of my goals for the year, the only ones I didn't were ones I decided to trade for different goals - for example, I opted not to finished Scooter's PACh to try and finish her level 4 CPE titles instead.
Speaking of Scooter... This past December Scooter got the last level 4 standard Q she needed to finish her CPE Level 4 Standard title and complete level 4. Given that she won't come to live with me after my freshman year in college I decided that she should retire because she is so far from completing a PACh and C-ATCH. The progress that we have made together over the past 5 years is amazing to me. Scooter went from consistently walking to actually running. She also got over her fear of the dreaded seesaw and approaches it with gusto. Best of all, she no longer stresses at trials and is her usual happy self.
*Spoiler Alert*
This video contains part of my first agility run EVER at a trial (hopefully it's obvious which one it is LOL)
As much fun as the early part of 2014 was, I had to leave Trixie at home when I left for my first semester at Cornell. College is so much fun, but I still think about Trixie all the time and wish she could be there too. Even though I have to leave again in a few weeks, the coming spring semester will be the last I have to be away from her, because I get to live off campus and she can stay with me - hooray!
2015 is definitely going to be a year to remember - I already have so much to look forward to! In early February, Trixie and I will get to compete at Westminster's agility trial in NYC. In May I'll get to move into my new house with Trixie and then in October the amazing Lisa Fricke and Tereza Kralova are giving a 2 day agility seminar right in Ithaca, NY (only 12 minutes from my house!) Best of all, sometime this year I'll be bringing home a new puppy :D Hopefully that'll be in May, but goodness knows the universe has its own plans...
Once Trixie moves back in with me I'll really get to start working on some things that really need improving. The biggest of these for her is really just her jumping (*just* haha) I've spent quite a bit of the winter already going through different resources - books, DVDs, the works - about improving jumping technique and have spent some time on grids already. Of course, 4+ years of bad habits won't go away in a few weeks, but I am hopeful that it shouldn't take too long to correct. Given the new 2016 AKC Nationals qualification requirements, we'll probably not be able to take a complete break from trialing until the next winter, but I'll continue working grids as much as I can.
The other major goal I have for the coming year is to improve Trixie's fitness. I already walk her quite a bit (probably around 30ish miles/week), but I feel like she's still not as fit as she should be because she actually tires rather quickly at trials. I'm unclear whether it's her mental or physical stamina that needs the improvement, but given that she has been trialing for a number of years now I'd be willing to bet it's the physical. Right now I'm thinking that she probably needs much more core strength than she has, so developing that will definitely be a focus of the coming year.
Some title/objective goals for 2015 are finishing MACh3, her TQX (just ONE more triple Q to go now!!), getting Q'd for Cynosports (2016) and 2016 AKC Nationals, and finally working towards the last 2 Q's for her BN in obedience so she'd have an obedience title for when we go back to invites in (*hopefully*) 2016. I'd really like to get to do more USDAA, which should be easy given how much there is in central NY.
Here's to a happy, healthy, and wonderful new year!
Speaking of Scooter... This past December Scooter got the last level 4 standard Q she needed to finish her CPE Level 4 Standard title and complete level 4. Given that she won't come to live with me after my freshman year in college I decided that she should retire because she is so far from completing a PACh and C-ATCH. The progress that we have made together over the past 5 years is amazing to me. Scooter went from consistently walking to actually running. She also got over her fear of the dreaded seesaw and approaches it with gusto. Best of all, she no longer stresses at trials and is her usual happy self.
*Spoiler Alert*
This video contains part of my first agility run EVER at a trial (hopefully it's obvious which one it is LOL)
As much fun as the early part of 2014 was, I had to leave Trixie at home when I left for my first semester at Cornell. College is so much fun, but I still think about Trixie all the time and wish she could be there too. Even though I have to leave again in a few weeks, the coming spring semester will be the last I have to be away from her, because I get to live off campus and she can stay with me - hooray!
2015 is definitely going to be a year to remember - I already have so much to look forward to! In early February, Trixie and I will get to compete at Westminster's agility trial in NYC. In May I'll get to move into my new house with Trixie and then in October the amazing Lisa Fricke and Tereza Kralova are giving a 2 day agility seminar right in Ithaca, NY (only 12 minutes from my house!) Best of all, sometime this year I'll be bringing home a new puppy :D Hopefully that'll be in May, but goodness knows the universe has its own plans...
Once Trixie moves back in with me I'll really get to start working on some things that really need improving. The biggest of these for her is really just her jumping (*just* haha) I've spent quite a bit of the winter already going through different resources - books, DVDs, the works - about improving jumping technique and have spent some time on grids already. Of course, 4+ years of bad habits won't go away in a few weeks, but I am hopeful that it shouldn't take too long to correct. Given the new 2016 AKC Nationals qualification requirements, we'll probably not be able to take a complete break from trialing until the next winter, but I'll continue working grids as much as I can.
The other major goal I have for the coming year is to improve Trixie's fitness. I already walk her quite a bit (probably around 30ish miles/week), but I feel like she's still not as fit as she should be because she actually tires rather quickly at trials. I'm unclear whether it's her mental or physical stamina that needs the improvement, but given that she has been trialing for a number of years now I'd be willing to bet it's the physical. Right now I'm thinking that she probably needs much more core strength than she has, so developing that will definitely be a focus of the coming year.
Some title/objective goals for 2015 are finishing MACh3, her TQX (just ONE more triple Q to go now!!), getting Q'd for Cynosports (2016) and 2016 AKC Nationals, and finally working towards the last 2 Q's for her BN in obedience so she'd have an obedience title for when we go back to invites in (*hopefully*) 2016. I'd really like to get to do more USDAA, which should be easy given how much there is in central NY.
Here's to a happy, healthy, and wonderful new year!
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