Family News

Congratulations to Lawrence and his boys on a really great Scentwork weekend. The dog with blue/gold ribbons is Wildflower Chase and the other dog is Major, his dad.

Major and Chase

Major is the father of both the Wildflowers and the Sparklers, and therefore he is also the maternal grandfather of the Bright Stars. He is nine and doing just fine ❤️

Congratulations are also in order for Bright Star Fauci who — with his capable teammate, Jack — is passing Novice Draft tests here and there and everywhere! Thanks to the team cheerleader, Maria, for keeping me in Fauci news 🙏🏽

Some dogs — like Fauci — take to draft work as if they were experts in a previous life. Fauci’s littermate, Zuber, is also such a dog — look at how comfortable he is pulling the cart…

Zuber and Alison

Other dogs are pretty convinced the cart is the worst idea EVER. Sparkler Kiri is such a dog…

Kiri and Alison

Her niece, Capella, 100% agrees with this assessment of draft and carts. Training Capella for a draft test is going to be interesting!

Meanwhile in Idaho, Bright Star Atlas is hard at work supervising his humans as THEY dig the holes. Well-played, Atlas…

Thanks to all for the news and pictures — I am grateful.

This video of Claire after a tracking session is for Carol…

And some of the cats want to get in on the action — Karma and Rosebud…

When I got this kitten and her brother, all they would do is hiss and hide.

Nikki Summer Dawn on my desk

Who knew you could train cats with string cheese?!

Have a wonderful Spring Day!

Now What

I was so focused on the Specialty and so consumed with training for all the weeks and months before the event that sometimes I almost forgot — about everything.

It was awesome.

Sparkle

And then it was over and I was back home with all the things in my life that cannot yet be done or decided — and the things and people who ARE done 💔

Anytime we work in a focused way to achieve something — and then it is over — finding our new groove can be tough. Totally normal and fine — but yes, it can be rough.

I think there is also loss and grief involved when we have to leave people we love and things we love to do. For me, the contrast between family, friends, and fun and my stalled and isolated life in Montana felt stark and real — and just hard.

But we humans are pretty darn resilient.

Formerly feral kitten!

We have the amazing ability to feel the feelings, and then find new hopes and dreams to pull us forward. Yes, it is sad when those peak experiences are over but they offer reminders about possibilities.

I had a long drive to consider the “now what?” question. I love driving for this very reason.

Although we did pretty darn well at the tracking test, I have not been happy with how Claire is tracking. I did not believe she was staying close enough to the track, and I did not trust her commitment. Part of me wanted to give up on Claire and track with my young dogs.

But I had that long drive to think about it, and I decided to focus on the only part of this team I can control: Me. And that is how and why Claire has gone back to tracking kindergarten.

Each morning, Claire and I head out to beautiful new fields I just got permission to use — tracking heaven, to be sure. They are less than two miles from my house!

I lay a track — no aging — and it is just one or two long legs. There are liberal food drops on the track, articles for additional reinforcement, and her favorite foods in a covered container at the end of the track. After the track, we go for a walk.

My goals are to reset how she tracks and how she views tracking, and improve my ability to “read” her. We will hopefully be in a June tracking test — I have a plan for how to scaffold her training back up to TDX-level tracking between now and the test.

This is why I love training dogs — because when you come down to it, it is all about practicing skills that make us a Good Human: take responsibility for your part, be smart about things, and be kind.

Well — I also love training dogs because it is fun. I think fun is also integral to being a good human. You should have some today ❤️

Done

In order to spend Easter evening with my sisters — and get back in time for a work commitment — I did the drive home on Monday.

940+ miles in a day.

It was a lot but worth it to spend that extra day with family.

Specialties are always action-packed — this one was no exception. I always leave wishing I could have spent more time with friends, even as I am grateful for what time I was able to share.

Sleep is the real casualty of Specialties — I am still trying to catch up. But again — worth it.

I got to see Dianne and Sparkler Jordan finish their Grand Master Draft Dog!

YIPPEE and Congratulations!

I got to see iPup Tag and his human, Tina, and Sparkler Zed and his person, Tony — this is Tag and Zed…

Sparkle and grandson, Zed…

I saw Moonshadow Andy and his wonderful human, Jasen. I was there when Bright Star Daddy won Best in Versatility and then Best of Opposite — this is Ferguson waiting to go in the ring for Best of Breed…

And so on — I saw people and dogs I love. I got lots of hugs and support. It was amazing.

As I shared previously, my plan was to just do what the dogs already knew — I did not have the bandwidth (or weather) to train for new events.

Once again, I am struck with the value of being very well-prepared. Claire and Sundance easily passed Novice Brace both times they were entered — new title for each of them.

Claire also passed Open Draft — another new title for her.

Claire and I did Rally. When we were done someone jokingly said that we should leave Rally to the rest of them — as if we were sandbaggers for swooping in and winning the Rally Novice class.

I did not tell them that I do not practice Rally and had not done it with Claire in four years. I had to ask the judge what some of the signs meant during the walk-thru!

Rally is not hard with a well-prepared obedience dog. I had that dog.

And that also explains the High in Trial…

Anything can and does happen at a dog show — even being well-prepared cannot assure success — but being well-prepared certainly provides an advantage.

And being well-prepared is so much less stressful for the human and the dog!

I have no idea why anyone would step foot in a ring with a dog that is not 110% ready — that sounds awful to me for all kinds of reasons 😳

Sparkle also had a great Specialty. She won her Versatility Excellent, 7 & Older class and placed second in the two Veteran beauty pageant classes she was in — first place both times was Ferguson’s mother! How cool is that?!

Capella was entered in Bred-by and did not place but looked great — her day is coming.

The PeeWee class was a Big Success. Berkeley was unable to make it but we had a lot of kids and fun — thanks to Kay and Sue for all their help.

Dear Daughter took the week off from work and stayed at my house with Harper, Pozy and the cats — that made the Specialty both possible for me and completely worry-free. What a gift.

The 2024 Specialty is in Missouri and starts on March 31, 2024. It is not too early to start getting ready!

❤️