Wordless Wednesday

Goals for 2013

Even though we were a complete failure on goals that past year, mom still wants to put new goals out there for 2013.

Agility related:

Make the Top 20 in Pugs 

This will rely on not just us, but on other pugs as well. Which means we (I mean me) better get moving on that "teamwork" thing. Arnie's already got that down, but I need to step up my game a little.

Get at least halfway to our MACH 

That means 10 double Q's, and around 350 points. A lofty goal, but God willing and the creeks don't rise, we might make it. 

Show more in USDAA

That's another venue of agility, and we haven't played there in years. But it's fun, and mom wants to keep the fun going. We're entered in a trial in February, so we'll see how that goes.

Non-Agility Related:

Keep up with our 365 project

Mom's determined to keep up with taking photos this year. If you head over there, you'll see she's a little behind. But she tends to work in spurts, so she can still catch up. 

Get the flower gardens full and growing

Dad put in a garden for mom's birthday last year, and now it's time to fill it up! It has a yellow rose already, and a few other things, but this year will be all about the color.

Levi in front of the roses at our old house

Try not to kill Puck

Yup, a goal of mom's every year. He's a real pain, and as he's gotten older, he's gotten worse (now he bites her if she tried to make him do something he doesn't want to do). Mom knows it's because he's out of his mind, so she lets him slide. Looks like we'll make that goal - she's let him live 16 years, so she must like him enough to keep him around. LOL

Cook more interesting food

Mom cooks pasta most of the time, but wants to expand her horizons. So she's got some interesting recipes printed out. Each week or so she'll give them a whirl. Mom and dad watch a lot of foreign movies and shows, and are always interested in what food is being served. So the new experiment will be on Indian food (they love their Bollywood) and Korean (they're both addicted to Korean dramas.) And if things go bad, I'll get some snacks out of it, I'm thinking.

Well, that's it on goals. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Don't forget to head over to mom's ScreamingK9Designs blog, to see what's new!

Goals. No, not the football kind

Back in April of 2011 mom made some goals for us. 

She thought it would be time to revisit those goals (better late than never, right?) and update some of them. 

Here we go.....

Goal #1 - Qualify for the AKC Agility Invitational in 2012. The qualifying time is July to June, so once July hits, we'll be aiming for that.

Never made it. I barely made it into Excellent B by then, and you need lots of points in that class to qualify. But as we started showing, mom realized we were going to have some issues, and re-evaluated the goal immediately. If there's one thing she HATES, it's dog trainers that put the goal first, and the dog second. Putting the goal first usually results in making bad decisions, a breakdown of training, and a strain on the dog/handler relationship. So she put that goal aside for the sake of me. There will be other years to make that goal a reality. 

Goal #2 - Qualify for AKC National Agility Championship in 2013. It's in Tulsa, which is pretty close to us.

She's going to the Nationals in Tulsa. Just not to compete. Again, my issues took center stage, and she put this goal on ice for the good of the team. But she has two besties that did qualify, and they're flying into Dallas, then they'll all travel to Tulsa and enjoy the Nationals. Mom will just be the one cheering, instead of being cheered. And then she'll come back and tell me all about it.

Goal #3 - Make the top Agility Pug award with the Pug Dog Club of American in 2012. Levi was in the top 5 JWW in 2005, and she really wants either me or Arnie (or both) to get an award when we go back to CA for the Nationals.

Whoops. We were pretty much "O" for 3 with the goals, weren't we? Didn't accomplish this one either. We didn't even come close. BUT, there are Pug Nationals close by for the next few years, so we have that goal in our sights for the next few years. 

To stay positive, here are a few goals that popped up in the last year that we DID accomplish:

Attained Goal #1 - Finished our Excellent titles. Both Arnie and I did that, with him beating me by a mere minutes to be the first to get an Excellent title. Now we both have 2 each.

Attained Goal #2 - Conquered the teeter (done), table (done) weave poles (done), dogwalk with a tunnel under it (done), send to a jump (done), and tire jump (done). Wow, I sure accomplished a lot. Just shows how good you look when you set the bar low. 

Attained Goal #3 - Stopped going around jumps. Stopped freaking out when I knock a bar. Started focusing on mom, instead of running all over the danged place. These were all related to "teamwork", and while I'm not perfect, I'm getting better every trial.

Attained Goal #4 - Was able to show in a new place, without batting an eye. We went to the Pug Nationals in October, where I showed in an indoor arena on unusual footing, and outdoors for the first time in years at a new place. I did great in both those places. Yea me!

Next time, mom will put down on paper some of our new upcoming goals, both agility and non-agility.