Travis was extra whiny this morning, so he had to do a sit stay on the fireplace. Doing so, forces him to concentrate and stop crying.
Yesterday and today, I went to an agility seminar with Stacy Peardot Goudy, Elicia Calhoun, and Karen Holik. For some reason, we do not get a lot of agility seminars in the southeast it seems. Of course, the weather was miserable today. We were outdoors, under cover, in a dusty arena. Man, it was cold and I was wearing just about every article of clothing I had.
I came to audit and just observed the training since I'm pretty happy with Travis' agility skills and at age 9 I do not plan to make any major changes at this point. But, I have finally admitted out loud that I am looking for my next agility/obedience greyhound hopeful. I'm both apprehensive and excited. I haven't started from scratch in about 6 years. I cannot believe it has been that long. Katie and Travis could not have been any more perfect than they are. I truly could not have started with any better raw material than those 2 greyhounds. I only hope that I will be so lucky with my next choice.
So at this time, I am trying to get organized. I need to get my baby agility equipment replaced and repaired. Brush up on the latest agility training techniques and determine how I want to train the weave poles and contact zones this time around. Is there anything I wish I had done differently with Travis and Katie? Is there something missing from their skill set that I would like for the next greyhound to have? All important things to consider.
I'm very picky when it comes to choosing a competition greyhound. One time I called the foster home of a greyhound that was suggested to me and she told me that the dog was nervous initally in the house, but settled after awhile. I knew immediately that I was not interested because I needed a greyhound that didn't have to settle..... I needed a greyhound who immediately owns the place and struts right in. Training a greyhound is hard enough and I do not want a dog that has any fear issues with people, dogs, or environment. Extremely, food motivated is another important trait I cannot live without. I also want a high prey drive, so I will only be looking at non-cat safe dogs. So wish me luck on my hunt!
