When I was in college I would always dress up for exam days. No matter how I felt that day, or whether I had actually slept the night before, I would always put on some really good clothes, do my hair and makeup, and try and look as fabulous as possible. I figured this was the day that all those other days were leading up to. All those days of sitting in class writing notes, listening (or not) to lectures, and waking up relatively early to go to class (or not). The exam day was the culmination of all those days and nights of hard work (surely I’m exaggerating for some classes) and I wanted to make it special.
Now that I’ve graduated there is a new goal in mind.
It was more than a year ago that Dad, Mackenzie and I attended an AKC Obedience and Rally seminar in Austin, Tx. A year ago I decided that we were going to get serious about dog sports. A year ago Mackenzie and I went from “pet training” to “competitive obedience training”. And here we are now. One year later and a few months until our first trial. Our first time in the ring and our first time at a dog show.
We’ve been training with this in mind for over a year, I’ve already requested the days off from work, Dad is going to clear his schedule, Mom is coming too, and even Matt is interested in what all this talk is about. Today I bought a really badass collapsible crate, a new orthopedic bed (in the same shade of blue to match the new crate) and a new Wing-a-Ball (to save for the show weekend).
And naturally, I needed some nice new clothes for the trial. I got two new striped button-down shirts (one in blue stripes and the other in pink/red stripes) which are short enough to leave un-tucked, but I may tuck them in just in case they prevent Mackenzie from seeing my eyes. When I was trying them on I even practiced giving a right and left finish signal to see how well they moved (clearly they passed the evaluation). I also got some really cute shoes with hardcore grips on the bottom to wear in the ring as well.
This is it. The trial is in the beginning of August.
Things we really need to work on in order of how much work they need:
-Stand for Exam: with as many people/situations as possible
-Proofing Stays: I want at least a 2 min sit/stay and a 5 min down/stay before August
-Recall/Front: She comes in a little crooked and sometimes is a bit too far from me
-Heeling is great: need to work on-lead more since mainly we work off-lead
-Figure 8 is pretty solid: could use some proofing with different kinds of people
Also within the next few days we need to refresh our memory of Rally (duh) and figure out if we are going to enter both O/RLY on Saturday and Sunday. God I’m giddy. 
Filed under: school
I know I’m not technically “in college” but it still feels nice to be back in the swing of college. Well, OK, by “college” I mean:
1. This class is taught by a friend of mine whom has never taught the class before and is seriously wingin’ it.
2. My Mom drops me off and picks me up.
3. Mackenzie and/or the instructor’s dogs are in class every week
Other than that, I have my little messenger bag, my notebook and pens, a syllabus, a binder, and I get to dress up like a college student. It almost makes me want to go to graduate school. Except then I would have to take the GRE.
That’s right. I’m actually going to a class tonight. Like a real college class.
The woman in charge of our therapy dog group (WAGS) is teaching a class at UTPA about Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) through the Department of Rehabilitation. Since it’s too late to actually register (for Pan Am + the actual class), I will just be like an unofficial TA, helping with passing out papers, handling dogs, etc.
Sometime throughout the course Mackenzie will hopefully be able to come with me and do some tricks and show off. Maybe we’ll even be guest speakers. In an upper-level college course. Mackenzie sure does lead a charmed life.
