Personal Problems

Due to some personal issues that have gotten out of control, my "doggie goals" will have to be put on hold for the time being.  Stay tuned for further updates!

New Year's Resolution

I've finally settled on a set of resolutions (regarding my hounds) for 2010.  They are as follows:

• I shall always walk my dogs at least a little bit every day (unless it's below 10 degrees outside -- they don't want to go out in that) I'm at my parents' house.  (We already walk at least 4 times a day at my apartment.  I don't know why it's so hard to continue the pattern at home, but the back yard is so much easier and I'm REALLY busy.)
• We shall always have at least one training session a day.
• We will enroll in a clicker obedience class.
• We will become CGC certified.
• We will become TDI certified.
• Lindsay will test and pass JoJo on all things necessary for being my psych service dog.
• We will discover agility and rally obedience.
• We will go to the park at least once a month over the spring/summer/fall seasons. (Over 40 degrees.)
• Kibeth will train for obedience competitions.  (Rally-O too?)
• JoJo will train for agility competitions.
• I will either make, purchase, or get assistance from Dad in making agility equipment that conforms to competition standards for us to practice on.
• I will get Ellie (my parents' bc x lab) back to a healthy weight if I have to fight tooth-and-nail, or do it single-handedly.  She WILL be under 50 pounds by 2011!

Future dog goals:

• Rescue a greyhound puppy straight off the track to raise as my agility star.
• Foster greyhounds for REGAP.
• No longer need a service dog.
• Become more involved with REGAP in helping the greyhound cause.
• Compete in obedience, rally, and agility for sure.  I don't know about freestyle, but I'd like to try!

Doggie Website

I made my own website today.  I want to have an easy reference for my preferences on kibble, raw, training, adoption, rescue, etc.  Find it here.  It's a work in progress, but I'm kind of excited.  One of the outlets for my pentup need to socialize post-graduation will likely be a larger commitment to REGAP.  Having this website will expedite my ability to help people looking to adopt, having recently adopted, and anyone in need of general guidance.  This way, I can just direct them to my blog and website, rather than spending hours each time emailing back and forth.

Thanks to Never Say Never Greyhounds for the inspiration!  Again... =D

Giving Back

Due to a very generous donation of a fellow greyhound lover (Never Say Never Greyhounds) I am now given a track to follow regarding my hounds' training.  The clicker obedience class for beginners I was going to take filled up before my application arrived. =(

I am awestruck by this person's generosity, and plan to pay it forward.  She only requested that I make a donation to SEGA (which I plan to do) and/or buy a greyhound puppy calendar or 2 (I will get one to use for wall art).  This won't happen until after my credit card rolls, but that is in the next few days.  However, I saw an ad for the ASPCA the other day, and they said that for just $18 a month, you can sponsor the care of an animal.  I plan to donate $10 a month to REGAP (my local greyhound rescue, where I got JoJo) and $10 a month to Best Friends' Dog Town.  That's totally doable for me, and I hope it makes a difference.  I encourage anyone else to consider something like this.

Before/After Dental

Sorry, the quality's not the best.  It's a picture by computer of a printed picture.  You get an idea, though.  Hopefully, this was our last dental!

JoJo was perfectly fine except for some moderate gingivitis.

Kibeth has 2 cavities, but neither required pulling the tooth yet.  Otherwise, she only had some plaque, discoloration, and mild gingivitis.