2017 In Review

As we round the corner on the first month of 2018, I find myself still unable to wrap my mind around the last year - where the hell did 2017 even go? In the spirit of reflection and gratitude, and also because I NEED to purge my overflowing photo library, I'd like to choose one (ok, at least one) photo from each month of the past year as a mini-memoir to a few of the moments that must have transpired whilst I blunk.January 2017Echo's first Skyhoundz DiscDogathon in Alpharetta, GA! The weather was absolutely treacherous - wet, windy, bitingly cold, but these two only had eyes for the disc and cleaned up like the champs they are! Februrary 2017Okay, so we did a lot of Skyhoundz! Savannah in February was beautiful and fun - but crazy cold for S Georgia! Briar Rose and I got a Q in Xtreme Distance and Echo improved his scores in all games! Plus, we got these great photos by Wayne Ramsey! March 2017This month goes to Echo of course - he turned ONE!!! Where the hell did my baby boy go? To help him celebrate he got his favorite PB, banana, kefir smoothie!April 2017The highlight of this month happened early on - we did the awesome Pvybe Disc Seminar and learned lots about frisbee throwing and made great new friends! Topped off the weekend with an Updog where Echo and I took first place in Frizgility!! Not bad for young man! Briar Rose also got to play, of course, and she and Sam won the day at Throw N' Go!May 2017We went to our only agility trial of the year in May. Echo got to check out the surroundings and experience the trial environment. I had a great time being back out there with Briar - we had a nice first run and came away with her second Open Fast Q and the First Place ribbon. Things went downhill from there as her anxiety crept in and Echo started to bark at us in the ring - whoops!! Every time we moved, he barked - every time he barked, she stopped and looked for him - a total breakdown of communication ensued. lol. June 2017Birthdays and Reunions...oh my!! This month we said Happy B-day to Briar Rose (really her birthday) and also to Glad (b/c we just don't know exactly). The highlight was our O'My! Border Collies reunion - Echo got to see his sissy Tess and we had a full day of fun and games with all of the BCs we know - we can't wait until next year!July 2017Yes, yes, yes, we LOVE Gladdie and she is also quite a busy girl! Her sports of choice are 1. Playing parkour with the world, 2. Learning and showing off tricks (cuz, treats!), and 3. Mercilessly snuffing the life out of any and all moles and lizards daring to draw breath within her domain. She also goes out for the odd chipmunk and is sometimes victorious. And she never does give up on the those damn toads...I digress. In July, Glad received her hard won Novice and Intermediate Trick Dog titles - she had a blast achieving and receiving them!August 2017As we slogged toward the end of the summer steam, we still managed to have some training fun. Briar continued her regular gig as demo dog for some of the skills we teach in Lucky Dog Agility's Dog Sports Foundations class. And Bubbles made his demo dog debut during our Toys and Play lesson - he did a great job showing off a couple of his favorite games and managed to stay put when it was time to wait. Very proud mama!September 2017SKYHOUNDZ WORLDS!! We really focused on frisbee in 2017 and it sure paid off for our kids - between Sam and me, Briar and Echo had ELEVEN invites total to compete in the biggest DiscDogathon/Xtreme distance event of the year! Whew! We traveled for the second year in a row to Chattanooga, TN to compete and had yet another fantastic time with friends from near and very, very far! It was three long, hot days and we learned so much about competing at that level - Sam and I could simply not be more proud of these dogs! (And no, Glad was not there! She stayed in Athens in the A/C where she's happy, thank you very much!)October 2017...this was a pretty special month for me since I turned, um, older. I was actually really excited for my birthday, as I always am (hee), and this one did not disappoint! Echo competed in his very first NADD dock diving event and very swiftly scored his very first title ever - Dock Junior - pretty magical birthday present! We had a terrific time and came away with some phenomenal photos of the weekend! Omg, how we love this boy! November 2017We did get to play Updog in November, our last disc event of the year. It was a fantastic weekend with some pretty incredible wins - but that will have to be another post. My very favorite day in November was this one - when my most favorite littles made their way to Athens for a day of dog fun. These kids are kind and thoughtful and natural little dog trainers - my dogs are rarely around kids and yet instantly adore their darling faces - and my heart pops when they all get together and do this...December 2017After a lightning fast and insanely busy year, well, December was no different - hectic, but with plenty of fun. We babysat for two busy baby puppy girls (xoxoxo), I worked to the max and didn't take some of the vacation I had planned, Sam totally worked Christmas day. The dogs did do a play date or two, but mostly they were on a break. We had so many beautiful fires...just a little time out and a few deep breaths before hitting the reset button and starting up 2018....and now back to the hustle!