Wicked Cold!

Overnight we went from the longest, hottest and rainiest summer ever to Winter!!! WTF as they say in New England???!!! Just another Autumn day...hahaha! I caved and turned on the heat when it was below freezing with wind chills. It will go back up to near 60F today, so off it goes, but I no longer care about being "hearty" or is it "hardy". 

Rain this week has taken down much of the blazing foliage, but planning to take the afternoon off and go hiking in the White Mountains. Still need to do shorter, puppy appropriate hikes-but a few hours is all I need to recharge in general. Avoiding the leaf peeping crowds is paramount! When we hike, I love seeing almost no one. That is what is sacred about the forest. I like people, but breathing in quiet air in the middle of the woods, does a lot for your spirit. 

Even as the days get shorter and the temps drop, this time of year is when I finally have some time. Work is still busy this year for Fall, but finally at a manageable level. 12-14 hour days, days, weeks, months on end...gets wearisome. While the earth may be preparing for hibernation, I find this time of year invigorating! Last push to do lots of things, before winter and snow starts to dictate travel and access to some places. Even an hour south of me, life is very different-most don't have to worry if the plow guys will show up, to get down our awesome and scary hill. 

This week I have had time to also do more training! Yay! We have been focusing on lots of sheep work, but as winter hits, indoor sports take over. Starting some foundation for puppy obedience with the baby dog and more sequencing in agility with the Tweens. USDAA & UKI are on the horizon!

When do you decide to retire or semi-retire an older dog? I am at that point, as several of my dogs are hitting 8 and 9 years of age. They are in great shape, but do I really want them on full height contacts? or jumping repetitively? With my own injury a few years back, it kept me from competing at a time when my girls were in their prime. We lost a lot of time, that makes me sad-but does Ggrail know we probably won't finish her ADCH at Ch height? Nope. There are many days it still hurts like hell to run, so I too have to focus my time pointedly. Never have been one to enter all runs, all days anyway-don't think that is fair to our dogs. I get it, some folks are so addicted they "need" to run every run, every weekend they can, or qualify for a Nationals and such. I am not as competitive a soul, as many are, but I am challenging myself. 

Finding other things for the older dogs to do-that they enjoy, is one of my goals.  But, sometimes just a hike or beach walk is more fun for us all. My goal in every day, is to find a moment of joy and fun! The more stressful a day, the more important that is.

I have quiet goals, and actually have verbalized more of them this year, because if you say it, you have to follow through. Both, in my business and in forcing myself outside of my comfort zone in dog stuff. I guess competing in dog-sports is a way to test those goals, but I will never let my dog know if we didn't Q or did not do well, that's on me. I also will not be the big ego in the room or the one who self-deprecates with the "they deserve a better handler " yada yada, because even if it might be true in my and others' cases, that drives me nuts!! We are a team, we work together, so I own it-both good and bad outcome.  It's just a game we play. It hopefully brings joy and fun to both sides of the team, or we move on to another game.