Today is Able’s first birthday.
He’s grown significantly bigger than I expected, and now clocks in at 23.5kg, nearly twice what his great aunt Spring weighed. He has grown into his paws at last – but my, what big paws they are!
He knows far less about agility things than my previous dogs did at that age. He’s only been over few low jump bars a few times, as part of his jumping grids, and he’s never done any agility handling over jumps. He’s never been through a tunnel. I’ve done nothing about his weave training yet, although if I had access to a good old-fashioned weave channel apparatus I probably would have.
He still hasn’t destroyed anything of value, except for one alarm clock and one sock. He has an excellent recall most of the time, but his delight in the company of strangers sometimes leads him into temptation.
I’m looking forward to the year ahead – progressing from almost no obstacle skills to running full courses, getting into the ring, and hopefully learning to run together as a team. The finish line seems very far away sometimes, but we’ll keep building on the basics and we’ll get there.
Next month we will be starting a foundation agility class at club, which I’m sure he will enjoy immensely.
Happy birthday Able!