A Little of Everything

So much for keeping up with the blog. No matter how good my intentions are, it just never seems to happen. So today I thought I'd do a little typing.

What's been keeping me busy lately? I'm opening my own dog grooming business. I've been grooming pretty much since I graduated high school and worked in a salon after dog grooming school until I had Jaycee. I took off for a year to spend time with my girl and then went to work for the local vet clinic 2 days a week for the past nearly 3 years. I've always dreamed of owning my own business, but I was comfortable with what I was doing so didn't want to take the risk. I got the motivation I needed this summer when Josh's mom had to go back to work and couldn't watch Jaycee anymore. Thanks to a good friend of mine, she didn't have to go to daycare. Now with me having my own business Jaycee will go to work with me everyday. The big opening day is Monday. All we have left to do is a few things like get the signs hung and finish my reception counter. I say we, what I really mean is Josh! :) He's been such a big help to me and I can't thank him enough.

The best part about taking this risk is, if it pays off, that farm I've been dreaming of will become reality much quicker. Everytime I walk outside to work my dogs on my little 5 acre place I am thinking to myself, "I can't wait till I have a big field to practice in." Not that my dogs would even recognize a sheep at this point. None of my dogs have been worked for the last couple weeks while I get things finished on the shop. I'm hoping I'll have some time in the evenings to get back to working them soon. I'm excited about this upcoming year of trialing. I'm hoping to move Blaze up to Open Ranch this year and hopefully I'll have Fly ready for the spring trials to run in Ranch. Josie will be running in Ranch as well. Who knows, if she comes along well this year I might compete with her in the Nursery class this fall. We'll just see how it goes.

Tess will be taking some time off to have pups next month. It wasn't a decision I took lightly at all. I've been thinking about crossing her with Blaze since she first came to me 2 years ago, but I wanted to see how the 2 of them progressed before committing. I was very pleased with both dogs this past year and couldn't think of a pup I wanted more than a pup from those 2. I've already got a few folks interested as well, so last month I finally made the decision to go for it. The plan now is to keep 2 of them to raise and train and either trial myself, or sell started. I really love starting young dogs and the thought of having pups similar to either Blaze or Tess or a mix of the 2 thrills me. So here's to hoping that Feb. 8th brings a healthy litter of working prospects. I bet I'll have something to blog about then.