PPP Part 1: Roxanne and Lee Pack

 Please answer these questions here on the Blog. Remember to sign yout name.

1) What did you learn from PPP, Part 1?

I learned I really do know a great deal of advanced dog training and that it is all in my head and memory. Teaching PPP Part 1 reminded me that unlike Mannerly Puppy, FOUNDATION Course and Retrieve Course, PPP is a moving river with ebb'n'flow, raging rapids, and quiet deep pools. Always in PPP, there is an undercurrent that keeps moving the students/dogs forward, ever forward no matter what is happening in life.

2) What were your BIG "Ah-ha's! " while you were in PPP Part 1?

My biggest "Ah-Ha's" was having to document what is stored in my head and memory into a student usable format they can understand and gain success doing. Whew, that's a long run on sentence, but truth.  Can't count the hours it took to create each week's worth of skills in a written and video format.

The other "Ah-Ha!" was watching Sugar in his last season watch the class and dogs. Sugar knew ALL of this, we learned it together as a team. Although his body could no longer do the work, his heart and mind paid careful attention making sure everything was done correctly. In my ❤️, he was cheering the dogs on. Simply by his choosing to be present, he was telling them, "You CAN do this!" He never missed a class did he? I so miss my ol'Sugar's ever steady, ever faithful, ever encouraging presence 😢. 

3) What were the hardest skills for you and your dog to acquire during PPP Part 1?

Dogs plural, not dog singular.  What surprised me the most was how downright easy it was to train Ruth in the obedience jumps and how much extra work I had to do with Redd on her jumps. Ruth reminded of training Sugar so long ago as he was introduced to Open/Utility work at just over a year old, just like Ruth.  Redd I did the MP, FC, TS and RC, but never taught her the formal obedience jumps. Life in 2020 was INSANE.  Between Covid, having to move cross country and stage a 3300 sq ft home to sell, relocating from MD to UT, Wayne retiring, and then months of unpacking, well, I just never did the formal obedience jumps with Redd at a young age. That lesson showed up hard in PPP.

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4) What are your expectations of PPP Part II?

To systematically document, via written words and videos, all the layers of skills needed for a handler/dog team to succeed in AKC Obedience Utility and AKC Senior Hunt Tests.

5) What titles, on which dog, have you acquired already as s result of PPP?

Redd: BN, RN, 1 leg of Novice, 2 legs of SH

Ruth: BN, 1 leg of Novice, Junior Hunter 

6) What titles, on which dog, are you planning on earning in 2023?

Redd: Novice, Graduate Novice, Rally Intermediate 

Ruth: Novice, Rally Novice

7) What titles, on which dog, are you planning on earning in 2024?

Redd: Senior Hunter, Master Hunter (no way do I know how I will accomplish this), CDX, Graduate Open, Utility 

Ruth: Senior Hunter, Graduate Novice, CDX, Graduate Open, Rally Intermediate, possibly Utility? All of this hinges on Ruth's health clearances at 2 years old, May 14. If all is good, in summer of 2024, on her heat cycle, we head east to breed her to Cowboy. If God wills, that first litter will be exceptional and Ruth's career focus will shift from obedience titles to being a dam with puppies. Lord willing.

Looks like 2023 and 2024 are going to be as busy as 2022 and 2023 have been-:)

Onward....

Roxanne