Being an IPO Newbie – Part 13 – Myths and Misconceptions

Welcome back, Newbies! It's been awhile, but as a relative newbie myself, I sometimes run out of relevant information to impart... Today, though, I wanted to address common myths and misconceptions that newbies might have about IPO. This will be far from an exhaustive list (honestly, this could probably become its own series), but I'll …

Sunday Internet Regrets

So this morning, I was browsing Reddit (I know, for my own sanity, I should really stop), and I came across this: “It’s fine to crate a puppy for 20 hours a day. They’re den animals.” And I just... Which reminded me of the time that I joined a bunch of Malinois dedicated groups on …

Weekly Recap – “They do Schutzhund.”

  I'm a little late with the recap, but I was so exhausted from the weekend that I did very little in the way of being productive yesterday. I took Brody to group obedience - that was it for productive. So. Last week. The big focus for last week was on tracking. I'm slowly figuring …

Newbie’s Perspective – We Need to Talk…

I spend a lot of time online. I'm a Millennial (whatever that means) - I basically live online. I socialize online. I get my news online. I even work online. And if I'm online, chances are, I'm also on Facebook. See where this is going, yet? Of course you do, you smart cookie, you. Now …

Being an IPO Newbie – Part 11 – Choosing Your First Trial

Welcome back, newbies! No more snark this week - instead we're going to talk about how to go about selecting your first trial. Now, if your club hosts trials, of course you're going to want to trial at home for your first time. The ability to do so gives you a HUGE advantage over traveling …

Weekly Recap – Remember What’s Important

Last week was actually a fairly light training schedule for Brody and I. Monday - Group Obedience and social walk Wednesday - OB and Protection lesson with my training partners. Brody and I skipped group obedience class in the afternoon because he was exhausted from the morning training sessions. Saturday - Club. And obviously, our …

Being an IPO Newbie – Part Ten – Things You’re Doing to Annoy Everyone

Happy Tuesday, Newbies! Today I want to take a break from the serious and talk about all of the annoying shit that you are probably doing that is driving everyone around you up a wall. All in good fun, of course, but really though - stop doing these things. To be clear, I, too, am …

Sunday Recap – Stupid Pet Tricks and Snowy Misadventures

Good morning y'all - I know, I know, I'm late with the recap! It was an interesting week with some bigs ups and some big downs. We started out on Monday with group obedience. Shelby's classes are drop-in, which means that people can come on whatever days work for them, and skip whatever days don't. …

Being an IPO Newbie – Part Nine – The BH! – (Relatively out of date as of Jan. 2019)

***As of January 2019, the BH has changed quite a bit. I have a dog prepping for a BH for Fall of 2019, so I will hopefully write an updated post soon. Just please be aware of the changes!!!*** In today's post I am going to cover the IPO Newbie Mount Everest - the BH. …

Sunday Training Recap – A Sleeve to Rule Them All

Happy Sunday, readers! This week's recap isn't going to be terribly exciting, because for most of the week I was without a vehicle (remember when my truck stranded me last week? Yeah..), not that that stopped me getting to training completely. On Monday, my trainer was awesome enough to pick Brody and I up for …