Happy 2nd Gotcha Day, Secret!

Today is Secret's 2nd Gotcha Day! Two years ago I drove home in freezing rain with my little surprise. Who could have ever guessed the ways she would change my life?

We had to do the obligatory "try to get the same shot as the first day picture" pose -- Secret was not digging it this morning. Oh well. She doesn't mind being picked up; in fact she rather likes pretending she still weighs 16 pounds instead of the 47 that she actually is. Picking her up two years ago was significantly easier than it was today. lol

We did get one shot where she was kind of looking at the camera, but of course it turned out blurry.

Anniversaries are great for reflecting, so of course that's what I've been doing. Last night I finally got started on reading through our blog book. I wrote so darn much when she first came home that I think I only got through March of 2010. How fun to look back at those times -- It was a period of rapid progression, tons of trick training, and only a bit of frustration regarding lack of toy drive (that started to build later in the year!). Two years later we have both changed a lot!

But one thing remains the same -- she's still one good looking dog. :o)

Since I didn't make it that far in the book last night, I had to go back and find my Gotcha Day post from last year. It makes me chuckle, because I could more or less copy & paste many parts of that and it would still be true. Her toy drive went way up in the last year, her enthusiasm for agility greatly improved and I think our relationship improved and she became more affectionate. I guess Secret just decided it was her job to teach me a lesson in patience!

There has been some buzz on the interwebz for the last week or so about an article that Linda Mecklenburg wrote about her dog, Stellar, and how he started his life as what she labeled as a "sleepy puppy." This article seemed to connect with a lot of readers and several people on Facebook started to talk about their own "sleepy puppies."

I'm always hesitant to jump on the bandwagon with these things, but I did related to much of what Linda wrote. I actually wish she would have expanded on her experiences with Stellar, though, so that those of us with similar dogs could learn more about how she pulled out the best in him. Ultimately, though, I do think that the answer to that is simply, "time," as I've been learning myself with Secret.

My "sleepy puppy" has most definitely been waking up over the past few months! She's got more drive than ever before and I'm finally starting to see glimpses of it at trials. Our experience at NADAC Champs was amazing and her last trial was her best yet. I'm very excited to see what the next year brings for us.

It's hard to believe it's only been two years since Secret joined the family. She has wormed her way into my heart and feels like she's been here forever. And I'm happy to say that Luke now seems to genuinely like Secret, something I thought would never happen when I brought her home. Time is a mystical and wonderful thing. :o)

So here's to another year filled with joy, fun, growth & learning! I imagine I'll look back on this post in a years time and marvel at how far we've come yet again.

We have a trial to look forward to this weekend! In an effort to work towards Secret's Elite Versatility Award, I decided to go ahead and enter her in Elite Weavers to see what happens. It will be her fourth run (of five) on Saturday, so hopefully she is running happy. It's been some time since I've ran Secret in Weavers and I need to see where we're at -- Plus I figured I'd run Kaiser in Touch-n-Go, so this way Secret will have my full attention to prepare for the Weavers run. I know I'm carrying my "we can't Q in this class!" baggage into Weavers with Secret and I need to let it go!!

We are headed off to see the chiropractor this afternoon. Normally Wednesday or Thursday are my preferred days to get the dogs adjusted before a trial, but Dr. Engel is out of the office so today was my only shot! Secret has been carrying a little heat in her lower back again, so I know she's due for an adjustment. She will not be happy about being on restricted activity for the rest of the week...