When I was in my 30s and thought I still had time to have children, I found out I couldn't. Finding out that you can't have children makes you go out and rescue a bunch of cats (or dogs)! Yes, I was the crazy cat lady with four of them. They were my everything.

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Unfortunately, January 2020, my eldest cat, Joey (17) passed.  Then May 2020, a younger cat Chico (11) died of cancer in my arms and that completely broke me.  

 

The grief was unbearable, and my support system (my parents) lived in the beautiful town of Cobourg.  I started to stay with them since it was COVID-19, and I was allowed to work from home, but I would never have considered living outside of Toronto if it wasn't for COVID-19.  Without much resistance, I sold my condo and moved to Cobourg with the excitement that I would finally be able to get a dog!

 

 That's when Skittles chose me to be her pawrent. Yes, she chose me. In November 2020, I went to see a litter of 13 Labrador Retriever puppies (all three colors), and she was the only one who came straight up to me and put her paw on my leg.

I had no idea what I was in for other than I would protect her and love her at all costs.

Raising my first dog alone was a whirlwind, but I loved training her. She was so quick to catch on, but she didn't come without her issues (separation anxiety). 

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Skittles was two by the time we found Bentley!  Someone was looking to re-home him.   He was kept in a crate for up to 18 hours, and I couldn't let him go to another home that wouldn't give him the freedom to be a dog.  He came with his issues, too (reactive to other dogs, except Skittles).

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Training my dogs is my life now! 

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I started training Skittles in agility on June 8, 2023, and while we have tried other sports, there is nothing quite like agility to grow the bond between dog and handler. Some of the small behavioral issues I tried to resolve with standard dog training were not working. Still, once we started training for agility, those behaviors subsided as our communication improved.  ​

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I love training my dogs and giving them the best life I can.  I hope this blog will inspire others to train their dogs more and maybe even try agility!

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If you have any questions, I would love to hear from you.  Please feel free to reach out!