First post!

This is my first entry in Red's blog. Thinking back, I should've started one when we first got him as a puppy at 10 weeks old, but too late for that now... But you can view photos and updates from when he was a baby at this link: http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-related-chat/4105-red-xiii-photos-updates.html. It is his thread on Dobermantalk.com, a Doberman forum. I figured I could use this blog to track our training progress since we are just now getting started in obedience sports.

A little background first... James and I got Red from Lori Gorr of Gorrmae Dobermans after we bought our house, which has about an acre completely fenced backyard. He came home when he was 10 weeks old, ears up in posts, and cute as can be. Our 2 cats, Cloud and Titus, have taken a long time to accept him - and even now, they mainly avoid Red if they can, though they aren't afraid of him anymore. Red just wants to play!

Red was very quick and easy to housetrain - only had 2 minor instances when he started to squat to pee, but we caught him in time to whisk him outside. Other than that, he's never gone in the house. He was also easy to crate train, which meant he didn't mind sleeping in his crate at night, and while James and I were at work. At about 13 months old, he started being allowed out of his crate at night, and by 18 months old, we stopped crating him when we went to work. He has never chewed or destroyed anything - he knows what are appropriate chew toys and what isn't, even during the teething stages. He was neutered at 11 month old. Everyone who has met him just adore him - even people who normally don't like dogs! He is a big goof ball and is a joy to be around.

We we originally got him, I never planned on doing any sort of competitve sport with him, but during our basic training for everyday manners, I discovered he LOVES to work! He will do anything for a "cookie" and is a very fast learner. I started teaching him more advanced obedience such as heeling. The heeling was the basis of everything else I've done with him and has blossomed from there. After seeing what he was capable of - and willing to do - I just kept going with the training, and eventually enrolled in an intermediate obedience class. Not to brag, but Red and I were in the top of the class and our instructor, Michelle, thought we showed real potential to continue onto competitve obedience sports. She has even invited us to train with her private group on Saturdays mornings who are working their dogs toward CDX. Working with these experienced dogs and handlers gave me a whole new perspective on obedience and where we could go from here. Michelle introduced us to Rally Obedience, which she does with her dog, and I've been hooked ever since!

In the meantime, Red obtained his CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certification at 16 months old, and the TDI (Therapy Dog International) certification at 18 months. My long term goals include getting the Rally Novice (RN) title, then getting his CD (Companion Dog) in traditional Obedience. Then moving on to Rally Advanced (RA) and Excellent (RE), and then CDX (Companion Dog Excellent).

We are competing in our first ever Rally trial on Friday, October 31, 2008 and hopefully get the 1st leg of the RN title. I've even put a countdown on this blog counting down the days til the trial. The newest video on my YouTube channel is of Red and I practicing Rally exercises. We've still got some things to work on an polish, but I think we're on the right track for our first trial. =)

And once we receive his TDI ID card in the mail, we can start doing therapy dog visits to hospitals, nursing homes, schools, libraries, etc. I am excited to start doing some community service with him and educate people about the breed.

Well, I think that pretty much brings us up to speed on where we're at today! I am planning on keeping this updated - especially with training updates - since it will help me record our progress for improvement.

Thanks for reading!! =)