Hello Backyard Dog Training Matters Friends! Let's celebrate together! I know we've talked some in the group about what we have done this weekend, but let's just BRAG IT UP! What successes have you experienced during the last few weeks? Dog stuff, life stuff, if you're happy about it, share it with us! I'm working on another challenge for the group. It's been suggested to me that we try a scavenger hunt or bingo card, and I think that would be totally fun! It would still be dog-training related; you'd be, for example, doing a sit in front of something blue, or paws up on something red, or doing a trick at a public park... stuff like that. If you'd like to play, let me know if 1. you'd be okay with taking a picture of each of the things to prove that you've done it (maybe just a picture of you and the dog at the park, for example, to make that easier), or if that would be an impediment and you'd rather just take everyone's word for it and 2. if you'd prefer certificates of completion for everyone, or you don't care about that and you just want to play. I'd also like to remind you that if you need a gift for a dog friend or professional, please consider my coloring books on Amazon! I've created two: "Dog Agility Coloring Book & Story: Which Gnome & Dog Will Win Today?" and "When a Dragon is Your Veterinarian" and you can find them both through my author profile at https://www.amazon.com/author/brennafender. Let's hear about your training and trialing successes! Have a great week!

Let's talk about it! I competed last weekend in Fetch for the first time and it was a blast! My Whippet, Parker, got his Novice title. I think the next available Fetch event for me isn't until August, although I'm not sure about that. Hopefully we can be there. I think we're ready for Intermediate now. I'm spending today working on videos for my job (all the videos are starring my dogs, so that's cool). I'll post one of them in the comments so you can see what I'm doing. Tomorrow I'm going to do some conformation training with my English Toy Spaniel puppy. What's up for you?

Congratulations to Lori with Doby and Drover, and Emily with Brady and Tali for completing the ParCourse Challenge! Their certificates are in the classroom. Thanks for participating! It's time to get this group hopping! What should we do next? A similar type of challenge? The last one wasn't well-received, so I think maybe we need to change things up. I'd really like to see more conversations here, so I do think something like a weekly conversation topic would be cool. What do you think about that? What about some different exercises here and there for different sports? What do you want from this group? Just for fun, I'm attaching a coloring page that's available for free on my Buy Me a Coffee Shop. There are several free things there that you might be interested in. Check it out! Here's the link: https://buymeacoffee.com/brennafender/extras Thanks! Brenna

Hi Everyone! I have not been starting a lot of new threads lately and I've not posted my own attempt at the March Challenge, which seems to have fallen flat for everyone. I apologize for my absence... I've been having some health problems that have been a little overwhelming, including vertigo which limits my computer time. If you see me on Facebook and think I seem active there, I actually work in social media as part of my job so I have to prioritize that. I'm hoping to be well enough to fly to watch my daughter swim at the Collegiate Artistic Swimming National Championships at the end of next week. It's a *6* hour flight for someone with vertigo, so it may be the worst thing I've ever done to myself. We'll see. I'll keep you posted. So please comment on a few things so we can keep this group going and serving as a supportive, helpful environment for everyone who enjoys dog training! 1. What are you up to? Are you training and/or trialing? In what sports? 2. Do you have any brags from recent accomplishments? If so, please share! 3. What kind of thing would you like to see for the April challenge? Do you want it to be related to tricks? Agility? Basic foundation skills? Rally? Fetch? If you'd like to help support this group, please check out and share with a friend my dog-related coloring books on Amazon (https://amzn.to/4thZu1B) and my dog agility skills and drills books on Clean Run (https://www.cleanrun.com/product/ready_to_run_vol_2_agility_skills_drills_for_small_spaces/index.cfm). I also have several on-demand courses that are dog-sport related, also available on Clean Run (https://www.cleanrun.com/category/online_dog_training_classes/online_dog_agility_courses_by_instructor/brenna_fender_online_agility_classes/index.cfm).

Any plans? I'm doing some conformation training with my puppy and I need to figure out how to enter a Fetch trial! I guess I need to read the rules first so I am sure I have what I need and then enter. :) Hope you all are well!