Preparations

This is a beautiful yet slightly overweight boxer. I was hesitant to send this picture to Kti Jenson of Global Boxers because it very honestly shows how heavy I have allowed her to become since my car accident in 2004. It was this picture that showed her beautiful front and not completely horrible rear. Kti has generously agreed to help me find a UK male that will "strengthen the rear...level her out and balance her". I am thrilled that someone with such a commitment to health and structure is helping me.

In 2004 Hulda was trim (also still in her puppyhood) and we were very actively training for the AKC Novice Obedience Class. I had lost a lot of weight and was feeling great. In August of that year a driver in Volkswagon Golf ran through a stale red light going around 70 miles an hour (according to police at the scene). The fact that I was driving Tom's full size Blazer (compare to Chevy Tahoe) is probably the only thing that kept me alive. I feel so awful for every bad thing I ever said about it and the name I christened it with 'Lurch'. Despite the fact that the Blazer flipped twice and then spun like a top I walked away in one piece. I credit Lurch entirely with saving my life. Bruised and seriously banged up to be certain but not facing a lifetime in a wheel chair or dead, but I digress.

Back to the point. After the accident I had serious shoulder, wrist and knee injuries. I had to completely quit training Hulda. I got lax on the strict diet plan we had her on. For the first time ever she got little bits of food from our plates. I think I was trying to make up to her all the time we weren't spending together like before. She really loved all the attention she got from training. Prior to the accident she was unaware that she could get food from our plates and didn't beg at all. I let my sweet beautiful dog get fat, I feel really awful about that. At first the only recent pictures of Hulda I sent to Kti were ones that sort of hid this fact. Because she couldn't really see Hulda she had serious concerns about her construction. So, I bit the bullet and sent her this much more honest photo.

So what are you preparing for Patti?, you ask. Well, we are preparing to show Hulda in the Novice Obedience Class at the 2007 American Boxer Club National Specialty Show. I want her to be in top show condition just as if we were showing her in the conformation classes to be judged because believe me, she will be judged. This is where the top Boxers in the country all congregate for one massive show full of Boxers only. Imported dogs from the European continent and the United Kingdom feature only a small percentage of the total dogs shown and yet they represent some of the healthiest dogs in the United States. It is these dogs or dogs descended from imports like Hulda, that I am interested in. The owners of these dogs are rather hard to impress. Hulda's health, intelligence, structure and bloodlines are the reasons she has earned her a place among these dogs and these breeding programs.

How are we preparing? Well, Hulda is back to her strict diet. She is eating a super high quality dog food called Solid Gold Hundenflocken. Due to its nutrition and digestibility she doesn't need to eat as much. I am taking her to the park for training on days we don't have classes, after training at the park I either play soccer, yes I said soccer, or I throw a ball around until she is winded. I am already seeing signs of increased muscle tone and weight loss. She is by no means obese, just not ideal condition. It should prove fairly easy to have her in tip top condition by early May which is when the obedience trials will be held.

There is of course a side benefit for me. As I train her, I too am getting exercise. I hope to have lost about 20 to 25 pounds by May. I sincerely hope that is not too far flung a goal. I too must make a good impression.