OK - so in 6 days I will be travelling over to Hungary to earn my FCI Certification as a Training Director.

We are there for 5 weeks and in addition to the 14 day training camp we will be spending 3 days training in Slovakia with an amazing competition trainer doing tracking, doing obedience demos at a local dog show, attending the 2013 World Dog Show in Budapest, learning conformation grooming and handling from some VERY experienced handler/breeders, attending a disc dog competition, learning disc dog from a competitor, fine tuning our agility skills and working with some trainer/competitors in this area and last, but not least, checking out some of the amazing culture Hungary has to offer.

I thought it would be fun to share this experience with you guys

I will post as often as I can about what we worked on that day, how the travel portion with the dogs is going, along with any pictures I can. This trip has taken 10 years of hardwork, patience and sacrifice, so I have some high expectations for what I will take away from it.

I will be taking my 3 year old female GSD, Ironhide, and my 22 month old male GSD, Gladiator on the trip with me. I am going with my training mentor and 2 other trainers, who are also bringing their dogs. One will be working a lot in the hunting field with her 4 year old German Shorthaired Pointer and the other has a 3 year old GSD, who will be doing everything that I am doing.

Right now, I am feeling like I am ready but my dogs are not. I have spent the last 2 months training everyone else's dogs (instructing classes) and have not felt like I have had the time for my own. Trying to balance the high demands of exercise with the precision work in obedience, has been hard for me. However, I am SUPER picky about how precise my OB is though, and definitely a perfectionist. So I am not sure if its just the added pressure of not wanting to be the embarassment of Canada, and be laughed off the field, or what, but this is something I will journal about later on. Once I have started the training camp, and worked with my dogs more over there, I would like to come back to this and let everyone know how the dogs are really doing and how much of it was "all in my head". I think this is something that a lot of people struggle with, so I hope that my experience might provide some insight for those "A-Type" people, who never think they are doing it good enough (training wise).

I am going to be completely open to questions and comments anyone might have, and will do my best to answer them.

We leave Sunday for Vancouver, then Monday April 22nd for Budapest, arriving on the 23rd. I will post anything I can along the way!

WOW!


This is great, Niomi, and we are fortunate indeed!

Holy Smokes! I'm sooo jealous. Good luck!

Hey, Niomi....remember to have F U N !!!!

Travel safe.

Wow, sounds like it's going to be a very busy but also very rewarding five weeks! It's wonderful that you are willing to share your experiences, and I'm looking forward to reading your posts whenever you are able to make them.

Have a safe trip, and of course, have fun!

Wow... have lots of fun, stay safe, and take tons of pictures for those of us who can only wish we could go on a trip like that!

Thanks everyone!

Health certificates were done today, and Ironhide was microchipped (Just in case they decide to change their minds as to when they stopped accepting Tattoos).

I have everything packed except the dog stuff, which will be done tomorrow, and the toiletries that I still need before I go. (I don't think anyone will want to sit beside me on the plane if I haven't showered and brushed my teeth in 5 days.... )

I found out today that 2 of the days we though previously booked for something else have opened up, so we can even MORE dog stuff on those days. This trip just keeps getting better and I haven't even left...LOL

Does your hand luggage look a lot like a filing cabinet inside?

This is so exciting and enviable!

Well a little, but I have had to unpack and re-pack three times to get everything to fit. I am bringing over an extra suitcase for my training mentor (she is waiting for us there), so I think I have gotten it all figured out. Just one more re-pack and we should be good to go....LOL

Ok and for whatever reason Karma is being SO nice to me!

This morning I was going through the mail, only to discover a chq from the Federal Gov for $3000!! Apparently, when I stopped working for them 2 years ago, they forgot to pay me out some money.

Can you believe it?? 3 days before I leave?? Someone is totally looking out for me!

 Quote: Niomi Smith

...This morning I was going through the mail, only to discover a chq from the Federal Gov for $3000!! Apparently, when I stopped working for them 2 years ago, they forgot to pay me out some money.

Can you believe it?? 3 days before I leave?? Someone is totally looking out for me!

WOW!

That is wonderful!

Better and better .....