The Dog Blog

Over the past 3 days, Bill and I have lost 2 family members, one human and one canine.  Needless to say, my emotions are pretty raw.  Once again, I am reminded me of just how short, yet amazing life is!

Anyone who knows me has seen me go through tragedy and loss, and how I’ve come back from it.  It’s part of life to suffer heartbreak and to experience struggle.  It sucks and isn’t fun.  But it does shine light on the important stuff.  And we grow as a result of the experience.  

What I have found is that if you don’t let yourself fully experience the highs and lows of life, you don’t really get to LIVE.  You end up walking around numb and hiding emotions from others, perhaps even from yourself.  You miss out on Life!

It wasn’t until my infamous car crash in 2012 that I realized what really drove me as a person.  LOVE.  

Growing up, I desperately sought it.  My...

When heading back to competition season after an extended break, even if it’s been forced upon you (COVID Quarantine or injury-related), there’s a definite checklist of things you need to make sure you have covered.  The top two on the list are Physical conditioning and Mental preparation.  If you want to see the complete checklist, go to eliciacalhoun.com to get your copy.   

1.  Make sure that you have a SOLID Conditioning program that includes Cardiovascular, Strength and Flexibility components for both you and your dog!  This includes a game plan for ramping up fitness levels to competition level in a reasonable period so that your team is ready to compete.  You simply cannot expect any athlete to perform well if they are not in shape for their sport.  More importantly, you risk injury which could force additional ‘downtime’.  So if you’re unsure how to put a plan together for this, consider...