Dove is going in for a tune-up training wise this summer.  I'd really like that Prize I UT score, although I don't know if I'd go to the Invitational.  Dove has a lot of room for improvment.

I am uncertain about who to use for a trainer.  Linda has the advantage of knowing Dove, but I don't know what she's got for facilites and where her life is headed right now.  It's not an insult, it's just that she's got a lot of balls in the air right now.

Another trainer has come highly recommended from friends in Quebec.  Dominic is an e-collar trainer, and I think Dove would really appreciate a more hands-off approach to training.  He's trained like 10 VC's, and the exchange rate works in my favor.  There's a bit of a language barrier, but I don't think that will be a problem.  Rumor has it he keeps the dogs in his care pointer thin.  This might disrupt Dove's heat cycle, which I'd be unhappy about.  Pointers are often skin-and-bones.  GSP's are usually over-weight.  I'm going to have to see the dogs in his kennel with my eyes and then make sure we have an understanding of what kind of body condition I expect.

I've got my stud search on right now.  I'm doing homework on a spurratic basis; running down pedigrees and something that's important to me is third party naratives about a dog.  Often they come from other folks who have used the stud, sometimes not.  The kennel that produced Dove, for instance was the subject of a series of newspaper articles written by a journalist who bought a pup.  Gleaned some insight that I might not have gotten otherwise.

We'll have to see if Dove's heat cycle remains typical when she has her next one.  It should come in June.