AzN, dont be sorry that youre a newbie!
We were ALL newbies once.
I started growing CPs last December(December 2003)
I taught myself and I researched books how to cultivate these plants,
you are lucky that you have found this forum!
Anyway, do you have a VFT, or are you going to get one?
I wouldnt reccomend a VFT for a complete newbie,
try a cape sundew instead (Drosera capensis, another bug eating plant)
The anwser to your question:
Your plant will get out of dormacy as soon as you give it warmer temperatures
and more light and water. However, a dormacy MUST be at least 2-3 months long. Prefarably 3 months. So December-March is a good dormacy period(Wake it up in March) A VFT will loose anthing between 50-100% of its traps.
It will NOT loose its roots. If all the traps die, dont worry. The plant will grow
new traps very soon after it wakes up. If there are no traps, do NOT
bin it. Ideally, reduce watering for the WHOLE dormacy.
Dont repot during dormacy, repot when the plant is about to start growing again(A week before it wakes up is good) You do NOT have to repot every
year, repot every 2-3 years. Dont worry, these plants are quite happy to
be squashed in containers. Try not to repot during active growth,
if you do it will shock your plant.