Full Circle

Last week I started a happiness challenge. You must post a picture each day of something that makes you happy for 100 days. It's been easy up until tonight. Today the thing that made me happy isn't something I would be able to capture in a single picture, so instead I'll try-- probably unsuccessfully-- to capture it in words.

A special person was able to say the things I most needed to hear tonight-- and remind me of some things I had forgotten (no matter how briefly). She reminded me that I have the best dog in the world; the best one I could have asked for; the one who gives everything he has; the dog who hikes and goes on adventures with me. The dog with the face that is permanently smiling-- the face I probably take too many pictures of. She made me remind Bolt of those things, even though I already think them. They need the reminder sometimes too.

 She changed my energy, the energy in the room & helped us connect again. The reminder is what I needed going into this weekend. I feel like I've come full circle. I feel light, and happy about this week. I feel like we left training in the most perfect way I could have hoped for. No matter what happens, I have the best teammate I could have ever hoped for & I can only try to be what he deserves too.

Sorry for forgetting that tonight, Bolt & thank you Diane for being the best coach when I most needed it.

Clear Sky, Clear Mind

I started running last summer. I was never a runner-- I could run, I did run. But I didn't like it unless it was contained in an agility field in some way. It was an attempt to get in better shape. It started out bad-- I was slow, I was out of breath. But, like with most things, I wanted to make it happen. So I roughed it out, and slowly 90 seconds became 3 minutes became 10 minutes became 20 minutes became 3 miles. I run every week now, and not just at agility, but for fun. I love it-- who knew running could make you smile while you did it; and not just a little smile, but beam. Sometimes it's pure joy.

Being injured has been really tough. Running hasn't happened as much as it used to, and when it does now I find myself a little afraid of it. I can't live in bubble wrap for the next two weeks/ two months, and neither can Bolt. So we still explore. The one good thing this winter has done is make me appreciate the days of clear skies and temperatures above freezing.
You know you're a New Englander when: you go to the beach because it stopped snowing.

 

This past weekend was wonderful. I got to spend it with the best people, playing with Bolt. He was so good. So, so good. We went to a seminar for nationals prep held by John Nys & it was the perfect place to get our timing back-- well my timing back. Bolt was never off. He's amazing. I've known John since I started agility-- almost 12 years, he knows how to push me when I need it-- and I so needed it. We worked all day, and laughed a lot, and learned a lot. By the afternoon I felt like we were in synch. I didn't enter any shows in the weeks before Nationals. I know myself enough to know that if something went wrong I would dwell on it for days. I don't want any (extra) baggage coming with us to Harrisburg. No doubts, no fears.

Plus Jen and I went on a photography adventure which included coffee, lots of driving, deep thoughts and imaginations running wild-- the usual. The 700+ mile round trip to Pennsylvania will be a very awesome adventure for sure.

I'm keeping my resolutions. Training agility isn't the most important part of agility.

In non-dog news, I'm finishing grad school in just over a month. I've been writing a novel for the past couple years for my thesis which doesn't totally jive with what the school expected me to write. But I like it, my adviser likes it, and I finally feel like I'm back writing what I originally loved and that's a good thing. Plus, I've written a lot recently and that's a really good thing too. 15 pages to go.

 

Puppies: Trust the Process

In response to the awesome Dog Agility Blog Event on the topic of "Starting your puppy"

In thirteen years of agility I've been very lucky. My first sheltie, Flame, came fully trained at five years old and was ring ready. Literally the first time I ever ran agility was at a show my aunt took me to & Flame's owner Diane asked if I wanted to try running her in novice jumpers (uh, yes?!). I clapped my way through a Deb Hunt course and Flame, dealing with my incompetence like a champ, won the damn class. I took the ribbon with me to my first day of seventh grade. So yeah, I was hooked.

Since Flame, I've trained two radically different dogs. Nike came home at 10 weeks old when it was apparent that he was too big for the breed ring, but would be a nice 16" dog. He was a singleton who sat in his pen and stared at me with his blue and brown eyes and melted my fourteen year old heart (not difficult at any age, I supposed). Bolt came to me at just over 8 weeks old (the moment Paulette said he could) and was a fluffy black white and tan ball of fur (with a lightning bolt shape tuff on his neck). Luckily for him, I was a (slightly) more mature 22 year old.

Baby Nike

Both Nike and Bolt were destined for agility when I took them home, but they are at heart polar opposites. Nike started showing signs of fear at a young age. Things that were previously innocuous became things that were fear triggers: waste barrels, parked cars, sudden noises, unfamiliar people and dogs-- agility. I put too much of a burden on the back of my fluffy blue merle boy. Nationals, MACHs, tryouts, world team. When he started acting fearful towards agility I started to see those aspirations crumble. I needed to reassess a plan of attack, it was obvious that he wouldn't be ring ready in eleven months to the day. Instead, we went to different places and faced fears. Things that were scary slowly became background noise to him. It was a long, long process. The most important thing that can exist between us and our dogs is trust, and it starts out at an early age. I learned that Nike didn't trust that he was safe in agility and that was the problem to our foundation & so I worked hard to build that up with him. Once he got it he ran wild with it. He started to love agility. He was fast, he was happy- he did take me to nationals (twice), we got a MACH and he took me to world team tryouts three times. An absolutely invaluable experience.

Bolt on the other hand was a completely different dog. He came home that first day confident and happy. Playing with his new toys, digging his new surroundings and playing with his new big older brother. When I took him out I kept expecting the same fear triggers to set him off. But they didn't come- I had to keep reminding myself that he was a different dog. Things came a little easier with him. I didn't have to work to make him motivated, I had to work to make sure he kept his brain inside his head. Sometimes it feels like cheating with him-- but I know it's because he had the benefit of years of learning that I applied to my approach with him. I hope to bring that to the next dog I bring home. 

So, trust the process.
Know that every dog you have will be different than the last. That you can't control everything in the world. That they are puppies and as puppies they will make mistakes, and chew things, and chase things, and destroy things, and get distracted by people, dogs, and shiny objects. They might get afraid sometimes, and they might forget they have brains sometimes-- but know that it's just part of the process.
You aren't breaking your puppy by trying new things you haven't done before. You aren't a failure if your puppy isn't where so-and-so's dog is/was at the same age. Play with them. Tug with them. Don't panic if they don't like to tug. Don't compare where they are to anyone else. Don't compare them to how your last dog did or how they learned. Know that their attention spans are short. That they don't know about MACHs, or Nationals, or world team. The time with them will go by too quickly, especially as puppies.
Don't over analyze them or what you're doing, just start.

Bond with your puppy first. Love who they are. The rest will follow.

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