I'm just a 20-something kid obsessed with her two amazing dogs and the game of agility we play. Started training agility back in 2009 with Doodle, nailed obstacles and handling, flunked jump form and eventually got to start my dream with my crazy Doodle when we attended our first trial together in 2011 or 2012. Being a perfectionist my goal was to run clean, maybe set some records and certainly earn quite a few MACHs... little did I know where this journey would take me or just how much it might change me :)
Doodle has taught me how to laugh at my mistakes, better my handling, love SPEED for the sheer rush of it, figure out how to handle her turns, learn running contacts and quit caring so much about the Q. Looking back I never would have thought I could smile about it taking us 1 & 1/2 years between QQs, but yes. I now smile and laugh at that part of our journey too. This crazy dog makes it difficult to take things too seriously and I just love her for it. Our story is not one of a lot of "successes" as typically thought of by the general agility community, but rather of personal growth and experiencing what life has in store for us. We struggled hard to qualify for AKC Nationals 2013 but we eventually did qualify. We then attended our first big event and the only ribbon we brought home was from the T2B class. If that wasn't humbling enough we had our very first "elimination" in the JWW run due to an upset stomach... Doodle just smiled, I wanted to hide away somewhere... Now we both just laugh at this and hope to one day attend Nationals again and see how much we might've improved since that point :) But for now we just take things one step at a time. Rather than chasing Qs we chase personal achievements, yps records, better turns, faster contacts, occasional placements when we can hold everything together for long enough ;) We are enjoying living life on the edge and disregarding others opinions on what success means. Success is our own personal betterment and joy, so throw caution to the wind and let the pieces fall where they may :) That's where Doodle and I are now in our journey. She's about 6 or 6 & 1/2 years old now and sometimes struggles with an old shoulder injury and a lower back condition. We don't know how many years we'll have to continue playing agility together so we enjoy every moment of it that we can. Every run with this dog is a win ♡
And then we have Tess. Tess entered the picture about the time Doodle and I were earning our Open titles. I was looking for a fast, drivey BC who couldn't help but become an agility superstar, lol... and God had some other plans for me as He brought me to this amazing little dog :) Tess is absolutely a superstar and often times the whole neighborhood can hear me screeching how "Super! Super awesome!!" she is. Tess is certainly not what I expected to get in a BC but I fully believe she is everything I never realized I wanted. Tess, like me, is also a perfectionist and no, this doesn't mean I understand her one bit ;) Tess is brilliant and honest and requires you earn her trust and prove you're worthy of her attention. Tess is also a soft personality, who easliy can cave to pressure even if she's the only one offering it. She has taught me so much in what is truly important in this game. It's not the titles, placements or wins. It's not even about looking decent in front of your friends. It's about finding that joy, and putting your teammate's needs above your own wants. Looking towards the big picture and not just the here and now. I had(have) a lot of learning to do in these departments and Tess was eager to offer me the challenge ;) Coming from a dog who would shy away from running obstacles and couldn't handle criteria she has made leaps and bounds of growth! At one point Tess could only handle running sequences after dark by the yard light as I believe the daylight allowed her to focus on all the many tasks at once, which proved too much for her. The darkness simplified things for her, one task at a time. Tess tends to shut down if I make a handling mistake, or even just an imperfection, a late cue, a wide turn, etc. She's pushed me beyond my comfort zone, aiming to become her "perfect" handler and to keep her happy above all else. Celebrate the flyoff(NQ) because what a party it is that she had the confidence and enthusiasm to run past the tipping point!! Don't worry about the fault, just trust that experience will bring the Qs in time. We're now just into Excellent after starting trialing 2 years ago. Our Q percentage is not very high, yet I fully believe we have already become quite a team to behold. We get out there and push for everything we have on course and slowly I'm beginning to see the fruits of our labor unfold. Last trial my "slow, cautious girl" laid down a run that was fastest time all dogs all jump heights and I couldn't have been more ecstatic! ! We NQd due to a missed contact (running DWs with my sensitive girl always offer me more to work toward and look forward to) yet that little comment said by a stranger on the video meant more than any Q could have, "Wow, now THAT was fast!" :) So here we are now, aiming toward lofty goals, slowly testing the waters and working our way up to 26". I hope to earn our Excellent titles and attend ITT in May next year with this little girl. I fully expect we'll bomb all the courses but that doesn't matter. I can't wait for the experience. I don't know when it will come, or how long we'll have to wait, but I just know there are great things to be accomplished with Miss Amazing here :) Someday we might find ourselves running with the big dogs, or maybe we'll discover we have no fear of the edge (DW plank) or maybe that Miss Amazing finds her crazy in the ring... so many possibilities and a whole journey to discover :)
Welcome to our journey...
Tess 24" Exc Std - 09/20/14 & Doodle ISC JWW - 7/26/14
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