Do not confuse the goal of the game with the purpose of the
game ~Shoemaker 1996
We all have goals we want to reach, images in our heads of
how we want to look, skills we want to be able to use. But before any of that can even form a
thought bubble in our minds, you have to love the game and understand what it
is truly about. Fun, building a bond that can never be broke, learning how to
fail gracefully, and how to triumph humbly. A wise person once told me, you can’t
love what you do too much or you will never be as good as you want to be. As an agility addict myself, I thought that
advice was rubbish when I first heard it. But I think now I understand, if you
try too hard, work too hard, become too obsessed with the sport and competition
of it all you will forget the purpose of the game. If you aren’t having fun,
enjoying the dog, or executing good sportsmanship you won’t go anywhere. Furthermore,
people won’t want to be around you, your dog won’t want to play, and you won’t
love the game.
Whimzical Update: August
Whimzy is 20 months, and as far as
she knows agility is about fun and only fun. We might get mad at each other,
we both make costly mistakes, but at the end of the day that dog is by my side,
and I intend to be at hers till the day she dies.
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