Perspective.

The rumbling of tires above created a steady beat of stop and go. Weightless cars thumping on imaginary roadways fashioned mid-air in the dark skies, played their tune to the whistling whips of wind and the constant pulse of rain smacking down onto the streets. Only the crude honks of cars coming to a screechy skidding stop broke the rhythm… yet even with the roads muffled melody, the world looked silent. Slate grey clouds hid away every last beam of the suns warm rays, leaving the icy rain to freeze my world with every drop. It didn’t used to be that way though…

I was able to hold a rainbow in my hand, every color, any shade, right there in my palm. The mural of my life was right before my eyes. My memories, imagination, future were within an arms reach, plastered to the road I choose to travel. But when the sky went dark, and the wind sucked the warmth from the ground my colors were washed away. They bled together, my pictures flooded and crumbled. My life’s work dissolved in an instant.

But watching the death of my imaginary creations emptied my studio. The canvases were all left blank, the pallets cleaned, and I had the chance to paint a new picture.

Sometimes something bad is actually helpful. It all depends on one’s perspective. Sure when I was 5 seeing the rain wash away my driveway chalk drawings was upsetting, but I also learned that the rain brought something good too, a new chance to create. I just had to look at it all in a positive light. This is a lesson I’ve recently learned again, thanks to Whimzy. We are not the best team, not the fastest, certainly not the steadiest, but with each flaw we stumble upon and each mistake we make I find something I needed to know. Sure NQ-ing doesn’t seem like a good thing, but it gives you the opportunity to improve. It just depends on how you look at it.

Dream big or go home.

Dreams float just above the clouds; slightly out of reach...daring you to jump, threatening you with a long fall and sudden stop. Standing on the edge of everything you've worked for, the peak of excellence, persistence, patience, and hard work...it's hard to let your feet leave the ground. The fear of failure, of rejection, of disappointment can be petrifying. But standing still gets you nowhere. 

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

A dream is only your dream if you truly desire it. When you obsess over it, when it consumes you, then you know it is yours. Until then, it is a fantasy. A silly made-up wish that you hope you might obtain one day. Truth is hope isn’t going to do anything. You need to need it, not just want it…the difference between a dream and a fantasy is commitment. It’s always nice to want something, but until you are willing to go out there and get it, it will never be yours. 

If you can dream it, you can become it. 

Course Language

Handling - A precise set of direction cues given to the dog through body, motion, and verbal commands.

That is a text book definition. Handling isn't so much about directing the dog as speaking to them. A great handler speaks a foreign language only their dog can understand; it is the exact dialect of their cues and the dog’s accurate translation that makes the pair so in sync with each other.  I always like to think of flawless runs being more like a conversation between handler and dog, no arguing, no screaming, no miscommunication  just a beautiful duet of action and reaction. Great handlers don’t speak at their dogs, they speak to them. So many use vernacular handling, common, simplistic, something everyone can speak. It is those handlers that push for an intimate language full of jargon and secret slang, specific enough for only a few to understand, who speak agility best. 

This weekend's runs, Blaze, Jenna, Whimzy, and Nikki. Great dogs <3 

Misunderstanding Mistakes

“You learn from mistakes, make as many as possible.”

Feeling overwhelmed by this weekend, and the next, and the next, and the next. I don’t feel like I've been doing everything I can possibly do to prepare properly, which is unfortunate on many levels. Time to step up my game I suppose, granted I don’t even know how many dogs I will be running tomorrow (either 3-5).

So looking at a full schedule isn't helping my anxiety of shows at all. I remember when shows were all about messing around for me. With just a silly little uncooperative lhasa it was hard to take dog shows seriously. Now I have dogs that need a serious competitor and handler willing to put as much effort into every run as possible, not to mention I spend most of my day talking to endless students about handling choices and going over their runs. It’s not all bad, or rather not bad at all. I love it. I love the responsibility, the challenge, and the dynamics of running multiple dogs on multiple handling systems with a wide variety of goals. I wouldn't change a thing. 

I don’t know perhaps I’m overreacting to the pressure. I always feel like I've let the dog down if something goes wrong, obviously they don’t care. But still, mistakes seem almost dreadful at times. Then I remember that, mistakes are the exact opposite. They are the most wonderful things, especially in agility. They tell you what went wrong, why, where, and then give you something to improve. Without them we’d all be stuck in the stone ages of agility jumping our dogs 30” without even knowing what “front crosses” were, let alone having a wide arrange of handling moves and training styles. The mistakes clear a path for innovation and the evolution of our sport. So by all means, make mistakes, as many as possible. We can only learn from them.

I will triumph.

My knees may quiver, the sweat may pour down my face, and I might have nothing to brag about after all is said and done. But no matter how many times I fall, how many times I’m pushed to the ground, I will stand up. I will keep moving. I will triumph. I may not be the strongest, I may not be the fastest, and I might not be the best. But no matter how many times I am beaten, how many times I loose, I will not quit. I will not break. I will not give up.

It is not the raw strength and skill that makes an athlete great, but their will to push, to achieve, to never surrender. For loosing, frustration, defeat, and mistakes don’t cause failure. The only true failure is when giving up is the only answer. It is up to every individual to decided how much effort they are willing to put in, how long the will practice, how many times they will try again. My future is my hands; I decide whether or not I will be great. It is up to me to build my own destiny and that is why….  I will not give up.  I will stand up. I will not break.  I will keep moving.   I will not quit.  I will triumph. 

We will not quit. 

Reminders...

The dogs in my life never cease to amaze me, and remind me over and over again that I’m far from perfect. That I don’t know everything. That things will go wrong…but that’s okay. Today, was not my best day.  I was a bit frazzled due to waking up an hour late, causing me to miss my first two walkthroughs. But no excuses, it’s not so much the handling for me at this point as the head. Good practice if anything. Whimzy in her first run once again reminded me that she is still just a year old…and thus can’t be trusted on course. No micromanaging, no clean run. But it was beautiful, so mommy’s fault. Life goes on. 

Nikki reminded me that even when you do micromanage, shit still happens. Her standard run was so wonderful; I couldn’t help but stand there and laugh as she did a mid-run victory lap taking 5 extra jumps. It makes me so happy to see that dog having fun, finally enjoying the sport.

Jenna reminded me, for the hundredth or so time, that she is much more talented than I give her credit for. A double Q and she nailed her contacts today, after 2 weeks of no contact training at all. No super fast zones, but undeniably in and not creepy in the slightest. Very proud of my munchkin, perhaps there is hope I’ll be as awesome a handler as she is a dog one day. If I ever am, I’ll certainly owe it all to her…she has taught me so much.

But that’s just the way this works isn’t it? People think I’m a dog trainer…to be honest they teach me so much more than I can ever teach them.  I teach them how to do equipment and read handling cues; they return the favor by showing me how to be a better trainer and handler. Their faults are my lessons, in the journey we both take together. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=621wmqsSVT0&list=UUdSVfN8AoSbf822LdbpZrDw&index=1&feature=plcp

Today's runs. 4/6. 

The Application of Forward Motion.

Looking back causes a million memories to swirl through our minds. The past sticks with us forever, and will always bring with it an emotional waterfall of minuscule moments to flood our subconscious. We are constantly recreating ourselves for this very reason, changing, learning, adapting.  The choices we make today, the choices we make tomorrow, and the day after that all revolve around our previous endeavors and encounters. The real question is whether you understand the past well enough to shape your future.

In agility, we all know how to present material to the dogs, shape it, and achieve a desired result. We can control almost every behavior they learn, and curb the rest to our means. The events in their lives are taken advantage of at every point; socialization as puppies, trialing/training in new places for experience, giving them every advantage we possibly can, so they can be successful, happy, and enjoy the sport as much as we do. But what about our own lives, are we in control?  Without control, the only response can be regret, looking back and seeing what wasn't. Not taking advantage of the situation, not making the most of every day, letting a chance slip through your fingers…is simply wasting a perfectly good opportunity. Dogs live in the moment; they do remember what they have learned and apply it, but they don’t regret. They keep moving they don’t slow down to let the past catch up with them.

Disappointment, worry, bitterness, regret, what’s the point? There is no advantage to dwelling on the past, brooding on what has already happened. I used to find myself looking back after every run (good or bad) and finding something that could have been slightly better…regardless of how happy I was with the dog’s performance. But it never helped. Now, instead of finding things that could have been better in that particular run, I try take one thing out of it that I can perfect for future use. One thing that takes me to the next level, gives my dogs a new skill, or teaches me a new handling move. It used to be about what could of happened, it became about improvement, knowledge, and controlling the future for once. No regret, no disappointment, no worries, just forward motion.

Personal Image.

I think it’s time that reputations are valued again. They should be respected, built, and protected…not torn down, ignored, and tarnished. Your reputation may not be who you are, but it should be everything you want to show the world. You can’t make everyone like you, but being likable is different. It means you are decent human being, above all the gossip, statuses, and classes. Building a reputation isn't about climbing the social ladder, being the most popular, being the most successful, or being the best known. It is about being someone who is respectable, dedicated, and worthy of imitation.

Reputations are unavoidable; they can’t be ignored without falling apart, crumbling into disrepair. So before you say you don’t care what people think of you, remember that it isn't what they think of you, it’s how you think of yourself. Whatever image you project is what people will see. We are free to create a masterpiece of ourselves from within; everything we've done, everything we are and everything we will be, it’s our job to frame that picture. (Keep in mind, of course, that we all know when something’s been through Photoshop)  It’s not an image to flaunt or prove anything to anyone…it is simply an imaginary representation of you, that everyone can see. So protect that image, don’t rip anyone else’s to shreds, and remember that the world will see who you are if you show them. 

A Power Struggle

They say the worst of times brings out the best in people; the reverse is also true. Fame, glory, power, it’s a deadly concoction that can make a monster of any man. Life becomes about status, who is less and who is more.  About keeping power, stepping on anyone and doing anything for the ability to stay in control. About being the best, rather than doing your best.

It doesn’t have to though. The most powerful of all are those who don’t fight for their power. They don’t abuse it, use it, or confuse it with anything else. Power isn’t a treasure to be captured, but an understanding that you can make a difference. I know that’s a bit trite, but it’s true. To make power worth having it has to change something…Why else would anyone want it? It’s the influence hat makes it so alluring…so effective. It’s the ability to set a good example or put a movement into motion. That’s all the power anyone needs to make them truly powerful.