In agility, even when it seems like nothing is going your way,
there is something positive to take from the experience. Because whether you
like those moments or not they will stick with you forever. Sure it won’t
always be easy to accept those not so pretty runs, or to look back and laugh at
all your embarrassing moments, but the sooner you come to terms with the past
the sooner you can enjoy the present and look forward to the future. Being able to brush off the bad runs, laugh at
your mistakes, and just keep moving, simply makes agility so much more fun.
Personally there are moments in my career that seemed like the end of the world
when they happened, but now looking back, I think they are simply hysterical. And
being able to look at these moments puts everything else in perspective. For
example:
1.
2011 AKC Agility Nationals, on Thursday the AKC
was kind enough to give the competitors a demo run in the brand new “Time 2
Beat” class that we would be soon seeing at our local shows. I was in Ring 2,
in the main arena of course, with Jenna, I was so nervous I could barely keep
my hands from shaking. Honestly I’m not sure why I was so wired that weekend,
but I was, and it did not help my performance on course at all. About half way
through that T2B course, just off the a-frame, I sent Jenna out to pick up a
jump and I took off for a front 2 obstacles down the line. I was being good,
keeping my eyes on my dog, and I turned my head to check where I was going for
just a second, and just in time to greet the giant white Eukanuba wing with my
face. I smacked into the jump, I grabbed it and spun to keep from landing on
it. But of course this was the panel jump, so about 4 bars went flying in every
direction possible… Jenna and I were then excused from the ring as the judge
and ring crew reconstructed the jump I had annihilated. Just a fantastic start
to my nationals.
2.
For this we will go back a little further in
time, 2004… I was about 7 years old, running my yellow fluffy poof ball of a
Lhasa Apso, Jack, in Open 12”. Just before my Open Jumpers run I had to go to
the bathroom, this was of course an outdoor show, because back then indoor
shows were very rare. So for those of you who don’t know, this means
port-a-potties. I walked down the row and selected a door that displayed a
little green “Vacant” sign and yanked open the door. The port-a-potty was not
in fact vacant; it was occupied by my Open Jumpers judge. Let’s just say he was
less than thrilled to see me, and I was beyond horrified to see him *pants up,
I think? Honestly can’t remember…and that’s okay with me*. Needless to say I
now knock, always, no matter what the sign says.
3.
When I was 9, I was back in Open again, this time
with Kayla, my mother’s first MACH border collie. In our first Open Jumpers
run, I did a 2 jump lead out and was just even with the ring crew. I released Kayla;
she took both jumps, visited the ring crew and bolted out of the ring. Leaving
me standing in the middle of the ring alone, as I watched her run around the
building looking for my mom. I then cried and hid in crate for the rest of the
day, well until Diane bought me a stuffed animal westie from one of the
vendors. Stuffed animals simply make everything better.
4.
Unfortunately Kayla leaving the ring is not the
worst memory I have with her… on several occasions, particularly after the
weave poles, Kayla would run off into the corner of the ring, squat and poop.
Then, as if pooping weren’t enough, she would also run out of the ring. Diane
used to tie a poop bag around my wrist so I would always have one in case she
did. And she almost always did…
5.
Okay this memory isn’t exactly one I can laugh
at yet, but it was a very good life lesson. I was in excellent standard with
Jenna, and for those of you who don’t know Jenna and I have been battling
contact issues since forever. This particular run was dreadful, Jenna jumped
all three contacts, ignored my front cross to take an off course tunnel, jumped
off the table before the count was over, and at the end of the run I was a less
than happy 14 year old. I didn’t yell, I didn’t tell Jenna she had been “bad”
or “naughty”, I simply asked her to come, so I could put her leash on. She listened,
and we were on our way out of the ring when I heard the judge whistle me and
ask me to come back into the center of the ring. She then yelled at me for a
good 3 minutes, explaining to me how inappropriate my behavior was, and that if
she ever saw me treat my dog that poorly again she would write me up. I took
Jenna out of the ring when the judge was done, I went back to my car sat in the
back seat and cried, hugging Jenna until my mom came to find me. My mom and
friends all told me that I was fine, that I didn’t do anything wrong, and that
they had heard from several other competitors that they were shocked the judge
had yelled at me. Upon later discussion of that event, we learned that judge simply
wasn’t fond of kids.
Those
have to be my top 5 most uncomfortable moments in the sport, and unforgettable moments
that will stick with me forever. But now I realize that they were not bad
moments and they were certainly not the end of the world. Just things that I
had to learn to be okay with.
.JPG)
