Uncomfortable Moments...

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.