Playing for Pure Joy.

Tonight, looking at my girls I can’t help but think about how much they really mean to me. It’s almost an unreal feeling; even without agility I couldn't imagine not having them in my life. And this reminded me of a conversation I once had a few years ago with Diane…and that night she put it really well; everything I will do in the agility world for basically the rest of my life will be because of Jenna and Whimzy.

On their little tiny shoulders rests my entire future. Kind of scary when you think about it, but it’s true. Sure my goals for them and expectations of my abilities are always set just above our reach, but jumping is half the fun. Taking that risks, going for it, how can we not? But going too far, no longer caring about the dogs is when agility becomes pointless. In my books you play for them or have no right to play at all. My girls will forever be more valuable than any award we ever win, any honor we get, any record we break, anything that I accomplish because of them…it’s all just bonus. The real joy in the sport isn't winning a pretty blue ribbon, or taking home a trophy. It's seeing that look on your dog's face at the end of the run, that smile that says "I love playing this game with you." Every time I see that look on their faces, my heart just melts. I'm so grateful that I can share such a wonderful sport with these creatures that are so special to me. 

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? 

The opportunity to play."

My girls <3 

Taking a Bite Out of Life

As I sit here, enjoying an ice pop, I’m starting to wonder when my life stopped making sense. Or rather if it ever did….okay let’s be real, it never did, it’s just a bit more evident now. While I’m both baffled by my own journey, and enjoy befuddling others along the way, it seems as though a few wonderful coincidences have slowly fallen into place in the path in front of me. This means, adventuring…and a lot of it. Now I’m not always sure how the cookie is going to crumble, but I do know that I really love cookies. So why not take a big bite out of life?

I have to say I’m starting to get addicted to this all this adventuring as well, the places my little heartlakes have taken me in just the past week is incredible, and that’s just the icing on the cake. Now I know we have a ways to go, and don’t quite know where we are adventuring too, but I don’t think we’ll be turning around any time soon. It’s funny though, every time we hit a fork in the road it’s not a matter of which path leads to success because success isn’t something you can choose. Heading into the unknown I know that no matter what we come to face we will do everything possible to succeed…granted adventures aren’t really about success at all. They’re about enjoying the ride, and being able to take something out of each experience…even if you find you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Sometimes it’s best to swallow your pride, avoid talking with your mouth full, and just learn to take smaller bites in the future. Not every ending to our adventures will be sweet, but even when we get a sour bit of luck I know I can always cleanse my palette and try again.

Now I’d hate to eat and run, so here’s something to chew on for a bit.

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?

USA Team Practice Day 2

Honestly this has been one of the most educational days of my 13 years in the sport. We ran some really fantastically wicked courses, Jenna was a superstar (& clean) on almost all of them as always, but beyond handling and training I got a lesson on what makes Jenna tick. Somethings I had no idea about, and now understanding how she functions and her body works I feel like this is a new beginning for us. She is only 6, which is still young, and I'm hoping the future will be very different for both of us. 

In addition to shocking explanations about miss turtle dog Jenna,we also spent some great time with friends, new and old. I'm so excited to be heading to Europe with such a fun group of people, and they are all such amazing handlers too!! Goodness simply watching everyone run was fascinating and education, being able to break things down and really discuss the ins & outs of handling on a large scale. I definitely have a few things I'll be taking home to train in the yard, and hopefully perfect with my girls this summer. Super pumped for tomorrow!!! :)

USA Team Practice Day 1

Just a quick update before bed. While the day started out unfortunately with a busted car window and stolen wallet, once we got to practice it turned around. Jenna put down 2 solid runs on the courses we ran late this afternoon after a team meeting. Really happy with how her international foundation is holding up so far this year with rather little maintenance. Jenna seemed a bit stiff in the back after all our travelling, but other than that she is once again isn’t phased in the slightest by long distance travel. I always take for granted how well she travels, really its amazing that she stays so health and happy no matter where we are *knocks on wood* 

Love my little turtle, she is such a trooper! :) Looking forward to a full ten hours of course work tomorrow with the rest of the team!

Also, if you live in the NJ/PA/NY area and are interested in purchasing a USA Team Supporter Shirt for 2013 please comment on my fb or contact me by the end of the weekend. We are bringing back shirts and can pick one up for you to buy. Shirts are $20 each, unisex sizes. Thank you for supporting the AKC USA Agility Team!!! :) 

Head in the Clouds.

Sometimes dreams seem too good to be true, you stick your head up in the clouds and take a look around at everything that could be...but everyone's always said that being stuck there is wrong. So you fall back to earth.

Welcome to reality.

But it isn't really...for reality doesn't have to be absolute; it is interdependent with your actions. Your reality depends solely on what you make of it; the "realistic" goals others set for you will always fall just short of the fairy tale version of Cloud 9 in your mind. Personally, I don't mind living with my head in the clouds, sure everything gets foggy every now and then, and it is awfully bright...but then again the future is too, so I suppose that's fitting more than anything. Certainly better than living with your head in the sand. The best part of it all is that no one can tell me what I can't do, I don't have to listen to people listing the "problems" in life, or tell me now impossible everything is, and always will be.

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.

The reality people keep ranting on about is entirely based around problems. Think about it, no one ever welcomes you to reality when something good happens. Reality is entirely negative, it is obstacles, and statistics and all the things standing in your way wrapped up in one. Knowing that, why anyone would want to be realistic is beyond me. Perhaps my head isn't screwed on quite right, maybe I'm delusional...maybe I'll never know. But at least for me, reality will always seem to be an illusion, a trick, that other people fool you into believing. It keeps you firmly on the ground... with no way of shooting for the stars, or taking a leap of faith, you can't even pop your head into the clouds to imagine "What-if?". Reality should give you wings, like red-bull only without all the caffeine.

Don't let someone else's opinion of you become your reality.

USDAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Champions

What can I say? Jenna never ceases to amaze me...

Jenna and Trixie, an English Cocker Spaniel handled by Blake Rivas, won the 2013 PVP Team Championships. The first ever Junior Handler Team to win a USDAA Team Championship, and to top it all off Jenna won Overall Top 12" dog. 

Honestly in this journey, in this year, I've begun to discover what Jenna and I are really capable of. There have been so many opportunities that I simply counted us out for because I never believed in the team.  I always believed that I could handle clean, and that Jenna would do her job...but something was missing. I feel as though my attitude towards competition has been altered... I'm not sure what did it, or if I'm just imagining it. But this year has already been so incredible, and I don't think thanking Jenna a hundred-thousand times would ever be enough to say how grateful I am for her sticking by me through the last 6 years. 

USDAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals: Day 1

Best part of any competition, when the stress sets in and your nerves go on end. It's when handling and skills become second to simply holding it together. It isn't a matter of "can you" anymore. You can....but will you keep your head? 

Ended the first day of USDAA Mid-Atlanitc Regionals sitting in 3rd place for team with Jenna and Trixie putting down 4 solid runs throughout the day. Could no be more thrilled with how the girlies did, and today we run Team relay for a shot at the podium. Honestly this is my favorite type of situation, stakes are high, lots to lose, but no matter what the final results come out to be the journey to where we are now was unforgettably fun. 

Underestimating the opponent.

Never underestimate your opponent.

Have you ever looked at a course and thought “oh shit, this is going to be wicked hard.”? Whether that statement is said with trembling fear or you say it like me, with a sick sense of excitement, I think we have all muttered something of that variety under our breaths while looking at a course map. Okay now what about the opposite? Ever looked at a course and thought “Wow, this is so simple! It’ll be easy to run clean.”? I have, and to be completely honest I do not put tons of effort towards the planning and memorization of these courses. I’m not sure if I’m the only one who gets lackadaisical when they see a circle, but I always relax when I see something that doesn’t “look” necessarily challenging. 

So tonight I was training on a very steeplechase/T2B style course. Small challenges surrounded by miles of wicked fast lines…okay well not miles, but at least a hundred yards or so. I focused on the challenges; serp this, blind here, don’t role out of the front until she’s rotated, blah blah blah…and I figured I could just take off down the straight line, decelerate turn and go around this simple circle of obstacles without a problem. Well holy fudge nuggets was I wrong or what… I’m not sure what I missed when I was walking the course that made me think that straight line into a circle was going to be “easy”, but I didn’t even attempt to handle it until I was RIGHT on top of the jumps realizing something had gone wrong. Three failed attempt later, I finally told Whimzy to go play in the pool so I could go look at the line again. I ended up shaping the straight line with a blind-rear combo and then rearing the a-frame, instead of "oh I'll just run this way and Whimzy will pick up all the jumps." Duh, Kathleen, of course that was a dumb plan.

Now this obviously isn’t the first time I’ve NQ’d in the backyard, I do that like 5 times minimum every training session. But it was interesting to realize my only real mistake was underestimating my opponent. It’s never good to over think a course and stress over how challenging it is, but the opposite is also true. No matter what dog you are running, looking at a course and judging it as simple before you really dissect the handling needed to get you through the course is equally as unwise.

Perhaps I’m the only one who has run into this issue because for some reason I’m incapable of proper course assessment, or ya know I could just be an idiot and the lesson I just got a refresher in is obvious to everyone. Who knows, but I’d like to think that from tonight I’ll remember to look at each course with an equally calm approach, with precise direct handling planned for each section no matter how "easy" it looks. 

Work every foot. 

Walking Off: who really needs a "time out"?

The practice of walking a dog off course started years ago as a simple way to remove a dog from an overly stimulating situation, in which there was no way to continue the course without causing further damage to your foundation. I’ve walked my dogs off in this manner many times, particularly when the dog gets so high in the ring that it is impossible to get them through the rest of the course. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with calmly excusing yourself from the ring for this type of issue. But more recently, removing the dog from the ring has become more and more of a punishment. Dogs flipped upside down, carried or dragged out by their collars, and even people storming out of the ring without their dogs, which can be considered abandonment, just in case you weren’t aware. There is no purpose, it’s not an “effective training tool”, and it’s based entirely on the handler’s temper getting out of hand. I know we can all get emotional about our runs, good or bad, but in the end agility is a game. Stomping your feet at a knocked bar or having a screaming match with your dog after an off course is completely unacceptable.

And it isn’t just those “problem” dogs that are getting hauled of the course. It’s consistent, honest dogs too, …which honestly I find beyond ridiculous.  Dogs are dogs; they are allowed to make mistakes once in a while. People make up excuses that their dog was too excited, or needed a “time-out”, when really it’s the handlers who need to spend some time thinking about their actions.

So maybe next time, before hauling your “bad, bad, bad dog” off the course, you should remember that 99% of faults on course are caused by handler error.

Just be.

A man once told the Buddha,

“I want happiness.”

The Buddha replied,

“First remove the ‘I’, that’s ego.

Then remove ‘want’, that’s desire.

And now all you are left with is

Happiness.”

Sometimes it takes realizing what was there all along, to get what you’ve always wanted.

In some ways we are all “wannabes”, I know I am. There are things that I have always, always wanted to be. But when you spend so much time simply wanting something, you end up putting distance between yourself and your goal. I think there are times, when used appropriately, that living in the future becomes the best way to reach the future you want.

Extraordinary people live their lives backwards; they create a future and then live into it.

Rather than being a wannabe, just be. 

If you can look at yourself and say that you’ve already accomplished all of your wildest dreams…you eliminate self-doubt. If you can make yourself believe it, you will believe in yourself. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? And yet, with our greatest enemies often living between our own two ears, it can make such an impact on the future...