Every Step of the Way

The mind messes up more shots than the body.

I thought so hard to not think this weekend. For those of you who know me personally, I think an awful lot. (John can confirm this) But this weekend I couldn’t afford to think. Before my first run in Midi Team Jumpers, a large wave of nerves hit me hard. So I sat down. I sat and I thought about not thinking, which may seem completely counterproductive, but really it worked. I took those deep breaths I’m always told to take, and I counted on my fingers in a repetitive manner. I was still nervous, but I was focused.  Someone somewhere decided to crank up the pressure during our team runs, with only 3 out of our 4 USA dogs running clean in each round. But I have to say I really liked the pressure. It made me not think even harder. I’ve always been told, mostly by Diane, that every step counts. To make every step count, you have to be present for each step.

Back when I first brought Jenna to nationals I used to “let go” of the run. I would get to jump 17, and I could already see the end line…except we weren’t at the end line, we were at jump 17. That’s where things would go wrong; I’d mess up a cue or under support a jump. I wasn’t handling the moment. I was handling to get to that finish line. I was thinking too hard about the next move or the next obstacle to cue what was needed in the moment efficiently. We lost a lot of runs because I was too busy thinking about the end result.

My motto this weekend was “It’s not over until the leash is on the dog.” 

I spent all four runs with “now” in mind. Every foot of the course seemed to be accounted for, and I knew exactly where Whimzy was. Beyond our success with the team, I am so proud to say Whimzy and I were fully connected for every step of every course. We did not put down the fastest runs, or the cleanest runs. Far from really, but we were functioning as a team. It’s a beautiful thing, to walk off the course feeling like a team. I can only hope that I am fortunate enough to feel so connected in the future as I did this past weekend. 

Expectations

Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality.

A long time ago, I was taught something about expectations that I use before every event. Accept all outcomes. No matter who you are there is a possibility that you will in fact NQ in every single run. It will be painful, and hard to accept. But the educational purposes of any adventure do not depend on Qs. We leave here in just over three days, and three days seems incredibly close. I know my expectations, but I’m also accepting the possibility that I could be eliminated every single round. While I would never keep this thought in my head during the event, it is important to go into this new adventure understanding that things may not go my way. But life will go on; there will be other events and other expectations to fulfill.

For each competition there are expectations and once all is said and done, reality. While the worst possible outcome is one to be understood, it is not welcomed wholeheartedly as reality. Because reality can be our masterpiece…The future is crafted by the hours of hard work we put into the results we desire. Everything that is going to be is decided by our individual performance. What we can’t control is the performance of others. Expectations aren’t meant to be aimed at beating others though. It’s simply unrealistic to assume you will be the best of everyone else, and personally I find it unhealthy. It’s a goal in a negative light, and is the act of constantly setting yourself up for failure.  I cannot control if there is someone better at being the best than I am, but I can control if I am the best that I can be. It is the art of brining your performance to a new level every run, striving to be the best you can be. Expectations can become reality. But even still, expecting to be the best you can is only half the battle. Somewhere there is a balance between believing in yourself and  going out there kicking ass from the moment you step up to the first jump until you cross the finish line.  

The Key to Success.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Recently a friend and I came to the conclusion that excuses are the enemy of improvement. Of all the handlers I know, the most successful make the least excuses. People who have yet to find their success still make excuses for all the "bad" things that happen in agility. But that's just it, they assume that mistakes are bad. They're not, I can't say how many times during a training session that I say to my dogs, "My fault, let's try again." Mistakes aren't always fun, but I find it valuable to know why my dog and I can't do something or why we do something wrong. Every knocked bar, miscued turn, and off course are simply a chance for improvement. People make excuses and accept them as unchangeable facts. Excuses simply ruin the opportunity for learning, and are discouraging for those chasing down their own success.  Enjoying the process of learning, and being able find the joy in making mistakes makes improvement possible.

 It is quite easy to be happy when everything is going well, but enjoying your dog and the sport are most important when things aren't working out. Being in love with the journey is what gives individuals the courage to keep pushing on. Fighting nerves with the nerve to give it your all. We call agility our passion, why? Because we love the game. If you are only happy when you are winning, you don't love agility. You love the results. Honestly, I don't find that to be "success". Big ribbons, shiny trophies and lots of titles are nice to spice up a resume, but they are the byproduct of success. The lessons we learn from both mistakes and improvement are the ingredients that propel us forward towards both happiness and success. It's a process of accepting all outcomes and learning something from every experience. 

True success is simply happiness. 

2 Seconds is an Eternity

It's amazing on any run how much time we actually give up. A tenth here, half a second somewhere else, few extra yards on that wide turn...soon you haven't lost just a tenth or two, but a full second or more that can easily be shaved off. Every tenth, and hundredth truly counts out there when you get down to it. Because of this realization, I time everything... I'm pretty neurotic about timing splits, and I have to say that I lose a TON of time on really silly things every run. I even time other dogs that are faster/have better trained equipment behaviors to see how much improvement is possible for Whimzy.

Over the past year I've been timing Whimzy's teeter from the time she puts a paw on the board to when her paws touch the ground. I have to admit that I slacked off on training the teeter; it didn't seem like a big deal that she stopped short and waited for it to tip before going to the end. But as I discovered after timing her execution of the obstacle over and over, that it was costing us a lot more time than I expected. At our worst...3.2 seconds. She averaged about 1.8-2 seconds all last fall and into this spring. With some drills and extra teeter work she now consistently has a 1.03-1.09 second teeter. That's one to two seconds just on that little 12 foot board! And anyone who watches times at local shows or at big events knows that 2 seconds is an eternity in agility. Looking back at our 3 second teeter from AKC Nationals this year, I started wondering how much does 2 seconds really mean against the majority of dogs? I found out that it means quite a bit when you're running against 180-440 dogs per class, minus the 26" class which was 60 dogs for 2014. But for all the classes 2 seconds was a fairly good spread.

I looked at the first place dog's time and added two seconds (approx*), and then looked at how many places down another 2 seconds was. Mostly did this just to get a ball park of how many spots someone could realistically move up simply by shaving 2 seconds off their time.

                In the 8" Standard Class               In the 12" Standard Class

                1st-  31.588 Torment, Dunn           1st-  30.323 Bliss, Schmidt
                8th-  33.646 Gunner, Rudy            7th-  32.350 Dreamer, Beasley
                20th-  35.623 James, Ewins           25th-  34.254 Cruise, Angel

                In the 16" Standard Class             In the 20" Standard Class

                1st -  28.658 Smart, Moureaux       1st-  28.081 Trick, Nys

                7th-  30.887 Mearle, Simon            19th-  30.082 Snap, Bills

                26th-  32.788 Vixen, Kletke           27th-  32.077 Bandit, Gesquiere

                In the 24" Standard Class             In the 26" Standard Class

                1st-  30.353 Echo, Benacquisto      1st-  28.835 Ninja, Leslie

                5th-  32.301 Gumbo, Zurborg        19th-  30.828 Tex, Savkov

                14th-  34.521 Moquah, Smith        26th- 33.09  Sport, Steinbach

In the 8", 12", 16", and 24" classes those two seconds takes a dog from the teens or twenties up into the top ten dogs in the class. The 20" and 26" classes had much closer times, even several dogs just hundredths apart, but the two seconds could still move a dog from the high teens/twenties into the top ten spots. Kind of crazy considering all the places on a course that any given team can gain back a few tenths of a second. Obstacle performance, tightening down turns, improving information flow, etc. 

But timing splits and improving speed on different pieces of equipment are not about who you can beat, at least not for me. I focus my goals on personal improvement, but I always like using other teams as research and as a basis for new goals in YPS, times and equipment performance. No where on my goal list is "Place Top Ten at Nationals", because I try really hard not to base my goals off the results of others. But I find it amazing to see how much room for improvement there is on every course. The dogs listed above are clearly some of the best in the country, and within those rankings are so many tenths and hundredths of seconds to be improved upon. Just the right amount of encouragement needed to continue working on Whimzy's skills and YPS so that we can be the best that we can be. Don't know where that puts us compared to everyone else, but I'll be happy knowing that we will be doing our personal best on every course we encounter.

*I hope everyone listed is comfortable with me using their dog/name in this post, if not please just message me on Facebook/Comment below and I will remove your name asap. Thanks for reading everyone! 

How Lovey Life Is

Keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling because life's a beautiful thing and there is so much to smile about. 

Tonight I sat and watched my girls run circles around the yard. They've both taken me so many places, half way around the world and back. Yet, tonight they are just dogs. Truth be told, every night and every day they are always simply dogs. This makes them all the more beautiful to me. They have no worries, no regrets, nothing to ponder beyond what they are doing at any given moment. For all the moments I spend in the moment like dogs get to do, I can only hope for a thousand more. My girls with all that sheltie fluff they carry around aren't weighed down by anything. It would take me a hundred days to be as blissfully happy as Whimzy is everyday. 

I wish I could tell them things. Things about all the incredible things they have done for me over the years, things they don't even realize. Things I owe them endlessly for, like taking me to far off places. Teaching me things about life that would have taken me years to learn on my own. Even introducing me to people, all those friends and that one guy they often now steal food from. I don't think they realize that they are the reason why we spend so many wonderful days with that guy they steal food from, John, and that pretty epic golden of his. I wish I could thank them for these things. I wish I could tell them that life wouldn't be the same without them. And often I do, although I'm afraid their English isn't the best. All they know is that there will always be a few certainties in this life time. There most certainly always be treats, and scraps from everything I eat. I always, always share. There will always be more rabbits to chase, or to at least think about chasing. There will always be more chances to chew on my arm. More chances to chase the ball. There will always be more swimming and more hiking. There will always be more lazy mornings snuggling in bed. There will always, most definitely be more agility.There will always be more days where I sit in the yard and watch them run circles, thinking of how lovely life is to share with dogs.  

Whimzy- Team Choices

I am beyond thrilled with yesterday's exciting news that Whimzy and I were selected for the 2014 AKC/USA World Team. But I was also left with a difficult decision to make. At International Team Tryouts Whimzy won a spot on the 18" European Open Team, I have decided to remove Whimzy from this team. We will be focusing our time and training on FCI World Championships coming up this September in Luxembourg. While I have loved competing at the European Open in the past, I feel two trips overseas and an additional team practice is too much for this year. Whimzy is only three years old, and while I am grateful to have the opportunity to compete at both amazing events I know that it isn't fair to ask so much of her this soon in her career. 

We wish all on the European Open Team good luck in Hungary and we promise to be cheering on all our friends from home this July! Hope everyone attending enjoys the event and their wonderfully talented teammates, both four legged and two. 

Go Team USA!

The Impact of Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Opportunities are often disguised as impossible situations. But giving up has never and will never be a solution to impossible. It is taking advantage of impossible situations that make them possible. As we've all been told the road to success is littered with failure, but how we approach and recover from each failure makes or breaks an attempt. To fail and come out of an experience with nothing is a waste of time. For every blunder, kerfuffle, mistake and failure knowledge should be obtained and put to good use. People seem to think making mistakes is a bad thing, and I'm not quite sure why that is bred into our society. We say that making mistakes is okay, but there is a limited number of people who come off the course smiling regardless of a Q. Now I think we've all been in a situation where we were legitimately disappointed by a bad run, and we are all entitled to be upset. It means you care, and if you don't care about the sport then it's easy to be complacent with doing poorly. But something I've learned from my girls over the years is how to be happy with failure. With Jenna it started through her being fairly soft, you cannot say "no" (even quietly) to miss Jenna. She stops working, and she does not accept mistakes well. So as a pretty young kid, around eleven, I had to learn to make mistakes happier. They couldn't be a "bad" thing, it had to be clapping and saying "Woo!!! Okay! Let's try again!!" It wasn't always easy, but it taught me a lot about dog training and placement of proper corrections latter on when I dealt with other dogs. (Please note: corrections are not physical/verbal negatives. Just places where I take the dog back and reassess our attempt at the problem at hand) 

In agility we are all given the opportunity to embark on a journey with many fabulous companions and tackle whichever mountains we choose. If we all traveled one path, we would all be very, very boring people. One of the wonderful things about agility is the amount of diversity between handling, breeds, training styles and individuals we encounter along our own path. But so often I run into people stuck in  quick sand on their paths...they're gasping for air...sometimes literally; when I tell you to breath, I meant it!! Now quite often, this is nerves. But nerves are typically based around fear, particularly the fear of failure. Our little minds start panicking and spitting out the "What if?"s in life.

"What if my dog takes the off course tunnel?"
"What if I don't cue the turn properly?"
"What if an umbrella flies into the ring while I'm running?"
 "What if my dog wanders off chasing a butterfly?"

 All of these things have happened to me, and I lived to tell about it. No matter how bad all of those things seem before a run...in the end agility is still just a game we play with our dogs. That's what Whimzy taught me. We make a lot of weird mistakes, sometimes the same mistakes more than once,  she makes mistakes, I make mistakes. But Whimzy reminds me after every run that life simply goes on. Nerves aren't always easy to conquer, but it is easier to conquer a course with positivity fueling your run. Agility is 10% physical and 90% mental. Success is built around your attitude and what you choose to do with failure. You can cry or make up excuses, but the impact of a "can-do" attitude is what will propel you forward.

I am so proud to say I make mistakes, it means I'm still learning. I cannot wait to see what my girls teach me next :)