Triune Weekend (February Edition)

Back from Lawrence and another good show weekend. We only showed 2 days out of four which I think was a good move for Miller. He does seem to get tired quicker now and because of the abundance of crappy weather, I haven't been able to really condition him like normal. Plus, every year I say I will never show for four days straight and every year I do and regret it. Imagine four days in a hotel or driving 2 hours, eating out, and getting up early. Seems like everyone is tired and grumpy after four day shows and I am happy to say I am rested and ready to go! I was interested to see how he ran after so many runs last weekend and I have to say I was very pleased. While he hasn't been placing in any runs, he got 19 points in standard and 12 in JWW which is pretty awesome for an 11 year old dog. I decided to really put my revelation to the test this weekend (trust your dog dummy) and I am happy to say it really worked. I was out of position a couple of times and he saved my butt, but I can trust that he will do that. He knows his job and I have to let him do his job and not micromanage. I am still not sure exactly why he popped the poles in our Sunday standard run, but it could have been a couple of things. I had attempted a blind cross after the a-frame and I think I was not far enough ahead and he read it as a push and not a cross. He kind of did a push, nose dive off of the a-frame and when I looked back, he was completely twisted in the air. The weaves were 6 obstacles later and he might have been feeling a little sore by then, thus causing him to pop the poles. The other reason could be, he doesn't train on 24 inch poles and sometimes looses his rhythm in them. Every year when we go to the MAC trial in Minnesota, he does this so I think we are just going to have to train more often on them. Whatever the case, to be cautious, I did not run him in JWW and Tony also pulled Harley. Daytona is today and it is the start of the NASCAR season so he was very anxious to get home. Driving home was very odd, drove through bright sunny skies one minute and blowing blinding snow the next. Kansas weather is so very odd!

I would have to say the weekend was good but weird. Had a very odd spell this weekend that i can't really explain. After we ran on Saturday, tony and I decided to go to Home Depot to see if they had anything different than the one in Manhattan. While we were in Home Depot, I started getting very dizzy and very nauseous. I literally had to hold on to Tony to get out of there. Even though I was a little green, it was about dinner time so thought maybe I was just hungry. Took Tony to a Chinese place that I thought he would love. Well, it wasn't as good as I remembered and it didn't help my upset tummy, even though I just ate beef and egg noodles. Ended up having to go back to the hotel room and just lay in the bed. I was so bummed because the major reason why we got a hotel room in Lawrence was to get to go out and eat with our friends, and instead I was laid up in the hotel room:( Oh well, we got to sleep late the next day and take our time getting to the show site. I guess it was worth it and I do feel normal today.

I have to comment on a blog I read about sportsmanship in our sport. A fellow competitor wrote about how negative things have gotten and I have to agree. People are alot more serious about agility now than when I started. More and more people are getting dogs based on what wins at nationals or what is going to get them on the world team and not what dog best fits them. More and more people are going to trainers and seminars to be their very best and that is a good thing. Wanting to be better is a good goal and whatever means you do to get there is awesome. We all have goals, some as simple as getting your dog walk contact, to getting the win and going to nationals. Some people are pushing themselves and their dogs way to far, thus creating unhappy sore dogs and and unhappy competitors. I do agree cliches are forming, some new, some that have always been there but I think in any sport or in any competitive venue or event this will happen. I don't think there is anything you can do about it. All you can do is to set the best example for everyone else. Don't sink to anyone's level!!!!! Let them wallow in their own misery. Karma is always a bitch and it will always come back to haunt you. Try to be the most positive person and you will create positivity that will spread. We all need to stop gossiping so much !!!! It brings us all down and doesn't help any situation. I know it is something I need to work on because who doesn't like juicy gossip! I think the true meaning of a champion or lets just say, a leader, is a very positive person who can maintain this demeanor no matter what situation arises. It is so hard to be positive when you are handling bad or if you are handling good but the chips just aren't falling in your favor. I will try and be the best example I can be of a positive handler and I will surround myself with positive people. Maybe we can spread this positivity! We do this sport for fun as most of us can't do this for a living. We need to remember that time with our dogs is short and we need to cherish every run, good and bad.