2018: the "Recap"

I apologize. It seems that I’ve spent more time playing agility this year than writing about it. I guess I should write more often, though. After all, isn’t that the point of having a blog?

But, sometimes, you’re on such an amazing rush after a trial, that all you want to do is hug your dog.

Sometimes, you’re feeling kinda down after a trial — because for whatever reason, things didn’t go your team’s way — that all you want to do is hug your dog.

And, thus, there was an exceptionally disproportionate amount of dog-hugging to writing.

In writing about my boys and our adventures, I’m wanting to capture, convey, or remember something special. Sometimes (the stress and demands of a busy law practice aside), when we’re in the moment of practicing a skill, going to lessons, or competing at an agility trial, we forget that all of the little moments that got us to the here and now — and yes, even the frustrating ones — have added up to whole lot of something amazing. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.

When I look at 2018 through the proverbial rearview mirror, I can see a whole lot of well-planted trees growing together as, seemingly, they begin to make one spectacular forest. I might not have thought about each “tree” at the time we planted it. But with every backyard practice, building rental, private lesson, class, or agility trial, we planted, fed, watered, fertilized, and sowed the foundation for a lot of rewardingly happy moments.

And let me be clear, our successes are not measured in qualifying runs. Indeed, the path through the forest we’re planting has been different for each of my boys, with neither path less important nor less gratifying than the other.

It’s funny, really, as I sit here writing this blog as a stream of consciousness, my thoughts evoke Robert Frost and his “Road Not Taken:”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

When I set out to write this blog, I didn’t intentionally think to write about trees…or forests…or Frost. I set out to write about my two favorite furry gentleman, my favorite person, and our agility journey since it began last April. However, when I look back upon 2018, I can’t help but compare the two wildly divergent, but equally successful, paths our Henry and Gus have taken.

Suffice it to say, if you’ve followed our journey at all, you’ll already know that Gus enters an agility ring with a bravado second to none. The red Ferrari; the dog that seemingly has a fan club watching his every run. Sure, he’s had his issues (on-side weave poles, a knocked bar here and there) — but he’s a baby agility dog with a green handler in Jen, and they’ve still got much to learn.

It’s so much fun watching those two. It fills my heart with tremendous joy to watch them step to the line. It makes me smile to see Jen and Gus bang out a flawless run like it’s second nature; it makes me smile even more to see them happy and smiling every time they come off a course regardless of whether they qualified or not. They make each run their own party, and the love and connection between the two of them is obvious. Their future as a team is bright, and I cannot wait to see where their path takes them. I know the skills they want to hone, and cannot wait for them to develop.

Gus started his agility career on his birthday: April 9, 2018, with a Q in each of his Novice A Standard and Novice A Jumpers With Weaves runs. He ends the 2018 year with his AX and AXJ titles; 10 T2B qualifying runs; and, two Novice F.A.S.T. qualifying runs. We play CPE as well, and he’s well on his way to moving from Level 2 to Level 3.

Gus earned his AX and AXJ titles at the BRDTC in Winchester, Virginia (incidentally, one of our favorite one-ring trials)

Contrasting Gus with Henry, you’ll also already know that Henry is “the thinker.” Painstakingly meticulous, he will — on the one hand — occasionally display flashes of brilliance, while — on the other hand — succumb to a lack of confidence. “Billy-goating” an A-frame, avoiding a table, and running to the exit gate when he’s decided he’s done for the day were, more often than not, to be expected for Henry at any given trial. Nevertheless, we persevered. As long as he told me he wanted to play this game, I hung in there with him. In that perseverance, we found ribbons, titles, and confidence.

With Henry, some of our best moments — and my most fun and memorable runs — were the ones in which we did not qualify. These runs, in the words of a friend spoken to me at our last agility trial of 2018, were those in which he “did good work.” Above all else, and since day 1 of our agility adventure, I’ve made it my mission to keep him happy in the ring, but it wasn’t until the term “good work” was spoken to me that I’d had an epiphany: Henry and I had achieved a milestone much greater than certificates or titles. We’d ventured into the realm of “good work.”

“Good work,” — you see — had been happening since our CPE trial in November, though I hadn’t yet realized exactly what it was. “Good work” is Henry running at the level he’s capable of running. Mistakes, predicated on the handler, will happen to the best of dogs; even world team dogs knock bars. That’s the nature of this sport. “Good work,” however, is Henry getting his first excellent/master send bonus in F.A.S.T. even though he didn’t qualify in the run for an overall lack of points; it’s Henry running with speed and confidence despite launching off the dog walk and blowing the contact; it’s Henry owning a Time 2 Beat course while taking an off course tunnel because he thought that was the more fun option. “Good work” is Henry well on his way to an excellent jumper’s Q…until his boneheaded handler forgot the course. ahem

I admit the path Henry and I have taken through the forest hasn’t been easy. We’ve stopped on occasion to pick ourselves some confidence, had some detours, and enjoyed the scenery of just getting to play. Sometimes, it’s been frustrating and hard for me not to get down (especially when people can’t help but compare us to Jen and Gus), but finding “good work” has been worth all the twists and turns our road less traveled has brought. The personal rewards Henry and I have found as he and I become a stronger team cannot ever be measured in ribbons.

Henry began his AKC agility career on Gus’ birthday as well, qualifying in both Novice Preferred Standard and Novice Jumpers with Weaves. We end our year needing one more Open Standard Preferred Qualifying run to title, having our Open JWW Preferred title, and our Open F.A.S.T title. We have 2 Time to Beat Qualifying runs. More importantly, we end the year with several phenomenal NQ runs built on “good work.”

I cannot wait to see what 2019 brings for us.

May whatever road you take through whichever forest you choose, bring a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.