emmabcdog

After our last trial, I was frustrated -- not with Emma (of course not!), but with myself.  Our Q rate is pretty low these days.  With the exception of an Open FAST Q at the H'burg trial in August, we haven't gotten a Q since moving up to excellent at the BARK trial at the end of April.  Okay, well, not entirely true -- Emma did qualify three times at the July USDAA trial, but that was in starters since we'd never entered a USDAA trial before (here in Mississippi, AKC is pretty much the only game in town.)

Anyway, back to trials and Qs. I KNOW agility is not just about stacking up Qs.  I fully get that.  At the same time, a little validation of all the time we spend practicing would be nice.  For me.  Emma doesn't care -- she just wants to play with all those pvc toys in the backyard and the even greater toys at the practice field.  She wants to have FUN.  That's how SHE looks at it.

So as I sat there after our last run last weekend, I started thinking -- why am I not having as much fun as Emma?  I concluded that I'm just trying too hard, and I need to re-focus my thinking.  I need to go back to that novice frame of mind when merely running a course was more than enough, exhilarating even.  And gosh, if we qualified, that was EXTRA!  And so I've decided to skip the next trial and just have fun with Emma.

Now that might not sound like a big deal if you live where there are lots of trials.  But go to the AKC event search and look for trials in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee that are within a three-hour driving distance from Jackson.  Okay...there's one in October, nothing in November, and one in December.  That's it.  Two.  Sigh...

That means if I skip this month's trial (and I just hate the thought of not being there), there will be only one more trial this year.  But I'm going to do just that.  The trial closes in four days, and I won't be sending in my entry.  I'll be out in the backyard, and I'm gonna be a border collie!