This August will mark five years that Zi and I have been competing together in agility. She’ll turn seven on September third, and if you ask me, she is (we are) running better than ever.
At many points along the way I’ve made choices that may have slowed our journey.
Zi didn’t sequence obstacles until she was nearing a year old. She didn’t compete until she was nearly two. I sacrificed many possible Qs in the early years of her career maintaining criteria and making handling choices that supported our growth more than our “success.”
I dedicated several months of training in 2022 to re-building a reliable, conflict-free start line. And I took months away from competing in standard runs to train a running dog walk TWICE. (The second time worked out.)
So here we are, hitting our competitive stride in a new way as Zi nears her seventh birthday and I just want to say I wouldn’t change a thing.
Because it’s clear to me the way I get “there” is more important than if I ever do. Creating a journey my dog and I LOVE sharing is infinitely more valuable to me than winning anything. If we enjoy some competitive success, great. I welcome it, and I DO want it. Just not as much as many more essential things.
I also want to share that prioritizing your own values, the clarity of your training, or the quality of your relationship with your dog doesn’t need to be in conflict with your competitive goals.
Personally, I simply try to keep them in order. I dedicated more time at the start of Zi’s career to building skills I’d be able to rely on later. I built a foundation deep and wide enough to withstand the pressure of a focused competitive campaign.
My patience has been rewarded, and I certainly won’t be in a rush with the next dog either.
Because the way things feel with Zi now is the way I want them to feel again. It brings me great joy to admire Zi’s clarity and confidence on course. More joy than it brings me to stand on a box, by far.
So be patient. Prioritize the qualities you value in your performance over your scores. If you take your time, these goals will align, and that is a victory like no other.
