Three Dogs, Nine Hard Lessons

NOTE: This post is a participating entry in the Dog Agility Blog Event, "If I Knew Then What I Know Now." Thanks to Agility Nerd, Steve Schwarz for organizing this event! 

Old Shaun and the hardest of lessons.

Profile of Shaun: U-CD UAGII White Pines Little Shaunee CD RE OA OAJ RL1-AOM. First Toy Fox AKC Rally Novice (RN) and Rally Excellent (RE) titles.

Shaun was an agility dog by default. He was a rescue from the county pound who had already been declared vicious and was slated to be gassed. Thanks to a kind shelter worker, who hid him under her desk, we managed to get him in time. 

At the time of his adoption, Shaun was nearly starved and was believed to have survived being pit bait. We were looking for something to save to somehow soften the reality that we couldn't save my dear old Chihuahua/Pug/Manchester mix, JoJo, who was dying of a brain tumor. 

Shaun's problems were more than I could deal with alone, so I ventured into dog training. Looking for ways to boost his confidence, we eventually got into agility training.

Shaun's hard lessons:

• Some very difficult problems can never be completely solved. Do your best. Find joy in progress. Love your dog.
• Dog shows aren't for every dog. Shaun was stressed by showing to the point that he developed serious health problems. He retired and has lived a mostly healthy life to his current age of almost 15 years old.
• There is no substitute for experience. The mistakes I made with Shaun still pain me. I was well intentioned, but could not help the things I could not know. Agility training has improved immensely in the decade since Shaun competed and a person can't help but appreciate what a gift these advances must be to today's first time dogs and handlers. To those of you out there who are just starting out: Find the best mentors you can. And LISTEN.

Determined little Taylor, just hours from becoming AKC 2011 4-Inch Preferred National Agility Champion (PNAC)

Profile of Taylor: AKC 2011 PNAC PACH2 U-CD (HIT) Wingssong Sweet Baby James CD RE AX AXJ MXP5 MJP7 PAX2 OFP, 2nd Place Finalist, 2010 AKC Preferred National Agility Championship 

Taylor is small but mighty with the heart of a lion and the mind of a brain surgeon. He also struggles with a very fragile body. Despite patella surgery, continuous tooth issues, early takeoff syndrome (ETS) and an eventual diagnosis of Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), he never stopped, never gave up.  


From the beginning I knew I would have to be very careful in how I managed him and that his career span probably would short. He repaid me by becoming the best agility dog I probably ever will have. Not in the tradition sense, but in what he gave me in heart, focus and a fierce dedication to accuracy. 


He brought me to places I never would have expected and that I probably would never have been otherwise. While his issues no doubt limited him in what he might have been able to do, I consider him my greatest gift of all.


Taylor's hard lessons:

• Never underestimate the importance of optimum health and structure. Taylor far exceeded what he should have been able to do with what he was given. We were lucky. Though he is now mostly retired, he still struggles daily with pain and progressive blindness. Bottom line, the blessing of good health can never be overvalued.
• A rocky mile up a mountain peak may be worth more than a hundred on smooth road. Sometimes, the brightest burning candles burn quickest. Recognize a gift you're given, even though it might not be exactly the one you wished for. 
• A "slow" dog run well can beat a faster one. Taylor had good ground speed for his tiny  size, but stutter stepping probably cost him a second per jump. I taught him to take the inside of the bar and his quick mind quickly discovered how to find the most efficient paths. In places many teams found demotivating, little Taylor found his advantage.

Samurai's Lesson: How to tame a warrior 

without defeating his spirit.

Profile of Samurai: Wingssong The Seventh Samurai NA NAJ TBAD TG1 NAC

My first glimpse of Samurai was of a hyperkinetic flicker of pumpkin orange flame striking up like Bic lighter amongst a bevy of "normal" Papillons. The sight of him fired up a dread in me that lasted for years. At six months old he had no natural focus, no socialization and no sign of stopping for anything good.

We took him home anyway. The combo of reasons included a bet taken on a structure that screamed "speed" and a somewhat foolishly considered (at the time) trial month to see we could strike some kind of a deal, him and me.

What followed was a good two years that started in a zone that spanned from insanity to madness and ended in a place that smells tentatively, sweetly of hope. Intensity, as it turns out, burns two ways: Outward to the world, and inward toward the heart. Slowly, we are learning to temper the first as we increasingly discover the charms of Sam's loving and graceful spirit.

Sam's hard lessons:

• Never underestimate the amount of work it will take to deal with a reactive nature. If you choose to take on such a dog, know that it will take a daily commitment and an unflinching steadiness in the face of the unexpected.
• The more reactive the dog, the greater the value of positive training. The old ways would have us break the spirit to save the dog. Better ways help us get in touch with the angel that resides within. Reach in and pull up until he IS that dog for all the world to see. 
• Never give up. Kindness is a powerful force for creating transformation. By this I don't mean "going easy" on the dog. In fact, doing it right is the toughest job you'll ever have. It means building a bridge to a dog that does not always want to cooperate. No matter what he says or does you need to keep steadily on. Breakthroughs will come if you make a plan and stay the course. 

Thanks to my good dogs Shaunie, Taylor and Samurai. You have always been, and always will be, my best teachers.