17/07/2022
Keep this in mind...
What Really Matters
I do it, too. Get caught up in the title hunt. The goals for letters that mean nothing to the dog, but instead are some quest I set my sights on to get me to class and trials every week. They make me feel like I’m doing something with my life, even if it doesn’t really benefit humanity much. It fills the time, it gives me purpose. But what really matters, is the bond it builds with my dog and the lessons and unwritten triumphs that come with it. My husband stopped wondering why I spent so much time and money on it when one morning after I got up at O’dark hundred (and I am NOT a morning person) to go to a trial, I announced, “I’m going to make memories today.” He understood then. It’s not about the titles. It’s about spending time with my dog and the people in the dog community.
While we’re impressed with the crazy-fast, edge-of-your-seat runs with some teams and those who’ve racked up championship titles, maybe we ought to take a step back and look at, well, most of us who are there achieving things you can’t see on paper. Those who gather the courage to step to the line for the first time. Who put their embarrassing moments behind them and then do it again. Those who struggle to cope with their dog’s stresses and their own anxieties, yet come to understand and accept them and get back out there again anyway. Those who, little by little, find ways to improve. To celebrate the first time their dog completes a course, or allows a rear cross, or pays no attention to the judge. Or even the first time they didn’t get lost on the course.
What really, truly matters aren’t the letters or a piece of parchment paper. It’s the memories we make.
Love the dog you have. They make your life better just by being in it.
