A Nightmare...

I had a Nightmare the other night that I somehow made Pixel a slow and cautious dog. I woke up and it took me a while to fall back asleep.

I am so worried about screwing her up that I am almost afraid to do anything.
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My first agility dog was an out of shape shepherd cross. She gave me her all, and I trained her how I was taught. She was slow, but happy. I was thrilled with her of course, and will always remember her for all the things she taught me.

My second agility dog was a stress case, slow, and methodical. It was not very fun to trial with her, although we had fun training. She tried her best, and I tried mine (with the tools I knew/had at the time), but she retired early.

My third agility dog is speedy fast, and now is becoming a great agility dog. But we had our fair share of issues- no impulse control, no regard for her body, no regard for me! I saw the speed she had a baby and ran with it. Literally.

My fourth agility dog moves at a slow trot at the best of times, and would rather lounge on the sofa than exert himself. He is retired now at the rip old age of two.

My fifth agility dog is doing great, learning confidence and is a very fun dog to run. He is easy compared to dog number three.

And now there is Pixel.

Dogs number 1, 2 and 4 did not enjoy agility really. They did it because I asked them. I had to cheerlead them around course, it was painful. I vowed to never "make" a dog play agility again.

What if Pixel doesn't like it? What if she's slow?

I mean she obviously loves to train and play. She is a different dog than Vito and I can tell already that she has some spunk to her. But we haven't done much really. Someone asked me the other day if she is fast. I didn't know how to answer- because I don't know! I assume she will be.

We have been doing foundation work since she was a wee baby. She is learning to read my body language, how to follow a front cross cue, how to decel with me, how to blast ahead on cue, and all of those things that I didn't teach Wicca as a baby...She is learning to find a jump, and is learning value in the bars (set at 6") She is learning what her 2on2off position will be, she is learning that the teeter is a great game, and of course she is learning basic obedience.

The problem (for me) is that I hadn't seen any of that together. I had a hard time focusing on the big picture. I was worried. A lot.

Last night I put her on the dogwalk. Backchained it a few times with a toy at the bottom, and sent her across. She was speedy. I couldn't keep up. It was wonderful. Like a weight lifted off my chest. Tonite we did some jump grids and I saw her blast over the bars (set at 6") for the food bowl at the end of the row. It was wonderful.

I think my issue is that I wondered if it was me. If I was somehow creating these slow dogs who didn't like agility. But I don't really think that looking back. And I am confident in my training abilities, and in my training plan that I will have a very well balanced (but fast) agility partner when she is all grown up.

I got to see a little bit of that last night and tonite. It made me feel better.