Never Give Up! (Looking Forward to 2013)

Happy New Year!  I am so looking forward to a great 2013 and accomplishing my goals, both in and outside the agility ring.  As I reflect upon 2012, I realize just how far we have come as a team.  We started out January 2012 with my first ever blog entry – January 2012 when Team J-Dawg earned our Starters Relay title.  Now, as we ended 2012, we earned our Starters Jumpers title and I am so proud of our progress.

We attended the SIRIUS trial in Perry, GA on Thursday, December 28^th and Friday, December 29^th.  This was our first away trial since July which occurred smack-dab in the middle of our meltdown mode.  We had been struggling to stay together without Jefferson shutting down whenever I did not give him clear information.  But, this time our road trip felt different.  First off, we have been practicing on working through any potential meltdowns by my perfecting front crosses, lateral distance and giving clearer information during our runs.  Secondly, I have been working on my mental game by focusing on the “here and now” and not comparing Team J-Dawg to any of the other teams.  This has really helped me to stay in the moment, focusing on the process and NOT the outcome.   My goals have remained simple:  start together and finish together. 

We had five runs each day and the days were sure L-O-N-G!!  Our first run both days was before 9:30 a.m. and our last run around 6 p.m.  Part of being successful during a large trial, is by learning how to “stay fresh” for your last run as you were for your first.  This is not easy to accomplish.  As Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bemoaned:  “The waiting is the hardest part.”   Both days, Jefferson was on fire during Gamblers, running fast to accumulate opening points but missed the gamble by one obstacle (due to my unclear handling of course!)  I was so proud of his speed and beautiful running contacts. 

Both days, Jumpers was our last run.  Jumpers has been a problem for us, getting many, MANY Eliminations due to my not giving clear handling cues resulting in a Jefferson meltdown and him just standing there looking at me.   However, during Jumpers, I was confident in my crosses and ready to run clean and fast.  Here is our Jumpers title run.  We came in 12 seconds (27.92) under SCT- 39 seconds(Yay!):

The last day, we had a beautiful Snooker run, accumulating 33 points and only missing a "Q" because Jefferson did not want to slow down to take the six weave poles in the 7 point weave-jump combination.  It was a great run and he stayed with me and made some very tight wraps around the jumps.  Finally, we made our debut in Advanced Jumpers with a first place and another “Q.”  Wow!  That makes three Jumpers Q’s in a row.   I better not jinx it – but we are competing like a different team and really running in synch.  Unfortunately, my camera’s battery was not working so I failed to capture our final last two runs on tape.  I was especially proud to have finished the away trial with two nice runs considering that we had an almost 6 hour wait before running Snooker and Advanced Jumpers.  And that Jefferson had diarrhea all morning – even going to potty right before our Gamblers run.  Poor boy!  It was a long…LONG…day and we came back strong. 

I could not be more proud of our accomplishments during 2012.  We started out well – had quite a few training set-backs in the middle – but finished the year stronger than it had begun. It is with renewed confidence and energy that I look forward to achieving many more clean runs during 2013!  The lesson I have learned:  never give up!

“Never, never, never give up.” 

~Winston Chuchill