Friday, March 12, 2010

Mud, MYOB and Drama

MUD...that is my life right now...LOTS.OF.MUD...

These are the times I LOATH having a rough coated dog...Klink is a TOTAL PITA right now. Even to go potty I have to spend time drying her off...bleck.

Even is doing well, her injury was just a pull, so she is on leash walks and we will slowly build her back up. She should be doing some work by next week :) I am happy it was just a pull!! Keeping her calm is interesting...

I am getting emails about Lynn's running A-frame. Well, not sure what to tell you other than I ran her over it and rewarded the striding I wanted. Really. No there is no magic pill...just saw what she did and went with it :) Yep...that sums it up.

I wasn't crazy about doing the box method anyway, I know it has helped lots of dogs perform running A-frames, but I detest fading things...so I thought I would try it.

I thought MAYBE because of all the running dogwalk stuff we did, that helped her. But, Even is running the A-frame the same way...and she hasn't had much of that at all. So not really sure.

Is she a natural, quite possibly :) Do I know what I am doing with the running A-frame, nope...not a clue. But I am learning :) I am not one of those people who trains one dog with a method and then suddenly becomes a master at the method...

HEY...HEY...YOU...HEY...MOM...HEY...YOU................Wanna Tug??

I am just a person trying to see what works for her dogs...nothing more, nothing less.

Lynn is now doing some jumps :) She can hold it together to do some nice little sequences and her jumping is TO DIE FOR. She is a lovely jumper and she wraps bars very tightly. It is awesome to watch her! Her brain explodes after too many jumps, so we are working jumping, then do a few running A-frames and then doing some obedience work to help settle her :) She is learning how to control all the drive, so things are going very well :) We will probably start working some weaves in a few weeks...maybe then we will be outside? Yeah I know, wishful thinking...

And onto another topic...MYOB...there was a discussion on Facebook (yes I know, I am still there, but in little doses...it is best that way) about MYOB, which is Mind Your Own Business...aka as the person put it--"Stay focused on your own performance and don't allow other people's trash-talking bullsh*t to disrupt your focus. Give your attention & energy & focus to the people who are worthwhile - family, friends, students, supporters, etc - and ignore the antics of those who only bring negative energy or a trying to draw your focus into their small world."

Very brilliantly put I think...and something I really need to work on.

There seems to be a lot of drama in dog agility. Since I have ran dogs in herding, my opinion is there is definelty more drama in agility than herding. It is as if agility trials are a feeding ground for drama :( Which is just sad. A good friend of mine, after a lovely gamblers run with her dog, in which she messed up the gamble (not the dog mind you!!) was approached by a person. That person's comment to my friend??? "Boy did he f*ck THAT up!"...referring to her dog.

WOW...what exactly WAS this person's purpose when thinking what to say to a fellow competitor? Obviously from that comment, to be hurtful. But the question is why? Why the need to do such a thing? That very same run I was actually telling her it was an AWESOME run, he looked great, he listened well and ran perfectly. WHICH HE DID.

Was this the first time I have heard things like this happening? Hardly! These things have happened to me more times than I would like to remember...but WHY.

Why do people feel a need to put people down? To talk about their runs, their dogs, whatever. Why the rude comments?

My response to someone that does that to me is normally to just ignore them. People that are rude and obnoxious I will just try to avoid, however, those people tend to be the ones that SEEK YOU OUT. They need to be heard. Let them find another person to put those feelings on. Because it isn't about you, it is about their needs. And if you don't fulfill them...they WILL move onto their next person, or victim as I like to call it. Which is just fine and dandy if you ask me!

I am very happy to see the students of mine at trials are VERY supportive of each other :) They all crate together if they can and cheer each other on. I am very proud of them for that and I know that will continue.

I really wish there would be less drama, but I doubt it will change. Only how I deal with it will. I am getting better at distancing myself from it. But I still get some of the occasional exposures. I need to work more on my focus and learn how to block it out better.

Now back to the postive side of life! :-))
Lynn is really cute...have you noticed?? :)

Yes my friends, that is a genuine John Deere tuggie toy! Any farm girl needs one! My sister got it for the girls for Christmas :) My family ROCKS!

This is for a friend who says I NEVER photograph or video Lynn's "white side"...so there :)

And now...for my favorite quote EVER. I think it is my new mantra!

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." Herm Albright

My kind of quote :)

12 comments:

Dawn said...

I love your quote! You are so right about the attitudes. At my second agility trial ever I was approached by this woman after my run who proceeded to tell me that I was going to F my dog up if I kept running like that. No explanation, no introduction, no idea at the time who she was. Did that bother me- yup it did. But the part that was great- Magic and I got q's that weekend. She didnt.
However, I dont do agility trials anymore.

Taryn said...

I hear you on the mud! Having corgis, the bottom half is almost ALWAYS dirty, and I have to spend time cleaning to get them back in the house.

I think the reason you find rude people at agility trials is because so many more people have access to agility than they do herding. This means lots more personalities at trials, lots more motives, lots more potential to run into a jerk. I have to say that I haven't personally had a bad experience, but you can certainly tell many people are uptight and ready to pop! I have seen people be rude (mean) to their dogs after a bad run and that is 100 times worse.

Chris and Ricky said...

We're totally new to agility but don't understand comments like the one made to your friend or the drama or anything. People lose sight of what's important - to be having fun with your dog - I mean, you can strive to do well and learn more and become a better team, etc. but it should be more about each team's personal fulfillment than about competing against others or putting them down. Just my two cents worth.....

Even though the mud is a pain, you would take that over snow and winter any time, right? I know we would!

Unknown said...

It's the same in herding...when you start doing well, then some people love to gossip and cut you down...it's always the people who never do better than you though...."jealously raises her ugly head" was what told to me by a top handler!!

Sare said...

Love the quote!

D said...

I feel SOOOOO SORRRRY for you that Klink is so messy.

Did I mention that there should be a font for sarcasm????

Great post though, I can't stand the drama. I was under the impression that agility was for "fun"...we aren't finding a cure for cancer here or inventing an alternative fuel source. Come ON people. I have no idea (being somewhat new to the sport) what anyone gets from putting someone else (or worse yet, their dog) down. REally, really sad. A few nasty people can really bring the morale down. Stick with friends you know will support you, and find the good in every run, no matter how badly it goes wrong. :)

And yes, Lynn is very cute!:)

Loretta Mueller said...

Dawn--that is really sad. That is all I can say to that. One bad person can really spoil things and MOST agility people are great!! Honest :)

Taryn--very true about more access! People are on edge and I am sure that does create a lot of it.

Ricky--EXACTLY. No two teams will progress at the same rate. What is a goal for one team may not be for the other. Well put!

DeltaBlues--yes...unfortunately it does raise it's ugly head :( But what I find amazing is it isn't just for people that are "doing well"...some people just like doing things like this, and will stay things to handlers that are struggling! Instead of being postive and supporting them..yuck!

Dianna--Yep, I always think of your Beardies when I complain about Klink...I know, I know! Very true about agility...it isn't life or death and really it shouldn't be SO important that you are willing to become a bad person over it :)

Unknown said...

I remember when I was a Novice and I remember the Open handlers who were positive to me. I make a point to be positive to Novice handlers as we are were Novice once. As for those people who are negative to Open, PN or Novice handlers, (or any handlers) they are not the people you want to hang out wiht and it shows they have a lack of class.

Loretta Mueller said...

DeltaBluez, I am sure a lot of it is jealousy and not having the self confidence, but rather getting that confidence from putting others down. And you are right...they are probably not someon you want to hang around.

Karissa said...

You compete in a highly competitive organization that does have a reputation for being a bit more "serious" than others. I've also found AKC to be full of catty, snarky individuals. There are plenty of agility organizations out there filled with wonderful, friendly people, though. I've always found the attitudes at NADAC trials to be incredibly positive and helpful. I've never had anyone cut me down after a run and always get great advice from everyone. While I haven't shown CPE, I hear that is much the same -- And my experience in TDAA has been nothing but positive as well.

It's unfortunate that the "bigger/more popular" organizations attract such nasty, mean people. Why do they continue to play in a sport that makes them so obviously unhappy that they must make others unhappy as well?

Loretta Mueller said...

Good point Karissa,

I wish I knew the answer to that question :)

I think you can be "serious" without being rude. I enjoy agility, and I won't lie, I like to win, but agility isn't the be all to end all in life for me...I enjoy LOTS of other things besides agility :)

If I ever got so competitive that I was angry while trialing, I do think I would find something else to do :)

Loretta Mueller said...

Awwww!!! HI AMI! :-))))) HEHEHE