Monday, February 7, 2011

Things that must happen...

I was thinking this morning...
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I have a few little "things" that must happen when I go to trials...otherwise Loretta gets a bit well...she has "the fits"...
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And a few things that I feel make me smile when they are at the trials with me...no, not people, I don't drag my family with me to trials (well unless you are calling my family, the 7 dogs we own...I am talking about the human family)...
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Day 36: MUST HAVE DIET COKE

It's an omen...no Diet Coke...Loretta will not run her dogs well...Diet Coke is no guarantee, but if there is no Diet Coke...there will be no handling...

If I don't have Diet Coke, I am willing to go to any place that will sell it to me...like a druggie looking for their next fix. The husband knows this and normally just brings a case...he has seen the death and dismemberment first hand...and wishes to never see it again. It is really scary shit...

Day 37: Lucky hat... I don't have a lucky hat, but the husband does...he HAS to wear it when he runs his little dog. Even if we are inside a building, yep, you can spot him. The white dude wearing a hat inside...he also has lucky pants. I don't have any lucky pants...or a hat...I wish I had some lucky underwear or something...I will have to keep track of that when I have a REALLY good day at a trial.

The difference between my lucky underwear to be, and his hat, is he never washes the damn thing...I stay away from it...but that hat makes me smile. It has been there, on the husbands head, from the moment he got Crackers and brought him home, until their ADCH run Saturday...and will probably be the hat he wears until the day Crackers can't run agility anymore. I love how old it looks, all brown, sun faded. Makes me think of summer trials, sun, wind, the pools of water, dogs playing all over. And Mizzou...home :) I actually do notice it if the hat isn't on the husbands head. Sure, it's just a hat, but it's so much more than that, for the husband and me...

Day 38: Leashes... I DO have lucky leashes...and I will have a complete meltdown if I lose one...and luckily, I haven't :) Each of my dogs gets a leash when I get them as a puppy...it is a tuggie leash from Clean Run. And they keep that leash their entire life. It starts out all bright and colorful, and then gets tattered, and old, and through lots of washings, some fuzz comes off of it...but I go into and out of the ring with those same leashes. I have to run my dogs with those leashes. Ace's is leather, Zip's is blue and green, Klink's is pink and purple, Gator's is blue and yellow, Lynn's is pink and blue, Even's is pink and black, and Cracker's is blue and brown. I love old things I guess...my dogs also have the same collar they got as a 1 year old dog...puppy collars are reused, but the collars are all to each dog. And yes...I buy a few so I have the same pattern if something happens to it. These silly things mean so much to me, pieces of history, of my dogs, of my training, of my relationship with each dog. If you look above at Crackers, Even and Lynn's leashes, you will see a flame collar on Crackers leash :) It is tied on there. This was his puppy collar that his Grandma B gave him...somehow it got ran over with the lawnmower one summer, so instead of throwing it out...I tied it to his leash...and it stays there...with the leash. The more I type, the more emotional it gets just thinking about all that these silly pieces of material mean to both myself and the husband...but they really do.

These things have to be with us at trials...just how it is I guess...do any of you have good luck charms you like to keep close?

Day 39: Before he was famous :) I took this picture on Friday...and when I took it I said to Crackers, this is so you will remember who you are after you and daddy get your ADCH this weekend :) You are gonna be FAMOUS. And then clicked the button...

What an amazing journey they have had together...and to be a part of that, is well, just as amazing :) 2 years, 8 months old...first agility dog...I am so very proud of both of them :)

And on a completely non related note: I have reasons for Lynn's DW's. People with far more experience than myself have been so generous with their knowledge it amazes me. I would mention them, but I always wonder if people want to be mentioned in my blog...so you know who you are...THANK YOU. I will talk more about this tomorrow...

5 comments:

D said...

Love the picture of Crackers! He looks pretty relaxed for someone about to become so famous!

Sue said...

Your photography is getting more and more awesome. Good job, good post!

Anonymous said...

Definitely have a lucky leash and have lucky tug toys (any toy made by a good friend of mine), but I find the most important lucky charm is figuring out which port-a-potty/bathroom guarantees good fortune.

Loretta Mueller said...

Thanks D and Sue...I am starting to maybe figure this damn camera out :)

agilityfrk...WTF...a PORT-A-POTTY?? Please explain... :)

Anonymous said...

I don't think I'm alone in having to go pee before runs. If I use a port-a-potty/bathroom stall and then I have a good run, it's lucky and I will use that port-a-potty/stall until the luck wears off. Good run is obviously not dictated by a Q, really it's just any run where there is no brain matter left splattered on the course (mine or the dogs). Unfortunately, at one of our most frequent show sites, my lucky port-o-potty is over at the Starters/Adv ring, no where near my set up, but it's lucky and I'm not taking any chances by changing things up, until the luck wears off. ;-)