This past weekend Teddy, Torque and I (Hope) went to Ohio to visit with friends and compete in an agility trial. The visiting part went great – Teddy remembered all of his friends (canine and human) and was happy to add another doggy friend to the mix.
Torque got along great with almost everybody. People are no problem – he adores everybody. And three out of the four new dogs he thought were great. He just adored his new buddy Trevor the Yellow Labrador Retriever – he’d be happy to stick by Trevor forever.
The only snarkiness came between the two adolescent boys. Archie is about 14 months old, Torque just turned eight months. Two intact, youngsters being idiots. Torque was the bigger idiot – Archie is more of a lover than a fighter and retreated from the field at first.
The good news is that by the end of the weekend, even Torque and Archie were find together. It’s always a challenge introducing dogs – my friend Michelle and I were happy we were able to resolve this with just one real spat.
On the competition side – I learned a lot about Teddy’s and my partnership. From the way Teddy ran and behaved, I know he really does enjoy it – you can see it in the pictures from the trial – he looks alert, happy, athletic, and relaxed. We didn’t qualify at all – there was “just one thing” in each run that kept us from the ribbons.
I guess the most important thing I learned is that Teddy does agility for fun. He’s not competitive, so I’ve had to reassess the goals for Team Teddy. I think we’ll continue to play agility, for the fun, for the camaraderie, to get out and have some fun with my dog. If the ribbons come, that’s fine. And if they don’t? That’s going to be fine, too.
