Nine Months...
It's been nine months since I've sat down and found my way back to my own little corner of Bloggerdom.
So many things have happened...
So, so many things...
More than I could possibly share in a single post.
So many things have changed.
So many things have become unimportant.
While others have become so much more.
I suppose I should touch a bit on USDAA Nationals this past fall (as this IS an Agility based blog).
The only thing I can say is that both of my boys made me unbelievably proud.
It was such a growing experience for me as a competitor and at the time I don't think I even realized how much so...
For the better I might add. Oh, yes for the better.
After USDAA Nationals, the boys and I all got a much needed break from Agility. I was only home a week and a half before I jetted off to the Eastern Shore and spent a few wonderful days in Maryland. Then it was back home for another week and then I was off to Stuttgart, Arkansas to watch my boyfriend do his thing at the World Duck Calling Championships (yes, I promise it is a real thing!).
The rest of 2013 went by void of Agility and we rested. Our bodies, our minds, our souls.
We lived.
We looked forward to the limitless possibilities that 2014 had in store for us.
We entered our first Agility trial in months.
And then, my world nearly fell apart.
There is so much still shrouded in mystery as to how it happened
but I almost had to say goodbye to this beautiful soul.
Somehow Blade ingested a large amount of rodenticide and it nearly killed him.
It nearly killed him.
Writing that sentence down somehow makes it all the more real to me and it still brings tears to my eyes.
Remembering that night is even harder.
Looking back I'm not even sure how I made it through the first few hours.
We were in the same exact waiting room that I was in when the Vet told me Toby had no chance of recovering from his freak accident just a few short years ago.
Something broke inside me sitting on the floor in that room.
And all the while, as I cradled my dog in my arms and I wept; he licked the tears from my face and his tail never stopped wagging.
We stayed as long as they would allow us to as they ran test, after test, after test.
Until we finally got some sort of diagnosis (a poor guess; at best) but at least it was something.
And then the waiting began.
In the early hours of the morning the boyfriend finally drove me home (as I was in no condition to drive).
and then we waited some more.
The next morning I breathed a huge sigh of relief, as soon as my regular vet gave the all clear to transport Blade to her clinic 25 minutes away.
Several hours, two blood transfusions and some serious meds later, Dr. Wendy (my regular vet) gave me the go-ahead to take Blade home.
I wept like a baby.
I will be the first to admit that I'm not a religious person nor have I ever claimed to be but for whatever reason (be it divine intervention, luck, karma, science, whatever) my boy was spared.
He was given back to me.
For that alone I will forever be grateful.
And grateful I am.
So much so, that Blade has simply been a dog for the last little while. He's been enjoying long walks through the woods, playing fetch, wrestling with his brother and lazy days curled up by the couch.
For whatever reason, as hard as it for me to admit it I've had a hard time disconnecting Agility and Blade's incident. I know that two really are not connected other than the fact that we stayed in a hotel that weekend but still. In my head I keep thinking that I almost lost Blade because of Agility or something like that. It's a hard concept for me to let go of even though I realize how silly of me it is to think that way.
On the other hand Agility is what GAVE me Blade in the first place. Without my aspirations to have a faster dog in Agility (that in itself seems silly to me now) I would have never even considered owning a Border Collie.
How things have changed...
I had so many things I wanted to do with Blade this year as far as Agility goes. World Team Tryouts. USDAA North Central Regionals. USDAA Central Regionals. USDAA Nationals. Possibly the UKI Open. I wanted to do all of them, not just to do them but I wanted to do them with Blade. I wanted to let the world see him shine. Let them see him as I do.
And just like that, none of it mattered anymore.
Without realizing it, the ITT deadline was fast approaching in mid-March before I even gave the idea of competing there a fleeting thought. To be honest, if friends wouldn't have asked if I had planned to go I would have probably forgotten all about it. A few days before the closing date I sat down and I looked over the entry form for what seemed like forever.
There were so many questions going through my head and I really couldn't answer any of them other than the fact I was willing to let fate take its course. I ended up filling out and mailing our entry to AKC. As luck would have it our entry was not received by the closing date. Although I was given the option to run for exhibition.
And run for exhibition we will.
As far as the other events go, I really don't know what Blade and I have in store for us.
We may or may not compete at them.
I write this, after spending the past weekend at the USDAA North Central Regional...
Although I'm sure neither of them realize it; the only reason I even considered competing at the North Central Regional was because I made a promise to my regular DAM teammates. Let me tell you, when you have the best; you simply keep your promise to them to compete. It's that simple.
No, Blade did not run DAM Team (he let his little brother put his big-boy britches on for that). He more or less came along for the ride although I did enter him in two rounds of Steeplechase.
One run Friday and one run on Saturday.
I'm not sure how well I was able to hide it but I was a mess from the time I walked Blade's course to the moment we stepped to the line. I was worrying about the most ridiculous things. THE most ridiculous things.
Then we ran.
By no means was it perfect,
By no means was it the best run of our career,
by no means was it a jaw dropping performance,
Blade crept as I lead out,
He barely hit his Aframe contact with half a paw,
and he squeaked the entire time he did his weave poles.
It was perfect.
Absolutely so.
So much so that I started crying half way through our run.
and the entire time we played tug at the end.
and maybe even a little back at our crates after we cooled down.
It felt so good, so right to have my Bee's back out there running with me.
All was right in my Agility world.
It became whole again.
And for me that is enough.
For whatever reason, as hard as it for me to admit it I've had a hard time disconnecting Agility and Blade's incident. I know that two really are not connected other than the fact that we stayed in a hotel that weekend but still. In my head I keep thinking that I almost lost Blade because of Agility or something like that. It's a hard concept for me to let go of even though I realize how silly of me it is to think that way.
On the other hand Agility is what GAVE me Blade in the first place. Without my aspirations to have a faster dog in Agility (that in itself seems silly to me now) I would have never even considered owning a Border Collie.
How things have changed...
I had so many things I wanted to do with Blade this year as far as Agility goes. World Team Tryouts. USDAA North Central Regionals. USDAA Central Regionals. USDAA Nationals. Possibly the UKI Open. I wanted to do all of them, not just to do them but I wanted to do them with Blade. I wanted to let the world see him shine. Let them see him as I do.
And just like that, none of it mattered anymore.
Without realizing it, the ITT deadline was fast approaching in mid-March before I even gave the idea of competing there a fleeting thought. To be honest, if friends wouldn't have asked if I had planned to go I would have probably forgotten all about it. A few days before the closing date I sat down and I looked over the entry form for what seemed like forever.
There were so many questions going through my head and I really couldn't answer any of them other than the fact I was willing to let fate take its course. I ended up filling out and mailing our entry to AKC. As luck would have it our entry was not received by the closing date. Although I was given the option to run for exhibition.
And run for exhibition we will.
As far as the other events go, I really don't know what Blade and I have in store for us.
We may or may not compete at them.
I write this, after spending the past weekend at the USDAA North Central Regional...
Although I'm sure neither of them realize it; the only reason I even considered competing at the North Central Regional was because I made a promise to my regular DAM teammates. Let me tell you, when you have the best; you simply keep your promise to them to compete. It's that simple.
No, Blade did not run DAM Team (he let his little brother put his big-boy britches on for that). He more or less came along for the ride although I did enter him in two rounds of Steeplechase.
One run Friday and one run on Saturday.
I'm not sure how well I was able to hide it but I was a mess from the time I walked Blade's course to the moment we stepped to the line. I was worrying about the most ridiculous things. THE most ridiculous things.
Then we ran.
By no means was it perfect,
By no means was it the best run of our career,
by no means was it a jaw dropping performance,
Blade crept as I lead out,
He barely hit his Aframe contact with half a paw,
and he squeaked the entire time he did his weave poles.
It was perfect.
Absolutely so.
So much so that I started crying half way through our run.
and the entire time we played tug at the end.
and maybe even a little back at our crates after we cooled down.
It felt so good, so right to have my Bee's back out there running with me.
All was right in my Agility world.
It became whole again.
And for me that is enough.
