A Brief Rant...

I have been seeing and hearing a LOT of complaining in the agility world and I am FED UP! We all have bad days where it's difficult to spot the sun through all the clouds BUT some people complain DAILY. I have heard several people (technically I have seen it on Facebook) complain about all of the adding costs of going to Cynosport (USDAA Nationals) and it makes me want to punch some one in the face! They complain about the costs as if going to Cynosport is a necessity. I can't even afford to QUALIFY my dog for Cynosport to shut the fuck up! If it's that miserable financially for you, then DON'T GO! You can't take care of your health or life's necessities but thank GOD you can pay more nationals (barely!). 

The other thing I see a lot of that is driving me NUTS is lack of acknowledging your partner after a run, whether it's clean or not. I get SUPER annoyed when the run is great and I find myself beaming but the handler doesn't even look at their dog. I also find it annoying when I feel like the handler made the mistakes on course but the dog is getting zero acknowledgement or connection after the run. NO WONDER you guys had a bad run! 

I see so much hypocrisy in the agility world (there's plenty in the regular world too) in which people repeat mantras such as "It's about the journey", "No matter what, have fun", etc. but they're the ones picking their performances apart and not connecting with their dogs. Their the people that are forgetting to treat their dogs as pets and not just performance dogs. It's funny to me how important titling, Q'ing, and making it to Regional and National competitions is in dog agility when there is NOT a lot of money, if any money, to be gained. Why is it that we spend SO much money on a sport that has not much monetary return? People say it's about running with your dog and connecting and being best friends, lalalalala but it sure doesn't look like fun when I watch them run together. In fact, I find myself self feeling as bad for the dog as I do when I see animal abuse videos. I am not saying they're being abused, I'm just saying it makes me equally as sad for the dog. 

If you are new to agility, be sure to keep videos of when you first started around because you WILL forget what it was like and you WILL get lost along the way. But, if you keep these memories close to you, they will surely ground you again.