Red Rally Ribbon

Holly was in her first Rally Trial competiton today, which of course means that I was too.   The comical, fun-loving, semi-compliant 3 year old scored a 98 (out of 100) on her run today.  This put her in 2nd place, one point behind the blue ribbon winner with a 99.  You are only provided the final score, not the breakdown so I don’t know where we lost those 2 points but I suspect it was because of something I did.  Their were five dogs in our category – 4 golden retrievers and 1 mastiff.  When Holly saw the mastiff (a very large dog!) in the commons area, she made a beeline for the door.  She did not want to be anywhere near that large creature.  I wasn’t sure if I could help her get recovered before ring time but she managed to calm  herself down.  I took her lead and worked at calming myself down. I don’t know that I did a very good job but in the end, we both survived.  When the judge announced the scores and placements, there was clapping from the crowd.  Both Holly and I were touched by the reaction – her tail wagging and me grinning.  In sports there is the phrase – ‘slow the game down’ and that is exactly the case with Rally trials as well.  A leash in your hand becomes a foreign object.  A sign showing you to do a right turn has you doubting which way to turn.  Knowing you must pass a sign on the left side leaves you stumbling with hesitancy with where to walk.  It’s rather ridiculous.  I’m still not sure I can call this fun.  But Holly is responding and her skills are transferring to other environments.   At this stage of my life, it’s not a bad thing to practice reading directions and staying sharp with knowing my right from left.   Seems Holly felt the extra pressure today too.  Since coming home she has been sound asleep on the couch, not her typical behavior.  I’ve been rather envious and will be following suit shortly.

Last week Helen turned 12 years old!  She has been living with Holly, Gracie and I for 2 years now.  It’s hard to imagine this home without her little self here.  She is the watchdog and alerts us to any noise or potential intruder.  Over the course of two years her warnings, aka barking,  has been condensed to near perpetual to a few seconds (maybe minutes in some cases).  Her barking generally has purpose and coincides with someone coming to either the front or back door.  We are working on a truce – she can sound her alarm, I control the snooze button.   Having a little restraint is good, regardless of age.  

And so it goes – we all are challenged with slowing the game down.  A good practice when Life is the Big Game!