Contemplating A New Kind of Training

So with still little progress on The Knee...and let's be honest, a lack of motivation to do much else...I thought maybe it's time to give a little something back to my training partner. That one who stood beside me and asked no questions when I opted to go out when it was 38 and raining, or 60 and sunny, or 32 with snow on the ground. That one who waited in the car for me to finish the Emerald Pointe Triathlon. That one who's been running all her little life.

Tilley.

I had always thought Dog Agility looked kinda cool, and knew Tilley could run, but hadn't really looked into it. What better time to look into it than now? I found a place not too far from us, Canine Capers, that holds classes and what not. We decided (Tilley, always up for anything) to go check them out during a Saturday when they were holding course run-throughs.

The facility was all indoor and very nice. As we walked in, I noticed a group of humans walking the course pacing it out and practicing their signals and thought holy shit this is serious business. It was very quiet. People were very focused. Even the dogs looked serious.

The place had rubberized flooring and all kinds of jumps and obstacles, with dogs and owners very obediently waiting their turn. Tilley was all sniffing but relatively sane by my side.

Then the shit hit the fan.

A dog started on course and man! Barking, thundering through the tunnels, banging the teeter totter, going through the poles, and Tilley is like. W. T. F. ? She got really barky and spooky and whiney and wanted to be held, and this went on and off for a while. She finally settled on sitting on the bench next to me. At one point mid afternoon I took her out for some potty/play time outside, and we head back in and she pauses and looks at me like "um yeah if we don't go back in there that's ok with me".

After a little more time and meeting some of the friendlier dogs/owners, she settled down. We left and I got the impression it would be okay to bring her back, so we enrolled in the Tuesday class for intro to agility. I hope it goes well because like John said, if this turns out to be just like the ballet lessons, and the piano lessons, and the art classes where she quickly lost interest, we're done.

After such a trying experience Tilley was glad to go to Garden Ridge to do a little shopping...she stayed in the cart the entire time and as it filled slipped further and further into a nap hole.  People would admire and coo as they passed the cart filled with porch pillows, a dogbed, and about 50 hawaiian leis (the girls needed a fresh wardrobe), and a corgi and go "oooohhhh!".  I simply smiled and whispered "Corgis, Aisle 4".