{"id":418,"date":"2014-09-12T14:36:02","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T19:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cowtowndogsports.com\/wordpress_new\/?p=418"},"modified":"2014-12-20T11:07:10","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T17:07:10","slug":"why-are-you-doing-agility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cowtowndogsports.com\/wordpress_new\/why-are-you-doing-agility\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are You Doing Agility?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a recent trial, I saw many people I hadn’t seen in awhile. \u00a0Bully has had some shoulder issues and between that and me\u00a0starting a business, we haven’t been trialing very\u00a0much for the past couple of years. \u00a0It was great to see people\u00a0and their dogs again and catch up. \u00a0I noticed a trend though that seems to be getting worse.<\/p>\n

Some people would ask me how my day was going and I would tell them about a milestone we hit in our training or something that we learned from a run. \u00a0I also told a few about finishing up some titles.<\/p>\n

Then I would ask the person who asked me\u00a0the same thing and they would answer in terms of the number of Q’s they were getting that day. \u00a0I heard nothing about having fun or some training accomplishment they made as a team. \u00a0Their demeanor was a direct reflection of the number of Q’s that day. \u00a0People who felt they had a low Q rate were unhappy and frustrated while those with lots of Q’s were happy and having fun. \u00a0One person – who has a really nice dog that\u00a0runs well with him – was talking about taking another break from agility since he was frustrated with their Q rate that weekend. \u00a0Clearly he wasn’t having any fun anymore and I suspect his dog wasn’t either.\"DSC_0033\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What I’m seeing disturbs me. \u00a0Some people seem to have lost touch with what agility is really all about. \u00a0It’s not about putting championship titles on your dog before he’s 2 years old or gathering more points or Q’s than anyone else. \u00a0It’s about growing your relationship with your dog. \u00a0It’s about the struggles and the journey you take together to overcome them. \u00a0It’s about having fun with your dog. \u00a0To paraphrase something I read recently:<\/p>\n

When your sense of pleasure is derived from comparing yourself to others (or to your Q rate), you are no longer the master of your own happiness.<\/em><\/p>\n

If having fun is determined by how many Q’s you get at a trial, then you’re losing touch with what’s really important. \u00a0You’re losing out on having fun with your dog. \u00a0You’re wasting the short time that you have with your dog (and yes – it really isn’t long enough as many people with older dogs can tell you) being frustrated and unhappy instead of enjoying all that you have done together.<\/p>\n

I admit that I like getting Q’s and titles as much as anyone. \u00a0I feel proud of my dog and what we have accomplished, but I’m not going to let it rule me.<\/p>\n

Ask yourself – is a Q really so\u00a0important that it dictates how much fun you’re having with your dog? \u00a0Why are Q’s so important to you? \u00a0I promise you that your dog doesn’t care.<\/p>\n

Why are you bothering to do agility if it’s no fun?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a recent trial, I saw many people I hadn’t seen in awhile. \u00a0Bully has had some shoulder issues and between that and me\u00a0starting a business, we haven’t been trialing very\u00a0much for the past couple of years. \u00a0It was great to see people\u00a0and their dogs again and catch up. \u00a0I noticed a trend though that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,52,10,54,55,56],"class_list":{"0":"post-418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-agility","8":"tag-agility-trial","9":"tag-dog-agility","10":"tag-happiness","11":"tag-qs","12":"tag-success","13":"czr-hentry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Are You Doing Agility? - Cowtown Dog Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When your sense of pleasure is derived from comparing yourself to others (or to your Q rate), you are no longer the master of your own happiness.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/cowtowndogsports.com\/wordpress_new\/why-are-you-doing-agility\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Are You Doing Agility? 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