When Losers are Winners

We spent the day yesterday helping out at our dog club agility trials. Honeybun couldn't enter since it is an AKC trial, and her breed is not an accepted AKC breed. Starting next month, the rules change and she will be able to compete against the blue bloods.... but for now, we are just giving a little back to the dog club that has been an enormous help to us through the very difficult first months of rescuing Honeybun.

Our jobs, replacing dropped bars on the jumps when the dogs knocked them, afforded us front row views of owners and dogs as they enter and leave the ring. What happened in between was not nearly so revealing of the character of the owner, than how she entered and how she left.

When the handler enters the ring, she removes the dog's leash and then tosses it nearby. A leash runner takes it and deposits it on the exit end of the ring. Most owners just toss the leash. A very few look take the time to look the leash runner in the eye, say "Thank you" and hand them the leash. (over the course of a class or two, you'd be amazed how sore one gets bending over time and time again to pick up the leash). Those owners already receive points from me, though it is hardly an expected courtesy, and most handlers are far too focused or nervous to be considerate of the leash runner.

Next the owners go through their dog set up time and it is as varied as the handlers. Most are very no-nonsense, with stern commands to the dog to wait as the handler marches a few jumps away. A very few kiss the dog's snout, muss their hair, and laugh, telling the dog how wonderful they are and what an adventure they are about to have. They are often, but not always the handlers that hand the leash runner the leash instead of tossing it on the ground. Again, those are the owners I now award more points to.

Then the dog runs the course. Since I am planted in between the entrance and exit, and help with setting jumps and leash running, I see some of the dog's run,but my focus is on the start and end. However, I do notice which dogs clear everything (no jumps for me to reset) and the dogs that blow everything, going off course, not listening, dumping bars....

Now the handler and dog exit. They have completed their run. Of course every owner whose dog did fantastically well scoops the dog up and jumps for joy and runs to get him goodies galore. That is expected and easy. It is with the most interest that I observe the handler of the dog that let him down. That saga begins in the last few seconds of the run. Some handlers, obviously disgusted send the dog over the last jump, which he may or may not jump since he is clearly not doing his best that day, and then the handler snaps the leash on gruffly, and marches out without speaking to the dog. The dog invariably is looking hopefully at its master, its ears lowered because it knows it has not met expectations.

And then there is the other type of handler. As the dog has crashed into every jump, done the course in reverse, and lost hundreds of points, in the last few seconds of the run, the handler finds a jump or obstacle he knows the dog will succeed at. He sends the dog victoriously over that one jump, and as they cross the finish, he falls to his knees, kisses the dog and tells him he is the most wonderful creature on earth, and what a fantastic job he did! The dog is leaping for joy and all is right with the world, though he has just garnered the worst score in the history of Agility Trials. Dog and owner race off to get goodies with a bubble of love and joy casting iridescent rainbows around them. Those are the handlers that get the points from me. They may have lost the agility trial, but they won a prize much much more valuable.

1 Corinthians 14:25
and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"