I write heaps, but I also do plenty of other things with my time, and one of those things is having fun with my best buddy, Mr Rocket (my toy poodle). He’s so black that it’s difficult for me to get a photo of his gorgeous face, but you’ll get the idea from these pics.
Rocket and I go to agility training on a weekly basis because living life is about more than the words I write – it’s about spending time doing things I love with those who enrich my life experience. And Rocket is one of those whom I love and he certainly enriches my life beyond words. He’s my agility-in-training buddy.
I wish I were able to get some photos of him doing the foundation agility obstacles with me, but it’s hard being on the field and taking photos. I think I’ll have to ask a friend to come video us or take some photos. Hopefully on that day we’ll be working in sync so you can see how many cool obstacles he can do.
On Tuesday night we graduated from the foundation course of agility and are getting ready to learn novice level. So far he’s learned to love his crate, walk the plank (even on wobbling pods), do jumps, run through the tunnel, stand on a perch, sit, drop, stand, nose touches and do post turns as well as multiple turns around the pool noodles. These are all foundation skills that he and I need to keep practicing so that as we go on with our training, we can do more complex courses.
It’s heaps of fun!
We’re learning to do the weave poles and I am so looking forward to doing this with my agility buddy.
In the above image, I was sitting on the lounge room floor filling out the Census form after our graduation and Rocket decided to give me a little bit of love. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t stay still for the photo, but I wanted to try to capture a special moment between us.
Bonding with Rocket through agility is bringing us both so much joy and happiness, not to mention a common language and understanding of emotions.
It’s really good fun too, and yet, at times, it can be frustrating when we miscommunicate or if I am not in the right emotional space. I’m learning how important it is to give him lots of breaks and for me to stay in a positive state of mind as agility is all about working with positive reinforcement.
But we’re doing well. Above are some photos of him in a drop position and sitting for me. He wasn’t too keen on being photographed, but he did his best to tolerate my need to document his poodle cuteness.
Here’s a video of a very high level competition agility dog doing his thing with his buddy. Rocket and I might not do competition like these two, but we’re going to learn courses like that and have a heap of fun along the way.
When I decided to adopt Rocket, I always had in my mind, the idea of us doing agility. It wasn’t until the end of 2015 that I decided it was time for us to get out there and start learning. We’re having a blast and one day, I hope to show you some videos of us doing our thing on the agility course. Fun is what this is about for us.
Fun and taking time to do something beyond writing. Something that brings richness to our relationship.
So … it’s not all about the writing and art. Sometimes, it’s all about the puppy-love!
The Creative Life 