Confidence

There is something magical about seeing confidence awakened in a dog. I remember seeing it in Woody as he started across the dog walk. Cautious at first up the plank, his tail suddenly sprang into the air and he started to prance. It was joyous to watch the awakening.

I've been struggling with Maggie's sniffing. It was painful to take her around the block on our walks. I'd have to lure her every inch of the way. At her first and second agility class, I had to pull her nose out of the ground constantly. Something happened this week. One day, Maggie just walked around the block with me. We stopped here and there, but she was prancing happily most of the time. At class Thursday, we had a few sniffs, but mostly she was happy and performing. Something shifted and her confidence is building. Again, joyous to watch.

Since learning that sniffing is a calming signal, I've been studying Maggie to see what is making her sniff. On our walks, it seems to be mainly large SUVs parked in driveways. At the field, she stopped to sniff by the A-frame, another large structure. It makes me laugh when people think sniffing is about smells.

My confidence was on the line this weekend. I decided to try a show next weekend. There are 7 agility shows that weekend, so I figured the NADAC show in Waco would be safe. In preparation for next weekend, I took Shane to a local show just to walk around. Friday afternoon, I put Shane in the car and headed out. The feeling I had was the same one I had on my way to surgery. It was something I had to do even though I was terrified, so I put myself on autopilot. So many things went through my head. I popped a Rescue Remedy candy. What if they asked me to leave? What if Shane was so nuts I couldn't get him into the building? I popped another Rescue Remedy candy.

We walked around the building a few times and Shane seemed OK. We went in a back door where the vendors were and he seemed OK. Outside again. Let's try the door into the crating area. We make it inside. I take a deep breath. Back outside. I can do this. We head back inside and walk over to the bleachers. With Shane safely in my lap, I relax. A few people stop by to say hello. I'm not a pariah. Big relief. On our way out, some GSDs were barking like crazy in the corner and Shane just couldn't contain himself and he turned to bark at them. I was doing my best to keep his focus, but we failed. Not too bad though.

Saturday, we headed out again. Determined to try harder today. Remembering what Janice said to seek out the crazy dogs to work on our focus. We must do this. Popped a Rescue Remedy candy. We walked into the building at the time when both rings were walking the course. No dogs out and about, so we made it to the bleachers. We watched a few runs and I gathered the confidence to go visit my friends. While sitting there chatting, our biggest challenges happened. One handler got her dog out and was playing tug. A bunch of crated border collies went nuts. Another handler had his giant dog in a mid-air spin. Shane looked at them all and I said Yes and treated. I was just exhausted.

So here we are waiting for me to start prancing with my tail in the air. Our next challenge is stations class Thursday morning. If we make it through that, I will feel stronger about Friday. If we make through our Hoopers run Friday, I will rejoice. If we can get through the weekend without incident, my tail may start to wag.