The Ides of March were last week and they look like Shane MacGowan's teeth.

The way that my life goes lately, there aren't too many times to practice with the dogs where I'm not rushing around, coffe mug in hand, jump bar in the other. It's been a hella busy month, there have been Ides of March lurking around everywhere. I'm not totally clear on how we got stuck with these Ides, but the Soothsayer predicted them and Julius Caesar died, then everyone's lives go somewhat off course and there's damage control all around.

Damage control. An important theme in Shakespeare and an unfortunate, backasswards approach to agility that sometimes happens. Although every time I see Shakespeare, I go instantly to sleep, and I am pretty sure that has never happened at agility yet.

We won't be competing this spring until the end of April. Our lives are dog show free for a while. Lots of time to work on things like Gustavo You are Supposed To Wait on the Table During Everyone's Turn Including Otterpop's. And agility. He ran beautiful and free and fast and focused the other morning, even though I was rushing and brushing off Ides with a stick. He's up, he's down, he's all around. I take a deep breath every time I run him, have a sideways glance to see if his startline is cleared from the undead, make eye contact to make sure his brain is in gear, and hold tight as he tears off like a bottle rocket. This is the preferred Gustavo for this season's trials.

Not guaranteed, but what is?

Otterpop, by the way, knows how to stick tight to that table. When the other dogs run, when Ruby chases her ball and Gustavo runs after his furry thing on a rope, when the wahoo truck guys drive by in the biggest truck in the world with the super mega engine. I let her sit with her frisbee, and she watches steely eyed at what goes on everywhere. She has Ides of March every day of the year, I believe them to have tentacles like the prawns of District 9. If she kills Julius Caesar or Shakespeare or Hamlet, she knows the frisbee vanishes and you have to sit in the car.

But she's learned to look horizontal at that horizon no matter if it tips or not. Ruby knew this a long time ago. She has always talked to Soothsayers. Gustavo and me, we're trying to straighten out our views, line them up, then smash those Ides out of the field.