If you have a foul mood and you hate BP and are still despondent over Dennis Hopper and firmly believe life sucks, you should skip this.

Every single morning, Otterpop opens up the day for us by leaping out of her crate and starting the day with unnbridled, insane, excitement. Because there will be breakfast and because there will be a beach and because anything is possible, it's a brand new day. This gets the other dogs going around in circles and up and down, and as I stagger out to make some coffee and start things up, just watching the dogs helps me remember that even a regular old day, one with an alarm clock and my stomach hanging over my jammies and messy hair and a bazillion irritating things to do and a work that needs to start on time, still holds some kind of promise as a Potential Good Day.

You just look at Otterpop, and her ears fly up and out like a flying nun hat and she barks and bounds over and up and on top of you. Otterpop has her trips. She is flawed. But she also has an enthusiasm that is so enthusiastic that we all sometimes get scared and take cover or wave our arms and yell at her to shut up. But most of the time she is just trying to express something that is SO BIG, it hard to say quietly. That's just Otterpop.

It's a boring old walk down the street? Not for Otterpop. She pulls and leaps and there's no walk that's not a good walk. Not in her book. Walk MORE. Walk FASTER! We have legs and we can USE them to WALK! NOW!

We are going to sit on the couch now? Hot DAMN! She is READY to sit on that couch and she will sit first and then leap off and then sit and then HOT DAMN! It's a good couch! Lick the pillows! Life is Good!

It's the end of work? Someone is cleaning bridles? It might be going home time? Might be a walk or a beach or even we are going to GET IN THE CAR? THE CAR!

It's the little things for Otterpop. She's manic, but that's part of her charm.

So this weekend, the only day of the dog show I can go to is Sunday, that's usually how it goes. And Sunday is DAM Team Day. Most DAM team days, 5 classes. Go out, run around a course 5 times. Pretty average amount of classes in each day at a USDAA trial. That used to be a breeze. On a good Otterpop day, even if it's hot weather, you let Otterpop jump in a water tub (a TUB! WE ARE JUMPING IN THE TUB!), get all wet, and she's good to go.

Except the last few trials, clearly, not. Even with long rests between runs, clearly, that doesn't work for her anymore. We've been conditioning, getting fit, and trying to keep that leg stable and not stressed and not doing too much. A little agility, a lot of walking, not too much, not too little.

But not enough for a full course load team day at a dog show, probably never again. Which means I have one retired dog, one semi-retired dog, and Gustavo. For the first time ever, we go to a dog show and I run one dog. One dog only, and that dog is Gustavo. The others sit around and do whatever it is they do all day. Ruby, I believe, enjoys this. For Otterpop, this might come as a shock. Because she's always READY!

But that's just the way it's going to be. Knowing Otterpop, this will be fine. FINE! Let her run around with a frisbee for a while, and the added bonus of no judges staring at her while she's performing, and she'll actually be more than fine, I suspect.

It's just me who has to make sure to look at the day the same way Otterpop would.