05 July 2011

So good at taking out the garbage.

We went to a dog show over the weekend. I earned a lot of compliments on my skillful handling of garbage bags. Apparently I have a gift in my ability to empty full trash cans, carry the bags to the dumpster, and fill up the cans with fresh bags. No one seemed to notice that I also expertly filled the soap dispensers in the ladies room, but I suspect that had anyone noticed, they would have seen that I executed this task with true excellence.

Everybody has to be good at something. Some people were so impressed by my garbage handling that they told me maybe I've found my niche. My true calling. My reason for being at dog agility.

So I can be the one taking out the trash.

I will say that Gustavo had a great jumpers run. Otterpop had 2 days of pretty good runs. She racked up a lot of Q's. Of which I just don't care. I only wish I could get her to run as fast and brilliantly as she runs everywhere else but in the show ring.

I wish this every time we go to a dog show.

If wishes were fishes, no one would ever need to eat donuts again.

Probably none of my dogs need to go to 3 days of dog shows. Gustavo actually thrived just doing a couple of runs, ones with mostly jumps and tunnels where all he had to do was follow me and run fast. He was so happy to play frisbee with me on the field and hang out and he seemed to have the swellest time of any of the dogs. He is going to just do jumpers and maybe an occasional snooker from now on. Maybe Otterpop needs to do the same thing, except she would only like to run tricky, twisty standard courses and gamblers. And I don't know what poor Ruby needs to do.

Something spooked Ruby enough for her to claw her way out of her crate on the last day of the trial. Ruby doesn't claw her way out of things, ever. She usually just sleeps away the day and snores blissfully. I thought she liked dog shows pretty swell too, until today. Her freakout happened right as I was stepping into a ring with Otterpop, and Ruby ended up tottering all blinky eyed through another ring looking for us. Drama ensued, ending with me not even being able to get Otterpop to step to the line in Team Snooker. We were both too worried about Ruby. Zero points. Not a good day, the team day.

There were some other dramatic moments. The last thing I need at dog agility is any drama. I do my best to avoid it in all areas of my life. And sometimes I can't. Life goes on.

Today, I'm loving the grim irony that I take out the garbage at dog agility to help out the club, but also because it helps me afford dog agility. A means to an end. Except, it's looking like the garbage is actually the thing that I'm getting good at. Every time I'm in charge of it, I get better and better. Learn some little tricks, buy the right amount of toilet paper, find the best sized poop bags on sale.

I thought I was stepping to the line with Otterpop just the same way I step up to that trash can. Smile on my face, relaxed, and ready for a great time. Actually, that's way easier to do stepping to the line with the dogs than with the trash can. Sometimes the garbage stinks and has stickiness. I guess Otterpop does too, but I don't mind so much. But our good results are with getting the trash into the dumpster instead of having fast runs. And I don't care about garbage. Honestly, it's disgusting. And people are assholes for sticking their cans into trash bags when the recycling bag is RIGHT THERE, PEOPLE.

Thing is, I don't want to be a champion janitor. I am actually trying to be good at dog agility.

7 comments:

Amy Carlson said...

I don't want to be like you any more. It's too dirty. I have three little black dogs, one furry, one with an eye issue and one who only runs fast in practice. Weird. I also take out garbage at trials. I usually want to be like you - I can not write like you and I wish I could. Today, not so much. I want to be like you want to be like. Does that make sense?

I didn't buy a VW diesel. I bought a Nissan Cube. See, we are not so similar. Most days I want to be like you.

team small dog said...

Weird.

Have you ever seen us in the same place? Because if you hadn't told me about the Nissan Cube, I would just bet we were the same person.

Elf said...

Ohhhhh, ruby! I heard a bit of the brouhaha but not the details. Just kept hearing "ruby" "out" or like that.

I sometimes feel the same way about the score table. I'm really pretty good at the score table, although sometimes I make mistakes that the people I'm training have to point out to me, and sometimes I spill my coke on the papers. Well, once.

But I'd rather get Qs with my dogs. Guess I need to be more like you and practice more. I still don't have the solution for dog-doesn't-do-it-at-trials-like-at-home issues.

I actually noticed that there was always soap in the dispensers in the restroom. Usually the containers are empty early on, if they're there at all (mostly non-BT trials), so now I know who's successful at soap! Which is clean, not grimy.

vici whisner said...

Laura, you are loved by your fans of TSD.

You are loved by your trial chairs for all your volunteerism.

You are most loved by your dogs for the time and emotion you put into them.

Keep it up girl. Even if Gustavo has only 1 or 2 runs a day, his fans love to see him out and about and adore his quirky personality. We are all praying for his health to improve and send good vibes your way to help you deal with the stress you face.

Susan in MA said...

Laura - here's the recipe for being great at agility: trade in those small dogs for border collies, quit your job, tap into your trust fund and buy a place in the country with your own complete agility setup and ample space for long offlead walks.

What, you say that's not happening? I am a stalwart fan of TSD and hope you will put your achievements in perspective: funky dogs, no yard, limited funds, full time (and then some) job. You've built a lot from that using great training and persistence. Although you do get to have long offlead walks on the beach, of which I am jealous.

Elf said...

@Susan: Well said!

team small dog said...

Gosh, I dunno. I would probably be a somewhat better if I had an agility place and more time and so on and so on, but who knows. I know so many people who are so good at agility that have full time jobs, all kinds of dogs, kids, little yards, no trust funds. They are just really hard workers and great trainers and handlers.

I'm working towards that. Because it's possible one of my lottery tickets will pay off, but if not, all I can do is try harder.