Yell loud and run fast.

Otterpop got to do some agility this week. And run after birds in the bushes and seabirds in the waves at the beach and french fries in the living room. Oh, and run for pine cones in the field. And sticks. And seaweeds. And of course run for her giant green spider. No one else messes with that giant green spider.

She sure likes to run really fast. Everywhere. You don't ever see Otterpop do anything slowly. She's always in a big hurry. And loud about it. Blustery. Unless her mouth is stuffed full of tree branch or that stupid giant green spider.

I wouldn't say her hinky leg has been looking great, but it also doesn't look terrible. I just don't think her leg is bugging her any more than it normally does.

I asked my friend Mary run her a couple times in class the other night. She ran fast, I think faster than Mary thought she would. Mary has a big dog, that when she runs, she yells loud at in a big dog voice. But when she ran Otterpop, she used a Fairy Princess Tinkerbell voice and at first, sort of ran her like a little hamster.

Running a little dog is the same as running a big dog. Yell loud, run fast, and point straight. She knows what to do.

Maybe I'll see if Otterpop likes running with someone else at dog shows. Or maybe not. It could be an interesting experiment, but it might make me sad if she runs fast for my friends but not me. I don't need her to get any more titles. She can if she wants, but that's not the point.

I'm not even sure what the point is. In the big scheme of things, trialing shouldn't be that big of a deal. Me and Otterpop have an awful lot of stuff we do together that involves fast running and loud yelling. Doesn't have to be at a dog show. We can have fun practicing courses and doing our gambles in the privacy of other people's homes who have agility yards. Or just going to swimstick at the swimming hole. Having some frisbee out in the field.

Nobody should be sad. Nobody should be slow. That's just the way it should be.