People tell you that agility is addictive. I suppose they’re right. I started almost a year ago with Chester, because I’ve always been interested in it (taught my cats to jump through hoops and over hurdles long before we had dogs) and I thought he could use the exercise.

I wasn’t sure that Lola would ever be ready for it, but she’s completed her beginner course and we’re continuing on.

I take them to their classes back to back; it wasn’t quite what I wanted, but it just worked out that way. In some ways it’s good, we get it all done on one day. But it’s a long day. I have to get them up early so we can eat & take a short walk before class. Then it’s 2 hours of classes, which means 2 hours of standing, waiting, and running around.

I’ve also discovered that while agility is great mental exercise for your dog, it’s even more mental exercise for you, the handler, as you advance. You have to be very aware of your body position, what you’re doing with your hands, where your dog is (a challenge with the toy breeds), not to mention working out a strategy for the best way to get your dog around all the obstacles.

My backyard now includes weave poles, a couple of jumps, and a tire jump. I have a small, practice tunnel in my shed. And my husband plans to try to make me a mini-teeter over his holiday break. He’s even trying to figure out how to make it so that it could be used as part of a dogwalk, too.

I got into this thinking that I’d never compete. And as we advanced, I really thought that; it’s too much work! Yet I’ve already done a couple of fun matches with Chester. I’ve begun to think at some point maybe we’ll do a trial.

I think I’ve gone off the deep end.

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