06/08/2025
We earned our first ribbon at our very first competition yesterday! 🥈
The journey with Larry has been a long one, even though we’ve only had him for a short time.
When he was about 2 years old, I was ready to compete in rally obedience, but Larry had different plans. He led me down a path I wasn’t expecting, and in doing so, he pushed me to learn and grow as an owner and trainer. His reactivity was intense, and I was afraid to take him around new dogs. There were times I wanted to give up. He couldn’t stay focused around other dogs, and I was scared that something bad would happen if we tried. My confidence in him and us was shot.
Rally took a backseat for a few years as I focused on getting him into a better headspace while juggling all the changes of life and work. My biggest hurdle was regaining my confidence. Fast forward three years, and I finally decided to commit to at least trying a competition. The next one was only a week and a half away, so I signed us up. There was no way I was going to pass this up again, even if we weren’t fully prepared and even if we didn’t do well.
I didn’t read the rules until the night before the competition. We practiced hard for a few days, learning as many new signs as we could in that short time. I was nervous and unprepared, but we went all in, aiming for 1st place, and (mostly) prepared to fail hard.
We didn’t perform as well as I had hoped, but I’m proud of what we accomplished. We took a huge step together, and now we have so much more to look forward to as we continue this journey. We’ll keep pushing for higher expectations and holding ourselves to a higher standard each time.
I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come together. It’s not always easy, but I can honestly say it’s always been worth it.
