When I introduced Pi
to flyball, he learned the box turn in about 30 minutes. In spite of his young
age and chubbiness, flyball seemed to be
inborn, and he got it really quickly.
Then he started to play his own game by playing “chicken” with the incoming dog. He became the anchor dog while I broke him of
this inclination. Eventually he became the ready, steady lead dog.
Last June, he
injured a toe and in spite of everything I and his medical team had done, it did not heal properly. When he finally sat down and refused to run in
the middle of a tournament, I knew that he must be in pain. I carried him away to the crating area to check
him over.
Our dogs like their
routine and count on the leader to tell them when it’s time to gear up. Without
him in front, well,…… let’s just say it was not the team’s best performance. I reworked the teams for the second day of
competition and we carried on without him. We did the best we could, and he was
missed.
Pi is a quirky, and
sometimes, flat out grumpy, dog who likes to complain at me when things are not
exactly to his liking. Caring for him following a painful toe amputation was UN-fun. He was determined to be difficult every step of the way. Ten days later sutures were removed and he was off to rehab to rebuild the left rear leg which had suffered significant atrophy.
A month after surgery I signed him up for one day of a tournament aware
that he may not be fit to complete the entire day. He ran a few races on day
one as a fill in for another club and looked pretty good. On day two, he managed
to the lead X-Fidos for about half of the races. He was happy and excited to be
back in the ring. He continues
to improve, and we are hopeful that he will back in the ring full time for a
few more years.
As he starts his 10th
racing season, it’s evident that we are not getting any younger. I am reminded
that in the grand scheme of things, human lives are short and that dog lives are
painfully minute. We have no clue how much time we have, so we pretend that we
have forever because thinking about it too much would make us insane. As we
pause to give thanks for those people and pets in our lives that make life
worth it, take a moment to reflect on what is most valuable in that grand
scheme. Is it the win or those who celebrate with you? Is it the score or the
journey? Is it the game or the community it creates? In the fray of existence, it's easy to lose sight of the answers. In those moments, I only need ask my dog.
Happy Thanksgiving.
lw
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| Pi and I thank his medical team and our friends and team mates who have supported his recovery. |
