Maybe We ALL Need Bags on Our Heads...

We’re leaving soon for…dun, dun, DUNNNNN, the Regional.

I’m trying to be positive. Trying. Very. Hard. Tobepositive.

Also trying very hard not to hyperventilate.

I think it’s fair to say I’m feeling a bit unnerved at this point.

Once upon a time I worked really well under pressure.  Big events were ridiculously exhilarating for me.  My little dog loved them too.  The two of us, we never understood why people would look so green before a run.  Why dogs tried all means of avoiding these owners during warm-ups.  Or especially why some handlers seemed to live in the bathroom during a trial.  It’s like, fun, right?

Enter: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN. 

Oh how times have changed.  Before, I had certain expectations.  If I handled the sequence with maneuver A, then the result will be B.  Sure there were some tiny blips of ‘oops’ but in the scheme of things, those were anomalies.  Extraneous variables making mayhem.  I had no reason to give way to the nervous ‘what if’ thoughts- I knew ‘what.’ 

Now, there is a whole host of ‘what ifs’ swirling around:

Does her shoulder hurt still?

Will she be able to run?

Can she manage 22” jumps?

What will she do on the dogwalk?

Will she decide to weave this weekend?

How will she handle all the runs?

Is the excitement going to help/hurt her attitude?

Any number of possible outcomes. Statistical probability of me correctly predicting any one outcome? I believe in clinical terms this percentage would not be considered ‘significant.’ 

Sigh. The good news is I'm so worried about the internal components, I haven't even started in on feeling external pressure from competition. But what I would give for the confidence to have a few expectations this weekend.   I don’t feel that I can ask for much, given that I will be lucky to have her whole enough to actually run. And of course, given the huge training unknowns we are working with currently (ahem…talking about YOU dogwalk).  This makes setting goals…difficult.  But I can’t imagine running without ANYthing in mind, so here we go:

I will make sure she has a good time.

I will not converge on her line on the contacts.

I will find the good in every run (unless we have a no point run in Snookers. Then I am exempt).

I will trust in her skills and will handle normally so she can trust in mine. 

If we manage that much, it might be a successful weekend. 

***

Thank goodness I have The Pup.  No one can snap me out of a funk better than her.  True, that’s usually accomplished by destroying/stealing/hiding/alloftheabove something of mine.  No one can say she doesn’t get the job done though. 

Why, just the other day she stole a jewelry box off my nightstand and chewed it up.  I salvaged the earrings stored inside quickly, but then noticed the necklace was absent.  I was sure she ate it.  I spent so much time looking for the necklace and watching her go potty just in case that I completely forgot to hyperventilate about The Dog’s dogwalk.  Thank you, Pup! (P.S. Don’t worry- she had just hidden the necklace for safe keeping…and NOT in her colon.) 

Pup, convinced rawhides are NOT all gone.

Pup, getting brain damage making SURE they are all gone.

Pup, making her own substitute chew toy.

Must be nice to be her.