What can you do with dogs in the rain?

I know there are some people, I read this, that bring their agility stuff in the house. I love reading articles that start out, “I just brought 6 weave poles into my kitchen, and every time I am whipping up nine thousand batches of cupcakes with hand drawn portraits in powdered sugar on each one, I just send my puppy through the poles. Worked great!”

So there are like the Martha Stewards of cooking and phage, and the Martha Stewarts of dog agility. I am neither. I have tried. Sort of. I have wished. But I am no Martha. I sure like the design of her magazine though. We like to look at the pictures. Thanks Martha!

I think it’s sort of an overachiever thing. Like, obviously, the Martha people are overachievers. You’ve seen their Christmas snowflakes. You know who you are. Some of you are my friends. You still love me even though I am sloppy. I know there are a lot of agility overachievers. This last weekend, people were talking about how they are training their puppies. I am hearing how people have their puppies already discriminating scent articles! (My puppy chews on pens!) Their puppy can be on a down stay while 2 border collies are having a frenzied tug game. (My puppy is outside with his head in a hole he dug barking at squirrels under the grass!) Their puppy can speak 3 languages already! (My puppy may not even be a puppy, he is an untrained adult dog!).

I have never been known to be an overachiever. I’m always busy, and I work real hard, but I am also sort of a slacker at heart. Remember the movie Slacker? Some of my friends are in that. Really. I have so many things to do and I have focus issues. I need to work on my website! I need to draw some pictures! I need to take some pictures! I need to clip the horse! I need to sew a purse! I need to rip open my roof! I need to buy a ranch! I need to do all of these things at the exact same time! And then my wheels spin. Somehow the bathroom gets remodeled and the dog gets trained but maybe they don’t happen as good as the Martha’s. Martha Stewart, you have a nicer bathroom than me! That’s just how life is. So I shouldn’t complain when I am not the USDAA Rockstar Champion. Perhaps the term is Quirky. I am the USDAA Quirky One with Somewhat Unfocused Dogs.

But look, there’s Gustavo on his contact trainer, which takes up much of the backyard. That was his idea to get up there. And we did do some targets in the rain! The weave poles are under a tarp, so didn’t do those. I’m sure not bringing them in the house. I did a load of laundry. I figured out how to make crummy little videos. So I have hope. Don’t write me off yet.