Obsessions

I find it amazing how we as humans (myself included) can become so obsessed with such small things, to the point of ruining relationships...with our dogs in particular....seeing as this is an agility blog :-) We become fixated with faster contacts, where we can shave seconds off our next run and in turn place enormous stress on our dogs to perform to the level of perfection we seem to be striving for. And in the blink of an eye our four legged friend begins to shut down and the once strong relationship we thought we had with our beloved dog begins to unravel.
I feel in particular since coming back from America, my whole outlook has changed quite dramatically. For me agility is not quite the same. Yes I believe I still have an obsession with getting the best out of my dog. For example I know that every stride Epic does is 0.3sec and if she adds, say 5 strides extra on a course I'm already 1.5sec behind the leader...let alone whether her ground speed comes remotely close to the winning dog!
But for me, my relationship with Epic is more important. Agility is supposed to be FUN and I think there is a very fine line between having fun and winning, and placing too much pressure on your dog and in turn getting a poor performance.
I think there is a lot to be said for having a game of tug for the pure enjoyment of it with your dog...not just because you're trying to warm them up for the course they are about to run or because they are soooooooo high drive that it stops them from barking at you for attention. Just purely for the simple pleasure of hanging out with your dog and building on that fantastic relationship that will ultimately bring the best performance your dog can give.