The gods are laughing

I guess we can't rest on our laurels forever. It sure was fun to bask for a while, though! Last night we went to an Agility Fun Match. It's a full-size agility course and you're timed while on the course, but you can do whatever you want instead of adhering to a pre-determined pattern or map. It's great practise for trials - same venue, no pressure.
I decided to work on speed with Dax. I'm told that the faster I am, the more interesting I am to her, and the faster she'll go. So I ran like a crazy lady - no fancy handling attempts, nice easy loops around the obstacles. And they were right - Dax was "flaps (ears) down - full throttle" girl.
Until we got home. I sat down and Dax tried to jump into my lap, as she does every single time I sit. Fran said it looked like she just stopped in mid-air and fell down. Turns out she probably pinched a nerve in her neck and is on crate-rest for a week.
The juxtaposition convinces me that fate has a sense of humor. Not a good one, but it's there.

Let the guilt begin

Where does the guilt begin?

It turns out that Roc may be reluctant to jump, run, fetch, etc. in the obedience ring because he's either injured or has something wrong in his shoulders.

Whenever we're asked about training or behavioral problems with a dog, the first piece of advice we give is to have the dog checked by a veterinarian to see if there's a physical cause for the issue. So, after struggling with Roc's worsening performance in obedience, I finally took my own advice.

I suppose that late is better than never, but I felt sooooooooooo bad when Dr. Janice was checking him out today and he started trembling when she touched his shoulders. I try to avoid guilt whenever possible, but I think I deserve some of it today.

Tomorrow I'll be taking him in for x-rays and we'll start figuring out what's going on with the little dude. I know that he loves training and working with me, so it's going to be a rude shock if his obedience career is over. I know there are only a couple of jumps, but I can't justify making him do them if he'll be in pain every time.

And I feel guilty about hoping it's an injury - because in my twisted little brain I'm thinking that an injury could heal, in time, and let us play obedience again. And if not? We'll deal. He'll always be my dog. And, as I said after every non-qualifying stint in the ring, I still get to take him home with me.