Clean Run - February 2011 - 72

Sera’s Story:

Musings from an Agility Journey
By Carolyn Canizaro-Orlowsky, DVM photos by Barry Rosen except where noted
© Doghouse Arts

Our Last Run?
Our first agility run was in April 1998. the trial was held on a baseball field in a park in Garland, texas. it rained most of the day. i was a novice; i had no tent or canopy, no raincoat, umbrella, or chair, only a hard Vari-Kennel for my young Border Collie sera. We ran in the rain and eventually retreated to the car for protection from the elements. My family came to watch and we all laughed at how ill-prepared i was. i was fortunate a family member carried rain ponchos, cheerfully donated for my use. i still carry those ponchos in my agility bag. We brought home a 2nd-place ribbon, the first ribbon of any kind i ever won. it hangs in my office to this day. How did this all begin? in the spring of 1997, i took sera to a dog festival at Zilker park in Austin, texas. the travis Agility Group was putting on a demonstration of dog agility. sera became so excited watching the activity, barking and pulling on her leash. i could have sat and watched the show for hours. We were definitely hooked. Little did i know when i enrolled in our first agility class what a big part of my life this dog and agility would become. the years we have spent training, competing, celebrating, hanging out with friends, on long car rides, along with some forgettable hotel stays have served to form one of the strongest bonds i have ever had with a companion animal. it began with a crazy, fast dog that ran her own courses, ones she felt were better than any course a judge could dream up, and her clueless handler who didn’t know how to direct the frenzy. Over the years with the help of many people and hours of work, we began to look like we knew what we were doing (most of the time) and became a solid team. We’ve had some tough trials where all we went home with was the dust from the ring. We’ve also had some wonderful success including two visits to the UsDAA Nationals with advancement to the semifinal round, an appearance on Animal planet, and our Masters Agility Dog (MAD) title, but still lack enough snooker super-Qs for our Agility Dog Championship (ADCH). More recently, we traveled to the UsDAA Regionals in Fort Worth, texas, mostly to use the Grand prix voucher sera had earned earlier in the year. it was the last time i would enter her in a Championship Grand prix. After she turned 11, i watched her times on courses get longer and longer. Never did i think that we would have a clean standard run (elusive thanks to that last optional-for-sera weave pole) and not qualify because we didn’t make time. this has happened more than once over the last few months. to watch her run you might not notice. she looks awesome for her age and is happy.
72

i sat in the stands at the Regional watching the competition with all these young, fast dogs whizzing past and at one point started to cry. At first i couldn’t understand why. i’m not usually very emotional. i’m strong, i told myself. i’m a veterinarian, required to maintain composure in difficult situations. i was at the Regionals having a great time with my dogs and friends, had some nice runs, and even qualified in the first round of the Grand prix. What was wrong with me? Was it all the upset of starting a new job the last few weeks? Was it concern for sera’s health? Was i just tired from a bad night of sleep at another less-thanstellar hotel? As i sat there and tried to make sense of my emotions, i realized that i was facing the fact that sera’s agility career would end sooner rather than later. i was grieving the eventual loss of that part of our life that has meant so much to both of us. When will this happen? i don’t know. i’m thinking that sera will let me know. if not, we’ll try and make the decision together or maybe it will be made for us. i know i’m not the first person to face the retirement of their first agility dog with such emotion. that’s why i chose to share our story. it’s been such a great ride for both of us. it has changed my life forever. i have formed many life-altering friendships along
Clean Run | February 11

Clean Run - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2011