Clean Run - May 2018 - 5

Getting Good
By Brenna Fender

I read a social media conversation about what it takes to
"get better" at agility. The poster suggested that agility organizations work international-style challenges into regular classes because "doesn't everyone want to get better
at agility?" Don't we all have the same aspirations to run
international-style courses with ease, to try out for world
teams, to win big things? Doesn't every agility handler
want to be that kind of good?
Believe or not, no. One of the awesome things about U.S.
agility is that different organizations offer different styles
of the sport, with varied challenges. I've dabbled in every
U.S. agility offering but one (it's not available in my area)
and I can attest that, while they are all definitely agility,
there are differences. Some organizations offer similar
challenges to those seen overseas, one organization makes
obstacle performance accuracy a premium, another values performance at a significant distance, and another
offers classes in which handlers must strategize to design
their own course to maximize their earned points.
From the mid-90s to the mid-2000s, I focused my efforts
on being good at one style of agility. The rules and conventions of that form of agility seemed to me to be the only
ones. It took me a long time to realize that no one organization "owns" the sport of agility. There are valid paths to
success within each agility registry.
So, you may already see what I'm leading up to now. If the
question is, "what does it mean to be good at agility," there
is no one answer. In each style of agility, being good is
defined by the mastery of different skills. Accuracy, speed,
athleticism, strategy-these are all parts of many forms of
agility, but they are valued in different ways by different
organizations.
But isn't the international-style of agility better than the
rest? After all, it's international! Certainly there are a lot of
people who focus on achieving success on international-

style courses. And since international competitions are
generally waged on that type of course, it can make that
sort of agility seem like the ultimate achievement.
But much like the pair of Jordache jeans I coveted in junior high, being valued by many people isn't the same as
being fundamentally better, or being the only thing that
is good. While there were a whole bunch of people who
really wanted a pair of Jordache, some people liked Gloria Vanderbilt jeans better. And some kids wanted a pair
of parachute pants instead of jeans, and few kids couldn't
care less what kind of pants they were wearing because
they were busy creating art or playing music or kicking a
soccer ball.
In agility there's also an entirely different way to get better
and to be good. As adults playing a game with our dogs, we
can find success outside the points system and beyond the
Qs. Some of us feel we are doing well when our fast dog
gets the course mostly right. Or when that blind cross goes
exactly as planned. Or when our dog weaves all 12 poles
and we are 10 feet away. Or when our shy dog doesn't bark
at the judge. Or when we just get to spend a day laughing
and joking with our friends and our dogs.
It's all good. You just have to recognize that. There's value
in pursuing your own version of good, and working to get
better to reach that vision. It doesn't matter if your friend,
or your coach, or your student, or a seminar leader thinks
that your version of good is actually good. It's not their
call; they don't get to choose for you.
They can do their good, and you can do your good, and
we can all be happy for each other. It's actually a possible
thing. A really, really good thing.

Brenna Fender

Brenna Fender is a freelance writer and editor who works for Clean Run. She lives in Florida with her husband, two children, a Papillon (Spark), a Beagle (Wrigley), a
Border Collie (Tessa), her daughter's Chihuahua (Chase), and a variety of other creatures. Tessa has agility titles, UpDog Challenge disc achievements, and a Trick Dog
Champion Title. Over the years, Brenna's dogs have been titled in conformation, agility, Junior Hunter, Junior Courser, rally, obedience, and Canine Good Citizen. Brenna
can be reached at brennafender@gmail.com and you can visit her website at brennafender.com.

May 18 | Clean Run

http://www.brennafender.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - May 2018