2017 July August

A Junior’s View
Janelle Farkas
Northridge, California
Growing Up
Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be
Competing in agility as an adult has been a completely
different experience than competing as a junior handler.
As a junior, people generally attempted to be supportive,
caring, and did not
feel as competitive with me
because “we were never in the
same class” (it also could have
been because Taxi was never
incredibly reliable…and that’s
one of the reasons I loved her!).
I am not trying to say that people aren’t supportive now, but there
is definitely a difference between the support a 12-17-year-old gets
with an unpredictable dog, and an (gulp…) almost 25-year-old gets
with a pretty steady dog.
I have gone through a lot in the last seven years; I went off to
college, hated it, came home, went off to a different college, loved
it, got a new puppy, finished undergrad, moved to San Diego, gotten
a master’s degree, and am now actively interviewing and applying
for a full time position within Higher Education, with the goal of
helping college students reach their academic and career goals. So,
one could say that I have been extremely busy as a “new” adult
agility handler.
There are times when I feel guilty about
how busy I have been. I think about the
“What ifs?” What if I spent just a few more
hours each week training Jeep? What if I
was able to trial more consistently? What
if I didn’t spend 20 hours at work every
week, 10 hours in a classroom, and God
knows how much time doing homework,
research, studying, and writing for school?
Would people take me more seriously?
Would people take Jeep more seriously?
A few weeks ago, someone asked me if
I was going to go to Texas for Nationals.
My answer right now? Probably not. It
will most likely be Jeep’s second time
qualifying for Agility Finals at just four
years old. It will also be the second time
that Jeep’s other half (me) has been too busy
and too broke (grad school is expensive!!)
to justify taking time off school and work
to go to nationals. Sometimes I feel like I
Jeep sometimes suffers from
excessive greeting disorder.
am doing him a disservice…but then I remember that I am the one
who signs him up; he has no idea what he’s missing! And like my
last article said, I am 100% confident that Jeep doesn’t care what
we do, so long as he gets to be
with me.
When I got Jeep, I said to
his breeder, “I want a dog that’s
flexible, that likes spending time
with his people, that will do
anything at any time, that has an
off-switch, and that can be my best friend.” Guess what? That is
EXACTLY what I got. He’s a go-with-the -low, crazy but mellow,
versatile dog (who sometimes suffers from excessive greeting
disorder; a few lucky individuals have been the recipients of some
gnarly fat-lips because of his exuberance in seeing and meeting
new people). Jeep is exactly the kind of dog I need at this point in
my life. He loves to do agility and trial, but he can also chill with
me on the weekends and curl up on the couch when other aspects
of young-adulthood take up most my time. I feel lucky that I get
to grow up and experience the ebbs and flows of early adulthood
with a partner like him. I know I will be just fine. J
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AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2017 89