To agility or not to agility?

I love agility. I really do!  However, I have not been committed to training my dogs at all in the last couple years. I am not sure why this is the case, but my motivation has really fallen off. I guess, sometimes when you hit inertia, it is easier to stay there.  So, once I quit attending classes I stopped really doing any work.  Last winter, I thought maybe I would train a bit on my own.  I went maybe 3 times; I rented a great space to use but even that wasn't enough to inspire me. I did some work in the yard but it was tough; once the snow sets in, I cant say that I am all that motivated to work on weaving,

So, I thought maybe I would try something new. I called a local Obedience trainer but they didn't return my call.  Frustrating!  Then, I contacted the Local Retriever Club, hoping to train Reason in retrieving. They hold practice times at 9AM on Sunday AM's.  I have just been asked to assume responsibility for the 9AM mass at my church, as well as playing piano for the 11AM.  So retriever classes are totally out as I am committed to doing music at St. Mary's. I am not prepared to take time away from that at the moment.

I ended up sitting with it for a few days and really pondering what I want with my dogs.  The reality is that I have trained Spike to a point where it is wasteful to not continue.  He has several titles:  he is Spike SJATD, FD-CHs, ADC, SGDC.  The first title is his therapy dog credentials. The second is flyball and the last 2 are agility. We are 3 legs short of his advanced games dog title (out of 9). I want to do that. I want to continue to run Spike. I have started training both Murphy and Reason. There is no reason (haha) to not continue this work with them.  Really, I have no excuse to not train Sophie in nosework either; this is a sport that she will LOVE and be able to do with no mobility issues at all.

I made my decision yesterday officially.  I am taking my 3 dogs back to agility classes and I am prepared to work HARD with them. I also have LOADS of work to do on myself as I am so incredibly out of shape at this moment. But, it's a turning point for me, I believe. I am starting over, allowing myself to find the fun and joy in an incredible sport where I get to play with my dogs. I love working with them and this is an exciting decision to make.

So, watch out world; Spike and I will be trialing this winter for sure. Reason and Murphy may well trial as well!  It's a good, good place to be!