Enjoy the Ride

 

A wave is a force of nature. A fresh start. A manifestation of energy.

I grew up at the beach; it’s a part of who I am. The sound of waves crashing against the shore has always been a comfort to me.

I did not think I was ready for a puppy. Everyone was asking me what my next step was, and if I was in the market for a puppy. My answer was always no. I didn’t even want to hear of any puppies, they were just making me sad. Sad that I wasn’t ready for a puppy, sad that it seemed as if everywhere I turned someone else was getting a puppy, sad that it felt like my agility career was over.

Everyone said to me that I would know when I found the right dog, that I would feel it in my soul. I had no idea what they were talking about, so I smiled and said “I’m sure you’re right.”

I love the agility community. I always have. It’s almost always been safe, and comforting, and supportive. That is one of my favorite things about our sport. It brings people together, and makes you a family with people you’ve never would have even met. Friends and family have been extremely supportive lately. I think everyone knew that I wasn’t really “ready” for a puppy, and there were so many other factors that go into that, college being the main one. But, someone who has been so friendly and supportive reached out to my mom and told her about this 8 month old BC pup, who may be available. This was the beginning of December, and the idea was shrugged off. Again, I wasn’t looking for a puppy.

A few weeks, an invitationals trip, and too many hours spent in bed feeling sorry for myself went by, and that same puppy is brought up again. Okay, still not ready, but maybe a little bit more open to the idea. The new year came and went, and a gave myself a time limit. One month to make a decision. A decision on what to do in my agility life. Novel length emails, pages upon pages of journals filled, and decision making tools led me to a decision. I was going to get a puppy.

Yes, it was going to be hard, and an extremely time consuming decision, but it felt like the right one. Now, I could not get that puppy from that Facebook message out of my head. She was smooth, had big pointy ears, and naughty spots. I was kind of in love with the pictures.

We decided to take the trip down to New Jersey to look at her, it couldn’t hurt. A 12 hour round trip later, and all I could think of was this puppy. I loved her age, it would hopefully allow me to start trailing sooner than if I got an 8-week old puppy, she was sweet, and smart, and had a very solid temperament.

I promised myself that no decision would be made for a week. I didn’t even want to talk about it for seven sleeps, as I put it. I couldn’t get her out of my head. I had a feeling, deep in my gut that we were meant to be together, (the feeling everyone kept talking about? Maybe). I message people who had relatives, I gathered as much info as I could, and by Day 7 I knew I wanted that puppy.

 

I was ecstatic, and nervous, and overjoyed. We set a date to go and pick her up on a trial basis. Her name was Maeve, which I wasn’t crazy about. I didn’t want to change it on her too drastically, she’s 10 months old and that could just seriously confuse her. My mom thought of Wave. I’ve never liked preppy or nautical things. Maybe because everyone I know wears way too much Vineyard Vines, maybe it was all just a little cliche to me, but Wave I liked. It symbolized everything this puppy would be.

A force of nature. A fresh start. A manifestation of energy.

Wave has been with us for close to two weeks now, and I am totally in love. I needed her, and she needed me. We match, we fit, we mesh together like the different pieces of a dance.

“I am not a wave/ I am the ocean/ I have not crashed and broken/ I rise, I fall/ I rise once more/ Tired, yes, but stronger, wiser than before/ It may take time for me to mend/ but as long as I breathe/ it is not, will not, be the end.” Determined by Doe Zantamata

This was sent to me by a friend, and it will be our mantra. It describes our situation perfectly, and everything that Wave stands for.

Welcome Wave. Let’s enjoy the ride.