noun
1. persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
Three months after my hip resurfacing surgery in July of 2018, I decided that I would probably never run agility again. I quit entering agility trials several months before when my hip pain was so overwhelming that I had a tough time moving, let alone “running,” with a fast dog like Darcy. She went from being the Bad Dog Agility’s Number One (fastest) AKC 20” Golden in the country in 2016 to a back yard Chuck-it Retriever in 2018.
A few months later I decided to give agility another shot and signed up for an online agility class that allowed me to walk while Darcy ran through the sequences. We gained confidence as a team and I realized that we might be able to play agility again. After almost a year off, Darcy was very happy to be running in trials and I figured we would be back on top in no time. “No time” was about a year. Darcy and I started becoming an awesome agility team around December 2019.
Over the next year, like everywhere else, the agility world pretty much came to a complete stop. So Darcy and my young dog, Pippin, earned trick titles and played in the back yard. Thankfully, the agility wheels started turning again in early 2021. So after another year break, Darcy and I again started working on becoming a team and began climbing what turned out to be a really tall ladder to agility success.
This past weekend (1/17/23) in Vancleave, Mississippi, Darcy and I earned the last two QQ qualifications for our MACH. Our perseverance paid off. I’m glad I stuck with it. With Darcy. She absolutely loves agility and is equally enthusiastic in my backyard as she is in the ring. Of all my dogs, Darcy deserves this the most.
This longish post is not just a well deserved tribute to Darcy, but encouragement to anyone who encounters nothing but obstacles on the road to however and whatever you define as success. Stick with it. Persevere. Darcy and I are here to say that you’ll be glad you did.
So proud to announce MACH Serendipity’s Dashing Darcy TKI ADHF
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