“The true measure of a man is not what he dreams, but what he aspires to be; a dream is nothing without action. Whether one fails or succeeds is irrelevant; all that matters is that there was motion in his life. That alone affects the world.”
― Mike Norton, White Mountain
Last Saturday the Sand Spring hunt test season came to a end. Our season began in May and went through the beginning of September. The season is made up of training our two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers Gambler and Glory to compete in AKC – American Kennel Club and UKC – United Kennel Club tests. They are similar but then again so different so you have to train for two different styles. This made for a full summer of many highs and lows as you all may know from following my posts on my blog and on facebook.
This last Saturday I had a major melt down. I went to the hunt test by myself and handled both dogs. It was the last test of the season and I really wanted to get that final Senior Hunter pass on Glory so she could earn her Senior Hunter Title before I breed her this winter. Needless to say Glory was dog one in the group and we failed. Being upset I had to go and handle Gambler now in his test. That didn’t go well either and we failed too. After I was done this is what I posted up on facebook on my Sand Spring Chesapeake page: If success was measured by how many tears were shed this hunt test season I would be a very successful woman. Till next year all it’s hunting time now!
I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and now that some time has passed I have realized that we indeed did have A Successful Hunt Test Season and with that comes See Beautiful!
What is success & failure?
The definition of ‘success’ & ‘failure’ from dictionary.com is:
success
–noun
1.the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
2.the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3.a successful performance or achievement: The play was an instant success.
4.a person or thing that is successful: She was a great success on the talk show.
This summer I was chasing the wrong meaning of success. I was chasing the hunt test passes and in the end the hunt test title. I got caught up in wanting to pass a test to “show” that my dogs could do it, that they could pass a test without fails. For some reason I had it in my head that fails were toxic and if people knew my dogs and I failed that we would be marked as failures and people would think less of us. My standards were set so high that when the fails came I didn’t know how to handle them and forgot about the real reason and success I was gaining with my dogs.
failure
1. an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success:
2. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected:
3. a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency:
4. deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc.:
6. a becoming insolvent or bankrupt:
7. a person or thing that proves unsuccessful:
It seems for some reason society can’t measure one’s “success” by the deeds one does without gaining an award.
“What is a Title, Really?”
“Not just a brag, Not just a stepping stone to a higher title, “What is a Title, Really?”
“Not just a brag, Not just a stepping stone to a higher title,
Not just an adjunct to competitive scores.”
“A Title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor that
dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in the record and in the memory for about as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard. And though the dog himself doesn’t know or care that his achievements have been noted, a Title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.”
“A title says your dog was intelligent, and adaptable, and good-
natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that
please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.”
“And a Title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend
time with him because he was a good dog, and that you believed in him enough to give him yet another chance when he failed (or you did), and that in the end your faith was justified.”
“A Title proves that your dog inspired you to have the special
relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable
creatures, this dog with a Title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in
return.”
“And when that dear short life is over, the Title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of praise in one small set of initials before or after the name.”
“A Title is nothing less than love and respect, given and received permanently.”
Author Unknown
I think everyone competing in an event should read this article: The Art of Losing
JoAnn’s definition of a Successful Hunt Test Season:
– Time spent with your dog(s)
– Time spent with your family and friend(s)
– Lessons learned
– All the See Beautiful moments that come your way
Things JoAnn has to remember:
– Rome wasn’t built in a day
– If someone thinks less of me and my dog for failing they can pound sand and are no friends of mine
– I am a novice trainer and handler
– Gambler is my first dog that *I* trained & handled by *myself*
– The end of last year was the first time I ran a Senior test
– This year was the first time I ran a Master test
– These kinds of tests are by no means a walk in the park and when I win the more accomplished I will feel that I did it alone just me and my dog
– Chesapeakes are not machines and need more than one day of training to run tests
– Gambler and I succeeded in passing one UKC Finished test this year
– Gambler, Glory and I received our CGC (Canine Good Citizen) & TT (Temperment Test) certificates
– Glory received her UKC HRC Hunting Retriever Title
– Glory received three out of four AKC Senior Hunter passes
– Gambler was the #1 Chesapeake in the UKC Top Ten Dog and Breed Standings for two years in a row
– My dogs don’t think any less of me when we fail, they think more of me for getting out there and training, running tests and doing what they were bred to do
– Win or loss their emotions are always the same, they lick my face, wag their tail and let me know they still love me
“Your passion is measured by the difference between your willingness to take actions and your desire to quit. When your desire to quit outweighs your willingness to persist, you are ripe for failure!”
― Israelmore Ayivor, The Great Hand Book of Quotes
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Best blog post yet!!! Xoxo JoAnn
“A Title is nothing less than love and respect, given and received permanently.” I think that says it all, Miss JoAnn. You and the G Team ALWAYS love and respect one another, even when GMan is eating your favorite boot or stealing from your purse. The fact that you all spend so much time together, outside, doing the things you love (and that the Team is bred to do) I cannot see in any way, shape or form how you are failures. If only EVERY dog was so lucky to live in a home with such love, respect and pure fun and joy. A wonderful post…and one I hope you remember next year during hunt test season.
Oz and Ma
I so understand and feel with you. The main thing is that you have this wonderful furkids and that you love each other. They are unique and a treasure and they are BEAUTIFUL. And we are winners, even without a title, because we have this wonderful dogs. ( and once we will rock all shows and tests, yes, we will!)
As one beginning owner/trainer/handler to another: training is the journey, training is the goal. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that training is everything. Once you have the necessary skills down pat, the tests are merely examples of what well-trained dogs can do. So keep going, keep working, keep training. Next season is going to be awesome!
What a wonderful post and it hits Mom and I right between the eyes. You, Mom and all us dogs are quite similar, just a different sport. Nose work is our first ever try at competition, with a dog and human. Mom has a hard time relying on others, but we are working really hard and we see the progress we made. Failure sucks, we want that title too, but we also have to accept that 50% of dogs failed, so we are not alone and we did darn good being as new to the sport as we are. Mom still feels bad I didn’t get my title, but we are so motivated to stick it next time, I know we will. We both learned a lot and we did some real bonding on Monday by competing together. A title will never be better what we have working together, but it is our goal and we will achieve it.
It sounds like you indeed did have a very successful hunt test season 🙂
This was a great post! I enjoyed reading, and love learning about your hunts.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
This post reminds me of Sugar’s agility years. Golden Thanks and wonderful for you to share. Wish you the best. Golden Woofs.
Thank you for sharing your feelings and thoughts with us. The journey of the G team isn’t over, and it wasn’t a failure. It was steps on the path to success, the team will get those titles, just look at how many they did get! It was a success!
It’s understandable that you felt down, but I am so glad you are feeling better now and have a much better attitude!
Passes and titles are nice but for us it is the journey. Everybody gets frustrated now and again, but in the end it is the time spent with the dogs and friends that matters most. G&G are still young and have so much time to achieve everything you want for them. Now…if you figure out the secret to making Freighter steady, please share…lol.