It was a strange green object. Buoy, they called it. There were other dogs, and other people, and I wanted to play but was afraid.
“Come,” barked the long-eared cavallier, “we’re running, it’s fun!”
He looked like he was having fun indeed, his tongue hanging out, ears flying, eyes laughing as he was zig-zagging about.
“I’ll catch you!” barked the little brown dog too loud, the sound unfamiliar.
Seeing my confusion, Missy murmured gently: “It’s ok Mia!” she said, encouraging me to join but it was too much activity, too many new things, I was confused. And when I did join them, the one bigger dog, a mudi, policed us all down.
“I’m the boss!” he kept barking, even when no-one challenged him. I scurried back to Missy.
Then came out the treats, but Missy put them too close to the buoy. I wanted the treats, but didn’t want to get near that thing with its ugly smell and eye-hurting colour. Missy cheered me on, and I wanted to please her but I didn’t trust the situation. The opposing desires of doing what she’s asking me to and to hide were confusing. But I did what I could.
And week by week I could do more. Week by week I enjoyed more. The cavallier became my best friend, the mudi didn’t scare me any more (that much), I was strong, clever and fast, like Missy said. I did jumps, I crawled in the scary tunnel, I turned when I had to, I was becoming pretty good at this. I started to really enjoy all of it.
But the best thing was to be able to work with Missy: she was always patient, she always praised me, and I learned that no matter what, I could always trust her. She has become my one and only human fully in the process, and we keep having fun even outside the official activity field. If I can jump it, I will, is my motto, and I can do so much now. So never give up friends, scary things can become fun in a couple of months!
The blog is part of the blogging challenge of April, A to Z.
The post titles follow the letters to tell about the life of Mia but each adventure is a separate story.
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Life with Mia 
You’re right, Mia! New things are always scary, but often, they bring about so many new opportunities 🙂
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter – The Great War
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If only we always remembered this 😉
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I love to read the dog’s perspective here! I guess we humans are the same with new, scary things, we need the space and encouragement and trust to get into them, and then we can grow.
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I do learn a lot about myself through my dog, how she experiences things, how she improves. And I came to the same conclusion as you, that we need to have that safe place, the warm cushion, that allows us to grow into the best version of ourselves. Often, this safe place is taken away by our negative voice, who only see the bad parts. The same way I give Mia positive reinforcement, I now do it for myself, too. Makes a big difference! 🙂
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Nice story, and well done Mia. The videos were great too – very talented 🙂
https://iainkellywriting.com/2021/04/01/the-state-trilogy-a-z-guide-a/
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Thank you, the video is from a couple months ago, we’ve become much faster since! Well, Mia is faster… 🙂
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Brilliant! we got a new border collie last June, and I so want to bring him to agility training. He’s about 15 months old now. Im looking forward to everything opening up again after lockdown. It looks so much fun. He’d love it.
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It’s super fun! It really makes us both work, not just physically but mentally as well. I also can’t wait to restart, it’s been 5 months now!
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I’ve never ever trained a dog beyond asking him to sit and chase. Perhaps I was too impatient.
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You should try it, it really is fun, I enjoy it just as much as Mia 🙂
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What a great job! So much fun for you too. I just got a new puppy last Friday. Border collie mix, 5 months old. He’s a little afraid of new things too.
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You’re gonna have your hands full with him, I’m sure 🙂
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What a fun post. Cheers to you Mia. I’m glad you’re having fun, and that you have such a great human.
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Thank you, we make a good pair!
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I did tried agility training with my last dog, Mr. Darcy. He was an over exuberant Labrador and while good at the course, never fully got the point where he could ignore the other dogs. It was my fault, not his, I’m sure. I always say that when I’m ninety and I have arthritis in my ring finger I’ll laugh and remember the time Darcy wrenched my had trying to get to the other dogs during agility training. I miss that dog. Weekends In Maine
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What fun! I loved watching the videos, and Mia teaches a valuable life lesson… never give up!
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Thank you, that is a lesson that needs to be repeated every now and then I think!
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We cam learn so much from our furry friends, especially unconditional love 💗
Loved the narrative of your post!
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Thank you, I did learn a lot about myself, mostly the way I give space, encouragement and patience to Mia but not the same to myself… work in progress for sure! 🙂
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Daww 🙂 We never tried agility with my dog, he is not the sharpest tool in the shed. But it sounds like fun 🙂
The Multicolored Diary
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Honestly, Mia isn’t the quickest whip either 😄 but at least we’re having fun lol
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Awww… What a great idea for A-Z. Thank you for sharing some inspiring insights.
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