Just getting to the start line ...

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure ... these qualities are so much more important than the events that occur."

Vince Lombardi

When a puppy arrives at our home, you can pretty much guarantee that it will never leave.

Ticket came to us in May 2003 as a happy little border collie puppy and we created a web page for her, as we do for every puppy that joins our family ...

along with this webpage came the above quotation ...

Like they say: be careful what you wish for and be careful what you name your dog ... little did I know how appropriate this quotation would be for this little dog who turned out to have so many more challenges in life than most canine companions or team mates than I've ever had before.

Wow, what a journey it has been so far ... just getting Ticket out of the car at training (to stand beside me), just getting her to do one thing for me at training, just getting her to trust me, just getting her to a trial, just getting her to the start line, just getting her over the first jump, just getting her around the course, just getting her to trust me to know it's safe to run off lead, just getting her to focus on me and ignore strangers, just getting her to the airport to travel to the Nationals in Melbourne, just getting her to trust me in a strange unvisited place to stay with strangers, just getting her to the ring at a National event, just getting her to the Royal Show this year, just getting her to stay at the start line with all those strange people surrounding her and watching intently ... little do they know, the troubles Ticket has had to deal with and what an achievement it was for her just to be there!

I'm proud of you little girl!

Thank you for trusting me.

" ... these qualities are so much more important that the events that occur"

I don't care if Ticket takes a trophy home or not, I don't care wether she runs clear or not, I don't care for her to be an Agility Champion ... because in my eyes, she is already a champion, she has taught me perserverance, she has taught me patience (much more than I had before), she has taught me to take home what's important to me ... what I love, not what I strive for.

As Lanny Bassham says ...

it's not what happens to you in life that's important, you have no control over that,

what's important is how you react to what happens to you, and what you learn from that.