By Akira the Border Collie doesn’t know the word “quit”. He knows a lot of other useful words—sit, stay, spin, roll, jump-up-and-down-and-lick-your-face—but quit isn’t in his vocabulary. He started agility training this week, just after turning 11 months old. Mommy and Daddy have been relaxing in Phuket, Thailand; but he’s probably dreaming and scheming about scrambling over A-Frame ramps and jumping over bars and through hoops right now.
I’ve compressed his inaugural 45-minute agility training session into 5 minutes. What comes out strongly in the video is that failure doesn’t bother Akira. Every missed step or fallen bar is an opportunity to learn. He pays attention to the coach, and to me, because he’s eager to please and loves a challenge. And he REALLY likes treats!
It’s a really simple life lesson. Keep moving. Take things step-by-step and don’t stress about the failures. Keep advancing. Never lose the excitement of learning something new.
Dog lovers should find this a fun clip to watch. If you have your own dog training experiences to share, please let us know in the comments. If you’re a dog owner around southern Thailand, Russell at Canine Point Academy, in Phuket, has been really magnificent with our puppy.
Enjoy the story!
#akirathebordercollie
Animals can teach us lessons – we can learn from them. It takes discernment, and you have distilled that here. Great article.