Proud moments- we all have them. Some of these moments can be quite huge.
The bigger moments for me include finishing 10th in the school cross country (being a non athlete this was a huge achievement ), getting married, being asked to do honours at university, watching Paul receive a 1990 Commeration medal, watching my children graduate and buy their first homes, watching my middle son sing vocals and play keyboard in the opening band for Stan Walker.
Smaller moments include, the pride in finally baking a loaf of bread that tasted good, congratulating my boys on the numerous small certificates they would bring home from school, beating Paul in the Stuff Daily quiz and so the list goes on....
One of the smaller moments involved our dog Ozzie (he has long since departed) at the Trentham Moggy Dog Show. Ozzie was a black and brown Australian Terrier. He came complete with the attitudes that terrier dogs have – strong willed, stubborn and very loyal.
We had gone to these shows over the years and enjoyed watching the competitions – dogs that looked most like their owner, dogs with the waggiest tail, dogs completing agility courses, the dog with the cleverest trick.
For some reason that year, Paul decided to enter Ozzie in the Agility Competition. Paul suggested one of our boys take him around the course but they refused saying they would be too embarrassed. This refusal was on the basis that Ozzie had had no agility training – he hadn’t really had any obedience training either but that is beside the point! Paul was the one nominated to embarrass himself.
We watched the other competitors. There were dogs that clearly were trained as agility dogs and had been involved in agility competitions in the past. On the other hand there were dogs like Ozzie who had no experience in running up slides, walking across beams, running through tunnels etc. The untrained dogs all struggled and none of them completed the course.
Then it was Ozzies turn. We couldn’t believe it. He was having the time of his life. The biggest obstacle for the untrained dogs was the tunnel. Ozzie wasn’t sure of the tunnel either but Paul put him into the entrance and then ran to the other end calling Ozzie through. Ozzie ran through – the only untrained dog to do so. Ozzie completed the course.
At the end of the Agility Event there were 3 prizes awarded. All 3 prizes went to the dogs that were agility trained. And then……….. Ozzies name was announced. The judges were so impressed with him they created a 4th prize – Highly Commended. He received a certificate and a big bag of dog food.
After reading through what I have just written I realise that this probably wasn’t a small moment at all. It was a BIG moment.