Wanna Play a Game?
The article is contributed by competitor and trainer Norah C. Strebel of Utah, who describes her play/tug warm-up routine with her agility partner, Cider, an All American Dog. Norah discovered the world of dog sports with the adoption of a flying disc-obsessed mixed-breed dog in 2000. Since then, she has participated in many sports with her mixed breeds, including agility, barn hunt, obedience, dock diving, coursing, tracking, trick dog, and scent work. Her work as a professional dog groomer, dog trainer and agility instructor over the past 20 years has fueled her passion for building relationships between humans and dogs.
“Wanna play a game?” is what I say to my dog as I pull her from the kennel before an agility run. Tug ready in hand, we launch into a battle of strength, her jaws versus my arms as we make our way to the nearest potty area. We tug all the way outside. After business is done, I tell her “Are you ready to play the game?,” which triggers an elevation of excitement….sound effects.
With both of us growling and snorting and tugging, we head over to the practice jumps. “Let’s warm up for the game.” I say as I unclip her leash, set her into a stay, and approach the jump. She barks her way over the bar, squeals around the wrap, and launches herself at the tug with a fierce chomp. We spin around to do it again and again; the barks getting louder, quicker, sharper. Thoroughly warmed up both in body and vocal cords, we stagger towards the rings, my arm straining as she tugs with all her might and a darkly fierce furry body.
Taking our place in the waiting area, I let her hold the tug and switch it up again. “I got your game,” I chant at her while making fake grabs at her tail. She responds by mouth-mashing her tug while quickly twisting out of reach. Ears high, eyes bright, tail fast-wagging, we dance, me snatching, her dodging, in circles around each other. I freeze, strike an attack pose, stare her down. She barks at me, sound muffled by the tug in her mouth, taunting me. I strike, she laughs at me with her foamy tug, mocking my failed attempts to win the prize. We’re both smiling from ear to ear at each other. The little smack-talker pushes her slobbery tug into my hand; she knows it’s showtime.
“Let’s play the game.” She drags me towards the gate. I toss the tug onto the dirt, forgotten for now. We skip into the ring, me singing our game song…”Let’s play the game? Are you ready to play the game? Do you wanna play the game?” She is quivering, eyes on me, muscles tense, her mouth just slightly open, quick little breaths, every fiber of her being ready.
We are one, we are together, we are in the place we love, doing the thing we love. I breath this moment in. Slipping the leash off, stroking her ears, asking for a moments of calm before the storm unleashes. I kiss her head, just in case, you never know if this will be the last one.
I step away, she waits. With a word, we’re off. Its fast, its loud, sometimes it’s a train wreck, sometimes it’s perfect. Every time, we revel in the game. We flow, we race, we turn, me going close, then running away, arms ups, arms down, feet moving on wings of their own until the last jump is done. With my arms up, I cheer her. She leaps at me, filled with joy.
We’ve played these games many times before and with luck we will play them for years to come. This is the relationships we have. We are partners, equals to each other. We respect the parts we each play. In the ring and in life, she looks to me and I listen to her. It didn’t happen all at once. We built this bond in countless layers over years together. It takes thousands of little moments, like how a multitude of sand grains are needed to make a beach. There will come a time when we can no longer play the game together but until then, without fail I will say “Thank you for playing the game with me.”