Those Important Little Letters

Meet Chesney. She received her first title last year, the same weekend that Fudge earned his.












Now she has added four agility titles to that first Rally title.

Some may wonder why we bother with the training classes, practices and competitions. Sometimes I ask myself that question.

Earlier this week Chesney's Mom sent me this and it states the reasons well.

  Why Title A Dog


Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores, a title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in record and in memory for as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard.

And though the dog itself doesn't know or care that it's achievements have been noted, a title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.

A title says your dog was intelligent and adaptable, and good-natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.

And a title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend time with it because it was a good dog, that you believed in it enough to give it yet another chance when it failed, and that, in the end, your faith was justified.

A title proved that your dog inspired you to that special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable creatures, this dog with a title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return.

And when that dear short life is over, the title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of pride in one small set of initials after the name. A title earned is nothing less than love and respect, given and received, and permanently recorded.

By Sandra Mowery

This is what makes it all worthwhile. This makes those butterflies in the stomach bearable and keeps us trying again after a frustrating performance.