A Tale of 2 T-Shirts

While on Vacation last week my dear sweet hubby bought me two T-shirts that had major meaning for me. The day before we left for our vacation I showed Petey for his first and last time. The experience was not a good one, and I left it feeling very down and upset. Starting my dream vacation with a sad heart was awful. I decided once and for all, after that experience that organized dog sports and competitions just aren't for me or Petey. Having been a Mod on a Doberman Forum for the last two years, and constantly reading about all the wonderful things that people are doing with their dogs and the titles they are achieving, I always feel as though I'm not doing right by Petey and his heritage. I have felt as though he should have a job. I have looked into and tried OB, Agility, TDI, SchH and now the show ring. Petey is by no means a AKC show doberman, I think most of the "show" people find him to be butt ugly, he has too much bone and a bit too much fat(we are still working on that!!! I have him down to his 1 year old weight, which is 16# less then his all time high) We STINK at it all. I am a nervous wreck and that goes right down the leash and pours into to my beloved boy. I've decided that we are not going to take another class, its a done deal.....WHAT A RELIEF! No more chasing titles and thinking about what else I can do next with Petey, we both already know the place where our hearts sing the loudest....its in the woods. He is my hiking partner and protector, and you know what?....it is enough. He is living his life as his original ancestors were bred to do, as a humans constant companion and protector, and he is excellent at his job. He is the champion of my heart.

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods. There is rapture on the lonely shore. There is society, where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.- Lord Byron