I made the heartbreaking decision to retire Marley from competitive agility on Saturday. She ran a Standard run in USDAA Saturday and made it through but was slow and when I re-watched her video, it is apparent her body is failing. She is not the same Marley from last year when she was QQ'ing and having stellar trials. After many tears on Saturday, I made that fateful decision.
I decided to let her run on Sunday and I let her do the obstacles she loves and let her leave the ring happy. She was her usual happy Marley self!
I have known since she was 14 months old, that I would have to make this decision. It didn't make it any easier. As sad as it makes me to know that we won't run together again, I have to smile when I think of what we have achieved together. Some people wrote Marley off a long time ago but they actually did me a favor. Their opinions of Marley and her ability actually drove me to prove them wrong. And prove them wrong we did. She earned 3 obedience titles (CD, RN and RA) and 17 agility titles in 3 venues. She also has the distinct honor of being the #1 All American Dog in Arkansas. No other All American dog in Arkansas will ever top her. She's in the AKC history books forever!
She will retire just a few Q's short of 6 more titles. But it's not fair to her to try to keep pushing her when her body is saying 'no'. I could probably pull her along in AKC to finish some titles but I can't push her body to the high standards of USDAA. I don't want to pull her along, I want her to be healthy to run and enjoy herself. So my pretty blue eyed girl is retired. I will let her play some backyard agility and when we go to a NADAC trial, I will let her run Tunnelers.
Marley will continue to travel with us to trials as a buddy to both KK and me. She will be watched carefully and she will receive whatever veterinary care she needs. She needs me in a way none of my other dogs do and I need her.
A judge at her second ever agility trial once told me, "When she grows up, she's going to be a great agility dog". And a great agility dog she was.
Don't forget about fun sports like tracking and nose work. Sometimes, a bad thing can open the door to new fun things. Maybe this is just a speedbump on your journey.
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