Kira

If you’ve met Kira, you’ll probably remember two things.

Her enthusiasm…

…and that she’s sometimes a little too smart for her own good.

One of the first lessons I learned in agility—and later again in bird dog training—was a simple saying:

The dog is never wrong. The handler is.

It took me a long time to understand what that really meant.

Dogs aren’t trying to make mistakes. They’re trying to understand us.

When something doesn’t go as planned, I’ve learned it’s usually better to take a break and try again another day.

Kira certainly does.

She loves learning.

A new trick.

A new game.

A new retrieve.

Or simply finding a different way of doing something I hadn’t thought of.

She’s incredibly independent, but she also loves working as a team.

One of my favorite little quirks is that she likes carrying her own leash whenever she gets the chance. She’ll even ask for it. Watching her proudly trot along with it in her mouth never gets old.

That trust wasn’t built overnight. It came from years of learning together, making mistakes together, and figuring each other out one adventure at a time.

Kira has taught me far more than I could ever teach her.

And somehow, I have a feeling she’s still not done.

— Pat