Max was young and learning all sorts of agility equipment. At each new thing learned he would scream through the first time or two through then he would decide it was fun and rush through it again and again as fast as he could. He would often go to fast and not be careful enough before he learned to slow down.. This was not what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to show he was being careful and placing each foot on purpose.

Gracefullness was not his strong suit when he was so little, impatience was. He was not just learning agility. He was learning agility for search and rescue and so he could avoid dangers.

Listening to him scream as if to say "this is so hard" then immediately say "this is so fun that I have to do this over and over as fast as I can" was exhausting. I knew he would love it if he would get out of his own way. Then he would have to slow down so he wouldn't get hurt the split second he decided it was his new funnest thing to do.

Some of the items he learned was to crawl through a dark tunnel, climb a ladder, walk across a plank, walk on objects that moved under his feet, jump over objects, and any many more.

The biggest example when he got a little older was jumping in / out a 1 story window. He was so scared at first but once he finally did it he ran around and did it over and over until I caught him in mid air and restrained him from keeping on. He had to learn to listen since years later we were searching a house with an open 2nd story window. He wouldn't have known the difference. So dangerous. He had to learn balance and to listen to commands.

Isn't that so much like us in life? We scream, "it is hard" when having to learn new things, then we often throw caution to the wind once we do it once or twice. We are also impatient with ourselves. We need to learn a happy medium. Practice our skills become good or great at something without being reckless.

I am extremely grateful for the ones in my life who have taught me how to grow, stretch my comfort zone, laugh, and give me support. I am also thankful for a hair clip side gig that allows for many jeep trips, and it is the perfect way to contain the crazy jeep hair into beautiful hair. Here are the links if you are interested in the Jeep Jewelry www.gatewoodsjubilee.biz. or you can go to www.LillaRose.biz/Gatewood for that amazing hair Flexiclip.

The jeep hairclips are available with this Google form or at a show. To get a free video of 9 easy hairstyles and a chance to win a free Flexi Sport, register here: MuddyDogJeepBlog . For more styling videos you can check out my YouTube channel Gatewood's Jubilee .

Max - Puppy Story - the mean agility equipment