I’ve got a great story for you!
Here goes:
When I made my first World Championship team in 2007, I felt like a total outsider.
I was surrounded by legends—Anne Braue, Carrie Jones, Linda Mecklenburg—handlers I had idolized for years. These were the people I had studied, watched, and learned from, never really imagining I’d stand on the same team as them. It was surreal.
I spent most of that trip trying to prove (mostly to myself) that I belonged. And yet, of all the moments from that first World Championships, there’s one that stands out the most.
One night, my teammates convinced me to join them on a little “adventure.” There was a road sign—a World Championships sign—sitting in the middle of a Norwegian roundabout. It would be tossed after the event was over, but we figured… why let a perfectly good memento go to waste?
And so there I was, lying in a ditch with my agility idols, waiting for the road to clear so we could steal a sign.
I never DREAMED I’d be in that position—part of the team, in on the joke, making memories with the people I once thought were untouchable. And yet, that’s how these journeys go. At first, you’re looking up at others, convinced they’re in a league of their own. But if you stick with it long enough, you realize you’ve gone from admiring to belonging.
Even if it IS belonging in a ditch waiting for the getaway van to pull over to retrieve you, your teammates, and your stolen sign.
Over the years, I went on to represent Team USA at several more World Championships, with not just my first dog, Jester, but also with Solar, Frodo, and Chispa. Some of those teammates from 2007 eventually stepped away from competing, but even after all these years, I still feel like a fangirl. I still have the utmost respect for them, and I know that without their example leading the way, I wouldn’t have been as motivated to chase after my own dreams.
That sign still hangs in Linda Mecklenburg’s arena today.
And that’s the thing—our journey isn’t just about titles and placements. It’s about the people who inspire us, the ones who push us forward, and the unexpected moments we collect along the way.
So tell me—what’s one agility memory you never expected to have? Leave a comment below and share it with me. I’d love to hear your story.
See you on the course,
Daisy
