A Game of Darts.

Hello! And, happy Spring to you all! The grass has been getting greener, the trees and bushes are growing leaves, and the flowers are starting to bloom. It feels like Spring is really here! New beginnings. It is so beautiful to witness.

You may remember that Blue and I delight in messiness, not perfectionism. Well, to be fair…this is 100% true for Blue. As for me…I want to delight in messiness. To feel the brilliance and freedom that comes with it. I’m not there yet…but Blue is guiding me.

Last week Blue and I did not publish our “weekly” newsletter. We wanted to…and we had some obstacles that demanded our attention. So, we acknowledge our messiness…and we begin again. And, moving forward we will aim for “mostly weekly” newsletters.

These past few weeks we’ve been thinking about distractions…

In Blue’s school, our beloved professors are consistently looking to challenge both dogs and humans. At the start of every group class…they will often ask if anyone has a skill they would like to work on. For example, we might ask to work on meet and greets or positional stops or 3 minute separations.

After taking into consideration any special requests…our professors will then implement a class plan to help us practice those skills. And, if there are no special requests…no worries because our professors come fully prepared with some elaborate teaching scheme to help us all see how much more there is to learn.

All classes begin with a warm-up session. In this portion of the class we practice walking in a “heeling circle” attempting to get our dog to settle in, focus on us, and ignore any distractions in the room…such as other dogs, other humans, and interesting smells. It’s like moving through a line at Disney World…staying close enough to keep the line moving…but still having a healthy respect for the personal space of the dog and human in front of us and behind us. I’ll just say that Blue and I have to work really, really hard to be mindful of our distance from the other spiritual beings in that room.

After the warm up session…we move into the main activities of the class. Often we get to play games and have fun. Actually, I should correct myself…often we get to play games, have fun AND get competitive! Oh do I love competition…even when I KNOW that I’m going to lose…there is just something so fun about competition!

Ummm…I'm not sure that Blue has that same competitive Spirit…he can be about a 1000% more laid back than I have EVER been. And, I haven’t really heard him trash talk with his peers the way we humans in the room do…

Ok…so Darts. We are not throwing actual darts. No, our dogs are the darts. And, I couldn’t be more proud of my boy Blue as he embraces his role in the game. Mama’s little dart piece. So brilliant and cute.

Here is the visual…

The class is divided in half. Half of the dogs and their humans form one line and the other half of the dogs and their humans form a second line. Both lines face each other and a runway is created between the two lines.

At one end of the runway is a “place” cot. This is a low, 4-legged stand with a mesh covering that we can ask our dog to “place” on. And then we can ask for a “sit” or “down”.

Next, our professor takes two long leashes and forms them into circles about halfway down the runway. So, now we have our dartboard with the bullseye.

You can already see that there are many challenges and distractions that we must work through…

- While standing in line to take our turn…we are surrounded by dogs and humans on either side of us. And, we have to move nicely down the line…minding our own business.

- We also have to stay in line while dogs take turns running down the middle of that runway, and sometimes they get super close to us.

- When it's our turn…there are humans and dogs all around the runway. And, Blue has to run through the middle of all of it…with the goal of running straight to me and not getting distracted.

- Sometimes the professors get especially testy and throw out treats and toys all over the floor…and Blue is supposed to ignore them. I mean…seriously?!?!

So, in Darts we are working on ignoring ALL of those distractions and practicing positional stops. That is stopping whenever we ask even if they are in full motion at the time.

Here is how it works…

I ask Blue to “place” and “sit” on the cot. And, then I walk down to the opposite end of the runway and call him to me. He starts running.

When he approaches the bullseye, I ask him to “sit”. And, if he sits directly in the bullseye…well I mean clearly he is the valedictorian for that day.

Let the games begin…

So Blue and I are now in this highly competitive game of Darts. In our line, and right next to us, is a cute little blonde dog. She is super sweet and gentle and attentive to her mom. And Blue has clandestinely decided that Miss Blondie is his gal.

It reminds me of a scene from Wicked, a play, and now a movie, that I LOVE. Longtime fan right here. In this scene, Glinda and Elphaba are having a conversation, and Glinda wants them to share a secret with each other that they have never told anyone. Glinda goes first:

Glinda - “Fiyero and I are getting married.”

Elphaba - “He asked you already?”

Glinda - “Oh, he doesn’t know yet.”

It’s like that with Blue. Miss Blondie is his little girlfriend…she just doesn’t know it yet.

It’s time for our first attempt and I ask Blue to “place” on the cot and “sit”. And, then I ask him to “wait”. I walk to the end of the runway, and I call him to me. As he approaches the bullseye…I say “sit” and Blue immediately sits in the bullseye. It was PERFECT. The golf claps and the oohs and ahhs ensue. I remain humble but also a bit of “oh yeah, that’s my boy” on the inside. If I’m being honest..its probably more like “oh insert expletive yeah, that’s my boy”...

And, it’s so funny because you really do hear whispers and soft conversations about how your dog performed. And gentle suggestions from the humans to their dogs about how they can observe and improve when it's their turn. I have those same conversations with Blue too!!

To complete our first round, I call Blue out of the bullseye and on to me. We rejoin our line right next to Miss Blondie. And we patiently work through the line and wait for our second turn. Still trying to avoid distractions while keeping Blue’s attention on me.

Our second attempt. Same exercise and I’m ready for round two of Blue’s incredible listening skills and brilliance. I ask Blue to “place” and “sit”. I walk to the end of the line and I call him. This time…his enthusiasm to get to me seems a little less than ideal and slightly concerning. He approaches the bullseye…and I’m about to say “sit”. It’s like time slows down and I can see what is happening…and I can’t stop it at that moment.

Blue has totally lost his focus. He caught a glimpse of Miss Blondie…and that was it. Blue ignores me and ever so casually swaggers over to his little girlfriend as if he saw her in the bar for the very first time. He introduces himself…and plays it cool. Blue is unaware of any other living being in that room besides her.

I walk over to Blue, pick up his leash, look at our professor and ask permission to try the exercise again. Granted permission, I do the walk of shame and escort Blue back to the starting “place” cot to begin again. And Blue…he is walking a little prouder, with even more swagger AND with absolutely no regrets. He was all in on his Miss Blondie distraction. And now he is ready to reset and begin again.

So now at our 2.5 attempt….we repeat the bullseye exercise, he does perfectly again...no big deal.

The connection.

Two different rounds of Darts…set up exactly the same. One we were all in…and the next…we got distracted.

Life is like that. Months, weeks, days, hours and moments are like that. Good distractions. Hard distractions. Escape distractions. They all can take us out of the present moment.

What I find so interesting with Blue is how he stays in the moment even when he moves to a distraction. And, then he is able to shift into the next moment. And, he doesn’t beat himself up.

For me…distractions occur differently. I can get lost in my head, and I’m not really present to anything. Time drifts away as I get lost in stories and what-ifs and all kinds of worst case scenarios. And then I am harsh with myself for my wasted focus and time.

Maybe you can relate?

So I’ve been thinking about how to face my distractions. And, Blue reminded me of a good starting point. And that is just to begin to have an awareness that I am distracted. No judgment around that. It’s just how it is.

And when I am able to come into that awareness, I can remember to focus on my breath. Just to close my eyes. And to rest a hand on my heart or my belly. Just to follow my breath as I inhale and exhale. And as I follow my breath moving through my body I can connect to this moment. And then this moment. And, then this moment.

And when the next distraction comes I can begin again. Afterall, there is so much beauty in new beginnings.

You may know I love quotes…

"Distractions can take us in an exciting direction but most often borrow our attention briefly without much resistance and take their sweet time giving it back. Distractions lure us in with an easy escape and then trick us by stealing our attention." -- Tara Stiles

Until our paths cross again we wish you the best,

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*If you missed it, please feel free to check out our first edition of the newsletter from 3-27-25. It is in the archive and does provide a little context as to why we started Dogs & Mindfulness.

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