# Don't Ever Give Up!



## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

5 years ago, I adopted the cutest little puppy from a shelter. She was born to a large litter that started to die off. Rescue pulled the survivors who were orphaned at 3 weeks. 

Here she is:


Everything went great with her. She had her CGC at 5 months and her first AKC Rally title at 9 months. Then, all of a sudden, she became super fearful. I had to stop showing her all together. People told me to let her just be a pet because she couldn't take the pressure of training and travelling. I struggled to balance trying to "grow her" with trying to be fair. I pulled her from the ring for a year and a half. Then, I started training with a new trainer and tried once again to get her happy with performance. That's when everything went wrong. One night, she went up for a retrieve like this one:
She landed nearly paralyzed. That was one year ago this month. For months, she would walk with her feet knuckled under, fall down, and run into walls. She was terrified much of the time and hid under my bed. Here is a little video of her doing a dumb bell retrieve. Keep in mind that before the incident, she had this exercise totally nailed (ring ready), straight down and straight back. This shows her imbalance and confusion:
Well, we didn't give up. We came close, but we didn't. And we didn't stop dreaming. 

Now, in the last 2 months, this dog has gotten her CD, her Rally Advanced, her Rally Excellent, her Open Standard, her Open JWW, and her first Excellent Standard leg:

In about 60 days. 

When she got her CD, I almost lost it. When she got her open titles, I was too excited to even think about it. When she ran her first Excellent Standard course, I started to let myself dream again. My journey with this dog has been such a pleasure. I can't believe that she got to live. I can't believe that she grew brave again. I can't believe that we get to share this journey together. What a gift.

Thanks for reading. If you are struggling, hang in there and keep trying. With time, patience, good planning, and a lot of heart, everything can change.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

I love this post...keep dreaming and plugging away no matter how far away the goals feel. 


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## Kei San (Apr 14, 2013)

So inspiring! I'm glad you didn't give up on her! Good luck with yours and her journey!


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## Beagles (Jun 4, 2013)

Definitely got teary-eyed from this story! Amazing what can happen with a whole lot of perseverance and heart...


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

What an amazing and wonderful story ... and outcome! I am so very happy for you both!


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## melaka (Mar 31, 2010)

That's really inspiring. Congrats to you both!


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