Rescue Dog Profile – Peeka

A Profile of Kirsten Lake and her dog Peeka

 peeka-rescueThe first day I had Peeka at home with me, I remember thinking, “What did I do!”  She was small and fat and not what I had pictured when I started my search. The biggest problem is that she was probably five, which was way older than I wanted. To be honest, I think I adopted her because I was tired of looking at abandoned dogs and saying “no.”  I wanted to quit looking. 

peeka-jumpWhen I first got her, she spent a lot of time hiding under my bed. That’s why I signed up for agility. I didn’t know if her nervousness was a result of environment or biology, and I wanted to see if I could build her confidence.  She surprised me because from day one she loved doing agility.  There was no fear or hesitation … even with strange dogs and people around.

To be completely honest, all of our training struggles have been because of me, not Peeka.  She is always ready give it a try, even when she isn’t sure what in the heck I want and why my arms are flailing around.  She will patiently run and run again, while I try to figure myself out.  Her contacts are bad because of crummy foundation work.  She still struggles with weave entries because she can sense my nervousness.  But every time we are on the start line, she is excited to go.  Now that I am working with my second dog, I realize what a gift this is.

pinetopPeeka is my best friend.  To be honest, if she didn’t like agility, it wouldn’t matter.  But because of her, I was introduced to agility and I got hooked.  She has given me the patience and space I need to figure this sport out.  It turns out Peeka is my best agility teacher.

peeka-trial