Poem #17- Raising Rooney- "Failure"

Rooney, June 2020, 15 months, practicing obstacles at a park in our neighborhood

When the dogs at CaPR are about a year old, they take a test to see if they are ready to go into advanced training. We had worked really hard, and I thought Rooney would do a good job, but he failed miserably. It seems there was an unfortunate incident where he was supposed to do a recall (the trainer is on one side of the room, and dog is on the other, the trainer calls, and the dog is supposed to bypass a toy and go directly to the trainer). Rooney not only didn't bypass the toy, he decided it would be a good time to play keep away. When I went to pick him up, all the trainer said was, "His recall isn't very good." 

And so, while some of the dogs went onto advanced training, Rooney and I stayed in the intermediate class for another 8 months (it probably wouldn't have been that long except for COVID). He just started advanced training two weeks ago, while Dune, another dog about his age, has been matched, and will go into service in the next couple of months. I guess the reminder for me is that just like with kids, not everyone progresses at the same rate. 

This poem is a cherita, a Malayan story poem. The cherita has three stanzas- the first stanza is one line, the second is two lines, and the third is three. My poetry tends to be a little wordy, so I'm trying to use some structures to make me write shorter. 

"Failure"

 I meant  to do a good job

but the stuffie was between me and miss angela
and I knew she put it there because she wanted to play

so when she called me, I picked it up

and yes, keep away may have been a bit much

but how can a guy turn down such a great opportunity?

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2021