Marilyn Buford
I’ve struggled in writing this because Elsie was such an important person in my life and there is so much – too much – to write here.
I met Elsie in 2005, I think, after I adopted a rescue beagle and a friend suggested I explore doing agility with her. Shelley had a limited recall, at best, and I didn’t want her to be lost from me, so I looked for indoor/fenced training and found A Click Above online. I was lucky enough to get into an introductory class there and so very lucky to have Elsie as our teacher. Little did I know that we had landed at the premiere training facility in the Mid-Atlantic, nor that being Elsie’s student would change my life in so many wonderful ways.
Elsie was very patient with me, making me feel so welcome and not at all awkward even though I didn’t have a clue. Once when I came out of our class turn shaking my head, Elsie asked me what I was unhappy about because Shelley had done what I asked of her. I said that I wasn’t unhappy with her, but with myself for sending her off course. Elsie took me by the shoulders, looked me straight in the eye and told me that I was never to let my dog see my disappointment no matter how things went because building and protecting my dog’s confidence was the most important thing happening out there. I have always remembered that. When Shelley and I began competing, we were the zoomie queens – and Elsie was always there encouraging, teaching and coaching us. Shelley would lie down waiting for our turn in the ring and roll over for a belly rub. Elsie gave her the nickname Shelley Belly, and I loved it.
When my little Dancer came along, we worked very hard, but it became clear that the competition ring was too much for her and sometimes class was too. Elsie helped me to understand that even though we could not see the demons that Dancer did, that they were very real to her. Elsie was so generous and always had room for us in her class so Dancer and I could work together at vanquishing her demons. In all of my time working with Elsie, she never ever said “that’s good – for a beagle” – nor did anyone ever say that to me at ACA -- which was a testament to her kindness and leadership and the kindness of the community she imagined and helped build.
During my cancer treatment, Elsie would regularly check in with me. Those check-ins helped me stay connected in important ways. The One Mind Dog folks came to ACA the week after my last chemo treatment. There was no way I could have done any of the physical part of the workshop at that point -- Elsie gifted me an auditing spot so I could come and learn and be part of things. When Mom came to visit me, Elsie made her feel so welcomed and they talked for hours like long lost friends. It was as if Elsie was reassuring Mom that she, and the agility community she had given me, would take good care of me.
When I neared retirement and was getting ready to move back home to Texas, Elsie asked who I was going to train with in Texas and I said that I didn’t know. When she and Diann came back from a big trial a couple of weeks later, they told me that they had picked out our teacher in Texas, that things were all set, and I just needed to make contact. They gave me to Renee King – a wonderful teacher and now treasured friend, and in the process, gave me a whole wonderful Texas agility family to add to my Mid-Atlantic agility family.
Elsie showed me her generous heart and gracious love throughout the years I knew her. I loved her and am proud to have had her for a teacher and a friend.