The Insufficiency of Blame

We take a lot of photos of my dogs when I’m competing. Partly for the same reason one takes photos of anything–keepsakes, bragging rights, and (these days) Facebook shares.

But in large part, it’s a great way to figure out exactly what happened in the ring—things that seem inexplicable in the moment, but become all too clear with a series of photos or a bit of digital recording.

The thing is, it’s easy to blame a dog for what happens in the ring. And it’s true, sometimes Dart simply “gives me t...