[nagdu] Matches

[Tracy Carcione]

I was thinking about matches, particularly mine with Benny, which is by no
means perfect but still works well enough.
First, he's the right size for me, with the right pace and pull.  That's
really important.  A dog that's too slow or too fast, or pulls too hard,
can be horrible to work, and, so far as I know, can only be modified so
far.  They have their comfortable pace, same as I do, and it works best
when both of us agree on what's comfortable.
Handling-wise, Ben might benefit from a sterner handler, or maybe a person
who could see a bit and catch him sooner when he's goofing off.  He's too
subtle for me.  But we bump along well enough.
The part where I think TSE did an amazing job is how well Ben fits my
lifestyle, and how well I fit his.  He loves the challenge of the big
city.  On those occasions where I've lived the car-to-building-to-car life
for a few days, he's gotten bored pretty quick and started looking around
for entertainment.
But he's also a low-energy dog.  He can go hard for 2 or 3 days, then he
wants some kick-back time.  But that works well, since I go into the City
2 or 3 times a week, then work from home the rest of the week.  Benny
wouldn't suit a busy student, or someone who has to make the giant commute
every day, but he suits me just fine.
I don't know if TSE knew all these things about Ben before they matched
us.  I'm pretty sure they didn't run him in to New York 5 days in a row,
for instance.  But, somehow or other, they gave me a dog, and him a
person, who suits pretty well.
Tracy