Accepting What Is

Just came back from judging the novice ring of an obedience sho n go. We had a large entry (21) which was great - lots of noise and distractions. Novice started at 1:00 so I put Blitz in last so he'd be in around 3:00, which will be the start time of our debut this coming Friday. This gave him time to acclimate to his surroundings. I opted not to give him a long warm-up so as not to drain his energy. I don't know if that was the mistake or he is not feeling well, but it was an unimpressive novice run. He didn't pay good attention and worst of all, his little prance was not there. The "umf" was gone. That just isn't very fun. After heeling I played with him between set-ups going into figure 8 and he rallied a bit for that. More play and a fine stand for exam. More play. The heel free (which I used a thin string for precision) was a bit better but he just had trouble focusing. On the recall there was quite a bit of noise and he didn't react when I called him. I went up, collar-popped him and said "come!", praised and released and we did it again with a nice recall and finish. Oh, dear. Long sit was fine. Long down, his right rear leg did some very odd movements but he held his down.
After I finished judging, we did the recall again and again, he did not come. Another collar-pop. Then he came. I did a bit of heeling and it was apparent that he was very tired.
At night-time meal he took longer than usual to eat and struggled a bit with his kibble. So, I think we are having another downturn. Time to return to the specialist for a recheck.
But for now, I have to realize we can show - he really does want to work - but not to expect much. I will crate rest him on Thursday and Friday morning. After Friday, and a visit to the specialist we will take it from there. Very difficult to see what could have been, and what we will be in the ring this Friday. Again I wonder - is this really worth it? We will play this up to the minute. If he is this lackluster on Friday, I will pull him. If he's not enjoying himself, then there's just no point in it. And that is What is. And I need to accept it.