Party Crasher at Novice Camp

 

Pre-historic visitor to agility camp!

Well Novice camp started off with some excitement as this young lady decided she needed to lay her eggs right at the end of my opening sequence!  Every year at the end of May-first week of June, the turtles come up from the pond to lay their eggs. We have two varieties, the cutie-putie type painted turtles and the sort picture here which are snapping turtles.  

The snappers, luckily for us, prefer the water in our woods behind our house at it is a running creek.  The dogs never go back there as the brush is pretty thick. The only worry is this time of year when they come up onto our hay field to lay eggs.

It was entertaining for all of us, as it usually is each year, but this girl wouldn’t leave us alone!   John put up a snow fence to keep the dog’s away from her while she finished her job but once she was done she came up onto the agility field to get a closer look. That is when John loaded her into this wheel barrow to take her back to the woods.

After that adventure was over we all settled into have quite a great camp! It was suggested throughout camp on several occasions that “that was a gem Susan, you have to post it to your blog” so here I will leave you with one of them.

I commented to the group to not be concerned about the speed of their novice dogs. I spend a lot of time rewarding my young dogs close at my hips or “reinforcement zone” as Greg Derrett coined the phrase. In the midst of sequences I will often reward a dog for driving back to RZ. For this reason they are not all “launchy” and “powerful” when we start running courses together.

I used the example of Feature and Encore. When each of them came out most people commented on how “slow”  each one looked. At Feature’s first two trials she could not get within 3 seconds of any of Encore’s times. Only a couple of weeks ago John said to me he thought she would never be as fast as Encore. Well even though that would not change how I felt about her, I was pretty sure John was wrong and she proved it last weekend at the Ontario Regionals.

You shouldn’t want your novice dogs to be frantically grabbing obstacles, squirreling around like mad. The power and the speed will come, but the time spent working on the finesse will pay off down the road. It is far easier to teach collection and thoughtfulness to your young dog before they realize they are equipped with a 400 horsepower engine and a set of Pireili tires– then after!

Today I am grateful for the improvement every dog and handler showed over the 2 days at the camp formerly known as “Novice” camp.  See you all next year at “Growing the Teamwork Camp!”

I Don’t Get It . . .

So I am looking over my registrations for the upcoming Novice camp this week and I don’t quite get it. Why do people trip over themselves to get into a masters camp (we have been full for some time for our July Masters camp) but do not want to make the investment in their novice dog? (as I write this we still have 3 spots open for camp this week).  I won’t give you another one of my foundation, foundation, foundation rants (ok I just did:)) but to me it is a head scratcher.

My “novice” dog Feature just debuted at her first “big event.” Her only fault was one knocked bar in her last class (4th to last obstacle). In the three classes where I didn’t have to hold her contacts; Jumpers1, Jumpers2 and Steeplechase Finals, no dog in any height class beat her time except Encore (but only by a few hundreds of a second). She didn’t just beat your run-of-the-mill-dogs’ times here either, as there were more than a half a dozen current and former Canadian and US World Team dogs in that group.

I am not writing this just to boast about how great my young dog is. My point is that this “novice” dog of mine has a career that is exactly four months old.  She just turned two this month and is already performing like a pro. She still has lots to learn, but the start has been an impressive one, even by my standards. 

Now here is the kicker. This is not the first time this has happened to me. Feature is actually my seventh agility dog I have owned throughout my lifetime and every single one of them have been great. Every single won of them has won National or World championships events or both. When I won my first US Nationals with “Stoni” back in 1996 people said it was  “fluke.” After more than a decade of winning with my dogs, doing it in every jump height (7 jump heights in all) I am going to go out on a limb and state I am pretty confident it is more than luck that is behind the success.

I know I can help those of you struggling with dogs making novice mistakes. Why is it then that  you wait until your dog is in Masters before you seek out help? By then a lot of bad habits have been set for you and your dog and change becomes more difficult. Life is so much easier if you start with a solid foundation of understanding in your novice dog.

This past January, Greg and Laura Derrett and I ran 2 camps in Florida. The first one was a novice-advanced level 3 day event. The 2nd was a 3 day masters. Guess what, the masters camp was full in a matter of days, the novice one never even approached half full. In the end, I had Greg and Laura teach the camp on their own and I changed my role to that of student where got to work Feature for the 3 days. It worked out awesome for me, that is for certain! It was amazing to get in 3 solid days of work with my “green” dog just before she was about to start her agility career.

This week marks the first summer in 5 years we have offered a novice camp here at Say Yes. I did it because I really believe it is where the focus should be, but now I realize why I stopped offering them in the past. So what gives? Do you want to come to a masters workshop because you think you may be missing out on some ninja secrets if you only do the Novice camp?  Honesty it would be more the opposite. We teach more concepts in a Novice camp and only work the finesse of those concepts at the Masters level.

So what’s up, how do I (we) motivate those of your with novice dogs or even masters dogs that are still struggling with fundamentals to sign up for a novice handling camp? It is so important but how do I convince all of you out there of it’s importance?

Today I am grateful for a weekend at home. The next three weeks are going to be a whirlwind for me but I promise all of you I will not forget you, the blog will be up and running.

An Epidemic of “Buck Fever”

My observations from the Ontario regionals this week can be summed up by a comment I am borrowing from a friend. I was talking to a business colleague yesterday and he used the phrase “Buck Fever.”  He spoke about how a marksman on the practice range can hit any target in any situation or environmental stressor. However put that same shooter out in the bush with the adrenaline pumping and he can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Now as a vegan I may not be crazy about an analogy of hunting down a defenseless animal, however the point is a good one and one I saw played out a lot at the Ontario regionals this past weekend.

I saw many competitors, some my students, some just people I have seen at trials in the past that normally execute pretty well. Their handling choices are normally decent, decision making about “what to do if things do not go as planned” is generally instinctively good. However put these people in a “big event” such as the Ontario regionals and they are stricken with Buck Fever.

Suddenly handling becomes less sensible and more erratic, feet don’t move when they should and the mouth goes when it shouldn’t. At home or in an “regular weekend trial” this doesn’t happen. The biggest problem is that your dog counts on your calm, insightful direction to get him around the course. Once Buck Fever hits, your handling resembles someone juiced up on triple expresso swatting at an annoying mosquito in the dark. 

So what is the antidote to Buck Fever? This may be depressing for some of you but, the best antidote to Buck Fever is success. The more you rehearse being at a big event and handling the way you want the more likely it is that you will be able to do it again and again.  Of course immunity starts only with a solid understanding of dog training and handling. There is no cure without consistency away from the big events. Remember you need to be able to hit the easy targets at home first!

I still suffer from occasional minor bouts of BF myself, especially when I run a new dog for the first time. However just like your immune system, recovery is faster the more you have fought it off in the past. So this past weekend my standard, jumpers and Steeplechase runs with Feature where all pretty good.  I was completely relaxed (cold due to the weather but relaxed) going in. Even on Saturday where it was Day One and we were the first team on the line to start the competition, we ran well and she was only a few tenths of a second behind Encore who won the class. No BF for me here.

Where I did get hit a bit was in the Gamblers class. Quiet honestly it is because I rarely do Gamblers in Canada and it is a lot harder than anywhere else in the world (to start there is a minimum of 18′ distance challenge).

The first step to overcoming BF for all of us is to rehearse success.  Don’t wait for it, go out and create your own success. Since the judge won’t let us have a “do over” you need to rehearse this success in your mind before you go in.  Run your run many times before you step to the line. Then when you actually step into the ring you are on one of your “do overs.”  You should know exactly where every obstacle is, how you plan on executing,  what your next move is and when you need to leave to get there.

Recently someone posed a question to the blog about what to do when your visualization before a run turns to crap.  When you can’t seem to visualize your run without your dog going off course or knocking a bar. Here is a secret I learned from my good friend Greg Louganis. It is a good one, so take note. Allow it to happen. Don’t visualize only the perfect runs. If you brain needs to open the door where crap happens, go ahead and look in through that door.  Acknowledge that that scenario is one of many possible outcomes. How are you feeling? Did you cause the error?  How can you compensate for it?  Adjust and finish that run with your ‘blip’ in it. Acknowledge that you still love your dog just as much even though you didn’t run perfectly together. There is still no world peace and the outcome of your run hasn’t changed anything of any real importance in your life. Now you should be able to close the door of failure and go back to visualizing success. 

Learn from your struggles to visualize. I struggled visualizing my second gamblers runs this weekend with both Encore and Feature but I ignored it. Perhaps next time this happens I will look at possibly altering my opening plan until I could visualize it well and go with what I have succesfully run in my own mind. This is not, by any means, all the mental prep anyone needs to do well in sport, but it is a start.

 Realize that Buck Fever hits everyone hard at some point in their career but it is not fatal. It is a normal process for anyone putting themselves out there to be judged in any walk of life. It is simply an affliction that attacks our humility.  A full recovery can be expected.  You can build your immunity first by improving your handling and dog training skills.  However resistance to disease does come with continued exposure. So don’t step away from your chance to perform under pressure, you will get better eventually. Everyone that sticks with it does. Rather than judging yourself, learn from your experiences and as the slogan from this weekend says, learn to “enjoy the ride.”

Today I am grateful for the booster shot against Buck Fever that I received this weekend. Just like most inoculations, it often hurts at first, but the long term benefits are worth the momentary pain.

How Handling Systems are like Spandex

We had a full day of handling here yesterday and another one planned for today. Double box times two! Yesterday was a group of mostly high drive dogs, 11 of the 14 being over-the-top Border Collies.  For the most part, all of the dogs worked very well.  However, at the end of the day, I had to give the group, a little collective smack down. I was a bit miffed at the fact that of all the dogs working, there were only 2 that had a solid start line (one of which was one of my instructors).  

Even if you are a lightening fast runner, having a dog that you can count on to wait at the start line will be a benefit to you throughout your career. I personally believe that the lead out is critical to a dog learning that your body position remaining motionless in a certain spot, translates to an upcoming turn.  This understanding of “positional cues” is an important part of Greg Derrett’s handling system, thus a solid start line is a big help when running in Greg’s system.

You may notice that I rarely talk about handling on this blog. Handling systems are definitely a matter of personal choice. I have been a fan’s of Greg Derrett’s system since my first introduction almost 10 years ago. However, I don’t write much about handling here because I want this blog to be a welcomed source of dog training to everyone. Handling discussions have the potential to divide people into defensive positioning of “us” against “them.”  Although, I am thrilled with the results I have gotten with all of my dogs while  following Greg’s system, I respect the right for all to handle how they feel is best for the dog.  

Handling system preferences have definitely created some “cliques” at agility trials. It is so easy for innocently intending comments to be overheard and turned into fuel for such a climate. It is my wish that this attitude doesn’t prevent anyone from learning from the information that I share here or in my newsletters.   Don’t get me wrong, I have very strong opinions when it comes to my own handling choices, but, just like wearing spandex, it is a matter of personal preference and that has got to be okay.  

At the risk of sounding altruistic, I will tell you that my vision for this blog is to create an atmposphere of inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness.   I want it to be a place for anyone (regardless of handling preferences) who is interested in good, science-based dog training, to ask questions, share their thoughts and collectively help dogs everywhere to be better understood. To this end, handling discussions will be kept to a minimum, however I will occasionally wear spandex as I type.

Today it is Feature’s 2nd birthday and I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to have her influencing my dog training and my life.

A Special Gift for You!

Lots of great lessons were discovered during my recent time out west. There is one lesson though, that I find myself repeating over and over again when I teach, and yet still I don’t see the change in people’s behaviour.  You know the old saying “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.”  Just like in dog training, if you don’t get the results you hope for, you need to look at your approach to your problem. I have changed my approach to this deliemma ALOT over the years while teaching people. My efforts have produced only moderate success at getting people to alter their behaviour. In my opinion this could be the single biggest reason why dogs stress in agility. It could be responsible for the dogs that stress low exhibiting their stress with sniffing, wandering off, shutting down and also why dogs stress high–running off to do “zoomies” or just grabbing obstacles without their handlers. I have no science to back up my theory, but if this isn’t the biggest reasons dogs slow down or lose focus on their handlers in agility, it sure is r-e-a-l-l-y close to the top. 

So what is the reason? To find out you have to sign up to my newsletter. I just completed a podcast for everyone and for now it is free for all to download. Remember I said if you don’t see the change you are looking for in your training you need to change your approach, so this is my change of approach. You get to have me yakking in your ear for ten minutes to try and drive my point home to you.

If you receive my newsletter you will have already been given the link to the podcast download. If you don’t get the newsletter go to  my website now and a new pop up subsription form will be waiting to greet you there.

Please everyone after you listen to the podcast be sure to come back and leave a comment here to let me know what you think of it.

Today I am grateful that the internet dude is coming to fix my connection today, love Starbucks, but love convenience more!

MAC Trial

Well another one in the books. It was cold and snowy here the first day I arrived in Minnesota, well dah. It is Minnesota and it is February! A really well run trial. The girls from Omaha were up and I have to thank Brittney and Dana for making sure my runs got videoed. Some of the runs were a dog’s breakfast.  The  footing was new for me and my dogs, very deep, loose footing. Great for landing, nice and soft for the dogs but very tough for my short little legs to run through. Feature adjusted well and won all her classes on Sunday. She now needs only 2 legs to move into Masters. Encore and I OTOH had the worst weekend of agility we have ever had together. She had a few bars down in her first run but Carol Smorch worked on her and it really made a big difference.  She did have some very pretty runs, winning Standard today and getting the odd other leg but I am just not used to her and I not being in ‘sync’ when we run together. It is like she is driving so hard and fast she is anticipating where the course will go rather than allowing me to show her. My back has been bothering me off and on for the last few months so I am not moving as well as I used to, plus I am in the worst shape I have been in in the last few years. I am sure that all of that has some impact on her. I will have to study the video tapes both from Florida and from Minnesota and see what I may be missing because her consistency is not the way it should be and certainly is not typical for missy En.  The highlight of the weekend, aside from the great company, would have to be the two girlies each winning their height class in the Grand Prix on Saturday.  Here is the video.  Judge Cherie Whittenburg put up a challenging but fun course, I for one obviously enjoyed running it!  

I teach for the next two days here in Minnesota before I head down to Wisconsin on Wednesday where I start a five day teaching stint there. 

Today I am grateful for the new friends I am meeting in Minnesota, great hospitality and the dry roads for driving:)

A New Goal for All of Us to Aim For

The trial I was at on Friday was a small one. There were two standard runs and in the second one, Feature was the only 26″ dogs (video included below).  However with this very small trial there where still 3 people (that I knew of) competing (and doing very well) that were between 77-81 years old!  I mean they were really impressive! It was truly inspiring, really. One of them was struggling a bit to run hard as he had a bit of a bad leg, but the other two were running hard, I am pretty sure they could have out-run me (ok no jokes any of you that have seen me run). Around mid-day I was leash running for one of the biggest class of the day and started whining a bit about why did I have to pick the largest class to leash run, and why would I pick leash-running in the first place?  All that bending over, picking up and moving those leashs back and forth. You know, the usual belly-aching, all done very tongue in check mind you, cutting up in front of my friends. Anyway I laughed out loud to myself when I saw one of these gently-aging competitors leash-running for the VERY LAST CLASS OF THE DAY!  So we all were moaning about what a long day we had, running all those extra runs, yada, yada, yada and here this lady in her late seventies was leash running for that same big class I had done earlier in the day!

Anyway here are a couple of Feature’s runs from Friday. The first one is her standard run where she thought about her nose touch on the seesaw a bit too late, but quickly righted what she felt was an obvious wrong by pulling the seesaw back down to do her job properly. Entertaining for all of us, including the judge. And no, I never ask her to do this in practice. I don’t believe in putting a dog back on the end of the contact if they have come off for any reason (I would prefer to have them repeat the entire obstacle).  The next run is her last jumpers run of the day. She makes me laugh how she has to “pose” at the start line, stretching out as long as she can and then before I release her, she shifts her weight into her rear engine, like she is engaging the power-boasters before take off.  She just cracks me up.

Near the end of the day I was chatting with an Ontario agility legend, Shirley McRitchie.  Shirley turned 80 last year and still runs two very fast mini dogs (a Sheltie and an Eskie). Not that long ago Shirley won our Ontario regionals with one of her American Eskimos. Did I mention she will be 81 this year!!!! So Penny and I are moaning about our aching bodies and Shirley tells us she has been volunteering at the Ontario Provincial Curling Championships all week (and this is Canada where Curling is a HUGE sport). Yes, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday she does everything from selling stuff in the souvenir booth, to selling tickets at the door, to working in the snack bar. She shows up Friday morning bright and early to run agility  (aaah yeah, she also lives an hour drive away–of course she drove alone:)). She runs her two dogs all day, up to and including the very last class, collects her boat-load of ribbons and heads out in a hurry because she is working at the Championships again first thing Saturday morning. HOLY CRAP!! This lady rocks I tell you (no curling pun intended).

During the conversation Shirley says to me “so are you going to make a goal of trying to run dogs in agility when you are 80?” I tell her, “Shirley I am way to competitive for that, what ever you do I want to do one year more, so keep on kickin’ it and set that bar high for me!”  I know she will.

Today I am grateful for amazing competitors like Shirley McRitchie who help to make a day at an agility trial, time very well spent.

The Trophies are in a Box in the Basement

Here is a comment posted to yesterday’s blog that I think is worth highlighting. It came in from Trish who asked:

Wondering… as a handler that is ‘watched’ every time she competes – what pressure do you feel (externally or internally) to make each run as good as it can be? In other words, how do you get past not winning, in order to ensure excellent contacts (as an example). Do you ever feel self concious knowing that there are plenty of poeple watching that don’t get what you are trying to achieve

This couldn’t have been more timely. I was at a local AAC trial yesterday with Feature and Encore. Between the two of them I ran in 8 classes (and Encore was in an extra class FEO). So with the 2 girls I ran; 2 Steeplechase courses, 2 Jumpers courses and 4 standard courses. Feature’s only fault all day was she hit the seesaw too fast and slide right off the end. While  nose target the ground, she immediately realized something wasn’t right, so before it had a chance to get away, she pulled the returning seesaw board back to the ground got on & continued nose targeting properly. It all happened in a matter of a split second. It was very funny, not qualifying, but very funny.  She won every other class including the Steeplechase where she was running against all dogs, not just novice. Encore won only 1 class, place in another. We had a couple bobbles in Standard and a complete disaster in jumpers. As I was walking to the car someone offered to carry one of my crates and making small talk, asked me “I see the videos of you at World Championships and you are consistently great, why do you think you do so crappy at these trials?  The question made me smile inside, as I had just won or placed in 5 of 8 classes but when Encore and I screwed up we did it in style and that is what gets remembered. I smiled and told him these trials are just that, a trial, an evaluation to see what are my and my dog’s limitations and skill level. Feature did at least 3 nose touches on each of her stopped contacts, I wasn’t concerned with her times, but she still had a faster time than any other dog in all the other heights (note, it was a VERY small trial). With Encore in Jumpers I tried a 8 obstacle lead out that was a disaster to the point of being funny actually. I would never have done that at a world championships because it would have been too risky (and I don’t think as fast as running). At local trials I am experimenting and exposing holes in my dog’s understanding in order to give me something new to work on when I get home.  For example here was Feature’s novice standard opening.

 

Even thought I was well ahead of her when she took obstacle 3 she curled in front of me and tried to go in the wrong end of the tunnel. I managed to call her back and we finished up very nicely. Someone in the classed asked why I didn’t handle the opening with her on my left rathe than the right. The reason is simple. I know she would go into the correct end of the tunnel with me on that side but I also know she should drive into the correct end with her running on my right. I needed to see where her understand was.  So do I feel “pressure” to win? No. Those of you that have had success no matter the level. It could be you are the fastest upcoming novice dog in your area. Or you may have been blessed with the good fortune to have won a class or two at the nationals. It doesn’t matter, any success can be a distraction. 

As much as we all love to hear wonderful things about what we are doing or have accomplished, I tell my students to keep the trophies in the closet. The moment you start polishing them in public is the moment you will lose a step heading towards the ultimate goal of being the best you can possibly be. I have a boat load of trophies that I have won over the years. I won my first agility trophy in 1992 so I have been collecting them a while. Up until last year the they all lived in boxes in the basement. When I would win something I would put the trophy on the kitchen counter and leave it there in the middle of everything. Each time I walked into the kitchen I would look at it and feel proud about what my dog and I had accomplished. Then one day I would walk in and I wouldn’t see the trophy but I would see my kitchen and think “what is this big junky thing doing in my kitchen?”  That would be the day the trophy went  to a box in the basement. Sometimes that “day” would be the very same day I put it there (like if the “win” to me really felt was a “loss” —see  blog post from a couple of days ago). Other times the trophy may sit there for 4 or 5 days. I would wait until it hit me that this thing looked out of place and I need to move on. Never has it been more than a few days. When we were packing the house to tear it down last spring John wanted to throw all of the trophies away (I couldn’t let him do that) so all of the boxes were transported to our training building where two of my instructors decided some of them needed to be on display. For me the “box” imagery that has developed in my head will always be the same. The trophies will sit on the kitchen counter and then be put in “the box” to get me thinking about what else me dog needs to know. 

I leave you with two more random thoughts from my good friend Greg Louganis that best describe what I am trying to saying; “It is important to do your homework to succeed, but most important to know what your homework is.” and “Freedom is being independent of the “good” opinions of others. Flattery is very seductive and can derail goals”

Winning When You Lose and Losing When You Win

I got a note from a student recently that was thrilled with her performance at a weekend trial, earning her first ever “double Q” in an AKC trial, the first step toward her MACH, gathering a boat load of mach points in the process as she was 18 seconds under time and 1.9 seconds faster than the 2nd place dog. She send me the video clip of her two runs. Now this dog was raised in our program, taught with a nose touch on his contacts and his nose touch in the trials that I have seen him in have been lovely, I tell you that in preparation for what I saw on the video. In the first one, a jumpers run I saw the dog lift his bottom up and down in place twice as she walked out to her lead out position. Other than that the run was beautiful. However that small movement , I know will lead to a broken start line down the road. How can I be sure? Because I have seen it over and over and over in the more than 15 years I have been coaching people in this sport. Next was her standard run. The start line was similar, however only one movement not two, but this time it was not up and down movement,  it wasa  slight creep forward, again all with the handler walking away, with her back to her dog.  The handling execution was beautiful I am proud to say, good choices, great timing, great execution. The dog hit the seesaw first and was not even given the chance to nose touch as the handler released him the moment his paws hit the ground. His running A Frame was lovely as he flowed through the course. The second to last obstacle was the dogwalk, again I expected a stop with a nose touch or two at the end. The dog paused in the middle of the yellow and looked up at his handler, who, without hesitation, released him on to the last jump and her first double Q.

As a coach this was a tough video to watch. I am thrilled with the handling and several other moments of brilliance but I had to put a damper on the celebration with a warning of what I know will come next.  I hate to be the voice of predicted doom and gloom. I try to do it gently (okay maybe not, but I take no joy in it, really). Written in our school on the white board at the front of the classroom (I really need to get a permanent sign made up as I have  re-written this dozens of times over the years) is this great quote from Zig Zigler: “The main reason for people’s lack of success in life is their willingness to give up what they want most of all, for what they want right now.”   Read this quote again and then go and write it at the top of your current goals setting sheet. It doesn’t matter if your goal is a MACH, or to lose 25 lbs or to be the best mother you can be. The truth is we fall short of these goals when get too wrapped up in living for this moment and not looking towards long term success. I really want to lose weight but I am really hungry and this candy bar is right here in front of me. . . . giving up what you want most of all for what you want right now. Many of the dog’s trained with us start with a dog walk performance that takes around 2.0 seconds. If it is a Border Collie it may be a few tenths under 2 sec, if it is a Golden or a Doberman, it may be a few tenths over. If criteria is not maintained in the first year or two of trialing, these times get closer to the 3 sec mark or over. You give up what you want most of all, “to be fast” in order to try to win the immediate race, in order  “to be fastest today.” I have had students tell me “I want to be on the world team, so I had to blow off my contacts for the year to get me there.”  Personally I wouldn’t want to be at the world championships without great contacts. Perhaps your journey is not to be on the world team. Why not see if you can make it there while maintaining great criteria? Does that mean you wait for 2 or 3 nose touches in the finals of big event? No of course not, but it does mean you don’t rip your dog away from the end of a contact before he has at least driven to his 2o2o position. I remember when Encore earned a place in her first USDAA Grand Prix National finals, she was 2 years old. The night before the run I asked myself  “was I going for the win or going for the investment.” Going for the win with an inexperienced,  2 year old dog, would mean this dog would get a chance to learn “when there are big crowds, the rules are all gone.”  I could have gone for the win and possibly gotten it, but then what would my future have been with this young dog? My decision was to make sure I got clear nose touches on my contacts and set this young dog up to realize it doesn’t matter how big the crowd is, you still have to do your job. There are many fast dogs out there in agility. What if I had gone for the win with this 2 year old dog and fell short?  I would have ended up not getting what I wanted right now plus would have taken a step in the wrong direction of what I wanted most of all. With Encore now being a five year old dog,  I do have the ability to release her as soon as her paws come to the ground as I made that investment when she was younger to give me multiple nose touches in the ring. However, even when I am going for the win, I still have discreet criteria that I look for before she gets that release. That is how you ensure long term success with a stopped contact. I know I will hear from those of you that compete in Europe with the lament “but we have a win-out system, we can’t do this and win!”  Well I have found there are excuses and there are challenges. Excuses give you a reason to be mediocre, while challenges give you a reason to find a solution. It is up to each of us to decide either to find solutions around our own obstacles or to become comfortable with mediocrity.

  Looking at my student’s video, I asked her if she felt the day was a success? Of course the answer was “yes.” What if the dog had knocked the last bar? Could she have given me the same answer? No, because not only would he have not earned that double Q, but suddenly the start line performance and her lack of criteria on the contacts would have been more apparent.  However, if she had maintained criteria on her start line and all of her contacts she could have looked back at the video and been beaming as it would have been a great investment in this young dog’s future, even with that knocked bar at the end. Certainly with 18 seconds under course time, there was time to spare and she could have enjoyed both.

There are many times I have “won” a class but I would view the round as a “loss” due to my lack of execution as a handler. It will make me examine the video tape and go home and work hard to improve that skill. There are other classes I have “lost” perhaps because we weren’t the fastest that day or maybe a questionable call by a judge, yet I know I have won because we executed a flawless brilliance together that day. Your success in the ring should never be rated as your outcome compares to other competitors or the clock, it should always be how you have done compared to the best that you could have done. Viewing the sport in this way will pretty much gaurentee you will never look at your dog with disappointment or frustration and you will never lose your love for competing. Never allow the outcome on the score card determine your sense of accomplishment for the day or how hard you should work the following week.

Today I am grateful to know that we all have choices and that the consequences of our choices become the building blocks of our future success.

Running the “baby” dog

Well Feature and I had a chance to get to know each other better as a dog and handler team while we were in Florida. First of all, we worked together at camp for three days and then we had two weekends of trialing. I have to say bringing out a new dog is one of the few times I still get nervous in agility anymore. I think it is the unknown factor. At a world championships I am excited, but I know my dog and know if I do my job she will do hers. There isn’t all of those unknowns that there is with a dog in the ring for the first time like; Did I train enough? Is she mentally mature enough? How will she react to the judge? The other dogs, the leash runners and other distractions found at a trial? Did I prepare the dog well enough at home before I have taken her to her first trial?  You shouldn’t have any of these questions with your older dogs, but no one can be really certain to the answers of those questions with a baby dog.  Ideally, if you have done your foundation work, these questions will be more or less answered in your first couple of runs. 

When I think of my first three agility dogs; Shelby, Stoni and Twister, all were phenomenal dogs, all were National Champions, as a matter of fact between the three of them they won 12 National Championships, however my level of confidence of what I would get in the ring was not there for years with them (and for Twister it took most of her career before I had that level of confidence.) By way of contrast, Encore won both a Grand Prix and a Steeplechase class when she was 18 month of age.  Feature at 20 months old, came 2nd in the Grand Prix in Florida and qualified in both of her Steeplechase classes (coming 4th in one and 2nd in round one). The difference is the work I do away from the equipment, that and Greg Derrett’s handling system. Foundation work allows me to keep mistakes down to a minimum when the dog does get in the ring. I don’t work my dogs on ‘real’ agility equipment until they are 14 or 15 months old, by that time they understand how to weight shift to drive into contact position and are less likely to make mistakes. Greg’s system allows the young dog to understand my movements right from the start. It is all dog training really. That is why the Greg’s system works so well with my dog training program. It is all just science. Dog training is science and handling is just dog training. You have trained your dog to sit, you give a cue to “sit” and the should respond, immediately. When you handle, you give cues with your body; arm changes, motion or positional or occasionally verbal cues. You should have the same expectancy with those cues as you do with all of your other dog training. It is all just science, it is black and white and once you understand how it works both you and your dog will be much happier. How well you have taught your handling cues and how consistent you are with their use will indicate how much success you will have with your young dog in the ring.

Here is collection of some moments that Feature and I had at the trials in Florida, I put in some great ones and some not so great ones to show she is still a baby and she and I are still learning about each other. She is learning the boundaries of my criteria and I am learning to gauge her speed (which I failed miserable at several times). Overall I couldn’t have been more happy with her performance, in and out of novice in two weekends.

Today as I look at the early accomplishments of my youngster,  I am grateful to Bob and Marion Bailey and all they added to my understanding of dog training.