Hugo and I recently participated in a NACSW NW1 trial. I hate to say it, but I was nervous. Why? Besides the usual pre-competition jitters, I also felt a bit under-prepared.
Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t entered prematurely, Hugo most certainly had been taught the necessary skills to succeed, but that was a long time ago, and we hadn’t been keeping up our practices recently and I felt he was a bit rusty.
As the trial date neared I started to balk, and thought perhaps I was being hasty. Perhaps we should pull out and I should up my training regiment over the next few months and then enter again over the summer.
I’m a strong believer that practice makes “almost” perfect and that if one trains regularly and preps to standards, one should be able to enter a test with confidence that the dog is ready for the job. If you’ve done your homework, the test should be a reasonable task to ask of your dog and yourself. No need to be nervous! (Ha! As if.)
Of course, each performance is unique and rarely perfect, and anything can happen to anyone, any time, so we may not all pass every test we put ourselves to on the first go. It’s important to accept that reality with a “c’est la vie” attitude and plow forward.
If, in your training routine you follow the formula of test, train, test on a regular basis and keep a training log, you’ll have a pretty good idea of your strengths and weaknesses, and know when the time is right to enter the ring.
How’d we do, you ask? Not bad at all! Turns out some of my feelings of unprepared-ness were just my nerves; Hugo was totally ready, though I could have been a better handler. We earned four ribbons that day. First place in team score, first place in the container search, third place overall, and earned our NW1 with zero faults and one pronounced. Not bad for a little guy without much of a nose!
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Félicitations Kelly and Hugo.
congrats on your ribbons
Have my own butterflies-my Andyann has her first flyball tournament this weekend.
Best Of Luck!
Enjoy your flyball!
Kelly Gorman Dunbar Editor, Dog Star Daily
A Proud Mama
I first have to fess up that I lost my male dog in our local off leash arboretum when he took off after a deer. Despite me calling him back as I saw the tail end of the deer (literally and figuratively), he was off like a jet fighter. No worries, though, because he ALWAYS comes back. Well, this time he didn't. It was after work, getting dark and I was starting to panic since the arboretum is surrounded by roads.
My female dog (mama's girl) never leaves my side for long. As a last act of desperation and prior to the tears, I said, Inca, find Dom. Darned if that dog didn't put her nose down and eventually took me down a series of trails, about a mile down the hill to a road, turned right and onto the local university campus exactly to the spot where a group of good Samaritan students had grabbed Dom who was enjoying himself going from group to group for pets. They, too, were worried he was going to get hit by a car.
A couple of lessons learned. Work more on recall when deer are around, and dogs are amazing creatures. Inca has no scent training, per se, but I always knew she was smart. I should have given her the benefit of the doubt while she was taking me that mile and I was wondering if we were chasing a bunny rather than her brother.
To: A Proud Mama
WOW! What a story! I love hearing stuff like that. I think more of then than not, with our dogs (and even our kids) we underestimate their ability and often hold the bar FAR to low. I think when we have high expectations and are ready to encourage and praise as well as give gentle, loving direction when they stray it is amazing what the four (and two) legged little ones in our lives can accomplish!
you are doing a great job
I lost the will to get up early on Sundays and lug my cockapoo along to volunteer training when after several months he chose not to obey the 'down' command.
It takes a lot of will power to continue the training. Currently he is very good on recall, which he should be after three years of age, but as my dog walking business ramps up he seems to be getting more jealous of me patting other dogs I walk. He is also jumping and grabbing my pants when we walk away from people we meet in the park. Its him trying to call the shots, but I dont want to go back to the holding down in 'claw' grip for three mnutes to assert my alpha dog position. Being part poodle and cocka he is smart, energetic and testing. I am glad we have no deer in our area!