Things change! Handlers change, Dog’s change…..things that were once easy, seem to get tougher! As crazy as it seems, it’s true! It’s MENTAL!
Even moving up from Open to Excellent can result in a high percentage of NQs. Why? Well, everyone knows that Excellent is MUCH harder than Open. It’s honestly NOT!!! Yep, there’s that mental thing again!
Maybe you smoked right through Excellent A, but as soon as you move into B, it all comes crashing down? Why? “I’m not this good, I don’t belong here”….. MENTAL!!
Let’s face it, we put a lot of pressure on our dogs, and ourselves! The courses haven’t changed, you have! Walking the course you hear things like; “What out for that off course.”, “That weave entry is horrible.”, “I need to be CAREFUL!!”
You want to also avoid ‘Over Trying’. Over Trying or Over Handling is when you attempt to assist your dog in ‘hitting the yellow’ or ‘finding that weave entry’. This often results in your dog jumping over the yellow or getting a second weave entry. Your dog is just wishing you’d “STAY OUT OF THE WAY!” Of course we honestly think we are helping.
One thing you should ask yourself is, “How did I get here, to this level?” Chances are you found a nice balance between doing your job, which is directing your dog, and letting your dog do his part, which is performing the obstacles.
When we try to overstep our job when it comes to being a Team, is when things can go back. This is a two way street, it’s give and take. There are dogs out there that would LOVE to LEAD the dance! There are also handlers out there that would love to WEAVE for their dog! We need balance and we also need to be respectful of each others ‘tasks’.
So, if you have when you have a title on the line, keep in mind that you’ve earn it! It will come! Enjoy the Journey and your time together!
All last weekend in DSM this song was just stuck in my head.
I do love my Rock Music,
and Papa Roach is one of my top 30 artists.
So, here are some of Seeker’s Runs along with the song I just could NOT shake.
“Kick In The Teeth” –….what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger in my head……
IT’S MENTAL!!
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Awesome runs with my buddy and yes - most of the time for me - it is the head games I play with myself. So true.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing new rules for my head games.
ReplyDeleteSo true. Legend and I whizzed through lower levels, then fell apart. Both our confidence levels plummeted and it took 18 months to recover. Now thing are going much better!
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