The Position to Win

Sometimes it seems you and your dog try and try but still can't come out a winner or get the score you need to qualify. Ever wonder how some of the pro handlers and trainers seem to always win? Here's something I was discussing with a handler the other day.
The secret to winning or getting a qualifying score is to have your dog in the position to win every time you enter the ring. Every dog is different and every dog gains the skills, experience and emotional maturity to be a winner at different times. You just have to wait for the dog to get it together mentally or physically before they can win. But even if they are mentally, emotionally and physically capable of winning, you still must place them in the position to win.
What do I mean by this? It means that they must have the basic training and skills needed to be winner firmly entrenched in their minds and bodies. For example, in conformation, they must know how to trot on a loose lead, stack both free and by hand, be at ease on the judging table when being evaluated, and have learned that the show ring is a fun place to be. In earthdog, they must learn to drive through the darkness of a complex tunnel system to the quarry, must have developed the instinct to work the quarry aggressively and learn to use their nose as a guide to locating the quarry. In Rally they must know the basic commands, hand signals and movements and know that, no matter the distraction, their place is at the heel position or where you have told them to go. In all activities, they must have had the physical development, athletic conditioning and nutrition to remain competitive throughout the length of the competition.
When you have the skills taught, you need to remember the mental aspect of your sport. Mental conditioning is as vital as the physical. When all individual skills and training have been learned, you must tie them all together in your dog's mind like you are developing a dance routine for your sport. We go here and do this, next we go here and do that, etc. It becomes routine and dogs love routine! Finally you must anticipate, and train for, the unexpected as well as those things that are expected, but are not always the same. In conformation, you need to train for the "go round" at the head of the line, in the middle and as the last dog in line. You need to train the "down and back", the triangle and the "L" because any of these can be chosen by the judge. And you need to train for getting bumped, being in a tight line-up and having the dog in front of you go very slowly. Some of these skills are for you to learn and some for your dog, but all are necessary for you both, as a team, to master.
Once you have these elements down, you can start placing your dog in the position to win. Now you refine posture and gait, enhance presence, build more enthusiasm and develop speed (in those sports where speed is a requirement). But every time you enter the ring, you do the same basic things that you trained- the basic skills. You continuously place your dog in a position to win by having the skills down. When the dog is ready, when he / she is mentally and physically prime, then you will begin to win or score. But while you are waiting for the dog to mature in their bodies and their sport, you are developing them and constantly striving to place them in a position to be a winner.
Our dogs mature at their own pace. For some it's at nine months, for others two years, for some or in certain sports, it can be many years. It's our responsibility as trainers and handlers, every time we take them into the ring or to the test, to give them every opportunity to win so that when they are ready, they can win.

Ellie has 'em up a Tree!

Well, I knew my little girl was smart! Seems she remembers about the tree squirrels she saw while at summer camp!! ("Summer camp" is our term for where she was while she was being bred! )
Yesterday when I came home for lunch Ellie was standing in the dog area under one of the trees on her hind legs looking up at the tree. Now we dont have THAT many trees here as this was all a big, flat hay field when we bought it except for the few scrub oaks in the creek bed. And I can't remember seeing a real tree squirrel around here ever. Anyhow, I have planted a bunch of trees over the years and there is a nice big one in the dog run area and two bigger ones just outside. She was looking up at the one in the run. So I came over, looked up but I couldn't see anything.
Then she BOLTED over to the tree just outside the run. And sure enough, when I looked up, there was a tree squirrel up in that tree! It must have lept from tree to tree! Well, she had a grand time watching that squirrel most of the rest of the afternoon. Sometime later he must have jumped down and gone over to the neighbor's trees because when I checked him out later he was gone.
So now Ellie and Kate know about tree squirrels. (Kate learned about them long ago on one of our walks!) Now they BOTH will stop and look up at the trees as we go on walks! You never know....there may be a varmit up there! Thanks to "summer camp" my little girl is ever more educated!

Loss to the Breed

Linda Cribbs (LNDI'S was her kennel name) passed away this morning. A long-time Border Terrier breeder from Taft, Ca., Linda was a fixture at many S. Ca. and N. Ca. shows. Many times she would make the long trek up to N. Ca. to help support a major or a terrier show. I last saw Linda in January at the Indio shows. She wasn't in the ring, but many of her dogs, or the offspring of her dogs, were. She always treated me with a kind "hello" and we occasionally compared notes about her leg problems and my knee problems. She bred the type of dog she liked and tried to remain true to the Border Terrier breed standard. She will be missed.

The Best Dog He Ever Had

I was out walking my dogs this evening and a family passed by with a mixed breed dog. Off leash but very well behaved. Part Chihuahua and part Corgi?? As we passed by, I asked the owner the usual questions: How old? What mix? Etc. etc.

His response was enlightening. She was a pound-puppy and the best dog he had ever had. Didn't know exactly what she was but she was six years old. She was smart and listened to him and was very obedient. And she had never had one obedience class.

His response triggered something in my memory. Long ago when my wife was starting to breed dressage horses, we imported a mare with a filly at side and a foal inside. A 3 for 1 package. The filly was nice but my wife didnt think she would ever be a top level dressage competitor and so we sold her to a nice home with an experienced trainer. Long story short, the filly became an FEI level (WORLD CLASS!) dressage horse! From then on I always believed that the horse was the least critical of the partnership elements. When asked how far a horse might go in competition, I always said that, given good health, I thought the horse would usually NOT be the limiter.

And I think the same is true for our dogs. No matter if a pure bred or a mixed breed, given a good sendoff and start in life by the breeder, all dogs are very likely capable of much more than we sometimes think they can achieve. It's usually our poorly conceived training, our ill-timed cues and responses, our lack of quality time with our dogs that limits their acheivements. The man this evening and his little girl are proof of that.