Clean Run - January 2016 - 5

There's No Crying in Dog Sports
By Laurie C. Williams CPDT-KA
Or getting angry (especially at your dog), or throwing a tantrum and
storming oﬀ, or blaming everyone and everything other than your
lack of practice, training, or ring readiness. Yet, it seems I see these
behaviors more and more often, especially from those who are relatively new to dog sport competition.
Full disclosure; I have cried after a very poor performance. I've been
at this game for more than 30 years so I'm not going to pretend that
I haven't had moments of weakness. But that's exactly what they
were-weakness-and the cloud of shame that came over me afterwards forced me to reflect on what exactly was going on in my head
and causing the momentary breakdown.
I don't have a problem with anyone being competitive and wanting
their performance to reflect the time they have put into the training
for a particular sport. Healthy competition is fine, but the operative
word is "healthy." When your participation in a dog sport leads you
to sadness, disappointment, or unsportsmanlike behavior, it's the opposite of healthy. And then there are our teammates, our dogs. What
happens to them amongst all the anger, crying, disappointment, and
blaming? Don't think for a moment they don't feel it all. Every emotion we feel travels right down the leash and is absorbed by our dogs.
What message are we sending them about what just happened? What
associations are we making for them? Is this the mental picture we
want etched into their brains about being our teammate? And then
we wonder why so many dogs become "ring-wise."
So, how can we avoid these emotions taking over after a less than
stellar performance?
1. By remembering any extracurricular activity we do with our
dogs is supposed to be fun, first and foremost. If you can't ensure
that both you and your dog will go into and come out of the ring
feeling like you've had fun, don't do it.
2. Your dog did not ask to be there, yet your dog is participating
for you and trying to do the best he can. Trust me when I say
that your dog would just as soon be playing a game of fetch with
you in the backyard or lying with you on the sofa. He is doing
this because you want him to; therefore, you owe him a debt of
gratitude and part of that debt is paying him well with love and
lots of rewards, regardless of what happens in the ring.
3. Realize it's quite possible, actually quite probable, that you just
weren't ready. You may be logging a lot of hours training and
practicing, but maybe it's time to analyze your practice. Although
I don't like the emphasis being on "perfection" as the goal, I do
like what coach Vince Lombardi said about practice, "Practice
does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." So,
is your practice perfect? I see this a lot with my students when
they are transitioning from on-leash to oﬀ-leash work, for example. If your performance on leash is not perfect, why would
you expect your oﬀ-leash performance to be even close?
January 16 | Clean Run

4. Your partner is a dog, not a computer. No matter what you've
trained, there will be times your dog will remind you of this.
Learn to deal with it or, even better, laugh about it, or get out of
the game.
5. Reflect on why an agility performance is so important to you.
What is it about your life as a whole and your self-esteem that
makes what happens in a competitive dog sport hold so much
importance? And then ask yourself if it is fair to put all this pressure on your dog? I think you know the answer. It might be time
for you to take up competitive chess, Scrabble, or something that
will not put pressure on anyone other than yourself.
6. Training is a journey and a continual learning experience, and
each dog you train and each ring experience will help you become a better trainer; or at least it should if you let it.
7. This one is for those specifically working with their "Novice A"
or true "Starters" dogs-their "practice dogs," as I like to call
them. Hey, learn to take your lumps! I guess it's part of this fast
food mentality that has permeated our society and makes us all
very impatient. We want instant gratification, and when we don't
get it by way of a Q or a placement, then something has to be
wrong and/or someone or something is to blame: the judge, the
weather, your trainer, the leaf that fell oﬀ a previous competitor's
shoe and was left in the ring at the starting line, your husband
forgetting to buy the hotdogs, Obama, whatever. I also think social media has a lot to do with this as well. We all now have a
forum to post our "wins" instantly as they happen and receive
accolades and "likes" galore as further validation. Naturally,
that can make it doubly disappointing when we have nothing
to report. If this is impacting you, keep your trialing schedule to
yourself and stay oﬀ Facebook. One of my favorite things to do
is sneak oﬀ to trials, telling no one other than my husband and
maybe a close friend or two. I am able to trial in peace, with no
pressure to report or expectations from others. I've had some of
my best ring performances this way.
8. Read some books on sports psychology. There are some great
ones out there. Part of being a great competitor is learning how
not only to win with dignity, but also to lose with grace and learn
from those losses. To get you started, peruse through the titles at
www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Sports-Psychology/zgbs/
books/16613 and check out Clean Run's newest DVD on the topic, Strategies for Start-Line Conÿ dence by Dr. Kathrine McAleese.
9. WWTD (What Would Timmy Do?). If I had to name the quintessential "perfect" dog owner in history it's gotta be Timmy
Martin of "Timmy and Lassie" fame. I remember his relationship with Lassie was nothing short of magical. The bond the
two of them shared, though fictional, was based on love, trust,
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5

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Sports-Psychology/zgbs/books/16613 http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Sports-Psychology/zgbs/books/16613

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - January 2016