Clean Run - April 2012 - 66

What are the traps on a course? What are the most difficult obstacle combinations for you and your dog?

Practice If you can’t do a handling maneuver well in class, don’t expect yourself to be able to do it in a trial when the pressure is on. Each physical move you will need to run a course successfully needs to be practiced until it is so easy and automatic that if you think about it, you can easily do it. I remember Barb Davis, a world-class handler, showing us in a seminar how she practiced running front crosses every day. Improve One Thing Choose one thing you would like to improve (front crosses, blind crosses, releasing with words not motion, etc.). Work with your trainer on how to do it correctly and then make that your focus of home practice for 2 weeks. Practice mentally (imagine how it feels, see yourself doing it perfectly), and practice physically without your dog until you feel really confident. Then, bring your dog back into the picture. When you go to class, focus on that skill for several sessions. When you are really good at it, when you can depend on yourself, then it will start happening at trials. Repetition Builds Skill Repetition has a bad rap in our culture as being mindless and boring. Actually, it can be interesting and exciting. Have a clear and specific picture in your mind of what you want. What would be the best executed front cross? It helps to take a video clip of a really good handler doing one. Each time you do one, compare it to your model (having someone video you is very helpful). Was it fluent? Did you keep your balance? Did you keep your eyes on your dog? Were your arms and legs coordinated? Each time, try to get closer to your ideal. Tell yourself what went well and what you want to do better. Aim for several good ones in a row. That’s how ability is developed.

It’s work, but it’s satisfying work. And once you have the skill, it gets easier and easier and more fun to do. Pretty soon all the skills get integrated and you can step out onto the course feeling confident and happy.

Learn How to Juggle Juggling is a wonderful skill for both body and mind. It calls for very good eye/hand coordination and is also very relaxing for the mind. When you juggle, it’s really not possible to think about anything else and puts the mind in a very relaxed and receptive state.
Many performers juggle backstage before a performance to feel calm and focused.

Excitement and Nervousness Are Normal!
One last word on performing. Excitement and nervousness are normal! One of my piano teachers told us that if we didn’t feel excited and nervous before a performance, we needed to go to the hospital because we were sick. Those feelings are actually helpful; they pump up our adrenaline, and they sharpen our minds and senses. Accept that you are going to feel that way before you do a run. Don’t fight it. Embrace it! If you are truly confident and you have prepared as well as possible, you will do your best. Remember that mistakes are our teachers. If something goes wrong out there, it is an opportunity to improve. That’s the challenge of agility. There’s always that element of the unknown in each run which makes it exciting. And, as human beings, we can always improve and raise our skill level. Each new dog we train teaches us new things about ourselves and the sport. That’s why agility is so endlessly fascinating. Enjoy your strengths and build on them. Work to improve your weaknesses. When the physical, the mental/visual, and the emotional are all strong and in balance, agility just keeps getting more enjoyable. Good luck! D

Peggy Swingle has been a passionate agility competitor since 2005. She has three Shelties: Skye, 7, who just got his first MACH, Aislin, 4, the speed demon, who is poised to get out of Excellent A, and Pearl, 2, who has her Novice titles but is just getting back into trials after an injury. Peggy has been a Suzuki piano teacher for 35 years and is interested in how the Suzuki philosophy can help trainers and handlers be more successful. Because Peggy has dealt with serious health problems, she is very interested in becoming the most efficient handler possible, and developing the constellation of skills which can help her be successful. Peggy has taught students, parents, and teachers all over the world including Canada, England, Finland, Ireland, Australia and Peru.

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Clean Run - April 2012

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