Why Compete?

I have been hashing out an answer to this question for quite some time. One of my friends tells me that the answer is simply, "because it is fun" ... well, yes it is - but fun is easily had with a dog or two, or six, if you love them.

SO why invest the considerable time, money, effort and energy in the whole business of competing? It takes up enough of my resources of time, money and energy that I needed to have a complete answer to this question for myself.

My dogs are well rounded citizens with different skills and interests. Why leave the confines of our own social ramblings and enter the odd circus of dog sports? I've dabbled in various disciplines but, for the moment, it is dog agility which really has won my heart.

If you are reading this blog you will not be surprised to hear that I love learning more than just about anything else. I prize gaining new knowledge about dogs, about communication, about learning and teaching. I love the feeling of being in "flow" OR connecting with my own canine companions. When I work with a client and puzzle out how what makes their dog tick and how to bridge better communication between human and canine. I love my time at the shelter when we observe and chat through the behaviour of animals who have often been treated very poorly indeed.

What does competing offer that staying at home cannot?

This past weekend was my first trialling weekend of this year and I got a very complete answer to that question! I had been feeling pretty awesome about how my training has been going .. hmmm ... it turns out a little humility was in order :)

I've been diligently setting up other people's courses, training through obstacle challenges, training with all four dogs out to add distractions. Basically doing everything I could think of to add challenges to my training. MY TRAINING, at MY HOME - we have been doing well. I got up early on Saturday morning feeling confident. Off we went ... AND ... well

No need to go into the gory details but lets say that the smooth flowing connected runs of our home training sessions were NOT to be seen. this weekend. The perfect contacts, excellent driving lines and weave pole entries from any angle ... not so much. How about ME - my smooth fluency handling courses - out the window - SIGH

Why compete? To learn. To learn more, to learn better and to over come challenges and obstacles. I am going to be brutally honest, it really sucked not to measure up to my own mark. BUT there was a huge piece of this weekend that I am very proud of - I cheerfully stuck to my own criteria. When my dogs popped off the contacts I asked them to get back on and when we ended each run we celebrated together. We were far from where we will be when we have more trialling time under our belts and we did not replicate what we are capable of at home but there was lots of learning and we will return to the ring stronger, better and more connected.

Big Decision, New Gardens and Dogs ... Always .. lots of dogs :)

This weekend was filled with the usual ... many different canine encounters. I must admit that my complete and utter obsession with all things four legged does not impress all the people in my life. My poor mother - she just wants to go on a trip ... it hardly seems to much to ask. And then there's lovely Sarah who, is kind and patient but I know shakes her head with my inability to be parted from my animals for more than a few days. We animal people are a clan onto our own that much is certain. I am a fortunate woman to live the life of my choosing.

I have been grappling with a thorny issue over the past months - continue to work four days a week in my teaching job OR return to full time? This whole entrepreneurial gig is HARD for me! I am not a natural. I truly don't know how people do it for their entire lives. I've teetered back and forth with what to do and struggled with what is best for the children I teach and for myself. Not sure I have a clear answer yet BUT clarity is coming.

Back to the weekend, it was beautiful. First a professional grooming for Figaro and Thyme with wonderful JoAnne Wallace, so kind and lovely and good at what she does. Here's Figaro post grooming.

My friend Karen came over and helped me paint my agility equipment. After our paining party we went for a walk with Thyme, Fenja and Isaac

                                      

Next on the agenda was gardening. Garden preparation around here is quite amusing :) Figaro and Rock are both PROFESSIONAL diggers. They are EXTREMELY helpful! They can be counted on to dig and till the soil when I ask them to. Thyme is useless, she would prefer to supervise, bark OR chase after clumps of weeds. Rock is a very good boy and takes his digging work quite seriously. Here is some photographic proof 

                                      

On Sunday, apart from the usual agility and adventures around the property, the main focus of the day was a trip to the best little shelter I know, The CCSPCA in St Stephen. I haven't been for far too long. I went yesterday to hang out with dogs and help with evaluations. A fun time was had by all, except for gorgeous Eddie who decided that the click of my camera was very scary :( Poor dude

 
 
 

The weekend ended with a wonderful inhome training session with a charming little dog and her people who adore her to the moon and back. I feel utterly blessed to have the opportunity to learn so much from so many good dogs and good people ...

I hope your weekend was wonderful

The Power of a Good Ramble Around ... A photo story

Today was a lazy rainy Saturday. Lots of time for doing what we love best - cruising around in the woods and on the beach. First a morning walk with the young generation and my Mum on the beach

Next a woods adventure with the whole gang ... First group stays to get across the road :)

                                            Then ... FREEDOM in the woods

Some posing 

                                      

More RUNNING ....

And Finally ... some ZZZZ's

New Beginnings, New Promises ... New Rituals

I really HOPE this post will not result in this response from you. I had planned to take my dogs out for a photo shoot today. Photography has sadly taken a back burner over this crushingly long winter in South Western New Brunswick. By the time I got myself organized to take pictures the dogs were all crashed out in the early evening sun; so, the best I can do for photography today is these two shots, which I actually rather like. 

The dogs are currently engaged in their post eating play session, (a ritual which is always initiated by Thyme), but I am too lazy to pick up my camera again.

We have done a lot outside over the past few days. We are tremendously grateful to have our fields back for cavorting :) Agility, playing, gardening - all five of us revel in what this home of ours has to offer.

I have been thinking a lot lately about rituals and how beautifully they apply to teaching, and by teaching I am referring to: teaching myself, teaching two legged students, teaching dogs and being a student of both species. I have started to reflect on and map in my mind the rituals I find myself engaging in at school, with my own dogs, and with clients. It is a curious and enjoyable process to catalog these little behaviour patterns that we all engage in.

As I work through these chains of behaviour, I have started to re-pattern the ones that are not getting the results I want. Here is a case in point.

I am currently teaching Grade Six (eleven and twelve year olds). I will admit that initially I found this age group very frustrating! In hindsight, I was not using the right motivational tools OR social rituals to engage them in learning. Things were not going very well for me. I reached a fork in the road ... continue to find their behaviour annoying and keep on trucking with my usual bag of tricks. OR try something NEW, seek to understand and to try a new set of "rituals".

As has almost always been my experience as a teacher and a learner, when I opened my mind and released my need to be in the "know" and in the "right" - I very quickly found I was able to motivate and find JOY in teaching. A new set of beliefs was essential and with these new beliefs new patterns of being emerged.

What you may ask has this got to do with dog training? WELL, everything :) When you get the "rituals" right. When you understand how to motivate your dog. When you know just how far you can push and what boundaries you need to set ... your ability to to teach will know few limits :)

What's the "new Promises" part of this entry? The promise IS that I will post every Sunday from here on in ... there I've said it - now I need to make it so and make it a ritual.