Lablover Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 There is a big competition coming up next month, training going extremely well. Have high hopes, but had crashed and burned in the past (retrieving trials - IMHO hardest dog work possible). When posters have been 99% sure that their dogs would win the ring etc, how often have you failed? And why? Nerves, your nerves that is, not the dogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Well currently I have only been to 2 trials with my current dog and I have been at both 99% certain that she would pass and she has. I am also 99% certain that she will pass this weekend and get her title. But I have not suceeded in winning the ring yet and I think the points that I've lost has been due to a combination of nerves and poor handling on my behalf, as well as the added distractions of a trial. At her first trial there was agility happening at the same time and that was something I hadn't trained for and she got slightly distracted by that. So I guess her loss of points was also from not enough distraction training! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 Well currently I have only been to 2 trials with my current dog and I have been at both 99% certain that she would pass and she has. I am also 99% certain that she will pass this weekend and get her title. But I have not suceeded in winning the ring yet and I think the points that I've lost has been due to a combination of nerves and poor handling on my behalf, as well as the added distractions of a trial. At her first trial there was agility happening at the same time and that was something I hadn't trained for and she got slightly distracted by that. So I guess her loss of points was also from not enough distraction training! Did you pass this weekend? I train at different locations with varied distractions. For interest do you train in different distraction areas? A training friend recently wrote on my hand, trial like you train. Slow down LOL. I drill a alot, rarely test. Yesteday I TESTED with 2 of my younger dogs. The set up was a quad water blind (hidden retrieves) down a long channel. Before testing, I thought of the various ways to simplify if my dogs got into difficulty - or to drop the test if they ignored whistle stops, my casting etc. First blind 50 yards, second 75 yards, third 100 yards, fouth 150 yards. You know what. One dog needed a few casts, to stay straight and progressively go past areas, where the shorter retrieves were obtained. We call past pick up areas, distraction BTW. My second dog lined every single one, apart from two casts. I was a happy owner/trainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptolomy Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 In 2 weeks time we have the Western Classic invitation obedience event - where you have to submit your highest three scores, they add them together and then they take the top 10 dogs for each class. All five of my kids got an invite, so I will have 1 in CCD, 1 in novice, 2 in open and 2 in UD. So with only 10 dogs in each class I am going to be clashing all over the place. :p We have Eastern States judges judging which makes it an even playing field. The other problem I have is that I didn't know anything with my first dog and as I have added kids I have changed my signals and turns - so I have to make sure I am using the right signal and the right about turn for each dog :D How do I think they will go.......... hmmm it will depend on the night. They are training the house down at the moment, I gave them 6 weeks off over Xmas, New Year and its like I have replaced their batteries - they are all firing on 6 cylinders, but its so easy for something little to go wrong and the standard is top notch so no room for error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Well I achieved my plan last night! Won the ring and finished her CCD title... next goal is a perfect score! As for my training, I try to train with heaps of distractions, actually I pretty much only train in locations that have distractions these days... but there are some distractions that are more tempting than others and I need to find those and train for them. But yesterday there was agility on at the same time and my girl paid absolutely no attention to it which was a real improvement from 3 weeks ago at her first trial when she was slightly distracted by that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 Well I achieved my plan last night! Won the ring and finished her CCD title... next goal is a perfect score!As for my training, I try to train with heaps of distractions, actually I pretty much only train in locations that have distractions these days... but there are some distractions that are more tempting than others and I need to find those and train for them. But yesterday there was agility on at the same time and my girl paid absolutely no attention to it which was a real improvement from 3 weeks ago at her first trial when she was slightly distracted by that. Great to read!! Keeping focus for long periods is simply the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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