
28 Zář Train for the sake of trial not for the sake of training
Today’s post will be less about concrete training techniques and more about a certain training mindset. I see many dog handlers, particularly beginners, making the mistake of thinking about their dog’s training and performance backwards. This often leads to problems and failures when it matters the most – during trials and competitions.
Trials are important (even if they aren’t)
First, let’s get one thing straight – trying to teach your dog advanced obedience (heeling, retrieving a dumbbell, jumping, obstacles, etc.) has more or less one practical purpose. To be able to perform it at a trial.
Now don’t get me wrong – of course, we do it because we like it. We enjoy the process, our dogs love it, it strengthens the bond with our dogs, and so on. This is indeed true and it is what I love about obedience so much.
But let’s face it – there is no real-world application of upward concentrated perfect heeling. If you use it on its own in the real world, your dog would trip over the first branch and fall into the first puddle he comes across. It has meaning only in the context of the given regulations (may that be IGP, IRO, OB, or anything else) at a trial, competition, or a similar event.
So your meticulous work, all the hours you spend driving, thinking, training, failing, trying again, sleepless nights, early mornings, all culminates in you going to a trial. Your hopes and dreams are often manifested in success at trials or competitions.
Even if you aren’t very result-oriented and you take trials as an extra cherry on top, I am deeply convinced you should train in a way that makes your performance at the trial the best possible.
This is the key point of today’s article. You should be training in such a way as to ensure the best performance possible at a trial. Not at the training, at the trial. There is a difference, and it’s a big one.
Don’t avoid the hard stuff
I often see handlers training for the sake of training. I know it sounds weird but that’s essentially what they are doing. They train in such a way that their training sessions look good. I like to call this “Instagram training”, jokingly. They train this way to record videos of any portion of the training, later posting it on Instagram for likes and hearts and all that other good stuff.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I see no problem with recording videos, posting photos of your training to Instagram, and gaining some support and love for your hard work. By all means, post away. Tag me, I am sure I will love it. But please, don’t structure your whole training like this.
You see, when you train to have good-looking and nice training sessions, you are most likely doing several things wrong. You are probably avoiding mistakes. You know what I mean, everyone does that sometimes.
“Yeah, we got problems with the retrieve… Probably should work on that. But you know, let’s just start with some heeling and maybe some jumping, he loves it so much and he does so great!”
Then you heel and jump and it looks great and you are happy. Your dog is happy. You forget all about the retrieve or tell yourself you don’t want to “spoil a great training”. If this is your attitude the majority of the time, guess what? The retrieve is never going to improve.
Those who have never done this raise your hands. No one? Yeah, I thought as much.
Let mistakes happen
The second thing you are most likely doing wrong is not pushing your dog enough. Failure and mistakes are part of the learning process. They need to make mistakes to figure out how to avoid them.
Of course, you should aim at your dog being successful most of the time. But mistakes are essential. If you don’t allow your dog to make mistakes in the training, guess where he will make them? Exactly, at the trial.
If you want a solid and stable performance you can rely on, you have to thoughtfully push your dog to widen his abilities so he becomes better and better at understanding the exercises and the training. Let him lose his concentration during a long stretch of heeling and tell him it’s wrong. Let him front sit a tad too far away from you during the recall and tell him to come sit closer. Let him learn from his mistakes.
It won’t always look good. Sometimes you will be ashamed in front of others who avoid their weak spots and only train what they are already good at. But guess who will do better when the trial day comes? Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Prepare for what is coming
I want to mention the third point just briefly because I could write a book about this topic (and I probably will). It is that important and expansive. That is, training for situations your dog might and probably will encounter at the trial and tailoring your training towards them, ensuring that you and your dog are both prepared for everything the trial day might throw at you.
This has many different aspects to it – training in different weather, training for specific situations (you would be amazed how many dog handlers never train the initial greeting and handshake with the judge at the start of the trial). What you do immediately before you step on the field, what you do a day before, a week before, a month before. Training for your own nervousness, being prepared for mishaps when you or your dog make a mistake…
There is a lot of stuff you should cover, think about, try, change, try again, refine and use in your training to make sure the day of the trial is a pleasant occasion where you get the opportunity to show off your work. It should not be the day where you are a nervous wreck and feel like throwing up from the moment you open your eyes at 3 AM, not being able to sleep any longer.
My content and I are here to help you with that. And as always, most of it is common sense. Just think about what you are doing. Think about the trial, not your Instagram page. Although if your Instagram has pics of your amazing dog, do post it in the comments, I would love to see it!
Be mindful, always.