So Šja and I are packing for Rieden. The experience form European open was strong enough, so lately all my trainings were designed for my little braininc. It is obvious that she has much more experiences (and brains) than Šaj and Kiša, but she is also not trained to the same degree as them in some aspects. Partly the reason for that is, that she had so many motivational problems in the beginning that it was not at all important to me to drill specific things. The second reason is that 7 years ago I didn`t know so much about agility and training as I know now. Experience counts, even when it comes to handler.
So at the moment, my biggest concern is her see-saw. Solving that problem, reminded me on a two really simple but extremely important thoughts.
1. Don`t try to correct what is not broken. (Especially not one month before the AWC)
Her see-saws were never as independent and solid as I would want, but I hardly ever got a fault on it. Now, after a month of fixing what was not broken… i am closer to a fault than ever.
2. It is all in your head.
The reason I started to mess with the see-saw was the fact that I never felt in control. She never waited for my release command on the competition, but somehow, she always stayed on just long enough. So I trained a lot more see-saws than usually and I decided that I have to make her stay on the competitions as well. So I came to a competition and started with that thought in my head. And the response of my poor, clever dog? Not only that she waited, she stopped already one meter to early just to make sure she wont make the mistake. My handling was the same, my words were the same, my head was not the same, and I got a totally different response. Of course the result was not what I wanted to have, if she stops in front of the contact she looses time + there is a risk that she wont touch the contact.
So now I am back to only motivational training, and hoping that years of experiences and adrenalin rush will overcome the last experiences she had. And the reason I am writing about it – I want my concernes to stay there, so I can travel to Rieden with no worries what so ever. In fact, I really have nothing to worry about. Šja is healthy, full of energy, doing great on trainings, and she won the last competition we`have been to. What else can you wish for…
