The first step is admitting you have a problem…and I made the rookie mistake of trialing Mollie too soon. I believe in part because of that, she developed quite a bit of ring stress. As you know, I stopped trialing late last year to go back to basics and gain her trust and strengthen our partnership. She is uber-sensitive to me and any reaction I have to (my) mistakes; if I even think about sighing or saying something, she shuts down instantly, thinking it’s her fault. She wants to be right.
As with any sport (or job for that matter), there are three types of goals: outcome, performance, and process. Outcome goals (such as getting your Excellent title) can be affected by things over which you have little control – injury, car breaking down on the way to trial, or other roadblocks. Performance goals are those items you are trying to achieve, goals that help you reach your outcome goals. And Process goals are those completely under your control, those little steps that are the building blocks to your success in performance and outcome.
Last weekend was our first trial since beginning our re-training. We only went for one day, four runs. Before I left, I made a list of process goals for Team Mollie:
- Achieve 1 “Get Ready” in the ring
- Gain control over my nerves
- Have focus at the start line
- Refocus if distracted in the ring
- Play with me outside the ring
- Play agility with me in the ring
So how did we do? We accomplished some level of success on all of those, plus 4 that I didn’t put on the list…and one Qualifying run to boot!
Here’s the tally of Process Goal Achievement:
- Achieve 1 “Get Ready” in the ring: 4 of 4 Get Ready starts
- Gain control over my nerves: I was better, but not perfect
- Focus at the start line: 2 of 4 runs
- Refocus if distracted in the ring: 2 of 4, including one huge distraction and a recall on our Q run
- Play with me outside the ring: this didn’t happen, BUT she did Get Ready outside the ring many times, completely ignoring what was going on around us.
- Play agility with me in the ring: 2 of 4 runs
Now, while you might think those aren’t so great, I am thrilled. In addition to those, she also:
- Stayed in a 2’ high x-pen happily with other people in campsite and dogs walking by
- Never snarked at dogs outside the ring
- Saw a dog outside the ring during a run and chose to return to play with me
- Had one micro-stay at the start line
One year ago, none of these things would have happened.
So I could choose to look at our overall Q rate (25%) and feel unsuccessful. Instead, I choose to look at all we did RIGHT this weekend, make more process goals, and celebrate Mollie and the joy she brings to our lives. That, my friends, makes all the difference.
