This weekend I took Mollie to a regional trial not too far from home. We weren’t entered…we just visited. To some of you, this may sound strange. Drive 3 hours round trip to do…what exactly?
If you’ve been following this blog, you know we have taken an extended break from competing to go back to basics because she was exhibiting a lot of ring stress. Since competitions are a bit far from us as a general rule, Moses Lake seemed like a good time to just go and be. Not compete. Just visit.
Armed with toys, treats, and absolutely no expectations, we arrived in the middle of the final day. It was great to see friendly faces, happy dogs, and nice courses. I’ll admit it was very strange to be there without being entered. What that allowed me to do, however, was watching. And learn.
I saw lots of great runs. I saw people treating their dogs with great love, even when things didn’t go so well. I also saw handlers deflate when a mistake happened and I watched varying reactions of dogs in that situation. To say it was eye-opening is perhaps an understatement. And so it hit me like a 2 x 4 in the middle of the head (or for you NCIS fans, a Gibbs-Slap). More on that shortly.
So, I marched out to the rig and fetched Miss Mollie. Toys – check. Treats – check. Minimal expectations – double check.
Into the building we go. She is excited and happy. This is a good sign indeed.
Other dogs are passing us. No reaction other than looking at me. YAY!
We squished. Happy girl. Lots of treats.
Then we saw friends…she asked if she could greet them. Yep, I told her. She was loved by lots of friends in a medium traffic area. She looked at other dogs but looked back to people for petting or treats.
We moved to the practice jump. I left her on lead for a few jumps to see how her focus was. I gained enough confidence in her to take off her leash. We tugged with one of her toys. Then we did about 8 jumps with joy and focus. I put her leash back on and out to the rig we went.
In about an hour we went for a nice long walk around the show grounds. I let her explore, but also asked for obedience. This also went well.
Back into the building. We stayed near the entrance where lots of activity was happening. I asked her to “get ready” (squish) and she did so willingly. Stayed there while people and dogs came and went. Looked at the activity, but always looked back at me. I released her to tug with me. She did for a bit but was more interested in working for treats. So, we did until the hot dog bag was empty. Back to the rig.
This may be seemingly uneventful to many of you. But to Team Mollie, this is HUGE. Monumental. Fun. And encouraging. Here’s why:
- Previously this outing likely would have had her pulling me all over the place, trying to get in others’ business, and rarely looking at me.
- She’s a highly environmentally sensitive dog and also highly emotionally sensitive to me. I was relaxed. She responded in kind.
- Tugging for her means she’s happy and relaxed. While we didn’t get a ton of tug time in, this little bit was more than before.
Now, back to my earlier comment of deflating and dogs responding differently. Mollie takes my deflation personally, and shuts down, preferring to run around the ring and avoid me. I saw it happen to other teams this weekend. I realized I am doing my dog no favors by reacting to my mistakes.
So from this point forward, I will remember what I tell my students: your emotions travel down the leash (literally and figuratively) to your dog. Project calm and happy, and your trials won’t turn into tribulations.
