If you think you can or think you can't you're probably right.

Recently I took classes for the evening at a friends Agility school. I enjoyed the evening but was surprised by the lack of the confidence that the handlers and some of the dogs had. The small group I reguarly train have some fab confidence, whatever handling or training challenges I set them I know they will give it a good shot and be excited and motivated to do so. The groups last week lacked confidence in their own and dogs abilities. "He won't wait, won't play, won't drive on, won't focus". "I can't teach that, can't change that"... etc etc.

This got me to thinking about confidence and how we can create it in our clients/ pupils and our dogs. Firstly I think we all need to be able to fail. As toddlers we are brilliant at failing, we stand up for the first time, fall down, get up, fall down etc yet we keep trying until we crack it. When do we start seeing failure as a negative instead of seeing it as a healthy step towards success?

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

How many successful businessmen have been brankrupt at least once in their lives? Answer= probably more than not. Do you think any of the great horseriders have never fallen off? If the gold medal Olympians had not allowed themselves to fail, they would have never have been able to challenge themselves and progress to the level they have. 'Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. One day, an assistant asked him why he didn't give up. After all, he failed over a thousand times. Edison replied that he had not failed once. He had discovered over 1000 things that don't work'.

Look around at the handlers and dogs in your training class. Many of the dogs will be a reflection of their handlers/ trainers. The people who are unwilling or worried about failure have the same kind of dogs, they shut down and wander off, stress high or use other ways of avoiding trying the excersise through fear of failure. Handlers so quickly will put their unhappiness about failing (the sequence for example) through to their dogs.

So learn new things, try new things, cook to a new recipe. Teach your dog something new and note the failures on the way. TRY TO ENJOY! :)


Finally I will leave you with this from Michael Jordan: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Live and Learn

Hmmm, so learning. It's a complex subject. Good teachers, bad teachers, great learners, slow learners and everyone in between.

I love to learn, it's fascinating to be able to improve myself or my dogs. However I am not great at failing or laughing at myself when I do. I truly belive to learn well you have to be able and willing to fail, not only in front of your peers but in front of those at the top, and whom you most respect.

The grid/ jumping workshops I run are a genuine joy for me. Watching owners and dogs 'get it'  is absolutely fantastic. The simplistic nature of jump training makes it easy to 'get' and results are quick and visually evident. For myself as a trainer and the owner too, this makes it a very rewarding lesson for all. Failure with grids is expected and necesary as you should push and test the dogs ability and understanding as you work through jump training, this means it is easy to intruduce failure and explain how to deal with it.

As I'm sure that most people know I have been learning to ride, it is complex and fabulous and I am lucky to have a wonderful trainer who pushes me when I need it, explains things when need be, makes me laugh when I am absolutely abysmal and has a true, true understanding of how to ride. In learning something so complex and new to me, it has definataly given me much more sympathy for people learning handling and dog training for the first time. Not all people know how to create new behaviours from their dog or can organise their bodies for the physical cues needed for a wing wrap or rear cross no matter how many times you talk it through, sometimes it just takes time and repetition and a lot of patience.

If you haven't been out of your learning comfort zone for a while I highly recommend you push yourself and find something new, the exhileration when you take the tiniest, babystep forwards is just fabulous!

Nothing to say? Everything to blog!

So, long time no blog! Honestly I am not sure why I haven't blogged for so long or what has propelled me to finally blog. I could use the excuse that I have been busy or that I haven't had anything blog worthy to write about. However both are true, and both are utter b*llocks!

I always feel my blogs need to entertain, to motivate or at least interest the follower or reader. In actual case, I think blogging can be anything, random thoughts, deep emotion or just a diary of your day. Maybe my reappearance today will be the start of blogging again, maybe it will just be a single, random post. Guess time will tell!

In any case, this post has grown from me sitting on the sofa with a certain little merle, thinking about what the future holds. It's been a pretty rubbish agility year. Rain has seen off nearly ever single show that I had entered, I know plently of people are willing to run their dogs in rain and mud, I absolutely respect their choices but personally, I don't think it is worth it for my dogs. That means that the last KC show I ran my dogs at was Vyne... yes MAY bank holiday, absolutely crazy! At Vyne my dogs were fabulous, Hoaxey qualified for the Olympia semis and Detour started the season consistent and happy with some top three places. We were on for a good year. I guess life sometimes throws you a curveball and all you can do is try to not break yourself trying to catch it and embrace the bench if you end up out! My first few KC shows ended up too wet to run my dogs. Vyne washed out after the first few hours of drizzle and I took my lot home before they could slip. Next was Thames- wash out, Tuffley, as before and Rugby didn't even go ahead! However I had to deal with my own dog issues in the meantime.

Without boring you with technicalities and science stuff, Hoaxey has been struggling on and off since pre Olympia 2011 with lameness. I eventually ended up this year with a referal to http://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/ and an MRI scan which showed some issues with the tissue around one of her discs (spine). I decided to go ahead with an epidural followed by a long period of rest and rehab. This meant pulling her out of all shows and the Olympia Semi Finals. This put us 'out; for the whole of this season, however for the princess- I am willing to do whatever it takes.

Next year I have high hopes for my dogs, Hoaxey should be back competing and I have a whole new view on competing with her. No longer am I hugely bothered about semis, champs and qualifiers. I will just be happy to have my little fluffy grey one back. Detour is starting his competitive career way later than he should be, but I am excited and motivated to get him running, I really feel a bond with him and can't wait to see how that translates at KC shows.

Of course, we can't forget golden balls (Yes Boo)! He is, as always, fabulous! Still working well: as a full height agility dog and still winning at UKA, he is also a brilliant schoolmaster for some of my clients to work and just all round, one of the nicest, sweetest dogs I have ever met. Boo- you are my golden boy :)

Not only has it been a bizarre year for agility but our little boy has started 'proper' school and due to, two of my very good friends encouragement (Neill & Jules) I am reguarly back in the saddle- after over 20 years! Maybe my next post will be about that! For now- I think I have bored you enough. Good night and happy reading!

Boo in his heyday. Probably the best dog I will ever have the pleasure to meet x