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| written for me by Tony Di Bartolo, my Dad |
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| 1: Get to your destination as early as possible. This will help your dogs to adjust to their new environment and all of the activities, commotion and new people and dogs they will encounter. Walk them around. Let them sniff and explore this exciting new place and, if at all possible, walk them around the outside of the ring(s) where the trial will be held so they can smell and explore there also. |
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| 2. Make sure you stick to the dogs' daily routine as much as possible. Avoid feeding them too late or throwing their schedule off too far. Dogs are sensitive animals. |
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| 3. Before competing, take your dogs for a run and make sure they do not have to go to the bathroom. This will help to warm them up, loosen their muscles and lighten their load. Don't forget to clean up after them. |
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| 4. Do not be disappointed if your dog does not do as well as you would like. They will do the best that they can under the circumstances. The idea is to have fun with your dog. A qualifying run is only icing on the cake. |
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| 5. Remember it is the handler that must guide the dog. Dogs can not read course maps or obstacle numbers. Be aware that you may not run the printed and posted ring map. Things can and do change, or the judge may not turn in his course map in time for it to be printed. |
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| 6. It is a given that you will make a mistake in handling; whether it is blocking your dog, moving at the wrong time and pulling him off a contact, giving indistinct hand signals, or even the wrong hand, signaling to one thing and pointing to another obstacle with your body. |
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| 7. If in practice you have only done four or five obstacles in a row, your dog will not be used to seeing a 100' x 100' ring with fourteen to twenty obstacles in it. It is best to expect that your dog may be overwhelmed. |
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| 8. Do not be upset if your dog wanders off in the ring to check something he finds more interesting: The dog is reacting to stress in his own way. |
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| 9: Walk the course once to get the feel of it. Walk it once to see if you can find any traps your dog may be tempted by. Walk it once to set the commands you will give in your head; then run the course at speed to get the feel for your timing involved. |
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| 10: Enter as many classes as you can for a trial. Every non qualifying run is still good a good practice run. Also be aware that keeping the dog by ringside for a very long time prior to running may cause the dog to lose focus or even fall asleep. This is not good for either of you; so take your dog away and find something to do to keep your dog alert but not stressed out. |
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| 11: As your running time comes near; prepare to go ahead, wait close to the ring entrance. Sit and lightly stroke your dog along the face and down the sides. This will help bond and relax both you and your dog. |
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| 12: Don't ever think "Oh, my dog has never done that. I won't have to worry about that!" There's a first time for everything. |
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| Copyright © 2000 - 2005 by the author and AfterHours Australian Shepherds. No reproduction of any kind, of any of the material on this site, is permitted without the written permission of AfterHours Australian Shepherds, or in the case of previously published articles, the indicated author. |
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