Clean Run Magazine - January 2007 - 6

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authors of the IN FOCUS book, a new DVD video Do you... Have a dog that
would walk over hot coals to get to agility equipment, but can’t be
bothered to take direction from you on course? Have a dog that is so
obsessed with agility that doing obstacles is the only reward he wants?
Have a dog that happily completes obstacles even a whole course on his own
without any direction from you? Have a dog that blasts oﬀ the start line,
often before you give him a release command? Have a dog that lacks
self-control? Competing in dog sports can push us to realistically
evaluate our own expectations however realistic they may or may not be and
deal with the frustrations brought on when things don’t go as we’d
hoped. We can learn a lot about ourselves by how we cope with failure.
We’ve all felt the disappointment of a knocked jump bar that cost us a
win, or the ill-timed cross that meant our dog didn’t qualify for
nationals. It is human nature to immediately focus on what didn’t go
right in our performance rather than to observe and to appreciate what
went really well. We can replay such bobbles over and over in our minds,
but if we are to grow from the experience, we had best stop hitting rewind
and instead hit fast forward and look ahead to the next run. With luck, we
will always be back for another race on another day. I know I am maturing
as a competitor when I find I am chastising myself less about a mistake
made on course and moving ahead more quickly to focus on the next
challenge. Faith in our dogs and our abilities as trainers, along with a
never-quit attitude, go a long way in helping us stay happy in our sport.
Despite our best-laid strategies and rigorous preparation, things will not
always turn out as planned. Nobody can win all the time. But doing our best
and succeeding in some of our own individual goals is a personal win every
time. Moping over a failure does not create positive energy for future
success. Congratulating fellow competitors and cheering for their
victories shows good sportsmanship and also gets a languishing psyche back
on a more positive path. At the end of the weekend, it is not so important
whether I have won some bits of ribbon or earned a new title after my
dog’s name. If I have laughed and spent congenial time with my friends,
learned something new about my dog that enhances our relationship, and
moved a bit closer to being the person I want to be, then I have become
all the richer from this sport I love. So train well, run every course
with complete gusto, and cheer your friends on heartily. Your victories
will come and a stumble in the dust will have been but a slight wobble in
the foothills on your upward climb. While realizing your goals, you may
also realize more about who you are. then you need to get IN FOCUS and get
your dog “in the game” with you. This article, in its original form,
was first published in the Winter 2005 issue of Dog & Handler magazine.
Elise Paffrath has been involved in agility since 1993 with her
shelter-adopted dogs, Breeze, Scout, and Spryte, who have all earned the
sport’s highest titles and competed in numerous national championships.
In 2004 both Scout and Spryte were USDAA Grand Prix World Championship
finalists, and in 2005 Spryte achieved her ADCH, LAA-Bronze and ended the
year ranked #2, #3, and #7 respectively in Jumpers, Gamblers, and
Tournament Top Ten of Dog Agility. Elise writes about agility, teaches and
puts on trials through her Breeze Thru Agility in the Green Mountains of
Vermont. Clean Run | January 07 ® www.cleanrun.com 6 Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid
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Clean Run Magazine - January 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - January 2007