Clean Run Magazine - June 2007 - 15

particular judge, you will often ﬁnd that you have already memorized a section of the course. Be aware of the areas on course where you are most likely to lose your way. Many handlers tend to get lost when they are required to take the same obstacle multiple times and they take a different direction each time through. To handle this common challenge, think of each time over that obstacle as passage through a door. Make a mental note of what you will see each time you pass through the door. This will serve as a marker to let you know where you are on course. It is not unusual for handlers to get lost after the weaves, contacts, or table. This is understandable because we tend to become very focused at those obstacles. Once the dog has completed the obstacle, the handler may have difﬁculty remembering where to go. To handle this challenge, employ the same tactic as above. Make a mental note of what you should see after the contacts, table, or weaves and use that sight as a marker to keep you on course. I hope you will find something beneficial in one of these methods. Experiment with them to ﬁnd the mix that works best for you. Best of luck with “staying the course!” entin N to serp L e to R to error is a skill. Even if the error caused the run to be non-qualifying, you are improving your ability to recover when you complete the rest of the run. Recovery is a mental skill that you can improve by letting go of errors immediately after they happen. An error happens, you take note of it, and you immediately move on to whatever direction your dog needs now. It doesn’t matter what people think. It doesn’t matter if you made a mistake or even several mistakes. Take the pressure off yourself. This is a game we play with our dogs to have fun. Pressuring yourself to attain goals can be a great way to suck the fun out of an activity and create stress. Stress is a good way to undermine your memory. The more stressed you are, the more likely you will forget the course. The more fun you are having, the less likely you are to have a memorization problem. Evaluate how you can have the most fun possible and minimize stressors. 15 and running your real dog is going to be easy! When the walk-through ends, watch people run the course before your run. Observe the course from all four sides of the ring if you have enough time. While ringside you can play the memory-testing game again; and again, if you don’t recall an obstacle you can still cheat and look at the course. Sometimes course memorization problems occur because the handler doesn’t have a handling plan. Be sure that you are clear on which move communicates which intended action to your dog and when to use each move in your handling toolbox. Sometimes handlers get lost after an error. The error is a distraction that can trigger getting lost. If you can determine the pattern that triggers getting lost, you have the opportunity to replace the pattern with another one. Mentally recovering after an © MATTALLISONPHOTOGRPAPHY.COM June 07 | Clean Run

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Clean Run Magazine - June 2007

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