Sweden 2016 – Agility Trials

During our trip we went to 2 weekends of trials. We got to participate the first weekend! The second weekend was watching and helping. There’s so much to say about our experiences.

Outdoor agility trials. One ring is left of his head, the other ring is to the right of his head.

Of all the things I learned, the most surprising to me was that agility makes me very anxious. And I learned it’s more about the procedures in trials and expectations of following written and unwritten rules.

I was so nervous about this part of our trip. Griffin is a reasonably skilled agility dog by local standards. At home, he’s often one of the fastest dogs in his classes at trials. In point games we tend to score well. Our Q rate is above average and his YPS is decent. We have no major weak areas. I knew I would be worried about harder courses – so we found Swedish Kennel Club class 3 courses and did these weekly for a while before our trip. I knew we would be trialing outside without any sort of fence, so I visited parks and other areas and illegally did some off leash work whenever it seemed safe.  But what I didn’t know  – there’s a lot about US agility programs that has -made- me nervous!  Here are a few things that made me worried.

Entering and Leaving the Ring: At home, there’s often a rush to get dogs in and out efficiently. Wasted time means lost money for the club/group and a longer day. I cant tlel you how often I hear we need to move fast so judges can leave to make their plane/get home before bad weather/before dark. Teams get rushed in and you need to quickly leave at the end. But, even if you’re nervous and your hands are shaking and you’re out of breath, you MUST put that leash on all the way before leaving. If it’s not on properly – you can loose the run. If you take too long to start, you could lose your run or at the least, have people annoyed with you.

In Sweden there really wasn’t a rush. Dogs can come in and out of the ring off leash. No need to hurry and put that leash on as you leave. Many dogs ran down the last line and to a table/box with the leash and where handler’s have left a toy/treat container/etc. There might be a tug game or treat party as they walk away from the ring. The party might continue for a while before putting the leash on.  Also note – I don’t know that I saw any dogs knock the last bar or get refusals at the very end of the course – know where that reward is has the dogs going fast and efficiently. And not leaving the ring to run back to a crate. My concern for getting on the leash at the end of the run meant a delay in rewards for my dog – a rule we have to follow at home, but wasn’t necessary in Sweden.  I sometimes saw handlers run the last line, grab their toy out of a pile and then just throw it out into an empty field to do a game of fetch!

Pockets: At home, one challenge is having enough food treats for Griffin while we wait to go in the ring – but not too much or else I have to find somewhere to put it. On our trip – we could have food in our pocket in the ring!  We can’t give it in the ring, but this means no treat counting/careful rationing/ hurrying back to the crate/station after leaving the ring.I  don’t feel it gave us any advantage in the ring for me to have food in my pocket – that just doesn’t matter with Griffin. But it made ring entries less stressful -other than it felt ‘wrong’ since it’s not allowed at home!

Tent where the announcer/score people hid from the rain/sun.

(Not) Anonymous: When Griffin first started trialing, I would drive further away to events so that there were fewer people I knew. I was more nervous about trialing around people who had been past classmates or instructors.  In Sweden it was hard to be anonymous. There were announcers  at most rings! Introducing dogs, breeds, handlers, and the club they are from. Not only did I have one of two goldens at a very big trial, but everyone around the ring know I was from very far away.

Training: Training is a big part of most dog sports/activities. The dogs need to learn to do the tasks. The dogs need to learn to be able to do it in the trial environment and put all the parts together. Almost every US agility organization will disqualify/fault/penalize a team for training in the ring. An exception is UKI’s option to do training/toy in the ring – but you must make that decision before starting.

In Sweden teams could train in the ring in many ways. A handler could go back and reset a dog at the start of the course. Sometimes many times. If a dog missed an obstacle or had an off course, many handlers would go back and repeat a section of the course before continuing. If dogs missed a contact behavior (and especially if they had already disqualified) some handlers would have a dog repeat the a-frame a few times before going on.

Handlers could also pull a toy out of their pockets and reward on course. Teams did this sometimes if the dog had already been disqualified – they would use the opportunity to reward a contact behavior later in the course. This can be such a great thing for building behaviors!

Walking at a trial. Nature area – so much nicer and safer – than warm up walks at home!

Sometimes a handler would repeat one piece a few times and then head out of the ring – out the side.  They might go to where their tent was, send the dog back to his owner (across a field!), or to go and stand with friends while the dog lays at the handler’s feet. Eventually they go back for the leash.  I had fear when there was no asking the judge to be excused/giving the formal “thank you!” or other absurdly formal things we have to do. It was like the judge was there for scoring the exhibitor, not to make money for the club by judging as many dogs, as quickly as possible. I never felt a judge was hurrying  an exhibitor in or out of the ring.

This was very stressful for me to watch. It was mostly good training with only a few moments of dog frustration or handler’s seeming too angry. But all I could think was “Oh no! Keep going! The judge isn’t going to like this!”  and then would remember that there are different rules. Once a team disqualified, the judge would use the time to get a drink, fix tunnel bags,or be sure things were ready for the next dog. I really regret not repeating contacts or sections on some of our first runs – I’ve been trained for 15 years to not do that  and wasn’t able to think fast enough to take advantage of the rules.

More to come about our agility runs, an obedience trial, an agility seminar…. lots of excitement!