Last week at the 4-H Judge’s Seminar, I talked with a few parents and advisors who were struggling to get their teams to be comfortable and confident in the ring. I mentioned that I had a set of activities/curriculum that I use for my 4-H’ers and competition class students.
When I got home to send it… the notes were old and messy and written to remind me of everything, not for someone else. It wasn’t in a format appropriate for sharing. This week I’ve been working to get it a little more organized and adding in enough words that it makes sense to someone else.
A summary of the activities:
1. Planning Ahead: Provide sufficient dog training and handler training so that everyone knows what to expect. Know the show location and where everything is and what distractions to expect. Have a packing list. Have a ring routine, including the warm up, entrance, and exit. Have a plan for what could go wrong and how to respond. Plan for how parents/adults/family/etc should be interacting and supporting the exhibitor before, during, and after the team is in the ring (this is different for everyone!).
2. Know the Details: Know the rules. Know what’s not in the rules. Know how the judging is done. Know what the judge does and says and what variations may happen. Know how scoring happens and what the score sheet looks like.
3. Overtrain: For what will happen in the ring. For silly things that could occur. For the weak areas of the team. Make the challenges not a challenge. Know what to expect but be ready for variation.
4. Look at the Big Plan: What’s happens afterwards, what notes to make for the next event, how to adapt for changes over time. The event is not the end goal, it’s the starting point for the next year/next event. Use the event as a way to prepare for future training.
As a 4-H judge and exhibitor in dog sports, I often want to really help exhibitors be better prepared for their next event. I know dogs have bad days and that surprises happen. I don’t see very many of those errors. Most of the deductions I make as a 4-H judge and most of what I see when I’m out with my own dogs, are handler errors or training related things.
From December to now, I’ve been at a handful of agility trials with Griffin. It had been four years since I last trialed in agility. It’s been hard to see some of the handler behaviors, poor sportsmanship, and yelling at the dogs. I don’t know if there’s more than before, if I’m just seeing it now, or if things have changed over time. It’s disappointing, especially when I see how the handler reactions effect future performances or impact others nearby. 
Dogs aren’t being good or bad. It’s just behavior and we’re the ones setting who label the behavior as desirable or undesirable. Behavior can be changed! Griffin running off wasn’t him intentionally being horrible. He was showing a lack of self control and an area where we needed to change our training. We did that, and the problem measurably decreased. If he was still visiting, we would change our training plan and then try again.