In today’s blog I want to look at the ‘what’.
When we are training it is sometimes hard to know ‘what’ to do next.
I always talk about having goals and I really believe these goals are what will keep you focused and on track when it comes to training your dog, but how do we know what our goals need to be?!
This is when I look at my ‘what’
To do this you need to ask yourself these two questions:
🐾 What is it you are wanting to achieve?
And
🐾 What is stopping you from achieving it?
From this we can start to get some goals in mind.
Let me give you an example…
So, if you are wanting to go to a competition then we need to look at what is stopping you from stepping into that ring.
🤔Maybe it is that you need to work on a few more skills for beginner entry level.
🤔Maybe you need to work on some distraction training.
🤔Maybe you are worried about your own side of the team, so we need to look at your mindset and making sure you are confident on what you need to do.
🤔Maybe your dog needs some vehicle training to enable them to rest during the competition day.
🧩All these things (and more) all add up to how successful your competition run will be.
Some other examples could be….
What is preventing you from:
⭐️Getting a clear round.
⭐️Winning the class to enable grade progression.
We need to look at the ‘what’s’ to enable your training to move forward and for you to hit those little goals you have set yourself.
You as the handler are 50% of the team, it is up to you to give your dog all the skills and information necessary to enable them to navigate the course successfully and with confidence!
I don’t like that some handlers put all the responsibility on the dog to get it right, when in 98% of cases the dogs are not doing anything wrong at all! They are sometimes either lacking in skills or concepts to enable them to confidently run the course or they are following the handlers body language (who happened to be pointing the wrong way!!)
This is why filming your training and your competition runs is so important. You can watch back and see what happened and why.
Spend some time today on your ‘why’ (part 1) and your ‘what’ and in part 3 I will tell you how you put this information into progressing your training.
Happy training
Katrina 🐾
KB Agility 