My dogs, Lady and Ruger are polar opposites in behavior and abilities. Both are terribly smart (goes without saying - Border Collies), but both have had and are having problems with being scared at Trials. Lady shut down on me both in class and in competitions. I took her out of classes and any competitions for a year. I worked with her at home and Ruger took over her classes. I worked on Handler Focus, Susan Garrett's "Recallers" and just having fun with me. She has been back in class and competition for a little over a year now, and boy is she doing well. We are not going nuts competing, just slow and steady, but nice results. Even if we do not have a Qualifying run, I still have fun with her and most importantly, she has fun with me. What has changed? Lady and I are a team and we have a good time together. She trusts me to guide her around a course and her focus is on me and the obstacles.
Now for Ruger. Ruger and I are definitely not so team-like on course. At home and at class, he is happy and loves Agility. In competition, he's terrified. His little face is tight, he smacks his lips and walk/trots over the course, or I am begging him through obstacles. We are not a team. I get irritated and I am sure he feels keenly my ire. Saturday night he was in a show and stopped on top of the A-Frame because he caught sight of the judge and he was scared. I will mention that he knows the judge, but at that moment, I do not believe he even remembered him. Since this was an Intro Trial we were running For Exhibition Only (FEO), I entered Lady in one run on Sunday because I just couldn't take not having a good run, she was my ringer.
Lady had a wonderful Snooker run, and wonder of all wonders, I actually didn't mess it up (I have been in a long Snooker rut). I ran the course the same way with Ruger and OMG he did great and he actually made time. His next run was a Jumpers course. Ruger has never made time on a USDAA Jumpers course - EVER. His time was 28.89 on a 33 second course. This was the fastest run he has ever had. I was over the moon, we were a team.
Why the difference? I have been working on Handler Focus with him and will continue to do so since I feel we still have a long way to go. But, between runs, I am playing with him and getting him to tug (albeit for treats - we are not there yet). I think also, with Lady there, it is easier for me to let go the irritation that I feel when he acts goofy. I have been going back and forth for some time now (I said it took me longer than most) wondering if I should pull Ruger from competing, or just stick it out and accept "he is who he is". Now I have a clear objective and neither of those choices are optimal. I am going to be Ruger's teammate. We will continue to work on Handler and Obstacle focus and we will have fun. I have no idea how this all is going to play out, but my focus from now on is to have fun with both of my dogs and perhaps we will have an amazing team.
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