Build Confidence and Push Your Dog Training Limits

 Home

Articles

Build Confidence and Push Your Dog Training Limits

Written by Lorrie Reynolds

Lorrie has been an agility enthusiast since 2002 and has taught tricks, family obedience, agility, and canine conditioning since 2005. When she's not writing articles, developing courses, or training dogs, you can find her curled up with a book in her hands and a dog warming her feet.



An Unexpected Student

I was surprised that she signed up for my dog agility distance seminar. She and her cute little dog had distance skills that were well above average.

While I frequently get experienced and high-performing teams signing up, they’re usually teams that are struggling with distance and need the extra knowledge and motivation to move to the next level.

I would have been even more shocked if I’d known she would become one of my most frequent “repeat offenders,” coming back to attend the very same seminar multiple times.

I don’t remember which year it was, or even which location she came to first. What I do remember is pushing her hard, encouraging her to try more and more difficult sequences so I could assess the team’s limits. I remember her joy when she got them right, and her determination when she made a mistake – determination to fix it the next time. I also remember wondering why she was there and worrying that she wouldn’t learn anything and would be disappointed.

I finally worked up the courage to ask her during a break. “Maggie, why did you decide to come to this seminar? You are nailing almost every exercise, even when I make them harder for you. You seem surprised when you do them right. You have great distance already.”

She paused for a minute and then said, “I didn’t know we could do the exercises you set up. My instructor doesn’t teach distance, so I needed someone to push me. I guess I’m just here to get confidence and go to the next level.”

I’m not sure what answer I expected, but it definitely wasn’t that one. When I’d seen her run at trials, she always looked sure of herself on the course. While she didn’t offer advice to people, she usually didn’t ask for any either, and always seemed to know what she was doing.

Over the years, she has continued attending seminars – sometimes my new additions, but most often the same Distance and Communications Foundations course (now renamed Agility FUNdamentals for Distance). We’ve become friends, and have a standing joke about coming to “confidence class.” I challenge her, always urging her to expand her limits, and she works hard and never disappoints me. We celebrate every success and I’m “auntie” to her dogs, even running them on occasion.

Today’s Tip:

Explore your limits and find someone who will push you move beyond them. Find someone to build your confidence by believing in you and making you “prove” to yourself that you are better than you think. If your weekly instructor doesn’t have the knowledge or ability to challenge you in an area, find opportunities to learn more and stretch your wings. You never know how high you’ll be able to fly!

Note – I don’t teach weekly classes and don’t encourage people to leave their current instructor unless there is a serious issue. I do, however, recommend that people find other periodic learning opportunities to supplement or expand on what they are learning from their current classes.

The online version of my distance seminar is open for enrollment! Click here to learn more.

← Prev: Training a Noise-Sensitive Dog for Agility or Tricks Next: Can a Training Partner Help with Agility and Tricks? →