When I decided to campaign for the Invitational, I really had no idea what I was getting into. It is a huge commitment! We spend most of our weekends at agility trials, watching, competing and learning (and of course socializing!). It's been a bit of a trial-by-fire (pardon the pun). It's hard to think of, but before a couple of years ago, we rarely went to more than one or maybe two trials a month and almost never for more than one day at any particular trial. Now we go to trials almost every weekend, and many of them are three days long.
Trialling so much has benefits. For one thing, I used to get so nervous before going in the ring that I could barely make myself go in, and when I was in there I hardly knew what was going on. (Here's a funny thing: I used to get butterflies just filling out the entry forms! And that was a month or two before the trial was even going to take place!) Then once in the ring, I would make a lot of green mistakes--getting lost on the course, leaving parts of the course out, running into obstacles, etc. Those days are (mainly) gone, thanks to so many reps in the ring. I still get nervous of course, but only an appropriate amount. Plus, with all the experience has come the ability to see the courses much better and anticipate how they will run. Now I can walk the courses with much greater confidence than I could a year ago. Of course, I still make plenty of mistakes! Just not as many as before. :-) One more benefit: thanks to all the experience, when I run the course now my conscious mind is mainly turned off. I don't hear or see anything but the course and my dog. Actually, more often than not when my conscious mind intrudes during our run, it usually causes problems!
Probably the biggest benefit of trialling so much is that Mr. Darcy and I have become a real team. Almost every time we go into the ring, we are so connected it is like there is a string tied between us. He anticipates what I will do and I anticipate what he will do. We seem to be reading each other's minds. It is as if we are dancing out there. I am almost always able to tell him exactly where I want him to go and he goes there. Most of this is non-verbal, communicated with body language, eye contact, and motion. It is so much fun going out there with my partner!
But trialling so much also has downsides. For one thing, it's hard to get anything done around the house when you're away almost every weekend! Another problem is limited training time. As I touched on yesterday, we have learned to do a certain amount of training in the ring. You're not allowed to bring treats or toys into the ring, but there are things you can do. For example, in competitions I have taught Mr. D the difference between a rear cross with a sharp turn and a rear cross with a gentler "go out" kind of turn. We also frequently work on staying put on the table and various contact behaviors. I'm still trying to teach myself to mark it when bars come down, but that's a hard one! (At least for me.)
The biggest downside, though, is the feeling of having to Q every run. This really sent me through an emotional roller coaster this year. After a good run or a good weekend I would be on top of the world! It was a great feeling! I couldn't wait to get back in the ring! But after an NQ or a bad weekend, I would feel very bad. "Why am I doing this? What a waste of money. We just gave away 20 points. We'll never qualify for the Invitational." I would be depressed for a couple of days. What a drag. This has been very hard to control, though I am finally starting to get a handle on it. Now that it appears we are all but definitely going to qualify for the Invitational, I have started to think more about working out kinks instead of being perfect in the ring. Now when we NQ, I try to use it as an enhanced training opportunity and not worry about being imperfect. It's an on-going journey but is getting better.
Rob
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