First BH, need help/advice - Page 1

Any words of wisdom, what have worked for you and what didn't? What would you do differently? This is my first ever trial and I don't even belong to a Schh club  I've been training mostly on my own, with the occasional help from a sports club, mostly FR and Mondio. They did a mock trial for me last weekend and we didn't do well at all, but it was very educational, in terms of learning the trial etiquette, what to do and what not to do. The thing is that if I am nervous, my dog feels it and it all goes downhill from there. To make the matters worse in my mind, we have never been to the field the trial will be, not sure how much of a disadvantage that is. I would imagine a dog that trains in that field would do a lot better. At the same time I keep telling myself that a well trained dog should perform on any field, right? The big question is, is my dog one of those...probably not. I started taking him to completely new places and doing shorter BH routine. I am afraid I am going to be very nervous...

Any thoughts on the second part? At the mock trial, about 8 people did a circle around my dog and I, closing on us and stomping. Chaos was very nervous the first 2 times, then he relaxed. What else can come up that I can possibly prepare for, if we make it that far?

I am so not having fun right now
 

First off realize that it is only a sport and in the scheme of things nothing really bad will happen.  So, there is no need to be nervous.  First, I would make sure that you have practiced and proofed the long down under distraction.   I would be sure that your dog is 110% reliable with another dog loose running around on the field while your dog is doing the long down.  The BH routine is about 10 minutes and I would practice, study and know the routine precisely.  It should be second nature.  I would practice checking in and greeting the judge with another handler and dog next to you.  I would build the dog's focus and drive so he is completely focused on you for the entire 10 minutes or so.  I would get friends to ride a bike, jog and walk dogs past your dog.   I would condition the dog to crowds as you have done and have people step over him, stand next to him all while you are out of sight.  I would plan and train for anything the judge may do during the BH. Some judges make the crowd march around you. I have had judges take us to shopping centers and do the "traffic" portion there.  I would contact the club you are going to do the BH at and go there and train before the BH if possible. 

Remember to pause briefly between exercises and wait for the "nod" from the judge to start.  "Thank" the group after you exit the group off lead.  Check on the new, newer and newest rules before the BH.  Remember the pause during the "sit and down out of motion exercises." 

Just remember, this is a sport and a hobby it should be fun.  Relax and enjoy the hard work you put into your dog and the accomplishment of even trialing.  I don't ever remember any one dying during a BH, so what's to really worry about?  Have fun!

relax, judge wants you to pass
make sure you wear clothes you normally wear when training.
smile and have fun.


 

I just did my first BH  few weeks back. And while i was nervous i did my best to walk out there like i knew what i was doing and was happy to do it. I also made a point to study the number of steps and actually count to myself. 60 steps, about turn 15 steps normal, Fuss! 15 steps fast, Fuss! 15 steps slow, (i messed up here for about 2 steps and though i was turning right but fixed my mistake) Fuss! 15 steps normal. Right turn (make it nice and crisp) 20 steps, right turn, 20 steps about turn, 10 steps sit. (I was one of the very few that didn't over step or under step the distances because our judge did count the paces.) The group i went through didn't move about, and i just chose two people that would leave me coming out of the figure 8 next to someone for the stop. Thank your group loud enough for the judge to hear. Repeat the count for off lash heeling. Remember your doing this because you love the dog and want to enjoy doing stuff with him.
Wait for the judges signals. Pray to all the gods for the sit in motion (pause) and down in motion (pause) And remember to wait for about 3 seconds before breaking between exercises.
I saw other dogs do stuff that i thought for sure was a fail that still got a passing score. Like run away from the handler, crawl on their back and side all the way to their handler on the long down.
The traffic was the easiest part, just go for a walk you you would normally do.
Have fun and let us know how you did.
Best of luck!!!!
Fry

For me, like Dragonfry said, counting out the steps helped me SO much. I was so focused on counting that I couldn't be nervous :)
My dog messed around some, but we still passed LOL HE was busy looking for a helper!!!!

Melissa
 

Counting steps is a good point, if the rules call for 10 - 15 steps for an exercise I always did 13.  Then if I was off by one or two either way I was still good.

(tag for future reference)

Great thread.  Thanks.

I have 2 young kids, so he is used to screaming, running kids, crowds, bicycles, roller blades...I took him to the local pet expo, tons of people who felt the dogs are there to socialize and he was solid, completely ignoring everyone and focusing on me. I will keep taking him to crowded shopping places till the trial.

The long down...we have been working on it. I have him on down and I practice the routine by myself, the footwork, turns and so on. People probably think I am crazy, walking in a weird patterns in a field when my dog is laying down. We also practiced at the place I go training sometimes and there were running dogs and all and he was good. The worst he might do would be to sit, but I don't think he will break the down, unless it for some reason it goes for way longer than 10 minutes.

Ugh, I am sure once the trial is over, I will feel much better, one way or another. I did go couple of times to the Sch club, but it is not a good fit for me. I will try to go again, just so that I know I've tried...

I'd say as with any other sport, the biggest challenge is calming your own nerves. One thing I've noticed with my troublesome dog (albeit I don't do any trials with her) is she really does take her ques from me. If I'm nervous or out of sync with myself for any reason, she becomes a little demon. Continue to practice your job (in this case, the routine) and go out there with confidence that you've prepared yourself the best you could without actively participating with a club. When it's go time, just take a deep breath and go do what you've been working so hard at. You may make mistakes, and that's ok. Learn from them. Have someone you know record it so you can see what you're doing wrong.

I think the hardest part was listening to the critque. Hearing your mistakes makes them sound so much worse then they really were.  But the judge was there to explain what you did right and wrong and gave pointer about these things. Oh and having everyone there hanging on the fence during your turn, listening to your screw up was a bit much too.   But i learned a lot about my judge listening to what he told others and made a few tiny adjustments before going in. And since i was the second to the last dog to heel, i got plenty of time to watch and listen. Don't stress the long down. My dog could have stayed 30 minutes and we train that pratice. They all just lay there. The AKC people i train with on a different night think 5 minutes is forever.
We all had fun, everyone at my trail passed. And we got to see everybody in action.
Remember, count your steps and you can "Whisper to the dog is the judges is behind you".......