Paws For Thought

I have just completed giving a 7 week course to some great dog handlers at my local dog club. All credit to them for turning out on some wet and windy winter nights here in Nz, they bought their enthusiastic questions and personal stories, and I think we all left with a knowledge that theres more to dog training than training the dog ! As promised I’ll be posting some of the screenshots as reminders of what we covered each week .

Some people just don’t like making goals with the subconscious fear of not achieving them … if that’s you ? Try this…. Every week a note about a training or behavioural achievement, it could be agility related or any gain you and your dog do together, even discovering a new walk or being comfortable in a new environment. Have fun in 2025

Two weeks ago we attended the national dog agility event, and to sum it up … it was a disaster 🐾. The weather was bad, my camp spot had me walking 15 km a day in mud, wind and rain, trying to see when, where to walk courses, time to get there & back, get mud off dog before entering camper van …. I could go on !
Ok I will … The excessive walking probably made my always fragile back pain very debilitating, trying to drive to get pain killers I got stuck in mud and had to be towed out … oh and Gypsy hates rain and wind so shut down in the shoot or I scratched her as I couldn’t actually run !
So …. Now I’m back , two weeks has past and on reflection, hindsight being a wonderful thing … it was still a disaster.
However, I really don’t mind ! Stuff happens … I hadn’t trained for 4 yrs to compete in the Olympics and got a tummy bug. It was just a bad weekend
It was disappointing, but on the scale of world events, national disasters or personal tragedy …. It was just a bad weekend .
Mindset will determine, not only how you handle a bad run of luck but also how you remember it, grow from it, and how it shapes your decision in the future.
On the plus side I spent time with good friends, watched some great runs and we all got home safely 🐾

I just listened to this podcast, and wanted to share it with anyone who doesn’t usually listen to to podcasts …have a listen and see how mindset will affect your training, your competition and most importantly how you process your results after a particularly bad or good weekend.
If you have a strong growth mindset, ask yourself how your values will aid your understanding of knowing if you want or need a good result.

Episode 348: The Fine Line Between Wanting and Needing - Bad Dog Agility In this episode (36:23) In this episode, we explore a powerful quote from an Olympian about the delicate balance between wanting success and not needing it for self-worth. We dive into the psychology of high achievement, the importance of resilience, and how to pursue goals without letting them defi...

Time for a bit of a recap … we want a strong positive mindset, to achieve our goals, we want to feel fulfilled, because success is not necessarily about winning it’s about being the best we can be. Finally, that fulfilment is achieved when our mindset is in alignment with our values …. So what are values ? What are your values ?