Some things I learned in the Futility Ring

by Pete Czuchra

Regatta and I have been training in utility now for almost a year. During that time we have earned one leg to our degree in about 13 shows. She usually blows just one random exercise per show. While this is not a spectacular performance, it is not unusually bad either - for utility. Yet, compared to how we did in novice and open, it is an ordeal.

It is now about a week since the Christmas cluster and we will not enter another show until March. This gives me a lot of time to look back and reflect upon what we have gone through. It always surprises me how stressful dog shows are for me. I can speak in front of a crowd of people and feel perfectly comfortable, yet before a dog show, I'm a nervous wreck.

There are many reasons for this and one of the biggest is that in the ring, you really feel like you're being judged and guess what - you are! So many months of training are coming down to someone developing an opinion in seven or eight minutes. Another big reason I get so nervous is that I know many people are rooting for us that I hate to let them down.

But, beyond the fear of being judged negatively and letting people down, my greatest fear is getting to the show too late to make the class. Despite the fear of "NQing" or letting people down, I am most afraid of not even being given the chance to try. So before I leave the house, I am constantly looking at the clock, listening to weather reports and traffic conditions (that is, when I'm not hiding in the bathroom). If I get to the show too early Regatta gets too hyper. If I leave too late, we totally blow it.

So what do I like about showing a dog? Being a bit of a ham, I do like performing in the ring. And of course I like the satisfaction of getting a green ribbon and especially an extra ribbon of a different color.

Unfortunately for many of us in utility, even a green ribbon doesn't happen all that often. So what else is there? I believe that the biggest draw for me is the camaraderie with other dog people. There are very few places where you can sit next to somebody you never met before, and just start a worthwhile conversation with someone you share a passion with.

I've trained dogs now off and on now for more than 10 years and there are 3 things I learned. The first is all dogs are different. Get to know your dog. Some people will offer you advice and profess it as gospel.

Respectfully consider all this advice but always bear in mind: your dog is different. The way to get to know your dog is to constantly observe and analyze its behavior. Their reasons for doing things are often beyond our understanding. Yet if you observe, you can often find what triggers their behavior.

For example at the Christmas cluster, Regatta decided to sit shortly after I signaled her to stand on the signal exercise. The day after the cluster, it dawned on me that the sitting behavior was triggered by the judge giving me the command to "leave your dog." Knowing the trigger now gives me to chance to train out the behavior.

The second thing I learned is to always maintain a sense of humor. We're not saving the world, all we're doing is showing a dog. This is nothing to get an ulcer over, and it is supposed to be fun. Maintaining a sense of humor will also help you overcome the nervousness you feel before and during a dog show. I firmly believe that no matter how many mints we chew, the dog picks up our nervousness. This nervousness is probably the biggest reason why a dog does so well in training and sometimes so poorly in the ring.

The third thing I learned is that you need to maintain a long-term vision of your goals. As I said before, in the ring, months of training boil down to a few minutes. Don't let what happens in those few minutes, distort all the time you invested to get there. Not getting the leg is a disappointment. Still, there's always another show. Remember you're working with a totally different species of animal. Try telling your child, spouse or even a close friend to sit or heel and see what happens. To those who do not train, what we do with our dogs is like magic.

Thomas Edison once said, "I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." Keep that in mind as you step toward your next degree.