I fucked up

Yeah…

A few years ago my wife and I came to the dog sports world. New, unknown discipline for us. You compete against yourself first of all. To train a dog for a good obedience routine usually takes at least 12 months of training a few times a week, every week. Dedication, discipline, resilience on both sides. Our journey took almost 2 years before the first trial in 2025.

What happened yesterday:

• We are in the 3rd group on the day, warmed up the dog, time to go on the field, rain starts pouring, judge calls a break, dogs away, 15 minutes later quick warmup and go to meet the judge.
• First exercise, long heel, I feel the dog by my side, all going great, and I stop at the end of the straight. That moment big red “fuck” fires in my head, I did not complete, there are 3 more elements, giving a command and continue like it was planned, no it wasn’t.
• Next exercise, the group, two steps in and I’m stepping on my dog’s paw, loud squeal and limping dog by my side. Stop, check, pat. Stand up. Continue. Forgot to say “Thank you group” on exit. Damn.
• Third exercise, change of pace, I messed up the order and instead of the slow pace went normal, 13 steps of consideration and now back to normal pace, new normal, which is almost running.
• Fourth exercise, position changes, during the buildup I feel there is no dog by my side, quick stop (not by rules), here he is, just checked out for a moment, continue, same feel, or no feel, command, distance gain, turn around, he is exactly where he should be, sitting, happily wagging tail.
• Fifth exercise, buildup, same no feel of the dog, whatever, command, distance, turn around, happy dog exactly in the position as it should be.
• 6 months of final practice turned into 8 minutes of shame in front of the public, the judge, trainers and club fellows.
• trial nerves got to me badly this time.
• next 8 minutes during long down and watching the second team doing a great performance I was devastated inside, my companion dog was happy-faced and absolutely not bothered by anything, he did a fantastic job, I fucked up the trial.
• while waiting for results got a thumbs up and congratulations from club fellows, team support is at its best here.
• results were shocking for me, judge pointed to a few problems which we need to fix, a couple of small penalties and a total of 92 out of 100 and “very good” from the judge, I didn’t believe my ears. In my head it was far lower, other teams were way better and they received less.
• Still in shock, shook judge’s hand, mumbled a thank you and patted my companion. It is over. Time to cheer and support other teams.

Later that night I poured myself a whiskey and mustered all my bravery to watch a video recording.

And the video was exactly as it felt in my head, the only difference was the dog in full focus, engaging, team is doing the job, a couple of hiccups which were penalised 1.5 points each as stated in the rules, but the rest was exactly as it should be. No nerves blasting. Still needs work to get an excellent, but this one was overall a “very good” exercise.

After that I sat and thought a lot. I still feel embarrassed inside, I know what wasn’t going well, I know what went completely wrong, I know my nerves got on top of me this time. Very little of this is visible outside. But it is what it costs to overcome yourself, to step into the unknowns and to master it. Sometimes your best judgement doesn’t match the outside view.

We got the title. Next step is nationals in 3 months. My companion is resting by my side, exhausted and snoring. I’m very proud of him. We came to this sport at the age when everyone else is retiring, my dog is turning 10 this year, and he’s keeping the pace with dogs half his age. He held up his end. I’m still catching up.

PS from the wife, He has thick nerves to go and trial, it takes a lot of courage and bravery to go on the field with your dog! I’m so proud of my half. PSS I’m still trying to trial our other dog PSSS thin nerves