Almost one year ago today, at the Rose City Classic dog show, Cooper got his show championship. And that’s the last time I spent any time near a regular conformation ring. (I did show Cooper at the IWSCOPS specialty show in August.)
Today, even though the sun was out, our field training group was flooded out of its training grounds, so Russ and I decided to go to watch the Irish Water Spaniels at this year’s Rose City Classic. We left the dogs at home, hopped in the car, and drove the few miles over to the Expo Center.
About half way there, the area around my solar plexus got tight, I found it harder to breathe, and my stomach started to churn.
This went on for a few minutes until I realized, “Hey! I’m feeling nervous. Why am I nervous? I’m not showing any dogs in this show.”
Hmm…
I guess that I have been nervous driving to dog shows for a long time, ever since I started showing my dogs. So some part of me has made this dog show = nervousness into an automatic connection, one that I seem to have no control over.
It’s like watching Tooey start to drool when I start getting out the field training bumpers. She often gets treats when she retrieves those bumpers, and some part of her brain has made the connection bumpers = salivation.
We’ve both been classically conditioned.
I am beginning to realize that if I’m going to keep showing my dogs at dog shows, I had better deal with this. It’s understandable to be nervous when there is something to be nervous about. But when I start reacting for no reason based in reality, well, that needs some attention.
I think it’s connected to the high rate of failure at dog shows. Conformation shows are the worst at this — only one dog and one bitch can get points toward their championship — everyone else loses. I lost a lot — it took more than three years of regular showing for Cooper to get his championship.
And for Obedience, the problem has been me. Every dog who passes the trial, earns a leg toward the title. But the dog and handler have to be trained and ready to pass. I’ve been eager for Cooper to earn his CD title in Obedience (for a lot of reasons), and so I started showing him as soon as I thought he remotely had a chance — as it turns out, before he was ready. Resulting also in a high rate of failure.
So mostly my experiences with dog shows have been uncomfortable, linking a strong desire to succeed and a fear of failure, with the regular experience of failure.
So. What to do?
I am taking some steps. I haven’t shown Cooper in Obedience for quite awhile. And all that time, we’ve been taking classes, going to private lessons, attending matches, and practicing at home. Am doing my best to make sure we are prepared when we go next time.
But I am puzzled as to what to do with that extra layer of nervousness that appears to affect me without reason. What to do with that nervous feeling that arrives just because I am driving to a dog show. It’s got to be a mental game of some kind, but what, I don’t know.
Perhaps you do.
“Conquering Ring Nerves” A step-by-step program for all dog sports by Diane Peters Mayer, M.S.W. I have yet to be in the ring but I know I’m going to be really nervous so I thought I’d get ahead of the game with this book. It talks about breathing and focusing techniques.
You could do some desensitization work for yourself but I think it would be hard to come up with ways to stay under threshold since you start reacting long before you get to the show, even to spectate.
Other things to try could include EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, Brad Yates has some good stuff on it); peppermint essential oil applied to the palms of the hand (also on dog’s pawpads if the dog is also sensitive to the situation) to help calm; very detailed visualizations that begin with packing for the show/trial and include the trip to the event as well as the actual performance.
This stuff is a work-in-progress for me. My last competition dog quit when she was 8 years old. She’d been my Novice A dog for 3 sports and was tired of dealing with my nerves. We’ll see how the 3yo does in a few weeks when I try putting her in a conformation show.