24/05/2026
Musings on a good day of trialing
Yesterday, Steve, Chris (visiting friend from BC), the dogs and I all set off at 6am for the Moncton Dog Show. We had decided the best option for us was to do the morning show only.
Steve and I have set very clear goals for ourselves. Above all else we are interested in the dogs displaying confident, a clear understanding of the task they had been asked to do and joyful connection in the ring.
The trial was well run and friendly. Moncton is a busy trial site, Zinnia and Lift are not comfortable enough YET to be able to perform at the standard of comfort and precision we are aiming for. Lift qualified in Rally and completed her Pre-Novice title in obedience, Zinnia got her first Advanced Rally Q. I did a “redo and go” in Novice Obedience. She was very distracted in the ring. She had worked beautifully all morning outside of the ring. We drove home trouble shooting and haver organized our “next steps” to build and strengthen their focus.
Disconnection in the ring isn’t fun and it can happen for many different reasons. We will now dig into our foundations and keep training in new challenging locations. We will experiment with reinforcement and ping-pong between high rates and longer stretches without external reinforcement. We will get curious and keep an open mind about our canine friends and work on learning more about who they are and what makes them tick.
I entered Light in pre-novice on a bit of a whim. She is only 15 months. I have been adding pieces to her education slowly emphasising joy and attention over everything else. Light completed her Rally Novice title – I lost us 10points LOL making a handler mistake on a sign. Both of Light’s runs were thrilling. Her blue eyes stared into mine intensely for the whole time in both runs. She glanced away only once during the Obedience run when she heard Steve’s voice. Light didn’t find the trial environment challenging at all. The goal with Light is to let her mature and not push her. She has a temperament advantage over her mother Lift and sister Zinnia – she is wildly confident and has no environmental concerns.
The value of this journey into this world of dog sports is the knowledge that can be gained. There are some things that can’t easily be learned without the external challenges provided by a trial. Trials are an opportunity to see how training holds up under duress.
Training to compete and preparing dogs for competition provides opportunities to learn more about them, to hone their skills and develop a deeper bond. It is also a rich opportunity to gain self-knowledge. There will inevitably be frustrations along the way. Problem solving and figuring out a pathway forward IS the greatest reward.
