Are you the tortoise or the hare?

With our lifestyles as busy as they are today, it’s so tempting to rush through our training and fast track results. I mean geez, who has time nowadays to spend countless hours training right?

At the 2017 IPO Nationals in Adelaide I witnessed an extremely talented young handler with her tender aged pup, just 7mths old, head out on to the field after everyone was done to have a play around with her dog. I watched as she strategically played with him, the dog embracing every breathing moment with her. Nothing and no one else mattered to them. They were in their zone. So beautiful to watch. Then it happened. She asked the dog to “Fuss” (the German command for “heel”) and the dog snapped into position. With perfect stride and form, now prancing at his handler’s side with every step. My mouth hit the floor. This pup was just 7mths old and was almost ready for a BH run out!

My mind instantly said, “Shaz, you got some serious catching up to do mate!” Sure my dog has started heeling but nowhere as perfect as that. All of a sudden I found my brain going into competition….with myself!

Now let’s rewind for a second. Had I not seen that dog out with his handler, had I not seen the acute precision in their work, had I not seen the absolute jaw dropping beauty of that handler’s natural talent with her dog, would I have ever questioned where I was at in my own training?

No. Probably not. See the thing is, when we see something good, we want it. But when we see something great, we crave it. Did watching her dog make me want to lift my game with my dog? Absolutely. Should we be striving for more if we can see the possibilities right before our eyes? You betcha! But don’t do it at the cost of your dog. Had I have gone home and started asking of my dog more than they were ready to take on not only would this have been detrimental to my dog but it would have limited me as a trainer. Why? Because I would have been tempted to start taking shortcuts in my training to fast track results instead of taking the time, as I was already doing, to build solid pieces. That trainer had clearly taken the time to carefully solidify the pieces of her work. She wouldn’t have gotten those results by rushing the system. So the question I had to ask myself was, “Why fix something that isn’t broken?”

In the case of the tortoise and the hare, the hare may have had the advantage of speed on his side but ultimately speed was what failed him. The same goes for your dog. You might get your dog to perform sooner by rushing through the steps, but at what cost? Remember, our dogs are individuals just like us. You are your own team, just as others are their own.

The most dangerous thing we can do in our training is compare ourselves to others. It happens way more than it should. Admiration is healthy but when it becomes an obsession then trust me, it only leads to a path of failure and unnecessary pressure. That is a roadblock in itself and is not a path you want to go down.

So next time you’re tempted to hurry along the training, remind yourself that while it’s tempting to ride the cute, fuzzy bunny to the finish line the road is bouncy and full of headaches. The tortoise will give you a much smoother ride there