A Promise

No one is Perfect...that's why pencils have erasers :)

When I got Kort I had a dream. I wanted him to be my first UD dog. That was the most important thing to me. Kort & I have been in training toward this goal of mine since he was 3 months old. Taking classes, working hard. He has done phenomenally well, is a great worker, has drive & determination... he also has ring stress. Why?? Because I rushed him, I moved forward too fast when I shouldn't have. What was the result? A dog that was so stressed in the ring he shut down, totally. I didn't see it at first, or I just didn't want to see it. I believed that he was strong & confident. He seemed to be a confident dog in all other areas, but I was so wrong.
Last August at the Spruce Meadows Rally trial he shut down on me the first day, I couldn't even get him to do a simple sit. The second day I asked Amanda to give it a try, to see if she could at least get him to go through the stations. She did & Kort performed beautifully for her, getting his second Rally Excellent leg with a score of 98. Did I celebrate? Nope, I cried. I cried because I could see that it was me who had shut him down, my high expectations of him had caused him alot of stress. The good thing to come out of this was that I finally put my ego in check, & realized I had alot of work to do to make Kort enjoy working with me again.
I have been so lucky to have Amanda to help guide me. She is wise beyond her young years :) She has been working with me to bring back the "old" Kort. I have been doing pretty well following direction, I have room for improvement though, I am very stubborn & stuck in my ways, but Amanda hasn't tried to strangle me yet.
I am seeing the results finally. My old Kort is slowly coming back. It is hard not to want to skip ahead & do things quicker when I see progress. I must remember not to get greedy!!!
Now I make learning for Kort a game, everything is a game, from sitting in front of me, to sitting beside me, heeling , retrieving or taking the high jump. All of it is FUN!!
Once I stopped expecting perfection from him, both mine & Kort's stress has decreased. We have a long way to go, my goal is for trialing again in 2013.
I do however have him entered 1 day in Red Deer next month. We are going up for Scenthurdle & staying overnight. I entered 1 Rally Excellent trial as we will be there anyway. HOWEVER, I am totally ready to not enter the ring if Kort is not ready. I promised him I would never make him feel that kind of pressure again & I will not break my promise .
I love my Korty dog ♥