WEBVTT 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:13.000 Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Canine Connection 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:16.480 podcast. Today, Lori and I are going to talk 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:21.559 about mental management around bigger events, 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:24.859 whatever that looks like for you, right? It could 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:29.260 be your national specialty or it just could be 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:33.579 like, you know, I spoke to someone not too long 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:36.420 ago and they were like, oh, the closer I get 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:40.039 to getting my arch, my championship. The more 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:42.939 nervous I get. So that could be. You know your 00:00:42.939 --> 00:00:48.299 big event. Or it could be like. You know. A national. 00:00:48.460 --> 00:00:52.759 An actual national. Titling event. Like rally 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:59.600 nationals. Obedience nationals. Any sport. Right. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:04.920 Most sports have. Some sort of a big event. Yeah. 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:13.689 And. As that. event approaches our brains start 00:01:13.689 --> 00:01:22.629 to go haywire true um right so basically in its 00:01:22.629 --> 00:01:28.230 simplest form when we get nervous we go into 00:01:28.230 --> 00:01:31.370 fight or flight and when we go into fight or 00:01:31.370 --> 00:01:37.120 flight our brain just fires and does things says 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:41.579 things reacts a certain way that if we are not 00:01:41.579 --> 00:01:47.040 consciously aware of it it takes over right um 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:51.459 and so the most important part is awareness because 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:55.280 the reality is you are going to be nervous like 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:59.219 i think back in way back it used to be like how 00:01:59.219 --> 00:02:02.469 do you Not how do you make it so that you're 00:02:02.469 --> 00:02:05.390 not nervous on the day? Well, if you really could 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:08.509 care less, you won't be nervous. But if you care, 00:02:08.710 --> 00:02:12.610 you're going to be nervous. That's part of it. 00:02:12.650 --> 00:02:16.250 Like, so I think people spend more energy trying 00:02:16.250 --> 00:02:19.030 not to be nervous, which is futile. So you're 00:02:19.030 --> 00:02:21.409 basically wasting energy and you're beating yourself 00:02:21.409 --> 00:02:24.030 up for being nervous. Also a waste of energy 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:27.509 because guess what? Everybody's nervous. Yeah. 00:02:27.610 --> 00:02:31.310 So what's. Yeah, the difference is understanding 00:02:31.310 --> 00:02:35.449 it and managing it. Yeah, and that's a big one 00:02:35.449 --> 00:02:38.949 because, you know, people will be like, people 00:02:38.949 --> 00:02:41.330 will sit there. You hear it all the time. Oh, 00:02:41.349 --> 00:02:42.689 my God, I'm so nervous. I'm going to throw up. 00:02:42.710 --> 00:02:44.389 Oh, my God, I can't even think straight. I'm 00:02:44.389 --> 00:02:48.009 so nervous. I get so nervous. I know I ruin everything 00:02:48.009 --> 00:02:50.430 because I'm so nervous. And then I say, well, 00:02:50.490 --> 00:02:53.430 have you ever like asked yourself in that moment? 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:58.080 Why am I so nervous? Like for real, why am I 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.620 so nervous? Am I so nervous because people are 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:03.599 watching and I don't want to look like an idiot? 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:08.500 Am I so nervous because my goal is to win the 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:12.259 whole thing? And what if I don't? Like I think 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:17.500 a lot of that, asking yourself why you're nervous, 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:21.199 you can easily put things into perspective, which 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.719 will help you. have some sort of like mental 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:30.580 management of controlling your nerves on the 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.099 end of like not losing your shit in the ring. 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:35.599 Because at the end of the day, like you can't 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.680 control, you can't control the judge, you can't 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.479 control the environment, but you can control 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:44.520 how you're looking at the whole event in a whole, 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:47.909 right? Does that make sense? Yeah. And you can 00:03:47.909 --> 00:03:51.490 you can only control yourself, really. Right. 00:03:51.629 --> 00:03:53.830 That's the only thing you have control over. 00:03:53.870 --> 00:03:59.069 So have some control over that. Right. Because 00:03:59.069 --> 00:04:01.590 if you give control up. So what a lot of people 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:06.409 say that this is my pet peeve. Oh, I get so nervous 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:09.509 and then everything's a disaster. Some variation 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:13.710 of that. Right. And then I'll say, well. You 00:04:13.710 --> 00:04:16.829 know, have you tried? And before I can even give 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:20.689 some suggestions, they're like, nothing works, 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:22.529 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So you're basically 00:04:22.529 --> 00:04:24.930 just being a victim. You're just saying this 00:04:24.930 --> 00:04:27.250 is what happens and I have no control over it. 00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:30.389 OK, so be it. That's your choice. But then you 00:04:30.389 --> 00:04:32.350 really don't have a right to complain about it. 00:04:33.490 --> 00:04:38.529 You do have choices. You can work on it. Right. 00:04:38.569 --> 00:04:42.949 You can employ any number of strategies. So, 00:04:43.050 --> 00:04:48.569 for example, when I get nervous, I always I can 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:51.389 feel it in my body and that works for me because 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:54.250 I'm like really in tune with my body. So if I 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:58.670 feel like pain in my chest, that's anxiety, pain 00:04:58.670 --> 00:05:03.800 in my stomach, that's nervousness or. If I feel 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.060 myself starting to speed up, like I have to, 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:10.939 like I start racing around, then I know that's 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.079 just nervousness and anxiety. It's causing me 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:15.759 to speed up. So when I feel any number of these 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.879 things, I immediately tell myself, stop. I take 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:22.959 a bunch of really deep breaths because I'm like, 00:05:22.980 --> 00:05:25.800 you're just going down a rabbit hole. Let's get 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.509 it back together. Let's regroup, right? So I 00:05:29.509 --> 00:05:31.850 take a bunch of deep breaths and I'm like, OK, 00:05:32.009 --> 00:05:35.850 what what just made you go off the rails? Right. 00:05:36.009 --> 00:05:39.170 Was it a thought like, oh, God, I hope my dog 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:42.790 doesn't fail. Yeah. OK, well, then I can talk 00:05:42.790 --> 00:05:44.730 myself through that. Like, you know what? It 00:05:44.730 --> 00:05:46.829 is what it is. Maybe they'll fail. Maybe they 00:05:46.829 --> 00:05:49.569 won't. Stop thinking about that. Let it go or. 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:53.089 Whatever the case or, oh, people are watching 00:05:53.089 --> 00:05:55.129 me. Then I can go, you know what? It doesn't 00:05:55.129 --> 00:05:57.709 matter. No one's really watching. They don't 00:05:57.709 --> 00:05:59.629 really care. At the end of the day, all they 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:03.629 care about is their own dog or, you know, so 00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:06.550 whatever the case, I can apply logic. But first 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:11.449 I have to stop myself from spiraling. So for 00:06:11.449 --> 00:06:15.589 me, it's the breathing. It's making myself slow 00:06:15.589 --> 00:06:19.939 down. And then I always return kind of back to 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:22.920 my habits and my routines. Like I'm like, stop 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:26.839 flitting around and doing nothing like aimless. 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:33.000 Yeah, we tend to do that. Right. Like sit down 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.519 or follow. You know, I have a very relatively 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:40.949 strict routine. For the purposes of grounding 00:06:40.949 --> 00:06:44.589 myself, right? Like I do this, then I do that. 00:06:44.649 --> 00:06:46.910 Then I do the next thing. Then if I get like, 00:06:46.949 --> 00:06:50.470 then I go just, nope, come back. Do the next 00:06:50.470 --> 00:06:53.750 thing in the sequence, right? If those things 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:57.750 are all done, sit down in a chair. And then in 00:06:57.750 --> 00:07:00.550 the chair, I can choose. I can close my eyes. 00:07:00.589 --> 00:07:04.949 I can visualize. I could play some suggestions 00:07:04.949 --> 00:07:07.230 that were made to me. My mental management coach 00:07:07.230 --> 00:07:12.319 was like, Go on your phone, play some like a 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:14.800 comedian, something to make you laugh. Laughter 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:19.959 is amazing. Sometimes I'll just make up stupid 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:22.819 stuff or I'll say something stupid to my dog 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:26.500 or I'll tell my like some silly joke or mantra 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.160 to make myself laugh. Because if you laugh, it 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.540 counteracts all those stress chemicals like immediately. 00:07:35.100 --> 00:07:42.050 Right. So humor, if you can find humor in what 00:07:42.050 --> 00:07:49.769 you're doing. So I think it helps to have a routine 00:07:49.769 --> 00:07:54.750 and a plan. Yeah. Which you can right now, plans 00:07:54.750 --> 00:07:57.670 might go slightly awry, but it shouldn't go so 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:01.089 awry that you can't get yourself back and go 00:08:01.089 --> 00:08:06.839 back to it. Yeah, I think. I think it's really 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:09.600 important. Like what you said is, you know, I'm 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.339 going to like what we both said was I'm going 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.040 to ask myself what's making me so nervous. And 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:19.800 then talking yourself off the cliff, you know, 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:22.879 and have it. I just kind of like call them little 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.160 reality checks for myself, keeping things in 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.500 perspective, because like in my life, my passion 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:34.370 is just. Being with my dogs, hiking my dogs, 00:08:34.490 --> 00:08:36.830 and I know you feel the same way, training my 00:08:36.830 --> 00:08:42.009 dogs. I just love training. And yes, we like 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:46.950 to compete. And I feel like when we get to a 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:51.850 trial, let alone a national event or a big goal 00:08:51.850 --> 00:08:57.169 -reaching moment, I think that we lose all perspective 00:08:57.169 --> 00:09:01.659 of life. like outside of that trial like and 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:04.500 I do like a thing that helps me the most is I 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:08.519 I do a visualization of what I like I look at 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:13.659 my dog even and I just remember like what I love 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:16.120 about her and what I love doing with my dogs 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.120 I can picture hiking I can picture it crystal 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:23.409 clear in my head I picture like Awesome training 00:09:23.409 --> 00:09:26.929 sessions where we've had just great, great feelings 00:09:26.929 --> 00:09:30.610 of training. Those things bring me all back to 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:34.289 what's really important about, you know, why 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:38.309 I'm even doing this whole thing. Those help me 00:09:38.309 --> 00:09:43.820 a lot. Just remembering. Life goes on after the 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:46.279 whatever event or goal reaching moment, whether 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:49.519 you do well or not, life does go on. I'm still 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.220 going to love my dogs. And there's always another 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:55.080 chance at a trial or an event. You know, that 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.559 stuff helps me a ton now because I used to be 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.860 a fucking wrecking ball. I was bad. Well, and, 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:05.279 you know, not to be morbid, but like when we 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:11.250 lose a dog, we would give. anything to have more 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:14.590 time with that animal right and if you have enough 00:10:14.590 --> 00:10:18.990 dogs over enough years you lose them young old 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:22.289 and everywhere in between and it is never enough 00:10:22.289 --> 00:10:26.090 time like you always wish you had more time and 00:10:26.090 --> 00:10:28.769 then like for a short amount of time after that 00:10:28.769 --> 00:10:31.710 you become like hyper focused on your other dogs 00:10:31.710 --> 00:10:34.370 and like and then all of a sudden time goes on 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:37.960 and then oh we forget Right. Or a dog gets sick 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:40.279 and we're like or gets injured and we're like, 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:43.679 oh, God, I really wanted to do that. You know, 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.299 but when they're healthy and everything's fine, 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:51.519 we completely lose perspective. We do. It's so 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:56.659 true. You know, completely. So gaining like pulling 00:10:56.659 --> 00:10:59.679 that perspective in. I mean, it's a very Buddhist 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:03.580 thing to reflect on death. Right. Like we're 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:06.620 all going to die. Sorry. That's just the way 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:09.480 it is. And they reflect on death, not in a morbid 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:13.200 way, but as a constant reminder of like, your 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.720 time is finite. What are you doing? Is this even 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:20.000 really important? Because like, if you knew you 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.980 were going to be dead next week, would you even 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:27.870 care about that? Exactly. You know. But we're 00:11:27.870 --> 00:11:30.710 really bad at that. Like we have this perspective 00:11:30.710 --> 00:11:34.389 when something terrible happens for a brief amount 00:11:34.389 --> 00:11:36.909 of time. And I guess it's like a survival mechanism, 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:42.830 you know. But I reflect on that a lot, you know, 00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:45.129 because I've had dogs that have gotten injured. 00:11:45.230 --> 00:11:47.990 I've had dogs that I've lost young. Like I've 00:11:47.990 --> 00:11:51.620 had all the whole gamut. And because of the whole 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:53.960 Buddhist practice, like I think about that a 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:57.139 lot. Like, I don't know when the last time is 00:11:57.139 --> 00:11:59.620 that I'm going to be showing my dog. Like it 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:03.120 could be any, any day that I go there could be 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.320 the last day. And there are plenty of stories 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:07.340 of people who showed their dogs and a week later 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:13.419 the dog was dead. Yeah, for sure. So. It's, it's 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:15.919 a matter of maintaining perspective. Now I get 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:20.179 it. We work really hard for a really long time. 00:12:20.259 --> 00:12:23.320 We put in an enormous amount of work and preparation. 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:26.039 We put in an enormous, we spend enormous amount 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.360 of money. Yeah. But again, like, are you doing 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.519 your mental management? Because, you know, people 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.580 show up at these events and then they're like, 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:39.980 Oh my God. Oh, my God. And they're overwhelmed 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:44.019 and they're or they're overwhelmed in terms of 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:48.039 just they're unprepared, maybe for the scope 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:54.559 or they're unprepared for the site. Like it's 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:56.519 very common. We've talked about this. People 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.399 get to rally nationals or even obedience nationals 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:02.559 or the classic. And they're like, oh, I had no 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.000 idea it was going to be this busy. People go 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.700 to their. dog nationals and you know there's 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:12.059 a dirt floor or different things that they're 00:13:12.059 --> 00:13:14.740 not prepared for and then they just fall apart 00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:19.059 yeah you know and that's where you need to at 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:22.139 that you really need to dig deep because yeah 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:25.759 you're falling apart pulling hannah what's your 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:32.419 poor dog gonna do like exactly exactly yeah and 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:36.409 that's that you know i like i'm always like My 00:13:36.409 --> 00:13:40.710 motto these days in life as I'm, you know, past 00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:45.850 my halfway mark in my life. I think about that, 00:13:45.950 --> 00:13:50.090 though, like I know you do, too. Like, all right. 00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:53.210 I know I'm probably more than half done. Like 00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:56.649 everything is really I'm I'm paying attention. 00:13:57.409 --> 00:13:59.990 We've talked about this. What really matters? 00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:04.220 And. let shit get like, I'm just going to roll 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:06.360 with it. And I'm just going to have a fucking 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:08.919 good time. Like I'm, you know, I'm just going 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:12.539 to roll with it. Yes. I I'm training hard and 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:15.500 it's important to me, but at the end of the day, 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:19.779 I have to show up with a things, things could 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:23.059 totally go unexpectedly. That's life people. 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.700 It doesn't matter whether it's a trial ring or 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:28.340 not. And I'm just going to go with it. And I'm 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:31.679 just going to back my dog up because. That's 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.559 number one in my rule book now is I need to show 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:37.659 up for my dog. I need to back up my dog. And 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:45.419 yeah, you know, I just feel like I need to just 00:14:45.419 --> 00:14:50.559 be on my best game and not let things unravel 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:55.720 me. And I have to believe in my training when 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.720 I step into the building at that event. I did 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.799 my best. I feel like I did my best. I prepared 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:06.000 myself. I prepared my dog to my best ability. 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:09.220 And I just have to trust my training at that 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:13.220 point. And again, I can't control what the judges 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.559 think. I can't control what happens in the environment. 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:19.320 And at the end of the day, I'm just going to 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:22.320 do my very, very best. And that's all that I 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.639 try to like go by those words in my head a lot. 00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:30.230 Yeah. And I mean, the years that I mean, literally 00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:33.850 the years, I think maybe except for possibly 00:15:33.850 --> 00:15:36.350 Tyler's. I don't even remember the second year 00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:38.590 Tyler went, but it was so long ago. But I do 00:15:38.590 --> 00:15:41.090 remember that year, the years he won, the years 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:45.309 Esther won. The years that my dogs did the best 00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:49.110 or they had high placements were the years that 00:15:49.110 --> 00:15:54.250 I was not going there to win. Yeah. I went there 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:59.370 and I had. process goals or i had said you know 00:15:59.370 --> 00:16:02.850 what it doesn't matter or i don't care or i'm 00:16:02.850 --> 00:16:06.970 just gonna try and um stay connected to my dog 00:16:06.970 --> 00:16:09.450 or i'm just gonna like when i went with zeal 00:16:09.450 --> 00:16:12.409 i had decided it was just too hard he couldn't 00:16:12.409 --> 00:16:14.629 do it and i was okay with that he was already 00:16:14.629 --> 00:16:18.279 working beyond his abilities Um, I was just gonna 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:21.559 work really hard to, um, stay connected with 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:25.000 him, be upbeat, be that, do my handling, do the 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.360 handling that I wanted to do with him. See if 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:30.360 some of the, you know, that was it. That was 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.539 all I was doing bottom line. Right. And that 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:40.269 was my entire focus the whole time. Um, and So 00:16:40.269 --> 00:16:43.730 those process goals are so important. Like I 00:16:43.730 --> 00:16:45.929 want to do my handling. I want to stay connected 00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:52.090 to my dog or whatever your process goal is for 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:54.409 that dog, which has nothing to do with the result. 00:16:54.450 --> 00:16:56.590 It's something that's in your control, right? 00:16:56.669 --> 00:17:01.750 Like, did I do my job? That's all that I really 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:06.869 focus on nowadays is did I do my job? And then. 00:17:07.600 --> 00:17:10.640 And then whatever happens with the dog happens 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.259 with the dog. And then I just go work on it. 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:19.380 You know? That's all we can do. But I think people 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:27.039 go there, like, and they get too swept up by, 00:17:27.099 --> 00:17:29.779 like, everything that happens moment by moment. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:33.319 Like, we talked about, you know, this email came 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:38.119 for the NOC about crating. Right? And then everybody 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:42.759 goes, oh, they're creating. Look, I can tell 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:47.519 you, I have created everywhere under the sun 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:52.119 and it never impacted the outcome where I create 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:57.700 it. Like I am not wasting mental energy on where 00:17:57.700 --> 00:18:01.480 I'm creating. Okay. I just want to create somewhere 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:05.369 by myself off to the side. done. I'm good. We 00:18:05.369 --> 00:18:08.490 got it. And there's, you know, like, or people 00:18:08.490 --> 00:18:11.329 come in and they're like, did you see the light 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:15.390 is shining this way? I want to hear it. I don't 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:17.789 care. It doesn't matter. Or do you hear the wind 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:19.890 blowing? Or do you see this? Or did you hear 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:22.589 Mary Jane said that? Or do you hear this happen? 00:18:22.670 --> 00:18:26.230 Or who cares? Like, and then you get all swept 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:29.549 up in that you're wasting mental energy. Yeah, 00:18:29.650 --> 00:18:33.869 exactly. exactly and you're making yourself mentally 00:18:33.869 --> 00:18:37.450 tired like we only have a finite amount of mental 00:18:37.450 --> 00:18:42.869 resources yes and if we're using them on other 00:18:42.869 --> 00:18:46.470 things especially on negativity on what can go 00:18:46.470 --> 00:18:52.869 wrong etc etc like you're gonna go down a rabbit 00:18:52.869 --> 00:18:56.200 hole and then you're gonna end up either messing 00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:58.660 up or you're going to change your handling your 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:00.480 dog's going to be confused you're going to do 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.059 weird things in your warm -up you're and you're 00:19:03.059 --> 00:19:06.599 going to mess your dog up yeah because you're 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:10.339 going down these random rabbit holes like you 00:19:10.339 --> 00:19:13.700 know yeah that's a big one what you said like 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:17.200 being getting swept up in it all and it's hard 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:21.000 because when you go especially talking especially 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.480 about the big events you know you it there's 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:28.089 the that energy's in the air everyone's prepped 00:19:28.089 --> 00:19:30.809 everyone's packing everybody's posting on facebook 00:19:30.809 --> 00:19:33.670 which is something like i used to do too and 00:19:33.670 --> 00:19:41.250 then like i'm definitely laying low And it's 00:19:41.250 --> 00:19:43.470 true. Like you go in and there's like, you know, 00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:46.849 the banners and the streamers in the ceiling 00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:50.529 and tables lined up with like, it is, it is, 00:19:50.549 --> 00:19:53.250 you feel it, you can feel it. And that's where 00:19:53.250 --> 00:19:56.430 it gets difficult. And the, and people are, you 00:19:56.430 --> 00:19:58.630 know, their mother henning all over the place, 00:19:58.650 --> 00:20:01.509 clucking like hens because they're nervous and 00:20:01.509 --> 00:20:04.009 they're complaining. And that's where it's very 00:20:04.009 --> 00:20:06.250 difficult. And that's where you really need to 00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:11.490 hone in on. why you're here what your process 00:20:11.490 --> 00:20:14.609 goals are where you need to stay in your head 00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:17.230 what you need to do for your dog and you need 00:20:17.230 --> 00:20:21.190 to stick with it stick with it big one yeah and 00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:24.509 your poor dog has no idea like is actually I 00:20:24.509 --> 00:20:29.829 was just watching um re -watching Ted Lasso and 00:20:29.829 --> 00:20:32.390 you know um but this was such a good example 00:20:32.390 --> 00:20:36.259 so he's with the team It's just this TV show. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.440 Anyway, about this coach and the soccer team. 00:20:39.539 --> 00:20:41.599 He's coaching the soccer team in England. Anyway, 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:44.059 long story short, they're going to be playing 00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:47.039 for the first time ever at some big event in 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.980 this like huge tournament at this like renowned 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:53.099 stadium. Right. So basically, same thing we're 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:57.819 talking about. A big event. Right. So he takes 00:20:57.819 --> 00:20:59.940 him out to this field and there's nobody in there. 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:03.279 It's really quiet. And he says. And they're like 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.619 looking around like, whoa. Right. And he's like, 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:09.900 look at the ground. It's still grass. It's still 00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:12.599 a football. It's still a soccer field. Yeah. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.900 You're still playing the same size field for 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:18.559 the same amount of time. Like the fundamentals 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.019 are the same. Right. And like as far as your 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:25.640 dog knows, you come out of the crate, you're 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.700 warming up, you're entering a ring. Like unless 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:33.220 you act different. Yeah. They're going to think 00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:35.839 they're at a dog show, but they don't act the 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.279 same because we don't act the same. Right. So 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:42.940 we get overwhelmed. Then we get weird. Then they 00:21:42.940 --> 00:21:45.259 get weird. Then we get more weird because the 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:47.420 dog's getting weird. Oh, my God. What's wrong 00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:50.000 with my dog? My dog's getting weird. No, you're 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.119 getting weird. Yeah. Don't be a weirdo. Weirdo. 00:21:55.240 --> 00:22:01.630 So. that's super important. Like I have, I have 00:22:01.630 --> 00:22:04.430 gone and people thought, think like I make this 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:06.289 stuff up and then somebody helped me one day 00:22:06.289 --> 00:22:08.250 and was like, Oh my God, you didn't, you weren't 00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:11.529 kidding. I had like sheet in the paper. I had 00:22:11.529 --> 00:22:15.829 every exercise printed out what I, what warmup 00:22:15.829 --> 00:22:19.410 I wanted to do for every exercise, what cues, 00:22:19.529 --> 00:22:22.589 like anything I needed to know about that exercise 00:22:22.589 --> 00:22:26.230 that I didn't want to forget. Right. And I had 00:22:26.230 --> 00:22:30.470 a plan like day one, warmup ring. I need to throw 00:22:30.470 --> 00:22:32.369 the toy over the broad jump because it tends 00:22:32.369 --> 00:22:34.809 to be slippery. I want them to get their footing. 00:22:35.109 --> 00:22:36.990 Like, I'm not going to test them. I'm not going 00:22:36.990 --> 00:22:39.829 to do anything crazy, but so that, because what 00:22:39.829 --> 00:22:42.210 happens is you go there, you wait in line at 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:45.650 the warmup ring. People are doing the entire 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:47.549 class and they're doing this and they're doing 00:22:47.549 --> 00:22:50.230 that. And then you start to panic. Oh God, maybe 00:22:50.230 --> 00:22:55.779 I should do that. Maybe I should do that. no 00:22:55.779 --> 00:22:58.460 stick to your plan so I have it written down 00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:03.599 this is my plan then I you know I'm like if this 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.579 happens do that if that so it's all it's all 00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:08.720 there it's all planned out all I have to do is 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:10.660 look at it oh in this ring I have these three 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:12.819 exercises I look at those three exercises that's 00:23:12.819 --> 00:23:16.000 what I have to do got it now and that's all I'm 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:18.279 doing and when I feel the pull like maybe I should 00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:21.930 I'm like no oh Yeah. Do you need the papers? 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:25.309 That's something concrete. Like for me, it helps. 00:23:25.309 --> 00:23:30.089 It anchors me. Right. It doesn't let me go charging 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:34.890 off on some crazy avenue. Right. And you'll hear 00:23:34.890 --> 00:23:37.710 people around you like talking about, oh, well, 00:23:38.130 --> 00:23:43.109 that's not your plan, you know. And then I just 00:23:43.109 --> 00:23:45.390 follow along. And then if something happens, 00:23:45.549 --> 00:23:48.009 if something unexpected comes up, I just deal 00:23:48.009 --> 00:23:51.210 with it. I'm not going to get all like, Oh my 00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:56.450 God, because that puts you into an, more of an 00:23:56.450 --> 00:23:58.549 anxious state. And when we're in that state, 00:23:58.630 --> 00:24:01.789 we don't make good decisions, right? We make 00:24:01.789 --> 00:24:07.450 good objective decisions. Like we have to be 00:24:07.450 --> 00:24:12.450 able to make adaptations because things are going 00:24:12.450 --> 00:24:16.700 to happen. Right. You have to be able to just 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:18.880 stay cool, calm and collected. And you're not 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.700 going to be if you're already in a tizzy, in 00:24:22.700 --> 00:24:30.900 a state. Right. So and like I've gone in to these 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:34.019 events with even a mental management plan. Like 00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:37.019 if I get nervous, I'm going to do this. When 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:41.799 I look at another thing that I like to do is, 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:47.099 you know. we usually have to watch how things 00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:49.420 are set up. So whether you watch another dog 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:51.640 in the ring or whether the judge shows you where 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:54.359 things are going to be or whether there's a demo 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:59.380 dog, whatever the case, we watch, right? And 00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:01.839 that's when don't stand near anybody because 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:03.859 that's when they start saying, oh, that's hard. 00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:06.640 Oh, that's going to be bad. Oh, this, oh, that. 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:09.339 So A, I don't want to be near anybody because 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:12.819 I don't want to hear it. B. When you watch it, 00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:15.640 it's a natural human tendency to go, oh, God, 00:25:15.700 --> 00:25:17.880 that's going to be so hard for my dog. He's going 00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:21.640 to be so nervous. Right. No, it's just data. 00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:24.740 Yeah. Right. And I wrote that down. I wrote down 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:26.920 like when you look at the ring, you are just 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:30.579 looking at data. I am setting up here. Then I 00:25:30.579 --> 00:25:33.599 am moving there. This is a judge's signal. This 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.539 is the order of the exercise. And that's it. 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:39.819 Like and every time my brain would go, what about? 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.619 Nope. just we're just looking at the data right 00:25:44.619 --> 00:25:49.240 execute the data yeah yeah because that's another 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:52.480 spot where people start visualizing everything 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.579 that can potentially go wrong yeah that's and 00:25:55.579 --> 00:25:58.200 now that's in your head and now you're getting 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:02.380 super anxious yeah so don't talk to anybody yeah 00:26:02.380 --> 00:26:06.569 and don't talk because because Yes. Oh, and people 00:26:06.569 --> 00:26:10.089 love it. Like, oh, gosh, even strangers. All 00:26:10.089 --> 00:26:13.970 they need is a lending ear. Oh, my God. It's 00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:16.130 the worst. Yeah. And I don't want to hear about 00:26:16.130 --> 00:26:19.390 what can go wrong. You know, I want to tell myself, 00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:23.130 nope, my dog will be fine. Nope. Or I'll have 00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:27.009 a plan. Right. Like there was I was really proud 00:26:27.009 --> 00:26:30.390 of myself for this. It was a national event and 00:26:30.390 --> 00:26:34.380 there was a ring and there was I just knew. That 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:38.359 the way it was set up for my dog, right, for 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:42.099 this particular one dog, that it was going to 00:26:42.099 --> 00:26:45.759 be hard and she was going to be worried. So I 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:50.220 was like, how can I set her up so she's not worried, 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:55.759 right? And I was like, oh, I'm going to joke 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:00.160 around with the judge. And then it's going to 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.720 make her feel like, oh, we're just training. 00:27:03.670 --> 00:27:07.769 Relaxed. Yeah. Yeah. So I knew the judge, which 00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:09.670 was help. But even if I didn't, I didn't care. 00:27:09.730 --> 00:27:12.910 I was just like, I get in and I just made a little. 00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:15.890 Wasn't this at the classic? Didn't you do this 00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:19.690 at the classic? I think it was the NOC. It was 00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:21.849 the NOC or the classic. I don't remember. But 00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:27.309 I set her up. And as soon as I got to that spot, 00:27:27.390 --> 00:27:30.049 I could see it on her face. I know that dog so 00:27:30.049 --> 00:27:33.490 well. She was like, I don't like this. I don't 00:27:33.490 --> 00:27:37.490 like this at all. Right. And I just set her up 00:27:37.490 --> 00:27:39.890 and I looked at the judge and I made a light 00:27:39.890 --> 00:27:44.390 little joke. And the judge is like, oh, and as 00:27:44.390 --> 00:27:48.289 soon as that happens, Zaina went, oh, yeah. Oh, 00:27:48.410 --> 00:27:52.250 we're just training. Yeah. Pressure off. Right. 00:27:52.349 --> 00:27:55.890 So. rather than stand outside the ring and go, 00:27:55.970 --> 00:27:59.210 Oh God, this is terrible. Oh God. Oh God. Oh, 00:27:59.230 --> 00:28:02.990 I came up with a plan. Yeah. Now it's possible. 00:28:02.990 --> 00:28:04.910 The plan might not have worked. It's possible. 00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:07.210 She might've done okay without the plan. She 00:28:07.210 --> 00:28:09.410 might've pushed through. She might not. But the 00:28:09.410 --> 00:28:12.410 point of the moral of the story is I didn't just 00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:17.109 go down a rabbit hole. I was like, Hmm, what 00:28:17.109 --> 00:28:20.009 could I do to help my dog in this situation? 00:28:20.430 --> 00:28:24.720 Right. Yep. Right. um because that's what we 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:31.180 can control right yes and if you can't come up 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:33.519 with something then the best you can do is to 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.559 be the same as you are in training and just tell 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:39.740 your dog good dog you're good it's fine buddy 00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:43.880 good job right versus it's okay buddy you're 00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:49.980 all right I knew it was dangerous here. Yeah. 00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:52.619 Yeah. Yeah. You're acting like an insane person. 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:57.299 I knew this was really bad. Right. That's hard 00:28:57.299 --> 00:29:00.099 to do that. Like, that's a skill I've had to 00:29:00.099 --> 00:29:02.900 really master, you know, because you feel like, 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:04.700 you know, you look down at your dog and you're 00:29:04.700 --> 00:29:07.099 like, oh, God, my dog is definitely telling me 00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:08.839 that they're like panic stricken over something. 00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:11.779 And that's where you like you really have to 00:29:11.779 --> 00:29:15.000 be like. I just calm myself. I take a deep breath. 00:29:15.140 --> 00:29:17.279 And I actually, if I can say the words, I'll 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.460 be like, I know, buddy, this is really hard. 00:29:19.819 --> 00:29:22.640 And then my dog's like, oh, everything's good 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:27.119 because you're good. Yeah. So, well, a key thing 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:31.440 here is you have learned and evolved, right? 00:29:31.579 --> 00:29:35.960 So you've gone to a few big events, said, oh, 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:38.619 I didn't handle that as well as I would have 00:29:38.619 --> 00:29:42.799 liked. I need a better plan. And then you worked 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:45.680 on it and executed it. What happens to too many 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:49.000 people is they go. Things don't go well. They 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:52.059 do nothing. They go to the next one. It happens 00:29:52.059 --> 00:29:54.880 again. And they go to the next one and it happens 00:29:54.880 --> 00:30:00.200 again. Like, no, like I'm not saying I executed 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:04.140 perfectly every time I went. I've had some epic 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:09.400 disasters. Right. But I learned from it. Right. 00:30:09.539 --> 00:30:12.690 And I was like, OK. Never going to do that again. 00:30:12.809 --> 00:30:19.130 Plan B or C or D or Z. Right. And keep working. 00:30:19.190 --> 00:30:22.910 And because it is a never ending process. A, 00:30:23.109 --> 00:30:26.930 because our dogs are different. Our dogs evolve. 00:30:27.230 --> 00:30:30.910 And B, because we're human. And if we're not 00:30:30.910 --> 00:30:34.849 constantly working on it, we revert. So it doesn't 00:30:34.849 --> 00:30:39.279 matter how experienced I am. If I don't. make 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.539 this huge mental effort and do the work and have 00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:45.279 my strategies and do the plan execute I'm going 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.359 to go to trial and I'm going to fall into the 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:52.680 same trap as everybody else right key that is 00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:58.319 key for sure yeah so you have to learn from the 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:01.680 mistakes you've made and you know stop saying 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:05.579 oh the dog the dog well what did I do that created 00:31:05.579 --> 00:31:11.480 this scenario And what can I do better next time 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:17.019 so that this doesn't happen, right? How can I 00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:20.339 constantly improve? Because if you're doing the 00:31:20.339 --> 00:31:25.299 same thing over and over, it's kind of a problem, 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:29.299 right? It means you're not being proactive. You're 00:31:29.299 --> 00:31:32.539 being a victim. You're being reactive, right? 00:31:32.619 --> 00:31:37.029 You're a victim to the circumstance. You're a 00:31:37.029 --> 00:31:42.410 victim to the situation, right? Another thing 00:31:42.410 --> 00:31:45.750 people do, which, and this is a personal choice, 00:31:45.970 --> 00:31:52.250 right? For some people, it's a really fun social 00:31:52.250 --> 00:31:55.970 outing, right? They get to see people they don't 00:31:55.970 --> 00:31:57.789 normally get to see. They get to hang out with 00:31:57.789 --> 00:31:59.529 people they don't normally get to hang out with. 00:31:59.930 --> 00:32:04.500 And that's distracting. And that's okay. As long 00:32:04.500 --> 00:32:08.559 as you understand that it's distracting and that's 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:11.440 more important to you than the performance, which 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:14.400 is totally fair and valid, then that's okay. 00:32:15.059 --> 00:32:20.640 But you can't be totally distracted and running 00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:24.420 around and socializing, then go not have a good 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:27.940 performance and be disappointed in the dog because 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:32.460 you weren't focused. Well, yeah. You have to 00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:37.960 be focused. Definitely. So you have to make some 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:42.420 decisions, right? Like you have to decide what's 00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:45.000 more important. And if my performance matters, 00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:48.779 and here's where people struggle too, because 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:55.730 unlike me, people are very nice and polite. And 00:32:55.730 --> 00:32:58.769 they'll say to me, no, I'm kidding. I mean, well, 00:32:58.970 --> 00:33:00.930 whatever. I'm sure some people don't think I'm 00:33:00.930 --> 00:33:05.470 nice, but people ask me all the time, like, but 00:33:05.470 --> 00:33:10.329 what do you do when like someone or your friend 00:33:10.329 --> 00:33:13.730 or whoever comes up? I just say, I'm sorry. Now 00:33:13.730 --> 00:33:15.930 I can't talk to you right now. Ask me later. 00:33:16.289 --> 00:33:19.269 Like, I'll say it nicely, but I don't feel, I'm 00:33:19.269 --> 00:33:24.900 sorry that I am here to compete. Right. I care 00:33:24.900 --> 00:33:29.019 about being the best partner for my dog. And 00:33:29.019 --> 00:33:31.640 in order to do that, I need to concentrate. In 00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.720 order to concentrate, I cannot be having a social 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:40.200 hour. Right. So I will politely say, I'm sorry, 00:33:40.380 --> 00:33:43.299 I can't talk to you right now. Ask me at the 00:33:43.299 --> 00:33:45.579 end of the day. And then it's up to you. If you 00:33:45.579 --> 00:33:47.740 want to come ask me at the end of the day, knock 00:33:47.740 --> 00:33:50.460 yourself out. I'm happy to help you. Sometimes 00:33:50.460 --> 00:33:53.480 people don't come back. Maybe they feel they 00:33:53.480 --> 00:33:56.079 just don't want to bother me. Thank you. Maybe 00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:59.680 they feel I maybe they feel offended. Sorry, 00:33:59.779 --> 00:34:04.940 you're offended. But I paid my entry fee and 00:34:04.940 --> 00:34:07.460 I talked to somebody about this recently that 00:34:07.460 --> 00:34:10.480 was like, yeah, I feel bad. You know, people 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:13.639 know who I am. They ask me, I say, yeah, but 00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:22.670 you're entitled to your time. Totally. Totally. 00:34:22.690 --> 00:34:25.650 And I think that's hard. I think it's hard when 00:34:25.650 --> 00:34:28.309 people are maybe either instructors or maybe 00:34:28.309 --> 00:34:31.949 they're well known or whatever the case, you 00:34:31.949 --> 00:34:34.730 know, they might feel like they're supposed, 00:34:34.989 --> 00:34:38.610 you know, like, oh, I don't want it or I don't 00:34:38.610 --> 00:34:42.070 want to be rude or I don't want to be. But first 00:34:42.070 --> 00:34:44.489 of all. First thing you should just think about 00:34:44.489 --> 00:34:46.409 is how much money is spent to get there. Just 00:34:46.409 --> 00:34:51.050 that alone should be motivation. Exactly. It's 00:34:51.050 --> 00:34:55.789 a lot of money. A lot of time and prep goes into 00:34:55.789 --> 00:35:00.969 it. A lot of time and prep. And if you feel that 00:35:00.969 --> 00:35:04.130 having this conversation or answering this person 00:35:04.130 --> 00:35:06.989 or whatever the case is going to detract from 00:35:06.989 --> 00:35:10.860 that, then you have every right. To politely 00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:15.420 say, I'm really sorry, I can't right now. Yeah. 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:18.980 And if that person takes offense to that, that's 00:35:18.980 --> 00:35:23.699 on them. That is not on you. That's their problem. 00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:26.119 Because if somebody said that to me, I would 00:35:26.119 --> 00:35:28.820 not be even remotely offended. I'd be like, oh, 00:35:28.840 --> 00:35:31.420 sorry, my bad. I wasn't paying, you know, whatever. 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:35.539 I would just be like, OK, it's no big deal, you 00:35:35.539 --> 00:35:40.869 know. But that's what. That's what we have to 00:35:40.869 --> 00:35:43.090 understand. Like we're entitled to that. And 00:35:43.090 --> 00:35:47.289 it is OK to say I cannot interact with you right 00:35:47.289 --> 00:35:50.190 now if that's something that you want to do. 00:35:50.250 --> 00:35:53.449 Now, some people, you know, everybody's brain 00:35:53.449 --> 00:35:56.250 works differently. Some people do better when 00:35:56.250 --> 00:36:00.469 they're distracted. And then they only need a 00:36:00.469 --> 00:36:02.670 few minutes to get their head on straight and 00:36:02.670 --> 00:36:05.130 then they can go in and do that. And if that's 00:36:05.130 --> 00:36:09.429 you and how your brain works and. optimal function 00:36:09.429 --> 00:36:16.369 for you then that's fine um but i find that a 00:36:16.369 --> 00:36:22.789 lot of people can't do that right me too and 00:36:22.789 --> 00:36:26.190 you know they need to be able to concentrate 00:36:26.190 --> 00:36:31.449 on what they're doing and um because there's 00:36:31.449 --> 00:36:35.130 a lot to break and think about i mean there's 00:36:35.130 --> 00:36:39.519 a lot it's a lot Like, it's hard to stay so focused 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:43.139 in that environment. Yeah, and we're distracted, 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:48.239 too, because it's noisy. It's crowded. It's chaotic. 00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:52.860 There's not always a clear path to where you're 00:36:52.860 --> 00:36:58.309 going. And we're thinking about a million things. 00:36:58.389 --> 00:37:01.130 Do I need to potty my dog? Do I need to go to 00:37:01.130 --> 00:37:03.670 the bathroom? Do I have all my stuff? There's 00:37:03.670 --> 00:37:07.250 a thousand things already swirling in your head 00:37:07.250 --> 00:37:12.210 to keep on track, let alone other people coming 00:37:12.210 --> 00:37:16.969 in and you're listening to all the outside garbage 00:37:16.969 --> 00:37:19.739 going on. Not that it's garbage people are saying 00:37:19.739 --> 00:37:21.139 to you, but you know what I mean? Like, it's 00:37:21.139 --> 00:37:23.920 just extra stuff. Like, yet you don't need to 00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:27.860 be filtering through if you don't have to in 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:30.179 those moments. Come talk to me at the end of 00:37:30.179 --> 00:37:33.460 the day when we're totally done. Yeah. And if 00:37:33.460 --> 00:37:35.920 you have someone that's either helping you or 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:39.840 just with you as a friend or whatever, you know, 00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:43.940 clue them in. Tell them what you need. Like, 00:37:44.019 --> 00:37:48.690 I do that. I am very clear. I'm like, okay. This 00:37:48.690 --> 00:37:54.030 is exactly what I need. Nothing else. Like, right. 00:37:54.670 --> 00:37:57.789 Don't do this. Don't do that. Do this. Do that. 00:37:57.869 --> 00:38:00.969 Not like in a mean way, but I'm just like, because 00:38:00.969 --> 00:38:04.750 I know how I operate. Right. And I know what 00:38:04.750 --> 00:38:07.389 I need and what I don't need. Like, I don't want 00:38:07.389 --> 00:38:09.989 to know my score in the rings. I'm like, you 00:38:09.989 --> 00:38:13.210 can write it down. If there's something major 00:38:13.210 --> 00:38:16.170 I need to know about, tell me. Otherwise, I don't 00:38:16.170 --> 00:38:19.710 want to know. I just want to focus on each thing 00:38:19.710 --> 00:38:26.070 I have to do step by step by step. Yeah. But 00:38:26.070 --> 00:38:29.170 that that's me, because, again, like, what am 00:38:29.170 --> 00:38:31.570 I going to do? Go, oh, why did I lose a point 00:38:31.570 --> 00:38:34.510 there? Well, yeah, that that can be really I 00:38:34.510 --> 00:38:36.650 got to tell Tom that because he was like doing 00:38:36.650 --> 00:38:39.309 that last year for all of us. All right. You 00:38:39.309 --> 00:38:43.010 got to stop doing that. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, 00:38:43.050 --> 00:38:46.769 write it on the book. Right. In case I want to 00:38:46.769 --> 00:38:50.309 look at it later. But I don't want to know if 00:38:50.309 --> 00:38:53.210 I lost a chunk of points and you're like, oh, 00:38:53.269 --> 00:38:56.190 that's weird that I want to know because maybe 00:38:56.190 --> 00:38:58.570 I need to change something. Maybe I did something 00:38:58.570 --> 00:39:00.690 weird in my handling. I need to look at the video. 00:39:00.750 --> 00:39:04.710 I need to know. Right. But other than that, I 00:39:04.710 --> 00:39:06.530 don't want to know. It's just wondering at a 00:39:06.530 --> 00:39:10.719 time. Yeah. One step at a time. literally like 00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:13.199 moment by moment by moment right like what do 00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:15.599 I need for the next ring what do I need for the 00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:20.019 next thing and that's it like and I'm not looking 00:39:20.019 --> 00:39:23.199 ahead at the ring after that or two rings after 00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:26.880 that like it's one thing at a time like because 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:29.760 that's another thing our brains can start racing 00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:33.539 and start getting like ahead and looking at this 00:39:33.539 --> 00:39:35.659 and looking at that and worrying about this and 00:39:35.659 --> 00:39:39.610 worrying about that like I mean There have been 00:39:39.610 --> 00:39:42.369 times on the first day when I flunked an exercise 00:39:42.369 --> 00:39:45.510 and the only reason I made it to the second day 00:39:45.510 --> 00:39:49.150 was because I just kept staying focused on one 00:39:49.150 --> 00:39:51.710 step at a time, one step at a time, one step 00:39:51.710 --> 00:39:55.170 at a time. And then my dog scores were high enough 00:39:55.170 --> 00:39:57.710 to me. And I mean, I was convinced the first 00:39:57.710 --> 00:39:59.849 year it happened. I literally I literally was 00:39:59.849 --> 00:40:03.090 packing up like, oh, yeah, at the end of the 00:40:03.090 --> 00:40:05.889 day, like because I didn't I was like, I didn't 00:40:05.889 --> 00:40:09.559 make it to the next day. Right. But because after 00:40:09.559 --> 00:40:11.980 my dog flunked, instead of coming out of the 00:40:11.980 --> 00:40:14.599 ring and going, oh, my God, he flunked on and 00:40:14.599 --> 00:40:18.380 on and on and on and on. I just went, well, that 00:40:18.380 --> 00:40:22.000 kind of sucked. OK, what's in my next ring? And 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:24.539 then I focused on that and then I focused on 00:40:24.539 --> 00:40:27.059 the next one and the next one and the next one. 00:40:27.380 --> 00:40:32.199 Right. And again, if you don't, because really, 00:40:32.280 --> 00:40:34.960 at the end of the day, if I go in the next ring 00:40:34.960 --> 00:40:38.800 all like, oh, Then that's not fair to my dog. 00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:40.679 My dog's going to be like, oh, God, what happened? 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:44.739 I don't know what to do. You know? Yeah. And 00:40:44.739 --> 00:40:49.539 you're there. You should give your all the entire 00:40:49.539 --> 00:40:55.519 time, no matter what. Yeah. You know, because 00:40:55.519 --> 00:41:01.139 you're there. Do the best you can. And just. 00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:05.360 Like, I don't know, pace yourself, like pace 00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:08.280 yourself physically, mentally, because it is 00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:11.300 very tiring. You are going to be so wiped out 00:41:11.300 --> 00:41:13.920 at the end of those events. It's very tiring. 00:41:16.019 --> 00:41:24.599 Yeah, like eat. Eat or don't. I don't know. I 00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:27.480 tend to not eat, but whatever the case, like, 00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:31.349 you know. Well, just like, you know. Sit and 00:41:31.349 --> 00:41:35.190 rest when you can. Like you said, if you can 00:41:35.190 --> 00:41:38.489 take a moment, watch something funny, listen 00:41:38.489 --> 00:41:41.710 to some music, just close your eyes for a minute, 00:41:41.889 --> 00:41:44.550 you know, because it's a long day. Some of those 00:41:44.550 --> 00:41:48.010 tournaments that we do two days in a row, it 00:41:48.010 --> 00:41:52.570 is very tiring. Let your dogs rest. Make sure 00:41:52.570 --> 00:41:55.840 that they're not out every freaking minute. Yeah. 00:41:55.900 --> 00:41:58.420 And the environment stimulating. Right. And that 00:41:58.420 --> 00:42:01.119 makes us exhausted, too. And it's exhausting 00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:05.760 for the dogs. Like and I am so aware of like 00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:10.260 that that energy is pulling out of my dog. Yeah. 00:42:10.380 --> 00:42:14.400 So like I my dog is in the crate as much as possible. 00:42:14.460 --> 00:42:17.619 My crate is covered because I want my dog to 00:42:17.619 --> 00:42:20.420 be able to tune everything out. And my dog's 00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:22.699 just. Crawling the ball in the back of their 00:42:22.699 --> 00:42:24.940 crate. What does that tell me? It tells me they 00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:29.559 want the quiet. Yeah. Right. I get out of there 00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:32.239 as quickly as possible. I don't bring my dog 00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:34.599 there the day before and let them sit there for 00:42:34.599 --> 00:42:37.800 four hours. Like all I'm doing is exhausting 00:42:37.800 --> 00:42:41.420 my dog. Like, what am I doing? Or warm them up 00:42:41.420 --> 00:42:45.500 18 times or, you know, walk them around town 00:42:45.500 --> 00:42:51.260 or walk them through the. vendor or yeah the 00:42:51.260 --> 00:42:55.739 vendor area like oh my god that area is overwhelming 00:42:55.739 --> 00:43:00.039 like what are you doing like you're i want my 00:43:00.039 --> 00:43:06.300 dog to be fresh yeah you know rested and see 00:43:06.300 --> 00:43:10.539 like let's go right i don't want my dog to be 00:43:10.539 --> 00:43:14.940 like all right we're here again green green yeah 00:43:14.940 --> 00:43:19.170 right um Well, I think that's a lot of people 00:43:19.170 --> 00:43:21.389 panic and they're like, you know, I need to get 00:43:21.389 --> 00:43:23.630 my dog acclimated to the environment. I need 00:43:23.630 --> 00:43:26.130 to let them see all the things, right? You can 00:43:26.130 --> 00:43:28.849 still do that. Like I do what we do at the day, 00:43:28.849 --> 00:43:32.170 like the morning of. Let them have a little acclimation, 00:43:32.190 --> 00:43:36.510 walk around, put them back in. They again, you've 00:43:36.510 --> 00:43:38.969 got to go back to like I've trained them the 00:43:38.969 --> 00:43:42.090 best I can. Like this isn't the time or place 00:43:42.090 --> 00:43:45.010 to now like go through all the exercises, make 00:43:45.010 --> 00:43:47.269 sure they can handle the environment. You're 00:43:47.269 --> 00:43:49.829 already here. Right. You're just going to exhaust 00:43:49.829 --> 00:43:54.489 them. Yeah. And the thing is, ideally, you've 00:43:54.489 --> 00:44:00.059 worked on. To the best of your ability. training 00:44:00.059 --> 00:44:02.219 your dog to work in a challenging environment 00:44:02.219 --> 00:44:06.239 if you did not because you were unaware because 00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:09.380 maybe you don't have the resources whatever the 00:44:09.380 --> 00:44:16.019 case exposing your dog to it more in that finite 00:44:16.019 --> 00:44:19.619 amount of time is not going to help like it's 00:44:19.619 --> 00:44:22.739 not enough time you're not in one or two days 00:44:22.739 --> 00:44:25.840 going to teach your dog how to work in that environment 00:44:26.539 --> 00:44:28.639 Right. So if you show up and you're like, oh, 00:44:28.679 --> 00:44:32.920 God, my dog's a little overfaced here. OK. Lesson 00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:36.460 learned. All right. So, again, don't panic. What 00:44:36.460 --> 00:44:40.760 can I do? Can I warm my dog up out in the hallway 00:44:40.760 --> 00:44:45.159 where it's a little less crazy? Can I you know, 00:44:45.179 --> 00:44:47.920 I'm saying like, what can I do? Let's just do 00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:52.239 the best we can. But certainly don't try to like 00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:54.159 say, you know, be like, well, I'm going to leave 00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:56.300 him out all day or I'm going to warm up 15 times 00:44:56.300 --> 00:44:59.079 a day before. And hopefully my dog will figure 00:44:59.079 --> 00:45:01.679 it out and they'll get used to it. Well, your 00:45:01.679 --> 00:45:06.000 dog will get exhausted. But your dog's not going 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:10.800 to learn how to mentally focus. Right. In that 00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:14.280 environment, in that short amount of time. Yeah. 00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:21.090 Yeah. Yeah. All right. So. That's our advice. 00:45:21.710 --> 00:45:26.210 Yeah. In a nutshell. Perfect. It's not world 00:45:26.210 --> 00:45:29.190 peace, people. Just have fun. Do the best you 00:45:29.190 --> 00:45:32.269 can. Learn and then try and improve. That's all 00:45:32.269 --> 00:45:36.210 we can do. Yep. Perfect. All right. Happy training. 00:45:36.269 --> 00:45:37.809 Bye, everybody. Bye.