The Spaniel Annals

Two Sundays ago Reardon and I hit a milestone in his tracking career: earning his TD!  In winds up to 20 mph, he completed a 455-yard track that had been aged 35 minutes.  Here’s the judge’s map:

The 1st, 3rd, and 5th legs of this track had crosswind, and I was very impressed with how Reardon handled that wind, occasionally exploring the far side of the track where the scent had blown, and then always returning right onto the track.  He consistently casted at each corner, but only briefly, and found and indicated the turns quite confidently.   This was a night and day difference in his performance in his two other tracks up in Bow, WA, where he floundered at some point in the track and just never regained his confidence.

What was the difference?  Some of that answer is unknowable; we didn’t have gunfire by duck hunters this time, and we were on a field far away from the scents of the dairy farm.  It seemed like he simply liked the scent of this particular tracklayer, because he was tracking her before we ever got to the start flag.  But one major difference was my psychological state.  This time around, I simply refused to be nervous.  I hadn’t thought that my nerves would play a role with the dog when he’s out 20 feet ahead of me on a long line, but Reardon’s confidence level was so astonishing on this track, and so different from the very nervous behaviors he’s shown on past tracks, that my state of mind had to play a role.

How did I get rid of my nerves?  I just had to let go of the outcome.  We had already flunked twice at Bow; this was the last tracking test of the season, and if Reardon didn’t pass, we would take a long break to just focus on Utility.  I wondered if perhaps asking him to be so focused on me in the obedience ring, and then so independent on the tracking course was just too conflicting for him.

Then on the way up to the test, I listened to Troy Bassham’s CD from his mental toughness book called Attainment.   He talked a lot about letting go of that outcome and just concentrating on the task at hand.  He also talked about how most competitors make the mistake of giving 110% in performance and actually trying too hard, and thus blowing the performance.  He said the 110% should happen in the practice; in competition, he said the competitor just needs to “let it happen.”  That became my mantra at the test.    As Reardon and I walked up to the start flag, I talked playfully and happily to him, and said to aloud to both of us many times, “let’s just let it happen.”  And it did.