Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing. - Anatole France

Issue: March, 2003

Publisher & Editor: Diane Peters Mayer
Co-editor: Vanessa Klapper

A. PeakSpeak

Hello and welcome to all of our readers and the many new subscribers who have signed on.

We'd like to remind you that we now welcome pictures of you and your fantastic canine companions along with your submissions. You can scan and email them to sheri@virtualhelpinghand.com or snail mail your photos to: Sheri Huffman, 2701 Creek Valley Dr., Garland, TX 75040.

Due to the unfolding world events, readers please check your stress levels often: be aware of mental and physical tension, exercise, turn off media, spend time doing activities that you love, make time for family and friends, curl up on a sofa with your dog and relax.

March's Training Tip gives you a wonderful fast tip on turning off the uncomfortable obsessive thoughts that occur before, during or after competition.

Second Chances features one awesome rescue site.

BookPicks features a book written by a PeakNews subscriber, Pamela Dennison.

Call for: your stories, poems, rescue sites, book reviews, questions and comments. Please submit to CAYPNews@aol.com to help make PeakNews a great newsletter. Submission deadline for the April issue is April 20th. Thanks!

PeakNews offers a unique format in which to engage and connect with handlers from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland and South Africa on a topic that may be difficult to think about and discuss otherwise.

Please join us to become the handler of your dreams. Your dog will thank you!

Enjoy.

Diane & Vanessa

B. Training Tip of the Month

Take a "Peek" at Reality and Dissolve those Obsessive Thoughts.

Marcy has been competing in Obedience for a year with her Doberman, Murphy. Always a rather nervous person, she began to obsess that people were laughing at her behind her back. From the get-go, Marcy had anxiety at shows about not being perfect in the ring and being evaluated on her performance. But with every show her nerves worsened, and Murphy who at first seemed okay while competing, began to disconnect from Marcy and NQ at every event. His behavior made Marcy even more anxious, and once when she was leaving the ring, after what she thought was a disastrous performance, she passed a group of handlers who began to laugh. Severe anxiety makes for a distorted view of things, and Marcy believed they were laughing at her. That was just the beginning, and now she plays negative mental tapes: that she is a laughing-stock, from sunup to sundown, on training and show days, and even in-between days.

Obsessive thoughts is the mind playing tricks, and those tricks are a terrible thing to bear because they skew and stunt learning, growth and enjoyment. Living with obsession is living the narrowest life possible, that is, always punishing oneself for the past and fearing the future, but never living in and seeing the present as it really is. And obsession is physically and mentally exhausting, making it very difficult to concentrate and perform well. By the time she contacted me Marcy was a nervous wreck, ready to quit the obedience ring.

We began with deep relaxation which helped, but often did not stop her mental tapes from starting, and once they began it was almost impossible to turn them off. So I taught Marcy a reality-testing exercise that usually works for people who obsess.

Peeking Exercise:

Marcy found "peeking" very useful and with practice was able to stop her obsessive thoughts almost all of the time. When they do occasionally occur at very stressful times, she takes a "peek" and the thoughts vaporize.

If you suffer from obsessive thoughts, please try this exercise and let us know if it worked or not by contacting us at CAYPNews@aol.com

C. Second Chances

We have decided to feature rescue websites if we don't have a rescue story to publish. Read these heartwarming and moving success stories, but first, get out the Kleenex.

This month's rescue site located at Angel Canyon in southern Utah, is Best Friends Animal Sanctuary; the nation's largest sanctuary for domestic and wild, abused and abandoned animals:

http://www.bestfriends.org

Best Friends Network partners with individuals and shelters and rescue groups all over the country.

Note: Have a rescue story you'd like to share with us? Want to highlight a shelter or rescue group? Please send it to: CAYPNews@aol.com

D. Book Picks

This book can be purchased from Amazon.com by clicking on the book title or image:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training

by Pamela Dennison

A terrific, easy to use guide that offers the reader practical advice on using positive training techniques for basic commands, housetraining, and behavior problems. Also contains information on canine learning, reading your dog and learning to communicate with it through body language.

Great job, Pam!!

Read a book that you loved or has helped with competition? Submit a review to CAYPNews@aol.com

E. Announcements & Coming Events

Want to Beat Ring Nerves? Can't make a Ring Nerve Seminar?

Here are two more ways to learn the Program that has helped handlers from across the US and abroad achieve success in the ring:

One-On-One Training teaches you to:

• Stop anxiety and panic
• Stay calm and relaxed
• Feel balanced and centered
• Be in command physically and mentally
• Move smoothly in the ring
• Be confident
• Channel your nerves into a great performance
• Enjoy competition

Program Description:

• Effective training either in person or through distance-learning.
• We'll custom design a program which includes audio tapes.
• We support you every step of the way, answer questions and help with problem solving in between meetings.
• Successful results for all dog sports.

You can run with the big dogs or sit on the porch and bark. - Wallace Arnold

Click here to read more about it or register
or call Diane at 215-348-8836

STOP "RING NERVES" FROM HOME with our Audio Ring Nerve Program for All Dog Sports, with Training Manual.

• Great Exercises & Techniques
• A Super Quickie Stress-Buster
• Guided Imagery to mentally rehearse your perfect performance
• Terrific Training Tips.

This program will help you do it!

The Audio Program & Manual is $29.95 plus $6.00 S&H in US. (PA residents add $1.80 sales tax). International add $10.00 S&H.

To read more about it or purchase by check or secure credit card, please click here.

or call Diane at 215-348-8836.

Our next six-hour Ring Nerve Seminar for Handlers and their Dogs in Blairstown, NJ will be held on:

Saturday, October 4th from 9:00am - 4:00pm

Space is limited, so make plans to sign up now.

F. Requests

Please send us:

G. Invitations

If you enjoyed PeakNews we invite you to forward it, intact please, to other handlers who might benefit from it.

Thank you! See you next month.

**Note: Columns may vary from month to month.

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