"Each time I step on the basketball court, I never know what will happen. I live for the moment. I play for the moment." - Michael Jordan

Issue: April, 2002

Publisher & Editor: Diane Peters Mayer
President, Conquering Ring Nerves
Co-editor: Vanessa Klapper - Director of Fitness

A. PeakSpeak
B. ***Contest***
C. Ask the Coaches
D. Training Tip of The Month
E. Handlers Tales
F. Second Chances
G. Book Picks
H. Announcements & Coming Events
I. Invitations

A. PeakSpeak

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

PeakNews offers a range of information about ring nerves, the ways to conquer it, and how to really enjoy competition. Plus, you'll read great stories, and questions and comments from readers.

Our April Training Tip will teach you how to stay "present centered", the only place to be to find success, and have fun too.

We present another great question sent in to Ask The Coaches, from a reader in New Jersey.

Handlers' Tales features a ring nerve story from an Indiana reader.

Can a blind collie become a competitor? Read Second Chances to find out.

Readers Reply will not appear this month.

BookPicks, this month, features a video and companion book by a remarkable animal behaviorist and trainer. Her techniques will help you and your dog communicate in ways you would never think possible.

PeakNews aims to serve as a worldwide forum for dog handlers who suffer from ring nerves, so we need you to share your personal stories, questions and comments. Your confidentiality is assured if you request it, writing experience is not necessary, and length is unimportant. If you want us to, we'll edit for you.

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. So, please, send along your submissions for the May issue now. Deadline is May 20th. Thanks.

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

Enjoy.

Diane & Vanessa

B. *** Funniest Ring Nerve Story CONTEST ***

PeakNews is running a contest to find the funniest ring nerve stories. If you had an experience in the ring that was absolutely outrageous and hilarious, send it in and you could win:

1st place: Competing At Your Peak's Combating Ring Nerves Audio Tape Program with companion Training Manual and Diary, and two hours of one-on-one coaching by phone.

2nd place: Competing At Your Peak's Combating Ring Nerves Audio Tape Progam with companion Training Manual and Diary, and one hour of one-on-one coaching by phone.

3rd place: Competing At Your Peak's Combating Ring Nerves Audio Tape Progam with companion Training Manual and Diary.

Note: If a winner lives outside of the USA, coaching will be via email.
Audio Tapes will be available late spring.

Rules:

Winners will be notified by email on June 19th, and will be announced in the June issue. Their stories will appear in PeakNews, Handlers' Tales column. If you request it, your confidentiality is assured.

To submit, please send an email to: CAYPNews@aol.com

C. Ask the Coaches

This reader's problem is one of the most common we hear from handlers. It corresponds well with the Training Tip of the month.

Dear Coaches:
Even though I train religiously and my dog performs beautifully in practice, I can't seem to get out of my mind the "what ifs"! I can't keep the "perfect picture" locked into my mind once we are at the show site, and I can't seem to trust my training and trust my dog. How can I stop this?     F.D., New Jersey

Dear F.D.:
When the "what ifs" begin, you have checked out of the "present" and are either living in the past, remembering show experiences that made you uncomfortable and anxious, or are in the future, worrying that your ordeal will repeat itself.

The only way you can stop the worry, turn off the "what ifs", and gain the confidence you need to trust in yourself and your dog, is by being firmly in the present while you are competing. Since staying "present centered" for any length of time is difficult, you'll have to work at it, and that means practicing turning your attention to the "present moment" throughout the day. It will be hard to do this, but it will be worth every minute of practice time, when you begin to see results. Here are some things you can do:

See Training Tips for a great "staying in the moment" exercise.

Happy training. And keep us posted on your progress,

Diane & Vanessa

Note: To submit a question, please send an email to: CAYPNews@aol.com

D. Training Tip Of The Month

Staying in the Moment

In the January Training Tip Of The Month, we mentioned "staying in the moment" as one way to ease pre-show anxiety. Now we will expand on this technique, and feature a wonderful exercise that you can practice almost anywhere, and which can be used in any dog sport.

"Staying in the moment" is a must if you want to achieve peak performance. It is the state of focusing all of your attention on what you are doing, to the exclusion of what occurred in the past, and what might happen in the future. The only thing that exists in this state of "now"is the moment. Once the moment is over, it's done, it's gone, it's past.

It takes a lot of practice and patience to learn to stay in the "now", but it's worth the hard work to do so. For the present is where life takes place. That's where all of your hard work training your dog takes place, and that's where all of your success and enjoyment in competing is. It's the place where you're able to concentrate and think during your event. It's also where the disappointments and failures are, but these lead to learning and growth. Henry Ford said he never learned a thing from his successes, only from his failures.

So how do you stay in the "moment" when you're in the pressured atmosphere of the dog show? What if during a previous show, you ended up doing the heeling pattern by yourself while your dog checked out the great smells on the gates. What if your dog messed up the weave poles during the last five trials? What if you can't stop thinking that these things will happen again?

"Staying in the moment" will stop the "what if's", the anxiety and the chronic worry that you carry around from one competition to another.

Here's a powerful exercise for learning how to be in the "now".

Focus on Walking

Training Tips

E. Handler's Tales

Laura sent in her story with a note saying she "diligently" reads PeakNew's Training Tip of the month, "but I'm not sure to consciously use them! Unconscious helps too, though, thankfully." Yep, it does. Read on.

I have a success story! My dog Shakespeare and I were suffering from stress in the ring-I would get nervous, and he would mentally shut down and run laps. Needless to say, this did not lead to qualifying scores. :-)

Things got much better in January, when I finally realized that he was hypothyroid (a common problem in Dobes). Within days of starting medication, he was more focused. (One of the lesser symptoms of hypothyroidism is an inability to focus.) We entered his first agility trial that weekend and left with his first agility leg.

The following weekend we went to obedience, which, being less active, is more stressful! I breathed deeply and made a few jokes with the friendly judge before we began, and that made all the difference. We walked out with leg number two and third place. The following two days we qualified again and again, finishing his CD with a leg to spare!

A week ago we went to a UKC trial, where I was completely relaxed and confident. We didn't qualify because of some confusion on my dog's part (he very clearly thought the jump on the recall was a *distraction* to be avoided!), but he turned in the best performance I've ever seen, losing only a point and a half on off-leash heeling!

We'll be back for our U-CD, as well as finishing our Novice Agility title, and then we'll go on from there in these and other sports. But releasing that nervous tension was a marvelous jump to our career!

Laura & Shakespeare To Go CD

Bio: Laura and Shakespeare (a rescued Doberman) live in Indiana, where Laura teaches pet classes.

Thanks Laura and Shakespeare. Congratulations!

Note: Please share with us your experiences in the ring: achievements and successes, difficulties and how you coped, funny and/or embarrassing moments, etc. To submit a story, please write to us at: CAYPNews@aol.com

F. Second Chances

Who in the world would rescue a blind collie pup and think about turning him into a competitor? Read Louise's heartwarming story.

Louise: I guess it would be a good idea to tell something about myself before I explain how I wound up with my rescued Collie, Sparky. My name is Louise. I am (very happily) retired from teaching. I taught the blind and visually impaired for many years in Massachusetts and New Jersey. During that time I was always being amazed at what blind people could accomplish. I guess it is true that nothing is impossible unless you stop trying! Since retiring, I keep busy transcribing textbooks into Braille.

My husband, Tom, and I got involved in dog sports several years ago-he in Agility, me in Competition Obedience. We have two Collies and two cats and were not even thinking about another pet. But just for the fun of it, I started surfing the net for rescue groups. I came across a Collie/Sheltie Rescue group and the very first dog on the list was Sparky, a blind collie pup. Well, that was that! I had to have that dog!

Since I had so much experience with blind people, I thought it would be a challenge to train a blind dog. Sparky was born blind. Blindness is "normal" for him since he has never known anything else.

I sent in an application never dreaming I would even be considered since I was out of the area of that rescue. But they agreed to let us have him. He was in foster care at the time and lived with 4 children and a couple of other dogs. He was well cared for and it was an emotional separation for them and tears were shed as the family was quite attached to him. We took our two Collies with us when we went to pick him up and they all became instant friends. All three play well together and Sparky has put a "spark" back into my two couch potatoes.

When we arrived home we just let Sparky go in the house and he made himself right at home. He wandered around and got familiar with the layout. The only problem he had was going up or down a flight of stairs. But we worked on that and before long he mastered that. In fact he often practiced by going up and down, up and down, up and down. He likes to tease the cat, he chewed a stair tread and has ripped the fringeoff several rugs-but he is still a pup, so what could we expect. (He has been forgiven.) We take all the dogs to a leash free park where they all have a grand time. Sparky just runs around the two acres and no one even knows he is blind until they see him close up.

My goal for Sparky is to train him so that others will see what can be accomplished with a dog with a disability. Maybe it will inspire others to take a chance on a disabled dog.

So far, he has graduated from Basic and Advanced Dog Training and is starting Super Advanced soon. He is also enrolled in a Rally-O class, which is a new form of Obedience/Agility combined where the handler is allowed to talk to the dog. Unfortunately, I have only found one registry that allows handicapped dogs to compete. I also think he might be a good therapy dog when he gets older.

Now, what is it that makes Sparky so special? Everyone loves him. He is ALWAYS in a good mood. Although he gets frustrated sometimes (don't we all) he just gets over it, gives one of those irresistible doggy smiles and gets on with things. It is impossible to be angry or sad when he's around. He just makes us happy and we are the lucky ones to have him in our lives.

Thank you so much Louise and Sparky. Do you have a comment or similar tale? Please send it in, we'd all love to read it.

CAYP will make a $25.00 donation, and include a copy of Louise's story, to Sparky's rescue group: Collie and Sheltie Rescue Association of Southeast Virginia.

Note: Please send us the story of your rescued dog and how it became or is becoming a competitor. As a thank you for your contribution, Competing At Your Peak Inc. will donate $25.00 in you and your dog's name, to the shelter or rescue group of your choice. To submit a story, please write to us at: CAYPNews@aol.com

G. Book Picks - These books can be purchased from Amazon.com by clicking on the book title.

On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals

by Turid Rugaas

When I rescued my dog, Benny and began to train him, Rugaas's work was a lifesaver.

Rugaas states that dogs like wolves, use body language ( calming signals) to prevent and avoid conflict, and if we learn and use these signals we can understand and communicate with our dogs much better. Her teachings are enabling me to read and understand Benny's fearfulness and aggressive behavior, and to teach him to use calming signals to help himself.

When Benny first came to live with me and my husband, his reaction to the stimuli in the environment that frightened him, which was EVERYTHING: other dogs, people, bikes, trucks, and noises of all kinds, was to jump vertically about six feet in the air or lunge at the "scary thing", while screaming and barking wildly. Then he would pant and pace for hours.

In the beginning I became so reactive to his behavior, that even thinking about taking him out made me extrememly tense, and I began to develop a bad case of "nerves" when I was with him. I knew I was becoming a hinderance to his calming down and becoming the dog he was meant to be.

When I combined Rugaas's lessons with some of the the exercises and techniques that I teach for "ring nerves", things started changing for Benny and me. So when something scary comes our way, I have a whole dictionary of dog language to communicate to him that he's okay and safe.

If you want to learn how to understand your dog's behavior and speak to him in his language, whether at home or at a show, read Rugaas's book and watch the video, her work is remarkable, and the results will astonish you.

Turid Rugaas says of her work, "To be able to communicate, to be actually understood by dogs, that is a wonderful feeling for people and dogs alike. Calming signals are the key and seeing through that opened door has been looking into a childhood dream of talking to the animals."

H. Announcements & Coming Events

SIGN UP FOR OUR JUNE SEMINAR!

Ring Nerve Workshop - For Handlers Without Dogs
Saturday, June 15th, 10:00am-2:00pm in Blairstown, NJ

Are you struggling in the ring? Stopped competing or thinking about it? Conquer ring nerves and learn to feel secure in the dog show environment.

Get back into competition!

Click here to register
or call Diane at 215-348-8836

One-On-One and Group Training available.

Click here to register
or call Diane at 215-348-8836 for more information

We'll Be in the Philadelphia Area this Spring!

If you missed our March 23rd Seminar for Handlers and Dogs, Y2K9s in Suburban Philadelphia will host us on Saturday, May 11th.

Register Now by contacting Ann at chironud@aol.com
or call 215-654-1822.

I. Invitations

We invite you to submit your questions to Ask the Coaches, and your stories to Handlers' Tales and Second Chances.

Please share your experiences and questions with your fellow readers, to help make PeakNews a dynamic arena in which to talk about the various aspects of "ring nerves" with handlers from all over the world.

We'd also love to hear from you with topics you want to see covered in future issues, and any comments you have about PeakNews.

Write to us at: CAYPNews@aol.com

We invite you to sign up for one of our free Ask the Coaches calls, where you'll meet and talk with handlers who also experience ring nerves. We'll teach exercises, give training tips, do problem-solving, feature guest speakers, and have fun.

So, take part in the group and invite a friend to sign up too.

Register early, the bridge is limited to 30 participants.

Click for more information
or call Diane at 215-348-8836.

Thank you! See you next month.

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

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