Beating ring nerves

      I often have students come up to me after class commenting on how they would love to start competing with their dog, but their ring nerves are preventing them from entering a show.  Having ring nerves isn't necessarily a bad thing. It means you take the sport seriously and you really want to do a good job.  A little bit of ring nerves will keep you focused and provide just enough adrenaline to think clearly and react quickly.  However too much of this emotion can bog you down, causing slow reaction times, foggy thinking and poor handling decisions.
   
 I have been competing in a variety of dog sports for 10+ years and I do still on occasion get ring nerves.  Here is how I keep it under control.
   
 The first thing I do is remind myself how much I love my dog and how proud I am of him (or her).  I know it seems a little silly, but it helps keep me grounded.  It helps remind me that I am simply playing a game with my dog and we do this because I love spending time with him, and I love the teamwork that the sport fosters.  It doesn't matter if we win or loose, get that Q or miss it by a point, in the end my dog always tries his hardest.  How can I be upset with him or embarrassed by his performance if I know he did his best? Instead I am proud of his efforts, regardless of the outcome, my dogs never disappoint me.  I am not going to waste my round stressing over what might happen, I am going to enjoy our time together and celebrate at the end of the round like we won the world cup.
  
 One of the biggest keys to beating ring nerves is being prepared.  If you do your homework, practise with your dog regularly, know the rules, and know how the sport is played, then you will know you have done your best when you walk into the ring. You will be confident in yourself and your dogs ability.  If you neglect to practise with your dog, you will walk to the line doubting yourself and your chances at success. As soon as you start to doubt, the ring nerves will begin to take over.  You will start to visualise all the things that can go wrong, and you will loose that confident air that the more experienced competitors have.  Your dog will pick up on your lack of confidence, and likely begin to send a plethora of calming signals your way.  This will only add to your ring stress, because now your normally attentive dog is busy yawning, sniffing the ground, looking away and acting sluggish.  At this point, take a couple of deep breaths, try and picture something positive, tell yourself you will be better prepared next time and begin your run.
    
 Having a warm up routine can really help too.  If you get to the show late, miss your walk through and then run into the ring after the ring steward hollers your name 3 times, you will be stressed.  And if you are stressed you can bet your ring nerves will take over.  So instead plan a warm up routine that begins at your home.  Make sure you pack everything you need, so that you and your dog are comfortable at the show.  Next get to the show grounds early, so you can set up your crates, and walk your dog around to acclimatize him to the new facility.  Then let him rest in his kennel until it is your time in the ring.  How early you get your dog out for his run really depends on your dog.  Some dogs might need 15 minutes or more to relax and be able to focus.  Some dogs do better with very little warm up as they get over stimulated by all the activity.  There is no right or wrong way, you need to try different things and see what works best for your dog.  Develop a routine together and the consistency of the routine will keep you calm and give you confidence.  Your warm up might include focus work, tricks, stretching, games and obedience moves.  Again it really depends on you and  your dog.  Instead of standing around stressing about the course, the judge and disengaging from your dog,  having a consistent routine will keep you and your dog connected, and help you feel like you are actively doing your best to prepare for your round.

       Another great technique for beating ring stress is to visualise success.  If you picture yourself nailing that front cross, getting your footwork perfect during your heeling pattern, running through the course in the correct order, then you are practising being successful.  Most people instead focus on what will go wrong.  They visualise themselves being late with their cross, they picture the dog leaving them to go sniff, they picture themselves getting lost on course.  Your mind cannot tell the difference between visualisation and the real thing, so you are in essence practising being wrong.  You are practising failure.  And because your mind thinks its real, your body will react as if it is real.  Your ring nerves will come on full force along with other negative emotions associated with failure.  You will be anxious, feel disappointed, maybe even a little depressed.  You will walk into the ring feeling as if its too late, the round already lost.  If you practise visualising success, you will enter the ring feeling confident and in control.
  
  You also need to remember that dogs are not robots and they are not going to be perfect every time.  You WILL fail, you WILL loose, so you might as well just accept it and move on.  It is not worth stressing every time you go into the ring, wondering if you will pass this round or will you be "giving another donation to the club".    Everyone at that show has failed before.  They understand what it's like and they will not judge or ridicule you.  In fact many times a friend or friendly stranger will come up and comfort you, offering words of support.  In the end it is just a dog show, it is not world peace, it is not the cure for cancer.  It is just a ribbon, it is just a title. And there will always be another show.  So reflect on what went wrong, what you can practise and improve on to better prepare for next time.  Accept the failure, learn from it and then get over it.

   So the next time you enter a dog show make sure you are prepared, you have a great warm up routine,  you have visualised success and remember to stop for a moment to appreciate your dog and give him a hug. Remember that this is just a game, and not a life altering moment.  And those pesky ring nerves will melt away.