Are you competitive?

[k9kreationz]

Cheryl, I know how you feel, but Dawn and Stacey are right. There are too many different factors in training that are at play here.

When we first started Bentley got to Masters really fast. He got there way before anyone else in his starting group. In fact, a lot of the people he started with STILL aren't there. But here we are unable to get a SINGLE standard leg because he has no contacts. So people may be comparing themselves to us, but I had a slow dog (like Stacey said) that was pretty easy to guide around the course (now Mr. confident is quite a bit faster and harder to handle!) so moving up was no big deal.

True true. Her dog is slow and more consistent. It reminds me of when Koji first started. He was more unsure, so he was slow. But you're right, he got fast, and I had to adjust. I see this woman going through the same things right now in certain areas.

We actually started with a woman with a sheltie (we were the only shelties in the club) and Bentley consistently beat her dog. DH and I were so competitive but only against her. People used to confuse our dogs, etc...But after we beat her time after time she started to get mad and it got really awkward. I kept trying to tell her how much time we were putting into training, but it fell on deaf ears. Unfortunately, her sheltie got injured and took a long time off (didn't come back before we moved). It was actually worse without him there to "compete" against!

Yikes! At least I'm not like that. I am very happy for them and well, jealous that they're moving up so fast and so easily. And here I am struggling. I know she has more access to equipment and training, it's just hard to watch at times. I definitely am not "unsportsman like", like that woman though. Wow!

And another thing...sometimes I get really frustrated because dogs move up a lot faster than Lexi. Around here everyone trials 3 weekends out of the month. We trial maybe 1 weekend every 2 months! Also, Lexi is so much harder to train and handle. I often get frustrated with people with "slow" dogs (even though it's hypocritical since that's how Bentley moved up so fast!) because I feel like we have to work SO much harder to qualify.

I think that's how I'm feeling right now. I'm having to retrain a lot of Koji's stuff either due to lack of original training or because he's gotten so fast, etc. Trust me, how I feel is so irrational. And I know it. I know it's my pride and my competitive nature. Ugh!

The more I read these posts, the more I realize it's not that I want to beat her or anything, I can. lol (at least for now). Or the other woman I compete against (I typically can't beat her dog speed wise). I hate that I feel this way every so often. I think it's definitely jealousy that they can train when they want (they work at a training facility) and they have the money to trial and go to seminars whenever they want. Sigh. Need to stop thinking. lol.

 

[k9kreationz]

I am in the world-team member saturated mid- Atlantic. I know better than to compare myself. I also don't take formal classes with my dogs until they are in open. I don't do private lessons, and I don't drive 90 minutes for lessons from border collie people. River just finished his Excellent Jumpers title in seven tries, only once being fast enough to place in the B ribbons. I am totally OK with that. He is consistent, and if we can refine those weaves, is perfectly capable of getting his MACH.

Y'know, it's funny. As much as I would love to place in a class, I know I probably never will. Even though Koji is at the taller end of the 16" class, he's slow enough that I'll always come in the middle of the pack. I've learned to accept that, just like I've learned to accept that I'll always come second to my friend's dog (he's just a ton faster).

So, I seem to be okay with not placing or even beating dogs in general on time. But who knows why, but I don't like being passed up by a newbie...unless their dogs are awesome. i.e. Lexi. LOL.

Ah, but you guys are helping. I'm starting to feel more positive about this woman and her slow dog. lol. More like proud of how far she's come in her handling and her non-agility type dog. Versus hating her for moving up so fast (okay, I don't really hate her).

 

[k9kreationz]

Cheryl, I know exactly where you are coming from.

I've been trialing in CPE since 2009 and I currently run a mix of levels 3 and 4. There are about 3 or 4 people who started a year or two after me who are in levels 4 and 5.

Am I jealous? Yes.

So, what's my point? Basically I've stopped comparing myself to everyone else, it's self-defeating. I do what I can and enjoy it. I take classes constantly so it's not like I'm hurting to run with Edan. I don't need a competition for that.

It is self-defeating. So why do I keep doing this to myself? LOL. I think part of it is because we're having to go back to fix things, well, train them again. Sigh. On the upside, I know that we're when we get back in the game, we'll be better than ever. Especially if Koji sticks his contacts.

And you're right. The woman is trialing every 2 weeks, otherwise her dog kinda doesn't want to be there. I realized, I was like that too when we started. If I didn't trial every other week, Koji would get crazy and inconsistent. I guess, had I started in AKC, I probably would've moved up and been where she is just as fast.

I keep telling myself when I"m ready to trial, I'm thinking we should be a lot better than when we were back in August. Must keep working on my home training.

 

[k9kreationz]

Hmm Am I compeditive, well More then I thought I would be. Initially I got into this to have fun with Cosmo, but being a compeditive runner it didn't take very long for MY old self to come out, as my wife constantly reminds me.
I don't think that advancing beyond where we are now or falling back behind will bother me although after this weekends performance in advanced I am not sure . as long as I feel that Cosmo is giving me an honest effort then that's all I can ask of him and if we don't advance any further then So be it.. My problem is I have to remind myself of this and not get dissapointed if he's not performing the way I think he should ,he is doing what he can for ME. IT also doesn't help when you are in trials with 2 or 3 national team members and they are bringing up thier new young dogs in your division as well, it can Kinda be a bit intimidating, fun to watch & learn from but it certainly can be humbling as well especially when like yesterday they got out and run a 28 second course and your dog manages a blistering 53 seconds .

AS far as being personally compeditive against against a peticular individule I haven't had that yet, I just want to perform well against others in our division. I hate being dead last in anything although we did finish at the bottom of the heep once yesterday, I May just have to get used to it and just learn to suck it up buttercake it is what it is.

On the other hand out of all the Dogs Cosmo Started training with he is the only one trialing with titles so I can't really complain.

I feel ya on the speed thing. Koji is middle of the pack. It's sad to always see my name towards the bottom, Q or not. BUT, I'm starting to realize we'll always be there. lol. I'm wondering if any of the dogs you train with, trialed and surpassed you, if you'd get like me. LOL.

At least I'm not the only one that realizes we are competitive, but trying to rationalize it.

 

[k9kreationz]

I've only started agility a few months back and will hopefully be starting trials next summer so I can't personally comment on how competitive I will be in the sport.

But, this thread made me think about a post I recently read on agilitynerd.com. I really like his view on being competitive with his own success :

http://agilitynerd.com/blog/agility/training/thoughts_goals_success.html.

It will be interesting then. I started agility for fun because Koji needed a job. I never expected to trial, but thought how fun it'd be and yes, to get titles on his AKC name. Once there, the girl I train with now, was always winning first, while I was always in second. I think THAT is where the competition started. I literally would get 1st place because either her dog screwed up somewhere or if they were no longer in our division. Humbling. But it was fun.

Thanks for the link. I think I mostly think like him, I'm not competing against any other team, just want to see what we can do at trials. Trust me, at my last trial, I was happy for Koji's start-line stay that I honestly didn't care how he did. So when he did great, I was ecstatic. That's me typically. I think I get into these funks at times.

 

[k9kreationz]

I responded to everyone personally, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone. I know what I'm thinking/feeling is irrational, but that's why I posted. For support and reassurance. And that's what I got.

I know I shouldn't compare myself. I mean, I know she's already having "moving up too soon" issues like I did. Her contacts are far from proofed, but she's working on them. I'm actually quite proud of how far she's come and how much better she's gotten as a handler. I think I'm just down that I can't trial like that and who knows if I can even keep up training.

I just hope that when I go back to trialing, I'll be that much more consistent. Its just been a trying year, that's all.

 

[take4roll10]

I consider myself competitive and would love to see Bailey and myself do really well.

I'm not competitive with anyone in particular and in class all the dogs are around the same level. There really isn't one dog that outshines the rest. In my beginner novice class, we're all new to agility, so we're all just as clueless!

What I am jealous of is all the members, who can take more than one class a week, have their own equipment, enter multiple trials a month.

I don't even have a backyard to practice. And am really low on cash. I'm not going to be able to trial very often. Bailey will be 15 years old when we get our MACH . (Yes, I'm already dreaming of a MACH).

I actually feel bad for Bailey because if she had an owner with more experience, more time and more money, she would already be competing in excellent level trials. Heck, my trainer said she could be a world team contender. Too bad she's stuck with me! But I know in the end the thing that makes Bailey the happiest is training and competing with me. She doesn't know if we Q or place or nothing. Either way she gets to run, tug and eat treats.

 

[HopeShelties]

Y'know, it's funny. As much as I would love to place in a class, I know I probably never will. Even though Koji is at the taller end of the 16" class, he's slow enough that I'll always come in the middle of the pack. I've learned to accept that, just like I've learned to accept that I'll always come second to my friend's dog (he's just a ton faster).

But you know, just because Koji isn't the fastest out there, if you train him to turn tight enough, push for speed, and handle smartly (not wasting yardage, evaluating what type of cross and which path are going to create the best line with the least wasted speed/yards) you can pick up some placements, probably more so in jumpers than standard just because in standard there are enough dogs with running contacts to where it can be hard to win with a stopped.
I know someone with a BC here. It isn't a super fast BC... it's not one of the wild ones that you look at and go 'wow, that dog is fast', but it wins fairly often. It is only a moderately fast dog, but it is so efficient, wasting so little yardage that it wins over the wild crazy fast ones who are usually landing/jumping wider and burning up more yardage.

Also, think about it. Would you really rather be in her shoes? Would you want to go back to having a slow dog just to move up faster? I personally would rather have the faster dog who is more fun to run than the slow one that I would have to drag through the course. Besides, despite her moving up faster, if the dog really is considerably slower, she's going to run into her own problem down the road... MACH points.

 

[corbinam]

I actually feel bad for Bailey because if she had an owner with more experience, more time and more money, she would already be competing in excellent level trials. Heck, my trainer said she could be a world team contender. Too bad she's stuck with me! But I know in the end the thing that makes Bailey the happiest is training and competing with me. She doesn't know if we Q or place or nothing. Either way she gets to run, tug and eat treats.

I feel the exact same way about Lexi. When I'm feeling really down I get so frustrated because Lexi could be so much better with someone else. She has more raw speed than any other sheltie I've ever seen. Unfortunately we screwed up and forgot to teach her control, so we've limited her potential so much. Being at Nationals the other weekend made me even more frustrated. She was faster than the majority of the dogs in the finals at her height (not all of them, but most of them), and I've definitely hampered her progression.

My problem with being irrationally competitive is with myself--rarely with other competitors.

 

[romeosangiovese]

I've sometimes felt the way you described but I also think that I set the goals that I want for my dogs, and with those goals come the timelines that I'm comfortable with.

Every time I think I'm letting competition get to my head, I'll take a step back and remind myself why I'm training and trialling - for fun! I also remind myself of my first trial and how if I so much as Q'd it'd be a huge bonus (after not running off course)!

I've also been helping up and comers as much as I can, giving tips and advice from what I've learnt, what to read, etc. The competitive side of me would be screaming "are you crazy?? why would you want to help people do better than you!" but then the rationale side of me will realize, having competition helps make us better!

I probably feel the way you do most when it comes to obedience though, because there are some really young dogs who are doing so much better than mine, but then again, they are being trained in a way I would not want to train my own. So while I would love to catch up, I won't be letting my competitive side get the better of me here and start using methods I'm not comfy with! I'll just take it slow and play it cool!