Would you compete if you couldnt win?

I guess I'm going to differ here in opinion. While I'm sure I would still compete, I probably wouldn't have as much fun not being able to have a competitive dog. That said, I am a very competitive person. I'm the type of person who keeps track of my runs, with yards, course time, run time, yards per second, and placements. I also try to get runs taped and learn where I can tighten up. I'll be honest, I LIKE to take top placements, better yet wins... and I have dogs that are fast enough to do that.
There are times I don't place, and on those occasions, I try to go back and see what I could've done to have gotten a better time. More often than not, I can find the issues, and correct them next time. Being how I am, I feel it makes me a better competitor. I am constantly pushing myself and my dogs for better performances and better times so that we CAN win.
 
Oh don't get me wrong. I am extremely competitive myself, and probably will be just like you HopeShelties with Maia, because she is fast, she has drive etc. However, when it comes to Chinook, who is slower and has a missing hip, I know I cannot win with him, but that will not stop me from having fun with him, as long as I see that he is having fun and wants to do it. Maia, is the athlete, she is the 'agility' dog - I will push her and she will push me to do the best we can, and in all honesty, if we do not do well, I will be dissappinted no doubt. I have different expectations when it comes to her than Chinook. I see that Chinook loves the tunnels, so even though he may not win or place, I am still going to enter him when he is ready just because he loves it so much, and because I will take pleasure in seeing how happy it makes him, ribbon or no ribbon.
 
would it make a difference if you compete agains yourself?... like setting up your personal goals and achieving them? Would it be satisfactory to know that Tully improved by 0.5 sec or whatever else you set up to achieve, even if it still did not get you Q or placement? It would be more than enough for me but I am not competitive person
mu hubby runs triatlons but people who do it at his age are those ones that are really serious and train heavily for it... so hubby ends up usually second from the bottom in his age group... it is all matter of perspective
 
I am also incredibly competitive, and can get discouraged or feel disappointed after a bad run. However, I feel most frustrated when Bentley or I mess up something that I know we can do. I've gotten out on a course before and said "No way, this is just too hard for us" and I really don't get too frustrated. But, when one of us makes a mistake on a course that we COULD have succeeded on, I'm frustrated.

I think that like Sheltieche said, I would be happy to see marked improvement in some aspect. For instance, you work hard on an A-Frame and you have an awesome A-frame in competition. You still don't make course time, but you can feel successful in seeing something positive. Or, you work on weave pole entrances and Tully nails a particularly tough one. Those are things that I could find comfort in if my dog is never (or rarely) going to Q.

That doesn't mean that I wouldn't consider getting a puppy with which I could compete (shameless plug for new puppy-ha!)
 
As you gain experience, you're going to feel like that EVERY time you go out there... that you could've done the course because you know it's something you could do, yet only that one little thing went wrong with either your handling or your dog.
There isn't a course that I've been given that I couldn't run clean. I work on ISC courses at home now. It's just a matter of if I will Q on a particular day. In excellent b in AKC, there is no room for less than perfect, so any little bobble can be the difference between a Q and an NQ
 
HopeShelties said:
As you gain experience, you're going to feel like that EVERY time you go out there... that you could've done the course because you know it's something you could do, yet only that one little thing went wrong with either your handling or your dog.
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Unless you have my dog...on a gamblers course :lol:
 
HopeShelties said:
I guess I'm going to differ here in opinion. While I'm sure I would still compete, I probably wouldn't have as much fun not being able to have a competitive dog.
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That's how I feel. With Deska it didnt matter because he was about having fun. It disappoints me I have a great litle dog and not have it recognised and it feels like a waste of $ not to make course time (plus 1-3 place gets a cash prize). Tully herself is actually really competitive.

The big problem here is the lack of diversity in trialling. The 'old guard' in agility are against giving small dogs any allowances. I really hate inequalities, so I guess if I want to remain competitive in agility I will have to fight for it. Interstate there are a few clubs that have managed to do things like run seperate height classes or add 5% on SCT for small dogs. At the last couple of trials none of the small dogs have made time in Jumping and while generally others were disappointed for us, it never changed anything.

Just as I was backing off on agility because of Deska, Tully decided she likes trialling and has turned into confident little speed demon. Its quite amazing the change. Except gamblers - Tully really dislikes gamblers too.
 
I haven't competed in agility yet and while AKC doesn't do everything great, at least they have size classes. sounds like y'all need Silaria's teacup agility for the smaller dogs. It's really not fair that the big dog people are making the rules for everybody. Having competed with Callie in Rally, I'm pretty sure that we will never win a competition but we have qualified and that's all that really mattered to me. I haven't insisted that she be perfect in her heeling and sits, etc but she has done well enough to qualify and I'm happy that she is willing to play with me :wink2:
 
You know, I was just having this conversion with myself early today. I am very competitve, I like to win and I want to win. I'm going for Ember's AKC UDX. and OTCH too. To get the UDX, it you need to qualify in Open B and Utility B in the same day, same trial 10x. It is an non competive title but very hard and not many dogs get it. The AKC OTCH is a competive title. You have to beat other dogs even OTCHs to get it. In the Minnesota area we have some of the most competitive obedience dogs in the country. It is hard to place here let alone win. My dogs are good workers and can be great, Justice and Ember both have OTCH points and class wins, but we still rarely place in the B classes. Lately, I had been not real excited about competing because of it.

Well, Ember NQ in Utility(bye bye UDX leg chance), she was nervous about the crowd and worked very poorly and she still had Open to go. I was in a bad mood and didn't want pick up my armband. I was thinking what is the point, I'm not going to place against these dogs with how she is acting. Why show, there is no point(only point would be to get OTCH points,fat chance). I'll just waste 1.5 hrs:mad: I walked around a little bit ,got each of a drink and sat down to decide what to do. I happened to sit next to a nice lady showing a border terrier. She told me about her experiences showing her dog who as of that day had 8 of her 10 UDX legs. She knows her little terrier will never be the best dog in the ring but they do their best and try to be better then the last time. The day before her dog NQ but hunting for mice during the heeling so she hoped not to do that today. She then picks out 1 thing that her dog did well and uses that as her reward to herself. The main thing is spending time with her dog.

Um, oh yeah that's why I started showing in the first place.:o I go and pick up my armband and we did Q with a 191. We lost 5 points to slow or no sits on the finishes. which she normally does great. On the flip side, Ember was awesome with her heeling. Not a bad score if she could have sat better/faster. Some of the best heeling work she's done in a while. I left happy. BTW the class was won with a 199 in a runoff for 2nd and 3rd was 198.5 with a run off for 4th.

Now Diva, well she is teaching all new things about competing like expect the unexpected.. :lol: There will be a seprate post later.
 
Calliesmom said:
I haven't competed in agility yet and while AKC doesn't do everything great, at least they have size classes. sounds like y'all need Silaria's teacup agility for the smaller dogs. It's really not fair that the big dog people are making the rules for everybody.
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Every venue has different height classes. CPE for instance has 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, & 24 inch jump heights. Course times are adjusted for smaller dogs to give them more time to navigate the course.

I don't know AKC's rules well enough to know if they adjust SCT (Standard Course Time) for the smaller dogs.
 
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