Preparing your students to enter shows...
 As
most of us know from our own experience, a handler's first show can be really
quite daunting. Wellingborough Dog Training Club has developed a scheme to help
their beginner handlers enter shows with confidence so they can have a positive
experience. When they feel a group is ready, they run a special class to prepare
them to enter the unique world of dog agility shows. Wellingborough trainer Joanna Loomes
explains how they do it.
September 2022 marked
one year since our most recent beginners class started their agility journey at
Wellingborough Dog Training Club. As a training team, we discussed the group and
felt that they were almost ready for their first show. We are always careful
when making this suggestion to handlers, and only do so when we feel that they
are ready for the show environment as we want this to be a positive experience
for them all.
A key part of our
training is running two classes side by side so that we can assess whether dogs
are able to work through the distraction of another dog running. Of course, we
also assess if they have the skills required to complete a course in a
competition environment. You can never be 100% sure how a dog will react in a
new environment, but we feel that this gives the dogs the best chance possible.
We always start with an
hour - usually more as there's so much to cover - talking through everything and
anything show related. We start with registering dogs and measuring, which
usually leads to a long discussion about names and where to find measuring
sessions. We are very lucky to have a KC measurer on our training team who can
talk through the process in detail and share details of upcoming measuring
sessions.
 Next,
we discuss how to find shows on
Agilitynet Show Diary, different agility organisations, show
processors, types of show, reading schedules, understanding different types of
classes and how to enter.
Often we recommend entering independent shows or anysize classes to begin with as these are generally slightly more relaxed.
We then discuss
preparing for the event such as:-
-
How you know that
your dog is ready
-
Things to take with
you to ensure that you and your dog are comfortable and safe
-
Looking up the venue
beforehand
-
Understanding your
ring cards and ring plan
The main event
We discuss the event from start to finish including what time to get there, how exercise areas generally
work, using your ring plan, key rules to be aware of, course walking, how
queuing works, how the scrime starts you, how runs are judged, remembering to
thank the judge, rewarding the dog and understanding results. Again, we are very
lucky to have three Kennel Club judges on our training team who can talk through
how runs are judged in detail and answer any questions. Then we discuss grade
progression and our own club annual awards.
Another key discussion
point for us is helping at shows and the different roles. Especially as we
encourage all members to help at our own show and to provide ring party for our
club judges at shows throughout the year whenever possible.
Following on from this,
we cover general etiquette at shows and on social media.
There's so much to remember...
It's no wonder that this can be a daunting prospect for those new to
the sport! At this point we have to remind everybody that all of this soon
becomes second nature and that shows are lots of fun, where we enjoy time with
our dogs and each other! We provide a handout with all of the information too as
it can be a lot to take in.
We then take questions.
One question that we are always asked is how you know what time you will run!
The way the day runs is so alien to people who have never attended a show. The
more competitive among us always ask questions about progression and how to
change their grade!
A trial run
The second part of our
class is putting what they've learnt into practice. Each partnership is given a
running order and they practise course walking, booking in, queueing, waiting
for the scrime to start them, thanking the judge and checking results. Of
course, we end the class with a presentation and rosettes! Although nobody goes
home empty handed!
 This
class has been invaluable to not only our members in preparing them but also in
beginning to prepare the dogs as they learn to wait in their vehicle for a
longer period than required for training classes and to queue and run with their
handler feeling a little bit of added pressure.
Mentoring
Finally, we accompany our members to their first shows, if they'd like us
to. The first of this particular group had their first show a couple of weeks
ago, and we supported her with understanding the layout of the rings, reading
the ring plan, course walking, when to warm up her dog, when to queue and
checking results.
At the end of the day we
also celebrated with her when she won both an Agility and a Jumping class,
taking her to Grade 2 at her first show! What an achievement!
Obviously the obligatory
cakes followed at our next class!
We've had great feedback
from these classes and will continue to provide them, when we feel that classes
are almost ready to compete, as we hope they help our members to feel as
confident and prepared for the show environment as they can be.
 About
the author...'
Joanna Loomes competes in agility with her Cavalier King Charles
Spaniels. She is a member, trainer and committee member at Wellingborough Dog
Training Club and is an accredited agility trainer with Agility 1st.
First published
9th February 2023
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