Five Non-Training Tips to Help Your Dog at a Show/Event

1) Give your dog time to see the area. If your dog knows what is going on, he will be more likely to be able to be attentive and comfortable.  Yes, there are exceptions to the rule.

2) Give your dog time to rest.  If your dog has been up and moving for four hours, he will be getting pretty physically and mentally tired.  A tired dog is not going to be able to give his very best performance.  Be sure your dog's rest area is comfortable and not right at a flow of traffic area.

3) Take your dog for regular off property walks.  This will sort of 'passively' socialize your dog to the world. He will be exposed to sights, sounds, smells, and experiences.  If your dog is calm and comfortable in the world, he will be all the better at a show or event.  If your dog never goes off property....the world sure can be exciting.

4) Read the Rules:  In most activities there are things that handlers can do to loose points or even be disqualified. If you have not read the rules...you will not be able to perform to your very best.  These points can add up very quickly.  No matter if your dog is typically a good performer or not, there's no reason to loose the points that are in your control.

5) Physically prepare your dog:  Exercise! If your dog gets tired and overwhelmed by the environment...and he's physically not at his best, the event will be even more difficult.  I saw this as a potential issue with some of the dogs at the State Fair 4-H show this year. There were quite a few dogs entered in many events...and if they weren't at their physical best... performances could be less than what was expected.

Ohio State Fair Jr Dog Show

The 2011 OSF 4-H Dog show week is now over!   Agility. Showmanship. Obedience. Advanced levels of obedience. Four days of rally. Service dogs. Therapy dogs. Dog Care. Poster Contest. Skillathon. Drill Teams. Freestyle.   Around 1300 entries, with many kids doing multiple events and/or showing multiple dogs.

Dozens of volunteers staying the week to judge, assist with the rings, help with scoring, and get everyone organized.

Some of the great points:
- Interacting with dog-crazy kids from all over the state
- Training discussions with other volunteers. Specifically about "good training" and the (lack of) interest in such.
- Seeing many of our campers, from this year and past years.  I also saw kids from Griffin's favorite day camp and our regional workshops.
- Seeing many of "our" kids do very well.
- Talking to kids who are in their last year....they were sad but also looking forward to helping in the future

Some of the not so great points:
- Surprise! I was judging...often finding out the day-of the event.
- Seeing a lot of punishment being used....even by very young kids.
- Lots of kids not knowing the rules and loosing a ton of points because of it.
- Some of the judging/policies needing updated to make things easier/cleaner

What I'm going to try and change for next year:
- Be more prepared and ask about my jobs ahead of times.
- Continue with clinics, workshops, handouts, etc for the 4-H'ers...focusing on R+ type training.
- Work on education opportunities for the advisors/instructors to have more good R+ training.
- Increase enthusiasm for knowing the rules. Mention this at all events. Create a few games based off of knowing the rules.
- Make proposals for modifications to rules/policies.

I'm really good at complaining, but I often try to put changes along with it.  If something isn't going well...we need to change something.