Because Agility is a Mental Game

Because Agility Is a Mental Game

Here are some Positive Thoughts for Handlers on the Day of the Competition

By Kathy Lofthouse

February 1991

I enjoy agility competitions because they are a chance to see my friends and a chance to show how good my dog and I have become. I have trained and prepared to do my best and now is the opportunity to put all that training on display. We are going to do well.

When I walk an agility course I look at it as a challenge, which will bring out the best in my dog and I.

Before my dog and I enter the ring I concentrate on the course and how we are going to do the best clean run we have ever done. I focus on the job and so does my dog.

I know we can do a good clean run and I will make every effort to be sure that we do.

My dog and I have our own special way of running an agility course. We are special and we can get good clean runs because I concentrate on every detail. I believe in myself, and my dog. We produce great performances. We are going to do well.

I learn the course and decide how I will handle my dog through each part in order to get a good clean run. I do not hear those who may be obsessing about potential problems on the course. I simply decide where my dog and I ARE going to be going.

When we run the course I concentrate on every little detail, working in rapport with my dog from start to finish.

My dog and I move briskly and smoothly through the course doing the best job we possibly can, working together as a team and paying attention to the contacts along the way.

I enjoy agility and when I run a course I do everything I can to help my dog. I keep in touch with my dog and give him commands clearly and well in advance so he knows where to go next. We work together as a team. That is what makes us so special.

Today we will show everybody how it’s done. Our rounds will be a fluid demonstration of dog and handler working together.

I know we are good and today is the perfect day to prove it.

I believe in myself and I believe in my dog and that belief is so strong that we can do anything today and enjoy ourselves in the process!