Silvia Trkman

 I love her!! I watched her blog with the new puppy.... that puppy is a monster LOL, man she's an amazing trainer!!  I like to think I'd like a really drivey dog, but that puppy, whew, I'll leave her to the pros.  I was tired just watching the videos of her!  :) Thanks for the link, haven't seen this!

Sera_J

 I love her!! I watched her blog with the new puppy.... that puppy is a monster LOL, man she's an amazing trainer!!  I like to think I'd like a really drivey dog, but that puppy, whew, I'll leave her to the pros.  I was tired just watching the videos of her!  :) Thanks for the link, haven't seen this!

  Those PyrSheps can be cool little dogs but are probably best for people who have a real fondness for herding breeds and all their quirkiness  :)

 The part that made me laugh was what did she think while standing on the podium for the World Championship? That she was hungry because she hadn't gotten to eat and was standing there for so long LOL

Wow, that is amazing communication between her and her dogs! Impressive!

AgileGSD

 The part that made me laugh was what did she think while standing on the podium for the World Championship? That she was hungry because she hadn't gotten to eat and was standing there for so long LOL

... she looks like she forgets to eat a lot! LOL!!

I love how she clearly loves the process.  That makes me think about the types of winners we have, the types of people who win those big events.  We have the competitive types, the reason they work so hard is because they want to win, they'll push themselves and their dogs, probably at any cost.  Then you have those who love the whole process, figure out better ways of doing things simply because THAT'S the moments they "win"..... they become the best, and give their trophies away ((shakes head)) because that's not the part that means the most to her.  She's a very impressive lady.

Sera_J

I love how she clearly loves the process.  That makes me think about the types of winners we have, the types of people who win those big events.  We have the competitive types, the reason they work so hard is because they want to win, they'll push themselves and their dogs, probably at any cost.  Then you have those who love the whole process, figure out better ways of doing things simply because THAT'S the moments they "win"..... they become the best, and give their trophies away ((shakes head)) because that's not the part that means the most to her.  She's a very impressive lady.

  So true! From her website: "For me, competitions are a test of my training methods, of my handling skills on new courses and of my capability to make my best in a competition environment. I compete with myself and not against anybody. I always wish my best to every competitor and I'm always happy to see a good, fast, happy, well-trained dog on agility course. Whatever competition I enter, I don’t enter it to beat anybody, I just want to test my training, handling and nerves and in a process, learn something to become better handler&trainer. Every good trainer/handler is simply a great learning opportunity for me." http://silvia.trkman.net/

 You really don't find too many top level competitors with the attitude she has. I think that the majority of the top level agility people do love working with their dogs (I'm sure there are some who more so love winning) but they also seem to have a very competitive mindset.

AgileGSD

Whatever competition I enter, I don’t enter it to beat anybody, I just want to test my training, handling and nerves and in a process, learn something to become better handler&trainer. Every good trainer/handler is simply a great learning opportunity for me."

A lot can be learned in general sportsmanship as well as training from this.  I think finding and bringing this out more in my training (or anyone's) can do nothing but enhance their relationship with their dog and find the joy in the day to day part of the journey.  I know the point for most is the WIN, the title, whatever.  But there is so much more to it.

Sounds stupid, but this is a real revelation to me. I mean I've always enjoyed training my dogs, but the training was just a means to an end, to the title, the proof what you were doing was "right". I'm sure I'm fairly typical as I'm a competitive minded person.... but, this is so much more zen and enjoyable.  It's inspired me to get out and train right now, in fact!!  (not even Agility, I'm gonna go work some tracking!)  What an "ah-hah!" moment, thanks!!

Sera_J

Sounds stupid, but this is a real revelation to me. I mean I've always enjoyed training my dogs, but the training was just a means to an end, to the title, the proof what you were doing was "right". I'm sure I'm fairly typical as I'm a competitive minded person.... but, this is so much more zen and enjoyable.  It's inspired me to get out and train right now, in fact!!  (not even Agility, I'm gonna go work some tracking!)  What an "ah-hah!" moment, thanks!!

You sound to me like the majority of people who enter dog sports. While most of them do enjoy the training process, it's often for the ribbon, the title, or the reputation because it doesn't cost money to "train" your dog, but it costs a lot of money to compete! So to shell out a ton of money, you wouldn't keep doing it if you lost. LOL.

I lean closer towards how Sylvia trains, in the sense that the training is the journey. It's why I don't compete in a ton of trials each year (maybe three weekends of Rally and four weekends of agility), but I'm always training, always trying to help my dogs be better, to be a better handler, to work closely with my dog, and I spend more time going to seminars and training with others than I do actually competing. I am proud of our titles, and I do hang up our ribbons, but not for the same reasons necessarily. I look at them as a gauge of our success and our working relationship, and for Shimmer how far she's come from the sensitive/shy girl that she was. Not because she beat others, but because she surpassed my expectations and has pushed through her own anxieties.

My most proud moment of all in training for competition actually comes from Gaci, who has no titles whatsoever. We have been working so long with her behaviour issues, and her stress (she is so high-stress!), that at the end of last year when she ran one full weekend of trials and was happy and ran with vigor the entire weekend, was the best weekend I've had yet. It wasn't Shimmer's titles, it wasn't her agility Q - they were sort of *expected* eventually - it was the fact that that weekend Gaci and I were a true team, and she was thrilled to be out there on that field. She ran into, and ran out of, the ring in the same way. She didn't Q that weekend - she knocked a bar in each run, because she was going so fast for her normal run, but it was the best weekend I've seen yet. And her 1st place (non-Q) ribbon hangs right next to Shimmer's title-earning ribbons.

I think everyone benefits from taking the time to really reflect on the process. It makes you feel good.

But most of all I love, love, love Sylvia's video on Youtube of her Clean-Up Crew!

Sera_J

Sounds stupid, but this is a real revelation to me. I mean I've always enjoyed training my dogs, but the training was just a means to an end, to the title, the proof what you were doing was "right". I'm sure I'm fairly typical as I'm a competitive minded person.... but, this is so much more zen and enjoyable.  It's inspired me to get out and train right now, in fact!!  (not even Agility, I'm gonna go work some tracking!)  What an "ah-hah!" moment, thanks!!

 Have fun! And if you need more inspiration, Silvia's Youtube channel has several years worth of great videos of her and her dogs:  http://www.youtube.com/user/yolle555

Kim_MacMillan

You sound to me like the majority of people who enter dog sports. While most of them do enjoy the training process, it's often for the ribbon, the title, or the reputation because it doesn't cost money to "train" your dog, but it costs a lot of money to compete! So to shell out a ton of money, you wouldn't keep doing it if you lost. LOL.

I lean closer towards how Sylvia trains, in the sense that the training is the journey. It's why I don't compete in a ton of trials each year (maybe three weekends of Rally and four weekends of agility), but I'm always training, always trying to help my dogs be better, to be a better handler, to work closely with my dog, and I spend more time going to seminars and training with others than I do actually competing. I am proud of our titles, and I do hang up our ribbons, but not for the same reasons necessarily. I look at them as a gauge of our success and our working relationship, and for Shimmer how far she's come from the sensitive/shy girl that she was. Not because she beat others, but because she surpassed my expectations and has pushed through her own anxieties.

  I can certainly understand your feelings about Shimmer's success!

 I have always been more into the training aspect than the competition aspect. I became involved with dogs because when I was 11 joined a 4H training club with my very fearful 5 month old Dobe mix Bull. It was old school training then and they only trained for competition obedience. But at home, I taught Bull all sorts of tricks with treat training. Before getting him, I had already read every dog book in the kid's section of the library and was well into working my way through the regular dog books. I thought I invented agility because I used to set up jumping courses for him in the yard after seeing horse competitions on TV. He was such a fearful dog though that our first couple years we never did well in comeptition, he refused to stand for a stranger to touch him. The third year though, he was like a different dog and was pretty much over his issues. We won first place, scoring better than much more experienced handler/dog teams. I was so surprised that when they called my number I didn't go get my ribbon - never guessed we would have won It was a fun experience to do so well that day and in doing so, to qualify for and compete at our State Fair. But looking back on it, that win more represented when Bully finally became a "normal dog". When he stopped being afraid of people, after which, no one who met him could ever believe he used to be shy :)

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