My ultimate goal when trialing is to have the same dog in the ring that I have in training. A dog that is happy and joyful and having a blast.
I think we all want that. And we train really, really hard for a very, very long time to get that.
And then we compete and don't get it. And we are very disappointed and frustrated. And to be honest, a little confused. I mean, what the heck happened?? We worked soooo hard!! We made everything sooo much fun!! And when we train at home, the dog is sooo happy!! We start to question whether our dog is cut out for this. Whether the dog can handle the "stress" of the ring. Maybe this just isn't our sport.