Arendal - 21-22 September 2013

If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. - Albert Einstein

Theory; A dog is supposed to pick up obstacles whenever you show them where to go!
Fact; If a handler don't show the correct handling, the dog will run on the outside.

Theory; When you train your dog, there is results in competitions!
Fact; Unless you show your dog the correct lines, the results will not come.

We spent last weekend at Hove Leirsenter in Arendal, on their annual fall-competition. As always, it was a great competition, socially and the location is great. Results could be a lot better, but then again; we can't always be winners.

Saturday:
Started waaaaaay to early for my part, as I woke up at 05.10am and didn't have the first course walk until 09.08am. I spent the better part of the morning walking the dogs, eating breakfast and generally relaxing.. It was unusual to have such good time before a competition.

First course for me was Jump 1 with Niili. The course had the flat tunnell in it, and Niili does not know that obstacle 100% yet. Result of this was of course the DQ.

AOH 21.09.13 - Tommy & Niili - Jump 1 Small

Second course was Jump 2 with Leija. I believe that I had a good idea for the start, as most of the other handlers chose to break the dog between #2 and #3 on the top of #2. However, I used my body the wrong way and it gave Leija the possibility to have a WIIIIIDE turn. And when she "refuses" to pick up a obstacle, my enthusiasm drops like a fly meeting a zapper, causing a DQ.

AOH 21.09.13 - Tommy & Leija - Jump 2 Small

Third course of the day was Agility 2, again with Leija. The course itself was super cool and I would've loved to actually finish it, but Leija somehow wanted it different. She jumped the downward contact on dog-walk, made a refusal in to the weaves and skipped the last two/three weaves. Result: DQ

AOH 21.09.13 - Tommy & Leija - AG 2 Small

Last run of the saturday was the team run. It was a great run. Leija follows me good, takes the contacts and generally pays attention. Unfortunately she gets a refusal on the zee-zaw and completely disregards the flat-tunnel. Result: DQ

AOH 21.09.13 - Tommy & Leija - Teams

That was the saturday. My thoughts for the day;

Sunday:
Started sunday with a Jump 1 course with Niili. It was a fast course, that was going perfectly until the wheel, where I pushed too hard and made her have a refusal. As I do the runs with Niili just for fun at the moment, I didn't focus too much on picking it up correctly after the refusal, so we get a DQ. But it was a FUN course.

AOH 22.09.13 - Tommy & Niili - Jump 1 Small

Second course was Jump 2 with Leija. Here I was hoping for a fast course with alot of running for both myself and Leija. It was really a course for both of us. Unfortunately for us, Leija decides to refuse to pick-up obstacles, giving us two refusals before I decide to just DQ her. I will not focus on anything positive in this course, as it was a total disaster.

AOH 22.09.13 - Tommy & Leija - Jump 2 Small

Last course for us this day, was the Agility 2 course. This was once again a fast course, and a course I really liked at most of the part. Distances could be a bit small for a faster dog, but we managed. I really need to start looking more at my dog when I do unfamiliar switches. Because of this, I get a refusal on the dog walk, but we manage to finish the course. This gives us a 3rd place, but a rather slow pace.

 

AOH 22.09.13 - Tommy & Leija - AG 2 Small

 

That's all from the Arendal competition. Our next trial now, is Karmøy next weekend. It's going to be interesting to see what will happen.

Tommy, Leija & Niili

The Formula For Success

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. - Vince Lombardi

What is the formula for success? Sometimes people will ask you; "What have you done to get where you are today?". Is success a mindset or a journey? Or how do one define success?

It's difficult to put a definition on success. I would say it's easier to define a journey, but can't you say success is a journey as well?

In my mind, the entire concept of success is a journey. There is no specific finish line when I think of success, as it is a matter of goals. You set your goals and then if you reach them, you have success.

How can a person keep having a success if you set only one goal?

I would think the best way to do this, is to break down the word itself; SUCCESS:

So, lets try and hopefully I can shed some light on my understanding of success.

 

See Your Goal:

In all training you do, there is always one or more goals that you want to reach. One of the first things to remember when setting a goal, is to be smart about it. Set goals that are S.M.A.R.T:

There is no point in setting goals that are unrealistic both in achievement and time. Get a full understanding of what your goal is, and work towards it systematically.

 

Understand The Obstacles:

 

How one person see a challenge or a problem, is most of the time different from what other people see. For example, when people look at my running, they might say that I need to focus on tighter turns, better control and maybe decrease the speed to ease my handling to make control easier.

 

But I see different obstacles; How can I get control without losing speed? Do I want to sacrifice the speed in a turn for tighter turns?

 

My point is that some challenges can be the same, but people's perception of it might be totally different.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if every situation that was difficult, came with a warning? Or that dogs were sold with a big notification that it might be hard?

 

Create A Positive Mental Picture:

The first or most important thing when you want to do something, anything really, is to say: Yes, I can do this!

There is no point in doing alot of work on something you deep down don't believe will work in the end. Once you get you mind and focus on the positive things, everything seems brighter.

 

Clear Your Mind Of Self Doubt:

Like I mention above, there is no point in setting goals when you deep down don't believe you can reach them yourself.

 Are you good enough? If you always question yourself and never try, you never just go for it, how will you know? The worst that can happen, is that you find out that you need more practise.

 

Embrace The Challenge:

Is it difficult? Do you find elements that is challenging? Is the course not the way you are used to handling? BRING IT ON!!! - is my motto there.... I will do my best to work with it. If I fail, I fail. Then I have something I can strive to finish.

 

Stay On Track:

Remember your goals!! That is the most important thing on this point, in my eyes, just keep remembering your goals.

As long as you keep to this, you will stay on track towards success.

 

Show The World You Can Do It:

When you get it to work, people will start to notice you. You will succeed in courses, your training method will start to pay off and people will respect your journey.

 

This was my thoughts on the formula on success.. So who knows, maybe it will work for you, maybe it won't. But what have you got to lose?

 

Tommy, Leija & Niili



Nordhordland Competition = 31aug - 01sep 2013 =

Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. - Douglas Adams

After a great summer holiday with a lot of new impressions, a relative understanding of the concept of balance and a expectation on doing some good agility, we had signed up for the competition in Nordhordland with the judge Jan Egil Eide.

Since I still had some vacation before getting back to work, I started the trip to Bergen early friday afternoon and arrived in Os at Simon and Dorte around 17.00. Luckily I wasn't going any further, as there had been a major accident in downtown Bergen, causing big traffic jam.

On saturday morning I started with A2 and had a great course walk, my only problem was that I was trying to incorporate things I don't master yet, which ended badly for my part.

My expectations for the weekend felt like something crashing, kind of like this:

I haven't talked a lot about my goals, but I've mentioned my ultimate goal of having fun. However, when you do something, anything actually, you always want to do your best.

 

My goals is something we can come to on a later time, but what's important to know now, is that I did not live up to my expectations on the runs this weekend. I will be the first to admit that my thoughts can get in the way of everything sometimes, and this can be both positive and negative.

 

Story of the weekend was in general just like a movie title:

Tommy trying stuff he doesn't know!

Anyways, let's get on with the courses.

A2:

This was a super cool course to run, that demands focus during the entire course, otherwise the dog runs off doing other things ;)

It all went super good until obstacle 11, where I wanted to try wrong-sided weaves. It gives me a fault in there and we just continued. This gives us a DQ in this run. Results are below;

Unfortunately I don't have anything more of a video from this run, than the small session below. This is what comes of trying to give a simple job to someone from Bergen ;) hehe....

Second run of the day was Jumping. It was a fun filled action course, which demanded 100% focus on every turn. Unfortunately I did not manage this. My timing was not up to par, turning was crap and directions for the dog was not present. As a result of my poor handling, Leija actually refuses a tunnel and jumps over the long jump. Luckily she wasn't injured, as the long jump had the #5 bar standing in the course as well. Ah well, a DQ written down on this one as well:

Video of this run is also below, and as you've understood; people from Bergen have a tendency to talk during filming ;)

Video link below:



Agility jumping grade 2 - 31.08.2013 - Nordhordland

As always, it seems my Youtube does not want to cooperate with my blogspot, so I have to put the links to youtube only.

This was a super fun course. Even though my head weren't on it's place, we had fun none the less.. Leija closed her ears from obstacles 2->3 and had a wide turn. My body posture was all out of place, and I started her in the wrong place. Still, Leija had a great speed and we came back from the tunnell and took #4 without problem. But then Leija somehow decided on going on the outside of #5 and jumped the long jump the wrong way, giving us the DQ.

 

I am super happy with the speed of the weaves, we had a good turn on #8 -> #9, even if I slipped because of my bad body-balance.

 

Third and last run of the day was the open jump course. Here we atleast managed to get a finish, even though we had a refusal, we finished with good speed and okey handling.

 

Movie of the can be seen at the link below:

 

 Open jump - 31.08.2013 - Nordhordland

 

If I look at the course compared to my handling, I see a few timing mistakes and I could also improve the turning during the course. My biggest point, however, is that I seem to be a bit slow in my running. Leija has a speed, with the refusal, at 4,40 m/s. Could I maybe become faster if I run faster, or do I loose control?

 

Well, let's move into Sunday.

 

Sunday started with alot of confusion and loss of focus for my part. During our trip to the competition, Simon and me drove past a accident which happened to be a contestant that we knew. The entire car was destroyed, but luckily both her and her dogs was okey. Someone had a guardian angel in that crash....

 

When we arrived, the course walk for grade 2 agility had already started, but the judge was so nice that he gave us some extra time to walk it. Unfortunately I couldn't manage to reset my mindset and it was a "half-ass" effort by myself.

Course was a SUPER FUN course. It should have been easy.. Should have!! - That is one of the most annoying comments I ever make. "I should have" is always the start of something bad for me, but then again; I should have been on the other side.

I decided to start on the "upper-side" of #2, and was even touching Leija on the nose to prevent her from going on to dogwalk and follow me in to #3, but she was very clear in her act on how she felt about that...

That's right... That is exactly what I felt Leija did when we had that run... And people could understand my frustration, atleast I think they did, because I heard alot of people laughing when it happened :) Atleast I make for good entertainment :)

Luckily I didn't get this course on film.

The second run for me was the Grade 1 debut with Niili. I had no expectations what so ever, and my entire goal for the debut was just to check how she would react in a competition setting.

However, she actually went above and beyond any expectations and won her class. Granted, she was the only dog that managed to complete the course, but that shows me that she was better than all the rest :)

Video link below:

 

Jump grade 1 - 01.09.2013 - Nordhordland

The result of this run was the biggest point of happiness for me this weekend, as it showed me that Niili might have a great future in the agility ring :)

 

Jumping grade 2, the last for me and Leija this weekend, ended as the rest of the weekend. With a devastating DQ because of Tommy trying things he doesn't know.

 

Video link below:

 

Jump grade 2 - 01.09.2013 - Nordhordland

 

But then again, how can one improve without trying new things???

So, all in all, a lot of new things that needs focus and some things that need to be practised. How do we do that? WE TRY NEW THINGS!!!

 

Tune in for the next post competition post, showing Tommy doing things he doesn't know!

 

Tommy & Leija



Summer holiday 2013 ;)

So, we've had the better part of July off, both in regards to competitions and training. Leija and myself have enjoyed a few quiet weeks with just a few trainings a week, focusing on getting the more complicated handling behind us and looking just on fun-filled, speed crazy, running courses.

As part of our summer vacation, we decided to bring our family for a trip to the lovelly country of Finland to visit the breeder of both Iko, Leija and Niili. During the ten days we stayed there, we managed to squeeze in four days of agility training with the finnish national coach, Seppo Savikko, with me and Leija.

One of the things I take alot of pride in during my training, is my ability to have an open mind to all information and tips that can help me evolve in both my handling and my view on agility. After everything is said and done, I sit down and evaluate what I've learned and pick out the things I see can improve the things me and Leija are doing.

Of the sessions we had with Seppo, the most important he tried to get in to my head, was the aspect of body balance during my handling. As long as I get the correct body balance, it will become much easier to prepare myself and Leija towards the next obstacle. Unfortunately the vision of Seppo was that we become something like this:

However, after a few tries and a lot of frustration from both myself and Seppo, it turned out that my body balance in regards to running turned out to be more like this:

But luckily Seppo has good patience and knows to take it slower with the beginners, so we really started to get something going before I had to leave.

Where does that leave me, you might ask....

With a lot of the following: 

 

Tommy & Leija

Summer competition - Bergen 21-23 June 2013

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. - Winston Churchill

 

Finally it's summer vacation for Team Speedfreaks! The summer competition in Bergen was our last competition  now until the autumn madness starts, but before this happens we will travel to Finland for a weeks training camp :) Looking forward to that :D

 

 

But we can come back to that after a while. Let's look at this weekend;

 

I started travelling to Bergen on friday morning and arrived in Os where I was staying with the lovelly Dorte, Simon & Helle :) We had a quick training session where Leija was on key 100 % and with a speed not many can match, atleast not in that size class...

 

I had a great time during friday, having fun with Simon and Dortes daughter, laughing and doing teaching her all sorts of mischief I hope my boys never will learn... (As if !!)

 

Unfortunately I had Leija awake longer than normal, and both myself and Elisabeth believe that is why she wasn't performing as "normal" on saturday.

 

Saturday;

We started the weekend with fun jumping course in class 1. Unfortunately I went away from my normal routine the day before, and kept Leija awake until 01.30, while I was reading. *Mental note; Don't change routines the day before a competition*..

 

As you can see from her speed, or rather the lack off, that something was not as it should be. If it was because of our growing calmness or just pure dumb luck, but atleast we got through the course clean and with no time fault, giving us our last clean run needed for Class 2.

 

 

 

After a nice little rest, (where I was hoping that Leija had regained some of her speed), we had our agility 2 run. Even though she had her fair share of "quiet" time, I had to struggle with her through the course, with Leija not giving 50% even... The entire run ended with us getting one fault in the weaves and 6.03 seconds in time fault!!!!! I haven't been able to get the movie to Youtube yet, but check out my channel when it's there.

 

 

We also tried to test our luck during the team competitions, but here Leija shows me very clearly what she thought about that:

 

 

Sunday;

It was a day where I woke even more tired than the day before. Maybe it was because of the stress of the day before, or maybe the late night with good company. Anyway I started the day the same way as I normally do during competitions, and luckily our debut in Jumping 2 ended with a great BANG!

 

 

 

It was a great run with alot of potential, and even though the speed was 4,69 m/s, it could've been even faster. If I shorten the turns, improve the weaves and tighten my own handling, I think it might have been 4,8-5,0 m/s.. Atleast I know what I can do, and what I can not do :)

 

 

During the break between Jumping and Agility, Simon asked me if I wanted to go for a walk with the dogs... Sure, I thought.. Little did I know that it was his little devilish plan to remove the competition before the agility run and making my dog tired again (Yes Simon, it's all your fault ;) *wink, wink*!!).

 

 

We had a good start, but after a mistake (or two) in the weaves, I decided to DQ Leija and me and focus just on having fun in the course. I hope that Leija took it that way, but we are coming in to the summer break with one goal: Work on both our stamina and endurance, because it needs working with. Hopefully we will come home from summer "camp" with a rejuvinated spirit and with our goals easily reachable and without much remorse.

 

 

The teams competition on sunday was cancelled due to severe a rain and thunderstorm. After some consideration, I think this was a good thing for Leija and me, as she was tired and slept through the entire storm and drive home.

 

Now there is a few days rest for Leija and myself, before we start the preparations for a hard week in Finland under the tough eye of Seppo Savikko and loads of training. Hopefully we will come out of it stronger and even more prepared for the winter madness :)

 

So, stay tuned, keep reading and keep following... Comment if you like it, comment if you disagree with anything or if you see something in my movies you want to tell me :)

 

Tommy & Leija

Positivity vs. Negativity

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision. - Dalai Lama

 

As the header of this post states, I want to put some focus on the "easy" subject of positivity vs. negativity. By this, I mean the mindset during training and preparations for competitions.

 

How can you best train with a positive mind when everyone around you expects bigger and better things from you?

In my mind there is always expectations, but after the few years with a crashing reality check, I've learned that my expectations needs to be focused more and more on the positive aspects of training. By doing this, I've noticed that both me and Leija have more fun when we train and compete, since my focus is not too much on results, but I try to pick good things from each run.

 

What this has resulted in, is a "All Or Nothing"-attitude. When you have this kind of attitude, normally you are very seriously involved in the competition, but that can be quite dangerous because of the added stress and negativity that comes with disqualifying in runs. But then again, when you compete, shouldn't you go for the win every time?

 

High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation. - Charles Kettering

 

I believe whole heartedly that you can if you want to, but you need to be careful of the expectations from others. When things are going the correct way and the runs feel perfectly executed, or you have a super feeling that the things you wanted to complete is mastered, then it can be easy to raise your own expectations to match the accomplishment. However, even the positivity that comes from such an situation can easily be turned into frustration when the next run doesn't surpass the expectations you've put in yourself and your dog.

Because of this, I strive to make my own runs and my line of thought during a competition to focus more and more around the aspect of having fun during the runs and also enjoying a social and good time with alot of friends etc..

 

As long as I try my best to focus on the positive things with my training and competitions, I know that the results will follow sooner or later. The moment you start to go back during a competition to rectify the mistakes you've made, you set yourself and your dog up for failure (Please be aware that this is only if you compete with the "All or Nothing" attitude, in my eyes). But misunderstand me correctly, as I am not saying you should walk off the course in anger because you or the dog did a mistake. I'm saying if you go for it everytime, there shouldn't be the need to rectify mistakes or justify why something happened, because the moment you do, you accept the negative energy that is the result.

 

You will walk around and become more and more frustrated in why the handling failed or the dog failed something "he/she already knows".

 

So how can you claim to have a perfect run when there is mistakes in the handling or on the results board?

 

Because if you keep focusing on the positive things in a competition or during training, all that negative energy will dissipate into nothing, leaving you smiling over challenges you thought difficult.

 

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results. - Willie Nelson

 

Sometimes the best thing to do when people ask you how you did, is to answer; I finished. I guarantee that they will look at you funny and ask a second time; "Yes, but how did the run go?". People that focus too much on results and don't open themselves up to a positive mindset no matter what happens, doesn't seem to grasp the notion that some people, myself included (the last year), is more than happy with just completing a course. Or even just getting the first nine obstacles clean.

 

 

But I guess you're now telling yourself; "Honestly, I am not like this." Well, if you are certain in your case, then there is no point in trying to change. But if you read this and think that sometimes there might be too much focus on results in your runs, take a minute next time you compete and picture your dogs energy when you are frustrated and stressful, then watch the dog when all you think about is to have fun and enjoy time with your dog. Personally it's like running with two different dogs, and I clearly see the path I want to take. I want the fun dog, instead of the submissive dog.

 

 

Sometimes I can be an AS***** myself after I've run a course, and I take serious self-critique for this every time. But that is just an evil circle, that goes over and over and over and over and over again..  When that happens, I normally need an hour or so to reset and get my head out of my a** and think positive again, getting the negative stuff replaced with the good things from a run.

 

Believe me, it's difficult. It's not a change that comes over-night, but once you start to go there, it becomes easier every time. And every time you do this, you will see the trust and energy of your dog increase many steps. Then again, for some of you, this might already be second nature. Please read the post about complacency then :)

 

But as I finish this post, I would like to ask whoever's taking the time to read this;

 

- What are your thoughts?

 

- Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts, and why?

 

- Did I hit a point with any of you?

 

Please remember that this is just personal opinion and people can have different opinions. We are not all alike, and lucky for us :)

 

Tommy & Leija



Club championship

You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get. - Michael Phelps

I was so lucky to be asked if I could be the judge at my clubs unofficial championship in 2013. Since I have interest in judging perhaps want to pursue judging, it's good for me to learn and I also get to think about the lines that the dogs need to take.

 

I view the entire thing as another step in my learning process to becoming a capable competitor, and I find it interesting at the same time.

 

The courses I built can be seen below:

Agility 1

Agility 2

Agility 3

Jumping 1

Jumping 2

Jumping 3

  I also wanted to run in the championship, thus giving me the last two "competition" races before this coming weekend. Due to my nice little ankle injury, it didn't go so well. My head was on the judging, and things just was loads of fun and running :P

But, hopefully the weekend will be superfun with great company and lots of interesting conversations about agility and subjects around this..

As a good friend of mine says;

Work hard, Play hard!!

 

Tommy & Leija