I haven’t written much about Mr. Aidan of late.
I didn’t think people would be interested in reading about the many hours of practice involved before plunking down an entry fee and heading out at o’dark-thirty to a dog show.
But I’ve had a lot of people ask about Aidan and say they’ve missed reading about him. So, here’s some insight into the nitty gritty of the perseverance and patience it takes to get a young dog ready for the Rally show ring.
Aidan’s a quirky little dog with a personal set of behaviors that I’m still working toward unraveling. Just when I think I’ve solved one issue, another pops up. One day is a training “win” and super fulfilling; the next day is a complete disaster and a training fail.
Those ups and downs mirror life. How you deal with them separates those with the ability to put things in perspective and persevere toward a positive and fulfilling personal goal and those who look for excuses, place blame elsewhere or just give up.
I’m not a quitter. It’s all about shaking off what happened the day before and starting again the next day fueled with hope for something better than the day before. But first, I make a plan and try my best to successfully make it happen.
It’s also about trying something totally different when repeated failure rears its head. Or, more recently, seeking help from someone who might have different ideas than all the things I’ve tried.
So, Aidan, my friend Richard Eyster, (who served as my co-pilot) and I headed out very early to Wheatfield, IND, where I took a lesson from a trainer recommended by a good friend of mine. She offered up some different ideas, which seemed to make sense to me and we came home with a renewed sense of purpose.
Putting many frustrations aside, I deployed these new training techniques for more than a month. Some of them have made a difference, but I still found myself hitting the same wall on two specific exercises that I just could not break through.
So, after a particularly horrible training session, I sought help from another trainer, who had some completely different ideas than I, and approaches dog training in a more regimented way than I had been doing.
I knew the issues we were having were my fault and my inability to communicate exactly what I wanted, sprinkled with a heavy dose of inconsistency in praising something that was “good enough.”
Two minutes into the lesson, she saw what I was doing. Well, truth be told, several things that I was doing, to confuse Aidan. And one of them stemmed back to my eye sight. This trainer took the time to “see” things from my perspective – with the limited periphery vision I find myself dealing with on a daily basis. And she devised a plan to make things easier for me to determine if Aidan was in the position he was supposed to be in.
Now it is up to Aidan to find that spot and be praised when he does it correctly; and be shown where he needs to be, if not there.
Every time, no exceptions.
Gone is “good enough” and all those treats to lure him into working with me.
She knew what I expected as the final result and was able to show Aidan what that was as well. And show me how to insist that happen. Without all the fuddling, cookie pushing and coaxing.
There’s a new sheriff in town. One who immediately lets Aidan know when he’s right with quick praise and petting and fixes it without fan fair or frustration if it’s not.
Every athlete knows people love to watch the competition, the finished product, But they aren’t as interested or don’t care how much work it takes to get there. Spectators don’t care about the many hours spent thinking about it, visualizing it, planning it, and all the behind-the-scenes training that it takes every day to put on that show.
In Rally competition, walking up to that start line is merely a couple minutes in time. It showcases how well trained your dog really is and how well your dog can precisely execute each exercise as you work as a pair.
But above all, it demonstrates how well dog and handler can communicate, and in the process, develop the trust and understanding it takes to work with an animal that doesn’t speak the same language.
On this front, I’ve let Aidan down.
I’m not a fan of excuses, although I could write a laundry list of reasons why it’s taking so long to walk into the ring with Aidan with the precision and confidence I had previously with Buzz. For starters, Aidan is a very different dog with a complete opposite personality.
And what might be a perfectly fine performance for many people in the ring isn’t the standard I’ve set for myself and Mr. Aidan. He’s got it in him. I just have to work harder to show him and bring it out.
I know what this feels like – even though I might not be able to see it as clearly as I once did. So I’ll know when we’ve consistently achieved it in training. And it will be a culmination of all the hours of work, a lot of trial and error, enhanced communication skills when no one was watching, and love for this wonderful young dog.
Although, yes, we’ve already got the scores we need to qualify for the Rally National Championships in 2026, Aidan and I still aren’t at the level I want yet, but through perseverance and patience, we will be.
We’ve got this, Aidan.
