Signed up for my first trial (in Nov).

k9kreationz

k9kreationz

Forums Celebrity
Ohmigosh everyone. I am so excited and so nervous and it's still September!!!
I'm starting to pay more attention to ME and how I'm doing things, versus the dog. Although, now I have to see how he's doing.

It'll be a NADAC. My instructor suggested this as it's easier. Seriuosly, I'm so nervous already. Last nights class I was thinking, am I doing this right? Am I paying attention to my dog? Is he watching me? AUGH! lol. And this isn't even AKC!

Maybe the nervousness will wear off with time....or at least not be as bad (I mean, 2 months?)

Koji is doing really well. One week, at class, he had an upset stomach the weekend prior, so I wasn't about to give him any treats. AND he was on special dog food (canned), so I had to work only with his rabbit tug toy and about 5 treats. We were SO AMAZED (not sure why, d'oh) at how much he worked. At how much he was paying attention. Even the instructor said, "why didn't we stop using food long ago? We always phase it out". LOL. So yeah, now I'm phasing out food and he's so much more focused and motivated.

Anyhow, I wanted to share. Only because I'd love to hear first-timers stories of their first trial. How it went, what they learned, etc.
 
Good Luck

Cheryl---
Good Luck at your first trial!!! you will have so much fun.I like NADAC alot and do some of their trials. Shadow has a few titles in NADAC.My very first time I was a basket case. It was my dog clubs trial. We got no Q's but had fun.When Sting gets ready to make his debut I am sure I will be nervous.He is a wild man. Keep us posted on you do and just remember have fun.
 
Sharon said:
Cheryl---
Good Luck at your first trial!!! you will have so much fun.I like NADAC alot and do some of their trials. Shadow has a few titles in NADAC.My very first time I was a basket case. It was my dog clubs trial. We got no Q's but had fun.When Sting gets ready to make his debut I am sure I will be nervous.He is a wild man. Keep us posted on you do and just remember have fun.
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Thanks Sharon.

My instructor, Lysa, said NADAC is good because they don't count refusals. And we can do a Jumpers course or the Tunnels one. Koji loves jumps and tunnels. I'm nervous. I get lost on our own courses (and that's not a lot of pieces). LOL. Honestly, I bet all the mistakes will be mine. Eh, I have to remind myself. Have fun, have fun, have fun.

Lysa said since I'm signing up, she will too since she HAS to see her BF run (she calls Koji her boyfriend). I said, "okay, just hide behind the tree though". He will run straight to her if he sees her. I hope we have time to work on all the different equipment prior. I really wish I had a yard.
 
Good luck in your first trial. Believe me the nerves are normal. I was incredibly nervous at my first trial back in June; I'm running CPE which is another great place to start as a newbie. Rather than re-describe how I was feeling, I'll just link to the posts I made.

My First Trial Nerves: http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=2244
The Results: http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=2279

I'm glad your trainer is going to be there. She'll help keep you relatively calm and focused. Always remember, it's about going out and having fun with your dog.
 
Sheri,

Thanks for sharing that. Honestly, it was great to see. Eden looked like he was having so much fun. It made me realize that speed isn't everything. They don't need to be super duper MACH speed fast at their first trial. :) And well, watching you run him made me realize, it's not just me who LOOKS like I'm about to trip over myself (no offense - I saw you do a front cross and it seemed like you weren't 100% sure of your surroundings - I'm always off a bit and worry, but Koji figures it out for me).

I also loved how Eden found something on the ground. That's so Koji. I guess what I'm trying to say is....thanks. I typically watch "awesome experienced" dogs that it seems so intimidating. To see you do so great, at your first trial, all the while not running at supersonic speeds and still Q'ing and getting 1st! Awesome.
 
I found some Show-n-Go's in the area the two weekends prior to the actual trial. Do you think doing BOTH of them would be overkill?

Also, do NADAC's trials have all the equipment? I'm reading about their rules and stuff and I'm sooo confused. There's so much. But I figured I should know the general rules. It seems like they're missing the pause table and a teeter. Anyone have any great links for easier reading of the NADAC rules?

Off to read more on here. I finally decided to just pay the money, help support this forum and website, since I'm reading all the time.....if not posting.
 
k9kreationz said:
And well, watching you run him made me realize, it's not just me who LOOKS like I'm about to trip over myself (no offense - I saw you do a front cross and it seemed like you weren't 100% sure of your surroundings - I'm always off a bit and worry, but Koji figures it out for me).
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:lol: Yeah, my front and rear crosses were a bit sloppy in that first trial. Honestly, I literally learned how to do them 2 weeks before the trial so I was still figuring them out. :o

Both crosses have smoothed out quite a bit. I have video from my 2nd trial in late August but haven't had time to pull them off the camera and upload them yet. Life's been a bit busy the past month and a half.

I typically watch "awesome experienced" dogs that it seems so intimidating. To see you do so great, at your first trial, all the while not running at supersonic speeds and still Q'ing and getting 1st! Awesome.
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I know what you mean when it comes to being intimidated by those who are better than you. At my 2nd trial when I was running CPE level 2 for most things I honestly felt like I was in over my head until after the first 2 or 3 runs.

Remember, EVERYONE had to start where we we are now; and I'm not that far ahead of you - maybe 6 months. My instructor was walking a few courses with me during my first trial and her words were "Don't worry about Q'ing. Don't call the dog back if you make a mistake. Just go out with the goal of having your dog run with you and have FUN. Anything else is a bonus."

I'm glad my videos helped you relax a little. You'll still be nervous but hopefully the anxiety won't be as bad. :)

Also, do NADAC's trials have all the equipment? I'm reading about their rules and stuff and I'm sooo confused. There's so much. But I figured I should know the general rules. It seems like they're missing the pause table and a teeter. Anyone have any great links for easier reading of the NADAC rules?
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I haven't really run NADAC yet so I really don't know. I do know that CPE doesn't use a Teeter or Weaves at Level 1 and their table is used more to stop the clock during the games. I've never seen an actual Pause Table in a CPE standard course even at their 4, 5, and Championship (C) levels.

As for their rulebook, I've only seen it on their web site, http://www.nadac.com/rules.htm. There is a link on that page, left hand column, to download a PDF of the "Exhibitors Handbook", which is what you'd want.
 
Enjoy your first trial--and have fun!

I was SO nervous for our first trial. We only did gamblers and jumpers, and my fiance runs gamblers, so I didn't go until about 10:30 pm--and had gotten there around 4. All my nervous energy kept building and building! I didn't even really eat anything!

My biggest fear is that I would forget the course, but we had a great time! We even got a blue ribbon! I was definitely more nervous than Bentley, he had a great time. No Qs, but we weren't worried about that :)

Just take a deep breath before you go out there and pretend it's practice! Let us know how it goes!
 
Agility

Yes, Nadac has all the equipment.If you want to watch some videos of AKC and USDAA runs go to www.hycalibervideos.com . It has not just Excellent and Open but Novice runs to.You can learn alot. Actually their is a video of Shadow last year at the Thanksgiving Cluster in a JWW run.
 
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