5 Signs that Our Mindset Is Getting in the Way of Training and Competing

1. Does your head feel really busy?! Feeling overwhelmed and frazzled? If your head is in go-go-go mode, chances are that you're running in 'fight or flight' state constantly, and if you're doing this when you're training, did you know it's simply IMPOSSIBLE to connect with your dog if you're in Sympathetic Nervous System is activated. Your body literally is preventing you from connecting, so hard as you might want to, you cannot!

 2. Is your dog sensitive and telling you by doing things in competition that he just doesn't do in training you that you're acting strangely in competitions or in training with other people, even if you don't feel nervous. Your dog is telling you that you're acting and smelling different! Sensitive dogs pick up on this and are looking for you to regulate your nervous system to be their calm, focused leader.

3. Do you compare your dog to your previous or other dog or to other peoples? Comparison is absolutely normal, but judgement which is found wanting hinders our relationship and connection. When our connection is lost, this gets in the way of our training and competing.

4. We have trouble just ‘relaxing and enjoying’ your dog as we  know we’re ‘meant to, when we train and compete. We’ve been told that we need to be calm and relax, but it’s impossible to do so!

5. We lose our mojo for training and competing when we've experienced setbacks, or perhaps we're feeling ‘stuck’ in perfection paralysis or maybe unkind words from trainers or peers have made us feel that we don't want to progress.

These are all very common, and it can be hard to overcome these Mindset set-backs on our own.

But when supported by a group of like-minded people, and when given tools and techniques of what we can do in the moment, and when difficult emotions arise, it's surprisingly quick and easy to conquer challenges.