Your beliefs are getting in your way. mental skills Oct 09, 2019

In talking to a client the other day, I compared limiting beliefs to a giant suitcase we insist on dragging around. It’s heavy, the wheels face different directions and we don’t even know how it got this way. All we know is, we can’t put it down and it impacts where we can go.

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What my 10 days on the road teaches us about protecting our rituals. mental skills Oct 03, 2019
Photo by Kim Perry

I recently took about 10 days and drove back to Virginia from Colorado to judge. While it was a quick trip, I was floored with how much I was thrown off my routine. From what I ate to how I spent my days to working the dogs … it all seemed to go to hell!

It got me...

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Hold on loosely. goals Sep 11, 2019
Photo by Kim Perry

Sometimes it’s hard to have goals in the dog world. We put these plans together and set milestones for each dog only to have fate intervene. Injuries – ours or the dog’s – sideline us, a financial hiccup keeps us from entering, we lose our dog...

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The lonely world of dog sports. anxiety & fear Sep 04, 2019
Photo by Kim Perry

I was coaching a client the other day and what surfaced for her was that she felt her success in the dog world was dependent on her results in the ring and in her accumulated titles. This started from an exercise I had given the Q-Confidence Masterclass to really...

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Connection through curiosity. dog training Aug 27, 2019
Photo by Ruth Nielsen

If you’ve ever longed for connection with your dog but aren’t sure what that looks like or how to get it, this blog’s for you!

With some dogs, connection comes easier than others. My connection with Indie seemed to be instant – she has understood me...

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Borrowing from Teddy & Brene mental skills Aug 20, 2019

I recently shared one of my all-time favorite quotes with the handlers in the  Q-Confidence Masterclass. I consider it a sports quote, but really it’s an excerpt from a speech given by former President Teddy Roosevelt in Paris in 1910 following a year of travel:

“It is...

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Give her a break already (your dog that is). dog care Aug 13, 2019

Back when I was a horse girl, it was not only normal, but expected that we would give our horses regular breaks. Three weeks off after a long set of shows, a month or two off after a season, a whole week in between shows. They got tuned out as much as possible and maybe we would do a trail ride...

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Get off the strugglebus. mental skills Aug 06, 2019

People love an underdog. In movies, in books, on the small screen … we cheer for the little guy or the girl in the back of the room to finally get the glory they deserve.

We love this archetype because it’s rooted in fairness, in being able to believe that it all works out in the...

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A tale of two migraines. best of the blog mental skills Jul 30, 2019
Photo Ruth Nielsen

Once upon a time my beloved “Novice A” dog, Karma, got invited to the AKC Agility Invitational the same year we also finished third in the inaugural AKC Rally National Championship – we were having quite the year! Karma was running well, feeling well and we...

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How deliberate training builds confidence. dog training Jul 25, 2019
Photo Kim Perry

When we go into the ring – any ring: conformation, agility, obedience, draft, etc. – there are SO many components that go into making a performance excellent. Yet one of the main causes of not feeling confident is rooted in feeling unprepared or even just less prepared...

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The mean girl might be you. best of the blog Jul 17, 2019
Photo by Christine Mann

The harshest critic, the most unkind person, the biggest judge of our performance lives in our own minds. We say things to ourselves about ourselves that we would never utter aloud, much less say to a dear friend. We rarely cut ourselves a break and hardly ever say...

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3 steps to tame pressure. confidence mental skills Jul 10, 2019
Photo Chris Stefanac

In the first of our blog series on gaining confidence, we started with ring nerves and their tie to the fears we take with us into the ring. This time we are going to look at pressure, where it comes from and how we can tackle it for what it really is.

“Pressure”...

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