“Don’t Train in Fear”
I just finished up a fast and furious first month of 2015. It started out in Thomasville, Georgia and went to Anderson, Texas to Gainesville, Texas and ends up in Camden, South Carolina.
One of the highlights so far this year has to be the workshop I just finished in Anderson, Texas. I was joined by Judy Aycock and Danny Farmer. Between the two of them, they account for six National Championships over 5 decades. One of the themes of the workshop was Danny’s mantra “Don’t Train in Fear”. What does that mean? My take is that when you have a strong basics foundation, you don’t have to be worried about addressing problems head on. The importance of a thorough basics program can’t be overstressed. As I travel across the country helping people in their quest, the single most crippling thing I see is incomplete basics. Everyone is in a hurry to speed through this process. I urge you to take your time and get the job done right the first time. The investment in a sound basics foundation will last a lifetime!
One of the other items we spent a lot of time on was exploring some of the regional differences in training philosophies. We covered things like two sided heeling, line manners standards, test designs as well the benefits of challenging dogs and the pit falls of over challenging dogs. At the end of the day we had some wonderful open dialogue about different styles. I know I walked away with an appreciation of a successful system and a yearning to continue to explore different methods. I urge everyone to keep an open mind and pay attention to people that are successful. Remember “When you are green you’re growing, when you’re ripe you are rotting.”