Help for Nervous Handlers!

Friday 17th July, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire.

6.30pm to 8.30pm

A seminar on how to recognise and deal with those pre-competition nerves that can plague us all! This is an evening just for the handlers, so we can enjoy a drink and some home-made cakes and listen to talks from a Sports Scientist specialising in sports psychology and some expereinced handlers who have promised to share their tips for keeping calm and keeping their dogs motivated and happy.

Cost is £5 per head (includes tea & cake) and places must be booked in advance. All proceeds go to the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dog Association.

This is an evening for anybody involved in showing, agility, obedience, working trials, HTM, field trials, rally....anything that involves a dog and a judge

If you would like further information, or if you would consider receiving a flyer by email that you can share with your friends, please PM me.

Just thought I'd do an update on the evening in July. We had a great turnout and raised over £100 for the search dogs. The home made cakes went down a treat too and made for a really lovely atmosphere, with people from agility, breed, working trials and obedience all finding common ground and sharing their experiences.

One of the most interesting things for me, was hearing how, regardless of the sport or activity, many of the mistakes we make through nerves are universal. It was also interesting to hear how people are born with different levels of 'trait' anxiety, meaning some are natural born worriers and others just aren't. This is a different type of anxiety to 'state' anxiety, which is what we experience as a result of a specific situation.

Our main speaker, Laura, covered all aspects of dealing with nerves, from diet and exercise, through to accepting the levels of trait anxiety you are born with and finding ways to cope with it.

It's the first time I've ever run a 'dog-free' dog event, but I was delighted with the result. There were so many 'little things' we all took away with us that we can do differently at an event, to relax ourselves and the people around us - even just eating more bananas and smiling more

Several people also commented that it was refreshing to finally have the oportunity to address the human side of the equation, rather than coming to training days with a problem and the first thing everyone says is 'okay - let's see the dog', followed by, "no - it's you!"

and if you want to know where the bananas come into it - you'll have to come along next time!