Page 16 - 2023 02 Summer

Slaying The Dragons Inside

by Sandy Weaver
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D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D o Y o u S h o w Y o u r O w n D o g ? Y a y , Y o u !
Do You Show Your Own Dog? Yay, You!!
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How do you feel when you step into the ring?
There’s no right or wrong answer -
and there are some common replies
that don’t help you win.
Want to slay your inner dragons?
You can, with some simple-–
but not easy!-mental tweaks.
l
en p
o
e
e a
l
p
e as
r
When people are asked what makes them reinforces the fear. It becomes a self-fulfilling
ous
nervous about showing their dog, these three prophecy and you become less likely to win.
replies rise to the top: And that’s not what anyone goes to the dog
show to feel.
1. I feel like I’m on display – everyone is
watching me. Human beings are hard-wired with a strong
fear response. It’s part of how the species has
Perhaps you’ve heard that the number one survived and is an integral part of how the
fear in humans isn’t the fear of dying, it’s the brain reacts to what’s happening. The bad
fear of public speaking. This fear is a corollary part is that the brain’s bias towards survival
to that–even though you’re not speaking, creates a feeling of uneasiness, anxiety, and
you’re “on display” so that primal fear of sometimes even panic in certain situations.
standing out and having things go horribly Those are unpleasant feelings, and are
wrong kicks in.
actually bad for your physical body, because
2. I worry about how my dog will behave. it means your brain has just flooded you with
adrenaline and cortisol, stress hormones that,
When you are stressed and your dog picks up when repeatedly released, contribute to health
your stress, your dog will not behave in the issues like high blood pressure, digestive
same way as when you’re training at home or disorders, stroke and even some cancers.
in a handling class. You’re less stressed then so
your dog will be, too. When you get nervous
at the show, your dog will likely be confused. YIKES!
They’re playing the same game with you, but
it feels very different to them because you’re Armed with that information, doesn’t it make
suddenly very different. They may ignore you sense to try to calm down your fearful brain
and focus on other people or things, or they before it can wreak such havoc inside your
may get hyper-focused on you, pawing at you, body and ruin your performance in the show
jumping on you and seemingly forgetting ring?
everything they know about how to be a show An interesting first step to taming your
dog. The dog isn’t giving you a hard time, the inner dragons is thinking of your brain in a
dog is having a hard time–you’ve changed and different way. Most people assume that the
they don’t understand why.
brain is who they are–it’s the sum total of
3. I don’t want to lose and have people see their experiences, emotions, and intellect.
that I’m a loser. Can you think of your brain as your operating
system instead of your actual self? In other
When you walk into the ring with this words, your brain is like your computer–
mindset, it’s almost guaranteed that you useful in so many ways, and with the bonus
won’t win. When you don’t win, you feel of being updatable, just like your computer’s
that awful feeling of being a loser and operating system. When you understand that
having others see you in that light, which you can teach your brain to behave in more
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