the Competitive Canine of the Carolinas

What the heck is a transition? Well this is the time period between when the judge says “exercise finished” and setting up for the next exercise. This is your FREE TIME! Use it to your advantage. I use this time to connect with my dog and gauge where they are at in their arousal level and how they are feeling. Does my dog look stressed? Let’s do a few tricks as we move to our set up. Does my dog look over aroused? Let’s do some heeling and calming pets as we move. Don’t know where your dog is at mentally? That’s okay, the key to having a good transition is CONNECTION! I absolutely cannot stress this enough. Just stay connected to your dog, talk to them, and move together to the next exercise

• Kolter Sheppard, Alpine Dog Training
• originally printed in the June 2022 CCofC