Preparing for exams, competitions and dog sports

Knowing the exercises in the rulebook is only part of it. The dog has to be able to work in new places, near people and other animals. It has to cope with waiting and travelling, and then with noise. It also has to handle your nerves as the handler, which travel down the lead on the day. Technique and motivation sit in the same programme as physical condition and recovery.

You set goals according to the discipline you've chosen and the level of the team. Exercises get broken down into small pieces, which are then linked back together. You work on precision without the dog losing its drive and attitude. Distractions come in gradually. Mock exams help. Run them too often, though, and every session turns into a long trial that wears the dog out.

Keep an eye on the dog's health all the time. Running and jumping load the body differently from sudden stops or pulling. Difficult ground brings its own strain. Sometimes you need a conditioning plan and a vet assessment. That's especially true after injuries, with dogs that are still growing, and with seniors.

As the handler, you need to know the rules as they currently stand and how the judging works. Find out what equipment is allowed and what the entry conditions are. On the day of the trial, the dog's welfare stays the priority. No result justifies working an injured, exhausted or overwhelmed dog.

It makes sense for teams that already have a foundation of basic training and for people interested in exams or competitions. The dog needs to be healthy enough for what the discipline demands.

Performance must never come at the cost of the dog's health. And a competition result doesn't say what your dog or your relationship is worth.

You pick the discipline and read the rulebook. Then comes a physical and a technical assessment.

Exercises get broken down into clear criteria. After that come mock trials and recovery, plus a plan for competition day.

The dog will show you when something's off. Its speed or precision drops. It steers clear of a piece of equipment. It gets frustrated when you repeat an exercise. Or it's slow to recover physically after training. All of these tell you how it's finding the preparation.

So you're not winging it, keep the current rulebook to hand, along with equipment that's permitted and safe for the dog. Keep a training log. Work out a plan with your vet for exercise and recovery.

Good preparation has a clear technical progression. Every session starts with a warm-up and ends with a cool-down. There are breaks and set criteria for stopping. Training is kept separate from competition day. The goals are realistic and you can see them. You get an explanation of what criterion the dog is asked for, how you reward it and how you move on.

Sports training is a specialised form of education. It takes technique and consistency. The dog's motivation and confidence have to be protected all the way through.

Not every dog suits every discipline. Its health and welfare matter more than the score. Talk the risks through openly. Overexertion is the first. The second is repeating jumps or positions far too often. The third is pressure to compete before the team is ready.

The same format won't work for every dog. When you're deciding whether to start preparing for exams, competitions and dog sports, start from your dog: what its body can take and how keen it is.