Race Ready?

We have all been to tournaments at one time or another where there's a dog racing that is not ready to be there. As a handler with small dogs, it's perhaps my biggest fear that my dog will be crossed on in a race and my dog will get hurt because of it. I don't know if this is just my imagination or paranoia, but I feel like the little dogs, who are most likely to get hurt in a collision, are the usual targets for green dog interference. Of course this is not a little dog vs big dog problem - nobody wants their dog to be on the giving or receiving end of a colission. And nobody wants their dog to be written up or asked to leave the race by a judge. We owe the team in the lane next to us the consideration to be absolutely certain that all our dogs are sound and race ready BEFORE they ever get into the ring.


Here are some tips to help you be certain your dog is race ready:

• practice on the racing surface -- if the tournaments are on mats, practice on mats if possible. if the tournaments are on grass, make sure all your dogs have run on grass before the tournament.
• set up line and box judges to simulate those distractions
• make sure big dogs have run beside small dogs
• practice reruns before the tournament so the dogs know how to handle flags
• scrimmage with other clubs so your dogs get used to seeing strange dogs in the other lane
• make sure your dog is successfully running practice before considering a tournament
• make sure your dog is successfully running in warmups before putting them into the race

There is an excellent article on proofing your dog to be tournament ready by Alyson Brown, former Regional Director for Region 5 and an excellent source of advice on the subject. Please read 'Are you Ready to Race?' by Alyson Brown.

(pictured above is Zoe, who, for the record, is very race ready)