Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel podcast. I'm Lauren Langman. I'm one of the world's leading dog trainers, and it's my mission to help owners become their dog's top priority. In each episode, you'll discover how to gain trust and communicate with your dog like never before, creating unbreakable bonds that make you the most exciting part of their world. So I'm joined by the wonderful Terry. Terry, it's your first time at Crufts this week. It's your first time ever. It's been a lifelong dream. Tell me about it.

Speaker 2: 0:38

Oh, so I remember when I was little I used to watch Crufts on the telly with my gran back years ago and um, and I just remember thinking I wish I could do that, and I always knew that when I grew up do we ever grow up that my, I would always do agility with my, with my dogs. So I got my first dog probably about 10 years ago now, so yeah, and you're going to crafts.

Speaker 1: 1:03

So tell us a little bit about who you're taking to Crufts and why or how you got there.

Speaker 2: 1:08

Yep, so I'm taking my most favourite dog we all have them.

Speaker 1: 1:12

I don't care what anyone says. I definitely definitely have favourites.

Speaker 2: 1:17

So, mr Jasper, I got him about eight and a half years ago from a pound. He's from a rescue centre and, bless him, he didn't have very long before they were going to put him to sleep. So I got him about six months and we started our agility journey and it's taken a bit of time. He's not the easiest dog to train but he's absolutely wonderful, he's keen and he loves it and I just want him to have so much fun and he loves it.

Speaker 1: 1:44

I love that and he loves it and I just want him to have so much fun and he loves it. And you've been practicing, haven't you? So you've been on the green carpet here a couple of times.

Speaker 1: 1:49

Yes, so you're used to the green carpet yes, the green carpet, although it is going to be a big thing, because when you get there you'll look around you and you'll be like wow, I'm really here. You've actually practiced already. You've rehearsed a bit of the green carpet walk and the swagger that you kind of get when you go in there, right?

Speaker 2: 2:02

but yes, we've definitely been practicing and we've been up here a few times to train here, so we've been up here more recently. So, yeah, we've had the practice.

Speaker 1: 2:11

So yeah, and what are you excited about for you and jasper?

Speaker 2: 2:16

I'm excited at the fact of how far we've come together like both of us, like our, our little journey from just being two little people who started together like just for a bit of fun, and how far we've come Like we qualified last April and then we went to the semifinals at KCI. That was my first ever KCI as well, so that was also exciting and terrifying at the same time. And so, yeah, so here we are. Here we are on our first ever.

Speaker 1: 2:42

It's almost Christmas Eve, like it's almost there. It's literally not quite there, but we're almost there. Now I know that, being an event like this, there's lots to think about. In a minute I'll let you quiz me on some questions, but what have been some of the things that have almost made you a little bit fearful, a little bit scared, a little bit anxious, maybe a little bit worried about going to Crufts?

Speaker 2: 3:01

I think, even though I've been as a spectator, I think for me it's just like the unknown, like the backstage things. So, um, you know, what time do I need to get there? Like, where do I take toilet my dog? Where do I warm him up? Like what, how is he gonna be in the atmosphere?

Speaker 1: 3:19

so you want to quiz me a little on some of these yeah, yeah, I mean so you know when.

Speaker 2: 3:23

When you get there, obviously, um, you, you go in through the hall and then you walk through to the main arena. Like what happens when you get to the main arena? Like when do you?

Speaker 1: 3:32

get there. Okay, so you've got these big black doors and they actually do have a bodyguard on them. So they have a bodyguard on them and there's going to be like definitely a couple of people there that are going to check your wristbands. You must make sure you got your wristbands and anyone coming with you has got the wristbands. Put them on properly. Don't put them on too loose, because they think you're going to share them with people. They think you're going to do dodgy things. Put them on properly and show them your wristband. Give them a flash of the wristband. They'll open those two doors for you and you'll get treated like royalty because you have a dog that should be in that main arena. So they really do open and close. It's a door service. Now, behind there you've got coffee that is for like helpers, but outside you've got coffee station immediately there and they've also got like a sawdusty sort of toilet area.

Speaker 1: 4:13

Now, my dogs typically don't like that. They want to wee outside or they want to go to the toilet outside. So I always make sure I toilet them really, really well beforehand. So they've been to the toilet. Everything's fine when I bring them in. I try and bring them in as late as possible. I get my own myself ready, but I don't actually bring the dog until I. I need them, but you don't want to be too far off. So if you've got a dog that's like an anxious weir or a dog who does need to wee, then you probably do need to either use a sawdust or find quick exits. But more boy dogs typically will be anywhere. Yeah, I would say so. You're probably fine on the sawdust, yeah. Equally, if you need to get out, there are doorways fairly close and people can help you out and in. You've just got to make sure you get out and in.

Speaker 1: 4:48

Okay, on the wristbands, because some wristbands don't let you get in and out certain places. They have to be secure at crafts. Why? Because there have been dogs and potentially poisoned or stolen or all of those things in the past. So they are cautious and I know that makes you go, oh my god. But be aware it's the biggest dog show of the year in the world and dogs are valuable and people are, at times, morons, and so you kind of got the combination of really valuable sort of potentially for some people, assets, because some of these dogs are like part of their lineage and part of much bigger programs, and so I think it's worth knowing that. And then you've got the police dogs there, and then you've got some of the other sort of teams, flyball, and definitely the breed world, which is just so different, and so that's where I think they come into play. The breed world's a bit different. That makes a lot of sense, yeah. And so, yeah, security is there.

Speaker 1: 5:35

Wristbands on when you come in. I personally you'll book yourself in, so you'll go and speak to them. You'll say hi, they'll give you a course map. You're going to send me the course map. I'm going to say to you this is what I would do, instead of handle it. And I've already said to you I'm very happy to walk the course with you when we're out there, because actually we're in the same class, aren't we? Yes, how cool is that we're in the same class. So I've got little wild there. Uh, wild is a youngster in her head. Really she's a young dog. She's sort of she is four, but she's very immature four, and so for her it's great class to be in.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Novice should be a fairly flowy, fluid, fast, enjoyable course. But who knows, because the judges make up their own sort of decisions on this. We can't influence that and for me, novice should be a kind course, should be an open course and, most of all, if I was going out there, the number one thing I want to know is my dog's happy and I give them confidence. So I want to know that I can back them or I can look after them if, for any reason, something goes wrong. Maybe there's a loud bang or a noise or something upsets them. My number one focus is dog, so I don't worry about crowds and I'm really not there for anyone else. I'm only there for myself, my dog. The eight o'clock performance no one's going to be there. It'll be really quiet, so that's quite nice. Um, other than our friends.

Speaker 1: 6:44

I was going to say our friends are supposed to be going but it won't be a busy performance, whereas the lunchtime performance will be much busier because you've got the crowds coming in. So 8 30, you've got agility folk who are like cheering on their friends. At 12 30 you've got people who are going to look and kind of go, they want the dogs to go wrong because they find it funny. So um 8 30, they get agility. 12 30 they don't get agility, they're just enjoying the ride. Um, sorry, I mean agility as in the game of agility, oh yeah, yeah. You've got people who just come to watch, yeah, the fun of of the sport, I suppose. So that's lovely. And then a couple of top tips for me.

Speaker 1: 7:18

I personally, um, don't give my dogs any heavy meal on the day of an event. I give them a lighter meal or a smaller meal or, um, definitely not anything heavy. And if I do give it to them, I'm way earlier. Yeah, then they're going to be performing because it's an eight o'clock performance. So for me I would give them a little bit of something, but nothing major on their tummies. And again, for 12 30, my dogs earn a lot of their food anyway. So because they earn a lot of their food, they're going to get it throughout being in there. So for the fact of I know, putting two feet on something or doing a middle somewhere or having some photos and posing, because they love all of those things, yeah, so I use some of my food for that as well.

Speaker 1: 7:50

And another one I think this is really important and you've got your aok9 goodie bag that you can take away with you later. Thank you, um. But another one that's a really nice tip and I can see if I've got any here for you, and I annoyingly didn't order any, um, I've only got my own here, but the fresh drink. So giving them a rehydration drink in between and making sure they've had some electrolyte drink and for me electrolyte is really important just to know that they're hydrated. Well, because sometimes, when they're at competitions or they're at a high stress event, they don't want to drink. So actually preparing for that? Yeah, because then they are, um, staying um and healthy. So what's your next question for me? If you've got any questions, and you can ask anything and everything.

Speaker 2: 8:30

No, I did come prepared with questions. Definitely I love it she's got questions. Yeah, I did. I came prepared because I knew I had some things I wanted to ask you. So you touched on it really briefly earlier about people being there to see the jumping and agility. So when you're actually in the main arena, like, what can you see?

Speaker 1: 8:46

like, can you see the audience? Yeah, you can see everybody around. You see, if you're in the arena, it's actually almost much smaller. When you're in the arena and you look around, it's not nearly as big as if you were on the outside of it, almost. So it's quite. It is quite small. You go through a tunnel always. So you go through a tunnel, they'll tell you say you're running first, they'll have you ready, so you're running second, third, which you are. So when you're running a little bit later, um, and I know that's not late, but it is within a class of a smaller class so they'll say, um, terry, they'll call you up and they'll put you in your order so you know when you're going in. You cannot miss your run because they're there. There is a practice jump. So in the practice jump, okay, put the practice jump, just be careful on not doing too many, and I'll give you an example here. So today, yesterday in fact, I thought you know what I'm going to get fit, and so this was my mind.

Speaker 2: 9:32

Two days before craft yeah, I thought I'm going to get fit.

Speaker 1: 9:38

I'm like actually going to get fit. I was like I've got some time. I'm going to get on the pel my head. I had to actually have a conversation with myself why are you getting fit two days before the event, lauren? Because I've got time, I can really get fit. Right now I'm going to beast myself. No, let's not do that. And I had to really talk myself out of it as I was about to jump on the bike and go with it for like two hours. Very, very funny, it's very, very busy today. So I decided not to do that. I talked myself out of it.

Speaker 1: 10:04

Similar to the practice jump some people do 20 of them. Just one, two, three. The other top tip and I love this tip if the practice jump is there and say you've got like a backside or a check check or you've got something on the course that you think I just might need to prep that a little, just do one or two of them. Yeah, so you prep that already. Already. Have your dog warm, yeah. And in terms of warm-up, when you said, where can I warm up, you can warm up behind there. Walk trot, canter on lead. If you need to do off lead, you're better outside there's not a lot of off lead space but on lead space mine warm up doing figures of eight and on lead walk trot canter, I will do it all in that space. So take like a little hot water bottle or a red light and I'll put that down the muscle groups. So I'll be putting that down the muscle groups I love.

Speaker 1: 10:46

Just, a lot of people don't talk about hot water bottles, but main reason I think they don't is that they're cheap and it doesn't sell. Like hot water bottles don't sell. They're not like a big, like you can sell this and people can't make a lot of money out of them. I think hot water bottles fantastic thing for warm up, but I think the reason that a lot of people don't tell you about them is that actually they want to sell you a tool and often there is a tool for that. Yeah, actually a hot water bottle is one of the best ones. Well, there's little small ones that you can put down the back, or a long one that you put down the back.

Speaker 1: 11:15

I love a hot water bottle. I heat it in the well, I heat it in the in the hotel beforehand, or I bring a hot flask and then I, I have it fresh, so it's not boiling, but it's hot enough to to keep you want them warm? Yes, yeah, and I always put them in a coat, whether that's back on track or uh, I personally love back on track, so I use back on track, but equally well, done you high five, keep on it, keep ready. No prep for you needed, um, and equally I will use any other thermal sort of coats as well. So, but do have them warm, I think that's really key.

Speaker 1: 11:42

And one or two practice jumps, and I do my one or two practice jumps, I walk the course. I'll do one or two practice jumps and I'll walk the course again because that course will be there until we start. So that course will be set fairly early, so you'll have time to walk it because there's nothing before us. So actually you'll have time to walk it. The second one will be slightly different, there'll be more timed, but the first one you'll have enough time.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Second one you'll maybe once, twice, three times, and then what they start to do is walk you off the course, and they walk you off the course. Doing this, you have to get off the course, but you don't really want to be in there till they walk you off the course. I could be, because I'm not running first height, yeah. But because you're running first height, you want to be gone by then. Yeah, by the time they're clearing you off, you should already have your dog and ready, yeah. Whereas for me I would be that in the next round, because I think I go first in the second round, potentially. I think they put small first there, so they just do it in high order.

Speaker 2: 12:30

That makes sense. Got any more questions?

Speaker 1: 12:38

yeah, you've answered quite a lot of them already, so, um, this is good, okay. So what prep do you give yourself before you go to class? Really nice one. So I did a podcast a couple of weeks ago with a lovely lady called linda. You could definitely listen to that podcast. It's very much about mindset and where your mindset is, and I've also done a few with a lovely, brilliant mental mindset coach of mine uh, his name's bill, and also justin. They're all on sex and squirrel. They're all completely free. You can listen to them in the car on the way up.

Speaker 1: 13:01

I love all of them and I've been a competitor for over 20 years now, so a long time and I genuinely don't get frazzled by it and I'm really I'm good at being a competitor. I'd much prefer being a competitor than being a anything else. So if I had the choice judge or competitor or trainer or anything else I love being a competitor. Those are my favourite things, like moments. If I think about some of my favourite moments, they were winning Crufts with Blink or being on a podium with Venture, or being on a podium with any of our dogs. It's so much fun to do that competition round and then build it and then win it too. And I think it's worth saying to you if you do win and it you, you can come first, second, third, um, in that competition and be brought in. Sometimes they only bring in first and second. Sometimes they bring in first, second, third. It depends on the class and what they're doing and how they're presenting and everything else. But be ready and be with your dog.

Speaker 1: 13:50

If your dog doesn't like other dogs or photos, just be willing to tell people that they don't like dogs. And I think I'm fine to tell people this dog doesn't like dogs. Or I will sometimes say funny things like um, yeah, she bites, um. Or she likes to give nose piercings like she. And so venture, is that dog like that? She would like to pierce another dog if she had a choice because she will she will back into a corner and then she doesn't really have a choice, so she will just go.

Speaker 1: 14:13

I don't like you. Now. I'd much prefer to be severe with someone and tell them this dog doesn't like you. She has never bitten a dog, she has never pierced a dog's nose, she has never done any of those things. But I'd much prefer to tell someone than you've prepared. So actually, although that might sound quite extreme.

Speaker 1: 14:28

I think that we should be advocating for our dogs and then by advocating for her, I'm also advocating for you, because I'm not then putting you and me on a podium together and having an issue where he's going hi, lady, and she goes piss your nose, and no one wants that. No one wants that. The owner of the dog doesn't want that. The owner of the other dog doesn't want that. None of the ring stewards or the people at the event want that. Nobody wants it. Nobody wants it. It's just horrible. So if your dog either likes or doesn, dogs to yourself when you're at the event, because ultimately there's also probably loads of disease going around because of things like kennel cough and things like giardia, stuff like that, that's everywhere so you just don't events like that. You want to probably keep your dog very much themselves.

Speaker 1: 15:06

I don't let them drink out of public water bowls. I don't let them drink out of um all the stand bowls. I definitely don't take them shopping. A lot of people will take the dog shopping for me when I, when I come in at eight o'clock. They do their event, they go home and then they come back again and obviously my home is the hotel room and then they come back again. Or if I'm not in a hotel room, they go back to the vehicle and then they come back again. And if I can't be in that vehicle then I go back to someone else's vehicle and then they come back again. But I do give them their break. I don't personally feel for long. It's a bit like a pressure pot. So the arena is a pressure pot and they just go pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure and they will explode at some point. A bit of a full bucket maybe.

Speaker 2: 15:40

Yeah, let's not give them a full bucket no, I'd absolutely planned not to do that with um with jasper definitely take them out, giving them a breather brilliant. Um, what would you go back and tell your younger self for your first time on the green carpet?

Speaker 1: 15:53

enjoy every second. It's really not that serious. Don't take yourself too seriously. Tokyo would tell me this. Right, don't take yourself so seriously, lauren. Enjoy it all. And the other one is breathe it in. So sometimes when I love this question, it's a lovely question. When I've got out there, I've rushed it, and that rush not only compromises your competition run but takes away from your special moment. But actually breathe it in, enjoy it.

Speaker 1: 16:15

There's lovely guys ring crewing, like my friend Nigel Rudd. He ring crews there and I always see him and I always hope I get him. I'm always like I hope I get him. If you get the guy, nigel won't mind me saying he's a shorter guy and he's dark haired. He's always got a beam on his face. He's called Nigel, I love him. He's like one of my favourite people at the ring and it'll always say follow me and off I go. And then I see um, the other lovely guy who starts us off, and then Rob, he, he gives you the in your, in your own time or when you're ready type thing. For me I love seeing those guys because they kind of like prepare your run.

Speaker 1: 16:47

But in all of those minutes or seconds, enjoy it. Enjoy it. We work really hard to get there. Our dogs are really precious. You don't know when you're gonna have your last run. You don't know where you're gonna have your last run. You don't know what the future holds for any of us.

Speaker 1: 17:01

Yeah, for me, savor it and sort of like almost taste. It sounds odd, but like, breathe it in, look around, like ground yourself a bit and, and yeah, enjoy that second and even if it does go wrong, find, find the joy in that moment. Yeah, and also, don't talk yourself out of it. Sometimes you talk yourself out of it accidentally by, like, when you ask me about what do you do for mindset? Like, listen to uplifting podcasts that talk about mindset. Um, talk myself into it. Uh, explain all the positives. If it's something I don't like on the course, I find all the things I do like on the course and the bits I don't like, I talk about how I can make it work. There's always a way around it. It just might not be the way you planned. There's always a way to do it. Yeah, you just might not like the way to do it. And the other one, I think what would I tell my younger self not to do so much shopping? I'm not there for the shopping, like, you don't need the tack, lauren, you really don't need to have, you've got enough dog coats. Seriously, like, go and be there for the event.

Speaker 1: 17:54

And I remember being a big event, olympia and I had two Proseccos and a pizza and then in the next run I fell. It fell over because the dog ran into my leg and my timing was off. Sparky, my timing was off. I fell over, face planted into the arena, head in the dust, my bum was in the air. The crowd was like squealing with laughter and all I was hoping for was someone would come and cordon me off and take me off like one of the ponies to see a vet or something. And I couldn't go and see a vet, obviously, because I was had my head face there and I'm a person, not a dog.

Speaker 1: 18:20

Um, but it was so embarrassing. I was so embarrassed, but it was all because I didn't really. I was almost the other way. I was taking it, I was not taking it seriously enough. I was enjoying pizza, I was enjoying prosecco, I was having a lovely time and suddenly my face was in the sand. Um, because my timing was off, because ultimately, I really wasn't concentrating, and so I'd say there's a fine balance between enjoying it, having a brilliant time, but also taking it seriously enough, but not taking it too seriously. And and one of my, my big takeaways from owning um or being owned by Tokyo was don't take yourself too seriously. And I think there are moments that when you're younger, you take it all so seriously, like it's all so important and it is and it's also there to enjoy, definitely. And when you live through hard moments like watching my dad or losing my best friend, my dog I, you kind of those are the moments you look back and really cherish. So don't rush them.

Speaker 2: 19:14

Don't rush them definitely breathe them in. I think definitely. What I'm taking away is um, you know, we worked hard to get there, we deserve to be there and we're gonna enjoy it we are not gonna worry too much about what happens on the day. We're just gonna go and have our give it our best shot. But I also think.

Speaker 1: 19:29

I also think tactics I was about to get your notes back tactics. I also think tactics. Whilst you are going to give you best shot, I also think that we can play tactics here. Like there are tactics to be had and the tactics are you're going for not getting eliminated, so you're going for a clear round at best, but at worst you might have 20 faults. You can still, overall, place for 20 faults and I think that's important to know because if you get a pig of a course and there's only sort of six dogs, four get eliminated and there's two of you. One gets 20 faults, one gets 25 faults. The one with 20 faults will win. Yeah, I think that's important to know because you're going to get placed overall in the jumping, you're going to get placed overall in the agility and then the combined result is your result. So you get three chances of winning here or coming second right. Three chances and it's in six. So actually you stand a really good chance of getting one of those chances.

Speaker 1: 20:25

Play for the clear round. If the clear round isn't working, as in something goes wrong like a pole drops still play for the best time with the pole dropped. Yeah, as long as you're not eliminated, you still stand a very good chance. If you do get eliminated, okay, what's the next tactic? Play for the next round and play for the clear round. The next round, because you still stand a chance of a trophy in that round, because you can still stand a chance of first and second. If you've got faults in that round, play for the clear here, and a safe clear is still better than a faulted run and a faulted run is still better than me. So you've always got your level of sliding scale and you've also got that level of what tactic am I playing? That makes sense, yeah, no, yeah. So you've got. You've got tactics, so don't I? I love the saying you were just out there to have fun, but for me, you have way more fun when you win right, like it's so much, don't get me wrong.

Speaker 2: 21:12

Like, isn't that everyone's dream?

Speaker 1: 21:14

just to go there and win and yeah, and yet in a minute we'll go and have a look at some of the trophies and I'll show you. Like classic went there and did first in one round. I think she won, I think she did base, I think she did first, first and first and hers was abc um same thing, medium, abc one, seven. Same type of class. It's a. It's a combination class. So you win one round, you win the other round and then you're over a winner, or you wouldn't. You win the other round and then you're over a winner. Or you win one round, you're second in the other round, you're over a winner realistically. Or you get faults and you get a win. You can still be the winner. Like, there's lots of chances to win and there's lots of chances to podium and there's lots of chances to run around that carpet. Now quick one If you do end up on one of those podium spots when you go in, you'll get stood next to another competitor.

Speaker 1: 22:37

I've been very, very fortunate. It's funny I say fortunate. The harder you work, the luckier you get right. So the more you work at it, the luckier you get. I think that's coincidental. So that's why I didn't start working out two days ago, yesterday because I haven't worked very hard at it, but I have worked very hard at dog training, so my dog training is sound, um, so you'll get called in and they'll put the first place and the second place and they'll tell you what you are and then you'll get presented. And then they'll get presented and then they'll ask for a lap of honour Again.

Speaker 1: 23:06

Knowing whether a dog likes a lap of honour or not, venture hated the lap of honour, so what I learned from that is I will never do one again with her. What I will do is take her a body. Dub Blink could come instead of her, or someone else could come. Typically, you can't do that because you haven't got multiple passes. But what I suppose I'm saying is don't put that dog in for uncomfortable things, especially not if they're going to go again in a minute, because if a dog's going to be uncomfortable here, they're going to run again here. Yeah, let's not make them uncomfortable, sure, and, to be honest, let's not make our dogs uncomfortable for the sake of um, a prestige event mr jasper loves doing a lap of honor.

Speaker 2: 23:35

He regularly does them all on his own. Unfortunately he'll have to be leaded for this one. But you know, never mind he can't have it all he loves, he'll have already spent a few minutes running around, so he loves it. I love that um, do you have any little lucky charms or keepsakes or little rituals that you do to prepare yourself like when you're going away?

Speaker 1: 23:56

I think I don't have any lucky knickers or lucky socks or anything crazy like that, but I always love to be sparkly, so I love to be, I love to have something sparkly with me, and that's. I suppose I take pride in how I would appear somewhere like that, not because I'm actually appearance conscious I'm really not. I don't wear makeup on a day-to-day basis. I today I have hardly brushed my hair, as you can see, like I'm not someone who's um, as long as you clean your teeth and you had a shower, I'm all good with life. I think for me, when you're at a prestige event, it's quite nice to almost use as a an opportunity to really showcase what you do and how you do it and who you are. So I love having something sparkly around, a sparkly hairband or a sparkly pair of socks or something sparkly. Uh, I have a level of ritual in what I do, so my warm-up is a ritual, matt is a ritual, having my setup is a ritual, my hot water bottles ritual. So I've got a lot of rituals and I'm I have things like I love a chai latte, so I'll have a chai latte in my mug and things like that. That would kind of settle me. I suppose I hadn't even thought about that. Yeah, so have something that settles me. So that for me is like a comfort thing. It's in a pink mug. I love it. It makes me feel very, very comfortable. I've always got a warm coat on because I feel comfortable in something warm. I set up a little station where you take a cloth crate or a mat or a pad or something your dog can lie on, or a bed. I'll take a soft crate and I'll have a bed inside it and then I can put her in it when I need to and she'll squawk and Matt will have to cope with that. And for me it's probably more the ritualistic things like that that I would do.

Speaker 1: 25:30

I don't. I always make sure that I'm well prepared and everything is really ready there, but nothing so much lucky charms. I did used to have like precious stones. I would take with me things like um quartz and and pretty color stones. But actually I've kind of almost grown out of it a little and now my biggest thing is to go there, be present, make sure that I'm well timed, well presented, but like I've said to you, I will always turn up as late as I can into the event, I don't know what it is.

Speaker 1: 25:58

I like that pressure moment. I enjoyed the pressure. There's a pressure level, but I definitely wouldn't encourage that for you. I would encourage for you to get in there as early as you can without him and then go back and grab him. So as early as the doors open I would aim for you to be in there, register, get everything ready, because you've never been in there before. No, and do all of that because you then know your pathway in.

Speaker 1: 26:16

For me, those things will feel very, very familiar after like 10 years, 15 years of being in there, yeah, and having done that. So for me, coming in as late as I can will be right for me and my dog and the setup that we're in. But that isn't right for you and I think it's really important you acknowledge those things. But no, in terms of like keepsakes, I'm not a big keepsake. I like to take things like my cards and stuff like that. I've just had a really lovely box delivered and I love that because I've been doing it a long time. So sometimes it's not necessarily the same thing as when you've done it the first time. Like for you I'm like lovely feeling, but when you've done it lots of times.

Speaker 1: 26:57

I think people can forget that it's still a big deal. It's a really big deal, like it's the highlight of my year going to crufts and if I was to pick crufts or Olympia, I'd pick crufts every time. I love crufts. Why is that? I think probably the fact that all of your audience are dogs, so you've got dog audience. They're a dog driven audience, so you're not in a horse arena, you're in a dog arena.

Speaker 1: 27:08

Second one was the AstroTurf. I think my dogs perform way better on AstroTurf than Sand. I much prefer it as a surface. I think it's much. I think it showcases what our agility is in a really fun way. I think the course is more reflective of what we see in competition. I think that it really is a very, very prestigious driven dogs event and I've had really good history there. So I've had lots of good wins. I've had lots of good feeling. I've had some of my most emotional days. I'm gutted I never got to take Tokyo there because I know that he would have loved that arena and he jumped so beautifully on Astro, even jumped beautifully on everything. But I really love that arena. I love all the crowds, I love all the people around you. It's just a great setup. All of it's a great setup. There's nothing. There's nothing I don't like about crafts, the shopping but I'm avoiding it like I know I don't need dog tack. I really don't, but I do love the shopping. I do love the pilot's live there how do you balance your day?

Speaker 2: 28:02

because I know obviously you have a lot going on in your day with competing, and then you've got your stand and then I was going to say, how do you fit it all in with shopping?

Speaker 1: 28:09

but clearly, well, I typically would have shopped a lot. So I typically would have shopped a lot and I will use it as a little bit of market research for our companies for a canine, for absolute dogs, for Devon dogs, for holiday lets, for all of what we do and for the fact that we do dog friendly holidays, for the fact that we do, um, we've got lots of companies which is is really, um, again, really fortunate to have to be in that position. But what I've learned is the more I go shopping on a day where I'm competing, the less I'm focused on my competing. So actually I'm not there to shop. I have to remind myself that you, lauren, you're not here to shop, you're really not here to shop, and if you want to do shopping, do it on the next day. So actually remind myself to go another day if I want to shop.

Speaker 1: 28:46

Yeah, and I think that's quite important not to not to put yourself in a position where you are almost compromising while you're there, and I have in the past compromised one that the olympia example is a great one. Basically, when I had too many prosecco's and then ran and felt like that was not the cleverest move and I'm not a drinker at all, I mean I drank like two glasses, maybe one and a half, but that's enough for me to be off focus and I just thought I was treating myself, but actually being aware that you're not treating yourself when you're at a performance event. You're there to perform, so give you and your dog the best chance If you're going to shop, shop after 12.30. So wait for your run and then go shopping and celebrate and I think it is nice to celebrate, but give your dog the best chance to run. So I would do no shopping before the second run. Sure.

Speaker 2: 29:27

You mentioned about having a station. I'm assuming that's backstage.

Speaker 1: 29:33

Yeah, about having a station, um, I'm assuming that's backstage. Yeah, so behind those black doors you can go in and set yourself up with a station. So for me, wherever you're most comfortable, find a corner. I tend to find a corner with no one else in it if I've got a reactive dog or a nervous dog or a dog who wants to greet everyone. The dog I'm taking is really friendly and fine, so I feel quite comfortable in that. I actually feel really uncomfortable when I take a nervous dog in those environments because, although I can handle it, it's a lot of pressure.

Speaker 1: 29:52

I'm taking a really happy little dog. I love that. I'm taking a real happy, go lucky, easygoing dog. Touch wood, she's never shut down on me. A lot of spaniels do shut down. They've got shut down and then they go to run and they'll stop and they'll stall on you. She doesn't have that in her. She's very, very like, if anything, I won't be able to hold her and start line, but that's fine and I know what we're dealing with, at least for me.

Speaker 1: 30:12

I'll set her up in a space where I put a crate up. I'll pop the crate up. I'll have my fresh there. I'll have my treat pouch. You've got a treat pouch in here it's a blue one and I'll have nice food in that. I'll normally take like something really high value, but not liver, nothing awfully something like venison or chicken or beef or lamb or um, something, something tasty. And I've always got fresh food for them because I think fresh food. So it's hydrating rather than drying, so I don't take dried food or dried treats. And then I'll have a hot water bottle, maybe my laser or my red light or whatever I might be using to warm them up or to help warm them up. I've got my lead, my collar, my harness, everything I'm going to use.

Speaker 1: 30:46

My dogs won't. They've got really lovely, sparkly collars. I don't put them on in the arena as much as they look nice. My dogs aren't used to running in them. So because they don't run in them typically, I won't put anything extra jangly on them. I want them to be able to run normally so they'll wear their normal collars. But maybe if they're having photos they can have the really posh collars, but not for running. They're not used to wearing them. Them don't put it near where the practice jump is, because you're gonna have loads of dogs jumping at you so you'll see where the practice jump is. Practice jump is not big and it's not a lot of space, so there's not a lot of room there. So just be a little bit mindful of that and are you?

Speaker 2: 31:31

are you set up for the day? I mean, obviously you take your dog, but in and out, so you're different. But um are other people set there for the the whole morning whilst they're doing their?

Speaker 1: 31:38

I think, looking at how busy it is or isn't, you're fine to leave it there. I typically would say on a thursday, you're fine on a sunday or not. So on a sunday, when it's best in show day, which next year, they flip the champ days each year. Next year it'll be the large day and then they flip it each time. So Sunday when you're competing, no, there's no space, it is rammed because of best in show. Most days there is space. I would never leave water anywhere so that people could put things in it, just paranoid about poisoning, and I know that sounds silly, but I've just experienced some of the worst things you might experience with dogs and I feel just protect yourself. I would never leave anything that's valuable or anything that someone can dispose of easily, whereas I would leave a crate and I would leave their bed. That'd be fine, and other than that, I'd take it with me.

Speaker 2: 32:17

Yeah, any more questions. Yeah, you touched briefly on. You like to wear sparkly things. Um, it's kind of the best footwear, do you think?

Speaker 1: 32:26

interesting whatever you're comfortable running here on the astroturf, so I would practice whatever you're running on and use that on the carpet. So ideally, what you use on the astroturf so whatever you're using here here is the same astroturf as there. So you're going to use the same astroturf, so you've already run on the surface. It's not a different surface and I think that's really nice. The other thing we're going to do tonight is we're going to show you that panel jump. So we're going to get that panel jump out. So you've seen the panel jump, because a panel jump can sometimes throw a dog as well. So make sure we get that out before you finish here tonight. Brilliant any more for any more.

Speaker 1: 32:56

I think I've covered everything that I wanted to ask. I love it that you've covered it. I want you to feel really prepped. I'm very happy to walk the course with you. Brilliant, I'm very happy to um show you around all the different spaces that I've um experienced and seen and know and and want to um show you when, when I see anything, really happy to have any questions on course particularly on course, I think there's often questions and also, when you send the course plan, very happy to answer any questions. When you send the course plan over and you send both of them, you'll get both of them in the morning, so they'll both come, but don't even look at the second one no, no, only just get your first one in your head, just do your first one, don't even look at the second.

Speaker 1: 33:29

You can't do anything about it anyway. So there's no point almost knowing it and in terms of agility, there's no final. So remember, it's jumping and agility, but there's no final, so you're only going to run this agility once. So if you need to blast things, like release things as early as you need to, or whatever you need to do, but ultimately, remember it is a clear round competition and so ultimately, clear round is what counts. So don't do it at the expense of a clear round. Go round to get a clear round. Yeah, if you get a clear round, you're standing in a good space yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 33:58

And how far away do you park? Because that's another thing that's a really good one to know quite a while, I think.

Speaker 1: 34:02

The parking, depending on where you're parked. You can never guarantee where you're parked, but the parking could be anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes. So I would say 15 15 minutes before you're actually at the door. So that is from car parking to door. So I just use that as a really great warm-up. It's just a warm-up. It's toilet break. Have as many wheeze as you can get out of your bladder. Let's take every one of them. The dog so yeah, me and the dog. Actually it's something to know. The toilets as you come out, there's toilets both sides.

Speaker 1: 34:26

I don't know what I'll be like this year, but every year in the past I find myself in the toilet a lot, and it's not that I'm nervous, but my body must be in that heightened state of arousal. So every time I find myself in those toilets. So I'm often in those toilets. So, yeah, being aware of uh, toilets are there and I just literally don't even need a wee. I'm just there because I feel like it's your, it's your body preparing. You're in that fight and flight mode. Yeah, so you've taken yourself into that and and and often I can't eat breakfast. And it's not that I'm scared or nervous or anything, it's just your, your arousals up. So you're in that arousal space. Yeah, makes sense.

Speaker 1: 34:57

And remember, your dog knows nothing other than they're out there with you. So you advocate for them, you protect them, you look after them in every scenario. You don't let them greet new dogs head to head, you don't let them do fluffy photos with with children, unless, like, you really need to. I think. Just be aware that you're in there for that short time with your dog, protect them, advocate for them and then get them back out of there, because that event is a lot of pressure for a lot of dogs in a small space, and although it isn't a small space, it is with the amount of dogs that are in there.

Speaker 1: 35:22

So, um, just be mindful that and mindful that a lot of people don't handle their dogs like you do. So the show dogs or the fly ball dogs or the other dogs all have their own etiquettes. They'll be different to the agility dogs. So just kind of be mindful, and for me, I just always keep my distance on other dogs. It's just a bit safer, brilliant, happy, yes. So after this, are you happy to come back and do another one where you tell us how it's all gone. Oh yes, well done Terry.

Speaker 1: 35:47

Good luck, I think it's gonna be amazing but you've got your goodie bag, your goodie bag to go, and if there's anything at all, you know where I am.

Speaker 2: 35:54

Brilliant. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.