Agility Trial Success Tip #3: Fuel Your Body
Plan meals to fuel your body. When you plan ahead you won’t be tempted to eat convenience food being served at the trial. I choose to drink a juice for breakfast, a smoothie at lunch and a healthy meal at dinner. Meal planning goes for your dog as well. Plan both hydration and high energy snacks to keep you both performing at your best!
“Train like an athlete, eat like a nutritionist, sleep like a baby, win like a champion.”
~ Unknown
Today I am grateful to be able to source great food for my dogs and myself when we travel and for all of today’s ‘mod cons’ that allow that food to be stored and prepared ahead of time.
Visit all the tips: Tip 1, Tip 2, Tip 3, Tip 4, Tip 5, Tip 6, Tip 7, Tip 8, Tip 9, Tip 10
What do you consider a healthy snack for a trial and about how much do you feed?
Karen, Susan uses a cookie called: Carnivore Cookies Energy Biscuits mid afternoon she gives her dog’s one or two to boost them through the day. It all depends on the trial and the timing of her dog’s first morning meal.
Great Comments! Prepare yourself and your dog to win or at least to be at your best!
How do we view the Facebook feeds?
Hi Susan,
I know that you feed your dogs raw. How do you “bring” their food with you? do you ship it to your destination, pack it for flight? with so many airline restrictions trying to picture that working. Best of luck!
Susan has a number of creative strategies. (if you are on Facebook – Susan did a FB Live chat last night Sept 14th – and discussed live.)
One our community is amazing and the friendships we have developed world wide. Susan will ask on FB or in our community if someone is coming to a big event could they bring along… certain items. Susan now has sources of fresh raw dog food when she competes. As for her own food – sometimes she freezes/freeze drys her own and shrink wraps with zip style bags. All these items are transportable into the countries. The creativity between Susan and Kim is amazing as we discussed Susan wanting juice (without access to a juicer in Spain this visit) and how they would do it. We always have access to hotel freezers – that is arranged ahead of time. Often one of the strategies is AirB&B – home away from home options. We often see the countryside by finding the best health food stores/vegan restaurants available in the city we visit. Truthfully – where there is a will there is a way!
I have been involved in this wonderful endeavor since 1998. I am already doing what you suggest. Love to see these things out there for all to benefit from tried and true wisdom!
One thing I remember from a seminar I went to, early on, was this – The first “obstacle” is your start line. The last “obstacle”is the leash on the dog.
Another that was always helpful was lining up the dog on the first obstacle so you can handle the second and the subsequent obstacles.
So many novice handlers set up their dog too close to the first obstacle and square with it. Sometimes an angled approach makes the first sequence more easily negotiated.
Thanks for all your pearls of wisdom, Susan!
As someone that requires a special diet, I have to bring all of my own food whenever I travel. One thing Ibhave learned is to make sure that your hotel room has a microwave and refrigerator, not all chains have them in every room.
Believe in your dog. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith that he/she will do it correctly.
Yes! If you train it, its there…
Thank you Susan and Linda
A tip I got from my Musical Freestyle coach Judy Gamet, is to stop sugar and caffeine intake at least one week before and during any competition
Do your job and let the dog do his – that is teamwork!
Stay away from people who are negative when you are walking the course. They say you can’t, you say you can!
I don’t think the ‘quote’ above is really a good one.
I’d say
“Train your dog to be an athlete, feed your dog like an athlete. Train your dog to work at a distance, and you can still
be a blob :-)”
I never realised how important it is to train your dog to work with a blob, until I became one 🙁
It is just a game we play with our dogs. Don’t take any of it too serious, or the fun will be lost!
Yes!! We and our dogs must have fun, that is the main reason to do it!!!!