Today’s post is a contribution from Max Sprinz, exploring why the energy state we train in matters and how preparing for changes in excitement can help our dogs perform with confidence when it counts.
Have you ever left the ring wondering why your dog couldn’t perform a skill you know they understand?
It’s easy to think the skill broke down under pressure. But more often than not, the skill isn’t the problem. We’ve simply asked our dogs to perform it in an energy state they’ve never rehearsed.
When we introduce a new skill, most of us naturally slow everything down. We move carefully, reduce distractions, and give our dogs time to think. That’s exactly what good teaching looks like because understanding always comes before performance.
Without realizing it, we’re also teaching in a very specific emotional state. Our dogs learn the behavior while everything is calm, predictable, and familiar. Then we arrive at a trial where the environment is louder, our handling is faster, and excitement is higher. Suddenly, we’re asking our dogs to perform the same skill in a completely different picture.
That doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten what they learned. More often, we’ve simply asked a question we’ve never practiced asking.
Every Skill Has an Emotional Context
When we think about dog agility training, we usually focus on the mechanics. We plan handling choices, reward placement, obstacle performance, sequencing, and course design. All of those things matter, but there’s another piece of the puzzle that’s easy to overlook: our emotional state and our dog’s.
Every repetition happens in an emotional context. Whether we intend it or not, we’re teaching more than the behavior itself. We’re also teaching what it feels like to perform that behavior.
The goal isn’t to remove emotion from training. Emotion is part of learning. The goal is to become intentional about the emotional state we’re rehearsing.
Build Understanding Before You Build Intensity
When I’m teaching something new, I want my dogs to think. I slow down, make my criteria clear, and create an environment where they can experiment, make choices, and discover the right answer without unnecessary pressure.
Once I know my dog understands the behavior, I start proving that understanding by changing the picture. I might work in different locations, approach an obstacle from a new angle, add distractions, or create different handling options. I want to know my dog understands the game, not just one familiar setup.
Only then do I begin changing the emotional picture.
I gradually add more speed, more excitement, and more energy while keeping the training simple enough that success is still easy to find. My goal isn’t to create chaos. It’s to teach my dog that the same thoughtful decisions are worth making, even when everything feels faster and more exciting.
Competition Reveals What We’ve Rehearsed
Think about what changes on competition day.
The environment is louder. Our adrenaline is higher. Rewards are delayed, our handling becomes more dynamic, and decisions happen in fractions of a second.
Yet we often expect our dogs to perform exactly as they did in a quiet training session.
Competition doesn’t create performance. It reveals what we’ve prepared for.
If we’ve only practiced a skill when everyone is calm, we shouldn’t be surprised if that skill looks different when excitement doubles. Dogs don’t suddenly forget what they know. More often, they’re performing exactly as they’ve been prepared to perform.
That’s why our training should gradually include the kinds of energy, distractions, and excitement we’ll eventually experience in the ring.
Be Intentional About Your Energy State
One of the most empowering things about games-based training is realizing that our emotional state isn’t something that simply happens to us.
We can influence it through thoughtful routines, reinforcement, and repetition. We can also help our dogs become comfortable performing in different emotional states by introducing those challenges gradually instead of waiting for competition day to expose them.
Sometimes our dogs need us to slow everything down and help them think. Other times they need us to bring confidence, enthusiasm, and commitment to the game.
Neither state is better than the other.
The real skill is knowing what your dog needs in that moment and being able to step into that state intentionally.
The Big Picture
One of my favorite things about dog agility is that we’re never just teaching obstacles.
We’re teaching our dogs how to think, stay connected, and make great choices even when the picture changes.
When we intentionally build understanding first, proof the behavior thoughtfully, and then gradually increase excitement, we create dogs who can perform confidently in all kinds of environments, not because they’ve memorized a routine, but because they truly understand the game.
After all, we don’t magically become different handlers on competition day.
We become the handlers we’ve practiced being.
Our dogs do exactly the same.
So train the skills and build understanding. And remember to add energy with intention.
Because great dog agility isn’t just about what your dog knows. It’s about what both of you can access when it matters most.
Gratitude
Today I’m grateful for the process of learning. Every training session, whether it goes exactly as planned or presents a new challenge, helps me become a better trainer and a better teammate for my dogs. That’s a journey I’m grateful to be on every day.
Hi, Thanks for the reminder ❤️