A team’s score at the end of a trial day can appear so simplistic. A straightforward row in a table of results, summarizing speed, relative performance, hides found and missed, errors counted and logged. But scratch at the surface and every static score might reveal a lively, dynamic tale hiding just underneath. Threads of training, talent, teamwork, temptation, competing priorities, weather, risk-taking and psychological pressures of a ticking clock warping and wefting into complex patterns that are one of a kind.
1. A Calculated Bet
2. A Feeble Fabrication
3. Subterfuge
Reflections and Revelations
Not all errors are a result of bad decisions or lack of skill. But some definitely are. Some wins are due to dumb luck. Others, genuinely earned rewards. Sometimes, win or lose, the takeaway is that you or your dog need to build better skills. Sometimes, win or lose, it’s that you need to make better decisions in the moment. The rest of the times, win or lose, it’s that you needn’t change or re-calibrate anything at all.
You might miss a hide because 100% certainty is difficult to arrive at under certain environmental or time constraints. You could make a calculated bet in the midst of this uncertainty, based on the incomplete information you have. It’s a bet though that you must own, and it carries a risk of getting it wrong, or “not right enough” (Section 1).
Sometimes, nuances are lost in translation along the multiple hops between odor source, environment, dog, handler and judge. You can miss a hide because you didn’t read as significant your teammate’s subtle new tells in working an odor picture that is novel to you both (Section 2, the miss). On the flip side, you could call a false because you badly want to win at this game and you read too much into your teammate’s behavior, fabricating into a valuable signal something that was not (Section 2, the false).
Sometimes the source can remain elusive because the path to it is trickier, shiftier, more mercurial than you had planned for. You might do it all - focused searching, thoughtful coverage, teamwork that feels right - but you both need to live more, experience more, know more, your current selves just weren’t enough (Section 3, the miss).
Sometimes, you might veer off course but find a way to get right back on. You call a false, quickly shed the weight of the disappointment, and together as a team keep on keeping on (Section 3, the false).
A trial can be more than a search for hides. It can be a series of richly woven stories with threads of despair, determination, hubris and hope intertwined. Stories that on reflection might help you uncover profound truths and patterns about yourself, your teammate and lessons that extend far beyond the trial grounds.
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