Any seasoned competitor realizes that to be successful in the show ring or on the trial field, its important to
have a warm up ritual for your dog. Now whether the warm up ritual is for the benefit of the dog or more to calm the nerves of the handler is debatable. But regardless, having a routine that you do every time you enter the ring will provide a strong cue to your dog about what is going to happen next.

HOW DO YOU FIND A WARM UP RITUAL?
Honestly, the ritual that works best for you will depend primarily on your dog and your own superstitious nature. I have found that if I heel my dog for several boxes with food and feed the last piece right before stepping into the ring, that he does better on his heeling and it prepares him for competition.

Another competitor I know has a ritual of dumping water on her dog right before stepping onto an Agility field. Yet another competitor I know likes to get their dog excited by having the dog bark for a toy before stepping into the ring. The ritual you choose is entirely up to you.

SHOULD I GET MY DOG AMPED OR SETTLED WITH MY WARM UP?
Again, this is entirely up to the dog and competitor. With dogs who I know are alittle loose in some exercises, I prefer to get them more settled and sedate in their warm up. Perhaps I jog the dog a bit to wear out some of their energy before I chance taking them in the ring. For other dogs who may have longer routines to last through, I prefer to amp them up so they are very excited to go into the ring.

HOW DO I MAKE MY WARM UP RITUAL WORK FOR ME IN THE RING?
The most important thing about your ritual is that you mimic everything that happens in training with what will happen in a trial situation. This is where most people fail to make the most of their warm up ritual. Think it through very carefully. Dogs the dog sit in a crate for hours, such as in a trial situation, and then go straight onto the field? If so, then perhaps in training you should crate your dog for awhile and then practice going straight onto the field.

When you potty your dog should also be included in the ritual. The dog should be adequately potted before training and before trailing. See if you can string this into your warm up.

Also try to plan out feeding and water regulations for the dog. Often times people load their dog up on treats and water before ring time but don't do this in normal training situations.

Finally, make sure you are training in a variety of locations, times, and types of weather. Nothing messes dogs up more than practicing on cool summer evenings and then trailing in the morning rain. Your ritual should help your dog acclimate to a variety of places and types of whether since it will act as a cue of what is to come. But make sure you are training in rain or shine. I remember failing a Companion Dog Title on a highly trained dog because the group exercises were on snow! We lived in the Inland Empire and never saw snow before trial day!

The more you prepare your dog for trial with a warm up ritual that is used routinely in training, the better you
will find your trial results to be. Pay attention to what the dog naturally dogs and what naturally occurs on trial day. Handlers that freak out and begin acting differently and changing things up will always send that down the leash to their dog. So try and stay calm and focused and become habitual in what you do. Dogs are creatures of habit and will most certainly thank you for the heads up.