Use NFC/Mulligans for New Environments/Equipment in Competition - Video

17 Aug 2024Steve Schwarz

The UKI US Open Masters Series bye period ends at the end of September. I’ve decided to move Snap! down to 20” Select so he needs to get a bye at this lower height. Spark also needs one. There are only 2-3 more UKI trials locally so the pressure is on!

Snap! has been in rehab for 8 weeks and has been running courses again so I signed him up. I started Spark on his running contacts in Jan and started his teeter 3 months ago. In some ways the huge variation in teeters has been his biggest challenge. I thought I’d also enter Spark to give him some experience on different contact equipment.

NFC and Mulligans to the rescue! I entered Spark in Novice Agility and ran him NFC just to run him over the contacts - we aren’t really done fading his mats. He was a little tentative/worried at first and his striding wasn’t quite right. You’ll see I also could have planned/executed better too!

I signed us up for a mulligan run afterwards and he already looked much much better; more like in practice.

We ran Masters Series Agility “for real” and I mishandled the course for an E but his contacts looked wonderful! I got my act together in MS Jumping and he earned 2nd place due to a tunnel refusal and he had a picture perfect 360 degree threadle wrap at the end of a jumping sequence with a nearby off course tunnel (the tunnel that Snap! would take for his E 🤦‍♂️). We even earned a bye with a 2nd place overall 🥈 A great showing for our first full contact trial.

Use NFC/FEO and mulligan runs to acclimate your dogs to new equipment, flooring, and other environmental factors. It was the best $20 I’ve spent!

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