[STEM] Visualization for the win 🎾🐕

Hey there!

I am not a world-class dog trainer. I'm a curious lifelong learner, a problem-solver, and an engineer. And like everyone else, I don't always practice what I preach. I forget sometimes.

So while I've been writing this book—dredging up memories and strategies I'd half-forgotten—I started trying to apply them to a very real, very current challenge: getting Mooney to hold his sit for examination.

I went back to visualization first, because that's what Jane Savoie taught in her seminar, and it stuck with me. But this time, I wasn't just remembering it—I was listening to her audiobook while editing this very manuscript. And it caught me doing exactly what I warn against in my own book: visualizing the outcome I was afraid of instead of the one I actually wanted.

(This is the exact illustration I commissioned for the book—because apparently I needed the reminder as much as anyone. I originally sketched out the concept with Jean-Luc Picard in the captain's chair, but swapped him for a friendly golden retriever instead—Jean-Luc Wiggard, aka Mooney. Partly to dodge any copyright headaches, partly because a golden retriever in command is just a lot less intimidating than a starship captain. Plus, goldens are a lot like our subconscious mind—eager to please, and ready to act on whatever picture you hand them.)

Once I caught myself, I started practicing on purpose, at every opportunity I could find. I brought Mooney's dinner to Tuesday obedience and Thursday agility classes, and after each one, I'd ask a friend to run a sit-for-examination with us—Mooney on a sit-stay at the end of a 6-foot leash, someone walking up to pat him on the head. He started getting it.

I also started weaving sit-stays into our regular walks—any time another dog or person was about to pass. Every one of those moments was doing double duty: I was training myself to visualize what I wanted, and Mooney was practicing under real-world distraction.

The big test came this past weekend, at our club's August Obedience/Rally Trial. We were entered in Beginner Novice B both days, plus Rally Intermediate—an optional class that's a great place to practice once you've earned your Rally Novice title, before you're ready to trust your dog off-lead for Rally Advanced.

Me and Mooney with the ribbon and the index card

On Saturday, Mooney held his sit for examination for the first time ever in competition. His heeling wasn't perfect, but we still qualified—2nd place out of two qualifiers, 193.5 out of 200. In Rally Intermediate, he scored a 93 out of 100 and earned his second leg, though I fumbled a sign and cost us points—and maybe a placement.

Sunday was even better. Mooney earned 2nd place again with a 196 out of 200—he missed one automatic sit on the figure 8, but his sit-stays were rock solid and his recall was beautiful. He also finished his Rally Intermediate title with a 99 out of 100, and another 2nd place.

It was a genuinely wonderful weekend—hanging out with my dog, working together as a team.

All weekend, I carried an index card in my pocket. It said:

Smile.
Breathe.
Visualize perfection.
Have FUN!

And we did. Visualization for the win.

The smiling and breathing were really for me—managing my own stress so Mooney could do his best. He's a team player. He was just waiting for me to be one too.

One more practical tip, courtesy of my agility friends: get better, stinkier treats. (That's the motivation piece, straight out of Principle #2.) Their suggestions included Swedish meatballs from Kroger—couldn't find those, and most recipes contain egg, which Mooney's allergic to—so we landed on Braunschweiger and Wild Salmon burgers instead. Worked like a charm.

More next week,

Marsha & Mooney

P.S. The zebra swallowtail caterpillar count is up to 11+, and at least one has already reached its second instar. I love my iPhone for this—I just flip the camera around and inspect the undersides of leaves without disturbing a single one.