The Importance of Matches
  

Matches should be an important part of your training program.  All dogs will learn to work beautifully in class/at home/during practice.  And when they are, it is time to take it on the road and go to a match or two or twenty!  Matches provide the type of distractions you will encounter at a trial and opportunities for teaching your dog to pay attention and work in the presence of those distractions.  All too often folks think they need to go to a match and 'perform'.  You should have a training plan for every match you enter but be flexible enough to change that plan if necessary.  Yes, it's difficult to find matches and yes, it's hard to fit them into our busy schedules.  But if you want to be successful in the ring at a trial, matches need to be an important part of your training program.