I think a couple of things contributed to Dash's lack of focus in the ring. Primary is that he's only been working with me for 2 months(!). ALso, I have not been doing the attention exercises, and I also eagerly await hearing more about them so I can start.

Other things were: (a) he ate breakfast before the trial so had a full belly, (2) he had an unusually full day the previous day, with a long hike, playing with 4 other dogs at a friend's house, general running around, alot of activity more than usual, and getting back late.

However, I think the main thing is that we just need to work on this more. I need to focus on training to get more focus from him with distractions.