What's holding you back?

[MPbandmom]

Someone posted an article to one of the facebook AKC sites the other day that really gave me pause to think. It was talking about people who train and work with their dog for years in preparation for some dog sport, but never enter a comeptition because the dog is weak in some area and either the owner or the trainer feels the dog isn't ready yet. The article went on to say there will never be a perfectly trained dog who performs perfectly in every situation. That the spirit of entering a competition is the comradrie and chance to expose your dog to a wide variety of experiences and locations. That competitions are geared towards beginners who's dogs have a little more work to do. That is why there is a novice class.

I bombed out of Agility with Sky. Why? she is highly distractable, excitable, shut down in the "jumps" class about half way through and I had learned that there was a lot more to handling a dog in agility than one realizes when watching the dogs racing around the course.

I bombed out of Lure Coursing with Sky. Why? She is totally obsessed with chasing the lure. There is no off switch on her and I make a mighty pitiful brake for a dog who knows she can drag me where she really wants to go and if the weight gets too annoying for her, she is a master at escaping from harnesses and collars. We never made it to a CAT after she broke free and took off after another dog chasing the lure during a practice event.

Then there is Sirius. I'm not sure whether I have bombed out or chickened out of Rally with her. She is very focused and attentive when I have treats on me. That is not the case when she realizes treats aren't being given rather readily. She thought the idea of walking around cones on lead in the yard was rediculous. Then there were the signs, some of which I had a knack for interpreting backwards. My thoughts, we will never be ready. Registering for a trial would be wasted time and money.

This article has me rethinking things a little. It has been a couple of years since we took a rally class. I'm not sure how much either one of us would remember. Then there is the reactivity issue although I have heard of clubs being very helpful and considerate of DINOS. The Samoyed specialty is coming up next month. Rally is also being offered at this trial. I am considering entering Sirius. I look at the premium. The first thing that jumps out at me is that there is a place to list an AKC registration number and a place for a PAL/ILP registration number, and a place for an international registration number. I don't see a place to put a Canine Partners registration number. Does this mean that mixed breeds aren't allowed at this event, or that the premium is using an old form? The next thing that jumped out at me was that I needed to enter her height for jumps. I had totally forgotten about this part. I don't see Sirius going along with some stranger trying to get a height on her. Hmmmmmm

If there turn out to be work arounds for the above two issues, this is my thinking. The samoyed group is hosting a Barn Hunt trial before the registration cut off date for the Rally Trial. I am taking both dogs to the Barn Hunt event. This will give me a chance to test Sirius' behavior in a small scale trail setting. It will give me a chance to evaluate her reaction to a judge being on a course with her. If that seems to go well, then I just might register her for the Rally trial. If she seems really passionate about Barn Hunt and it goes well, then I might just focus on that more as an activity for her.

[Nettle]

IMO it's very sensible to avoid activities that cause unwanted reactions in your dogs. You have to live withem 24/7 so what is the point in them getting razzed up and then becoming difficult to manage afterwards? Activities are supposed to be FUN for both of you. If there is more stress than fun, they aren't the activities for you and your dogs.

I am cynical about competition. You get competition, you get people wanting to WINWINWIN and they can become totally immoral in the pursuit of that goal. There is a huge difference between winning and being happy in context, and being obsessed with winning at all costs. But non-competitive activities have a much higher chance of being genuine fun.

[Swanny1790]

I am cynical about competition. You get competition, you get people wanting to WINWINWIN and they can become totally immoral in the pursuit of that goal. There is a huge difference between winning and being happy in context, and being obsessed with winning at all costs. But non-competitive activities have a much higher chance of being genuine fun.

I can echo Nettle's cynicism. I am perhaps the world's biggest sled dog racing fan, but I rarely race my own dogs, and when I do it is at local "fun runs" with a specific training goal in mind. I know myself well enough to know that if I become at all 'serious' about racing I'll end up turning it into a job of work, and I already have a full-time job and don't need another. I have a lot more fun and a lot less stress training and running my dogs recreationally, without the pressures of competition.

When contemplating a new activity, ask yourself if you want to do it for the dog(s), or for your own ego. It may well be something your dog will truly love doing, but if not there is no moral reason to continue.

[gwd]

Someone posted an article to one of the facebook AKC sites the other day that really gave me pause to think. It was talking about people who train and work with their dog for years in preparation for some dog sport, but never enter a comeptition because the dog is weak in some area and either the owner or the trainer feels the dog isn't ready yet.

nothing really...........

I competed for many years with my dogs. I put lots of championships on many, many dogs as well as a handful of obedience titles on them as well.

with my current dogs I might well never step into the ring but it's nowt to do with any hesitation or trepidation. rather, it's more about enjoying the process and not needing the official 'title' to provide me validation. I very much enjoy training agility and obedience.........I train as if I were going after a title because it's fun for both me and the dogs. if I decide to enter them that's cool...........but I don't consider it 'failure' If they don't get the acronym after their name.

[JudyN]

I so agree with the above. I had plans to do showing, lure coursing and agility with Jasper. He embarrassed me several times in the show ring with his behaviour (and would now flip if the dog next to him was unneutered, and almost certainly not let the judge look at his teeth), and he embarrassed me even more at lure coursing when he attacked the slipper. OH made an agility jump for the garden, and he understands 'jump', but he only has to jump it a couple of times and he's grasping my arm in his mouth, a sure sign of overarousal. It's disappointing, as he had the potential to be a great show lurcher & lure courser, but he couldn't care less about rosettes and who can run faster than who.

[mum24dog]

I am not competitive but I do compete (when I have a suitable dog) and I am pleased if we do well, but not devastated if we don't.

Training anything to competition standard takes us out of our comfort zone which can only be a good thing to prevent us just coasting in life generally. If you are training to that level why not give competition a go?

However, I am aware that training and competition in dog activities are way more expensive in North America than in the UK.
Here in the UK most of us can get to shows virtually every weekend without having to travel huge distances and mortgage the house to be able to afford it.

Of course we too have competitors who think of nothing but winning but the cheaper it is to take part (and the more fun the social side), the less seriously most people will take it.

[MPbandmom]

Good points, especially on motivation. I would not consider myself a highly competitive person, nor necessairly even competetive. I am also not particularly highly self motivated to engage in training activities with the dogs. At least other than day to day life kinds of things.

Initially I looked at dog sport training classes as a way to provide structured training activities and bonding time that I didn't seem to be able to accomplish on my own. Sky was clearly athletic and it seemed like all the athletic dogs did agility. Sirius loves to work for treats and did very well in her basic obedience classes with the exception of her reactivity issues. She is not an athlete. Rally seemed like the kind of activity that would suit her energy level and she is just so darned cute doing it. A big smile on her face, staring at me in eager anticipation, eagerly doing the various activities, well at least as long as there is a promise of treats. But outside of the structured class setting, it all pretty well fell apart and rally classes are rare around here plus I really can't afford to have the dogs in classes constantly.

Barn Hunt looks like an activity that both of my dogs would enjoy. They have been known to eagerly drag a plastic drain pipe all around the yard when some small furry was apparently hiding inside. I find myself realizing that I am not much of a trainer, and like lure coursing, and the casual scootering that I do with the dogs, Barn Hunt looks like something that would require minimal to no training on my part. I have bought 3 bales of straw to familierize the dogs with going through a tunnel and climbing on bales.

Rally still sticks in my mind for Sirius though. I just don't know if we could get past the fact that she works for treats. I don't know if she would function in a trial setting. I don't know how to really determine any of these things without taking a deep breath and taking the plunge.

[K9Steve]

I've thought of entering my dogs in competitions, but then I "chickened out." The more I thought about it, the more I thought I didn't get dogs to put them into competitions. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against competitions, but I don't see the point in them, except for showing their abilities. So far, mine have either kept chasing the lure or just won't get out of the water. Do you know how embarrassing that is to go after your dogs in these situations?

You know, I've been thinking that if I like to take my dogs and show them publicly, maybe I should consider entering them in competitions even if we don't place high, at least we will have fun.

I'll just have to wear swim wear.

Could anyone recommend any other competition events?