Juliet's 1st obedience Q

[romeosangiovese]

Since my last post on Juliet and her performance in the obedience ring, we worked hard to try and overcome some of her issues and we must have done something right, coz she got her first obedience Q under a Crufts judge! Kate McCartney, and her husband, Michael, came to judge from the UK. Kate for obedience, Michael for agility.

I did what everyone here suggested, did the variable reward thing when heeling (up to the extent of leaving treats outside of the heeling area so she knows she'll get something but not in the ring), trained around trials, etc. Juliet's looking up at me more, and during training, looks like she actually enjoys heelwork (tho' the duration needs to be improved on!). I also worked on some "bridging" behaviours that she loves doing as a "reward" in the ring.

At the trial, I realised however, that she shut down as we entered the ring. It's like she KNEW. I thought I was trying my best to not be stressed, and actually she was fine for the most part, but I guess once we got near the ring, everything changed. Her tail went down, she won't do nose touches, won't spin. She went through the motions, but her heelwork suffered, though not so bad that she failed it.

After the trial, there was an obedience workshop held by the judges and I went to ask Kate what her thoughts were on how to overcome this shutting down problem.

Her advice was to train like we're trialling. I told her that might not be so easy for me here (hard to explain but generally dog unfriendly country plus not alot of friends who trial) and she said to sign up for trials, but make it fun and no big deal. That is, plan to disqualify yourself.

Stay away from the ring for as long as you can, do spins, nose touches, etc as you go in, then keeping that happy mood, do a bit of good heelwork, disqualify yourself and reward your dog. Do it a couple of times so that the dog learns trials aren't so bad and I suppose it will also increase the handler's confidence if the dog is not shutting down and doing well!

Any thoughts on this?

I was very pleased that Kate and Michael did not believe in aversives in training and spoke with the group who attended the workshop made up of 80% who used chokes (not proper way - think Koehler) and e-collars (some had it on even during the workshop). I watched the judges train these dogs with treats and their demeanour completely changed! The judges commented that the sport of obedience here is so stiff and intimidating! Couldn't agree more!

 

[romeosangiovese]

I just came back from the agility workshop held by the same judges and I'm a little disappointed.

Juliet had a horrid time at the workshop. One of them was quite rough with her holding her by the collar (she's fine with that usually), pulling her towards him when she clearly didn't want to be near him, and she ended up with bits of fur ripped off. He was holding her at the first jump so I could call her through 3 jumps. She would have none of that and wanted to get away. I broke her trust when I took her back (hadn't seen the fur, thought she was just being silly). Didn't do it a third time of course! Let her run off and feed her a bunch of sausages to make her feel better. She probably now has a healthy fear of burly Irish men.

Then I decided to not do the workshop with her and took Romeo instead, leaving her by the other judge sitting at a bench, and she kept barking coz she wanted to get to me and Romeo out in the field. I was trying to concentrate on the workshop until I heard Juliet's bark change pitch. When I turned towards the bench, the other judge was leash popping her every time she barked. I politely went and took Juliet away.

I'm a bit pissed off at myself for not trusting my gut in reading Juliet and taking her out of both situations earlier. And sad because, while I'm grateful for the advice and tips, I had hoped that they were as positive in their training as they made themselves out to be.

 

[dmeyer123]

Good for you for taking Juliet away from the leash popping judge!!

In my opinion, there is no reason to bully any dog, let alone a sheltie, into compliance in agility or obedience!! It is easy to get caught up in producing results in the form of titles, but I always keep reminding myself that the goal is to spend time and have fun with my dogs! It may take longer to train with patience and games, but in the end a solid team and great relationship with my dog are worth the extra investment in time and patience.

If you have a rock solid intent, you will quickly recognize a situation that isn't appropriate and get out of it!

 

[Mally's Mom]

I would report that judge. Juliet did not deserve that treatment nor do any future dogs. So sorry to hear you were subjected to this. It is not right.