Posted: 30 November 2009 at 7:38pm | IP Logged

There's nothing wrong with expecting a certain standard of ‘behaviour’ out of, as well as in, the ring - however I have a dog who has Gold Obedience award, and still would probably not have met the requirements being suggested when we first started competing (i.e. Staying in the ring...!!) But for her, the very reason we started agility was to help her with socialisation and overcome some of her fears, and it was only by exposing her to more shows that the situation has improved for her.

No matter how well trained a dog is, there will always be environmental factors out of the handler’s control (like the buffet being served in the marquee next to the ring...OK – so that was only my dog, but you get the point.)

Any dog can be wound up, feel threatened or excited (just want to play) when in close proximity to another dog. The important thing is that the handler does something about it at the time. Handler’s know their dogs well, and often send someone else to stand in the queue if they know this is not a good thing for their dog. I think those who don’t do anything are the ones  who should be required to act, not penalise everyone else.

 Overall though, my biggest concerns are that Agility will become a sport for dogs bred purely for the sport and for experienced handlers. Rescue dogs who have a few issues, and handlers new to the sport (both true in my case)won’t get a look in, because we can’t develop the skills needed to pass the tests (i.e. in ‘close to show’ conditions) without having been in the situation first....

Rant over!

Alison

Posted: 01 December 2009 at 1:43pm | IP Logged

Well said Alison, I agree totally. 

Bronte has run out of the ring several times if she has seen Brendan or if she has been scared. It is just down to lack of experience on her behalf and mine. I have never been in a training situation where I have been running my dog around a course with another dog running a course with only a see through barrier between the two rings, or with tannoys blaring. These things can be quite off putting to a young dog.We teach our dogs that agility is fun, so surely some excitement should be expected especially from the inexperienced dogs. For the majority of grade 1 dogs they don't see an agillity show until they enter their 1st show (I would imagine).

As far as the GCDS tests go, what happens if there isn't a local club training to this level, that will surely limit the number of people entering shows, which in turn could also limit the number of people taking up agility.

Also, why the necessity for a recall start for the test? It isn't an obedience competition and isn't required in competition agility.