I took a day off this weekend to visit a KC Open Obedience Competition, to broaden my knowledge of the discipline for my BIPDT course later in the year, and thought I would share a few things I was to hear during by and large a great day out.
“You were bloody awful (dogs name)”
“I hope you don’t think that deserves a biscuit”
“What was all that about, you know how to do it”
“Damn dog you can do it at home”
(These were in the minority, Majority of dogs received great praise and enthusiasm in and out of the ring.)
And so the ‘positivity’ flowed, I then happened to overhear a couple of the judges having a chat as I walked past one of the tents, and one saying to the other ‘The standard of dogs today is crap’!!.
Now, I have read a lot and watched a lot of training over the last 4 years or so and have become conscious of the ‘we only provide 100% positive training’ bandwagon that many people are on. But surely, tone of voice, and our body language whilst making those comments is not positive? So therefore it’s nigh on impossible to provide 100% positive training in any shape or form.
Whilst the dog is probably not going to understand completely what their handlers were saying anyway, they are going to see from their body language that they were less than pleased with their performance.
If you have ever been at one of my training sessions, you will have heard me say that “the problem is never at the bottom end of the lead, it’s always at the top”. Apart from the Judges (who I assume have more informed opinions, after all they are the experts) the rest were generally owners making comment about their dog, which they are entitled to do. But let’s just suppose my comment above is correct, surely those handlers, should be looking at their own performance in preparing their dog for the competition ring, not their dogs!!
Did their dog REALLY understand the commands and what it should be doing, or was the handler kidding themselves in pursuit of a nice coloured rosette ? Had they trained their dog to work in the heat ? Had it been properly socialised in that particular environment ? Was the dog simply having a bad day ? All things the handler should have worked on to get the best from the dog when it mattered, but no, many implied it was the dogs fault. Not an attitude I want my handlers to adopt when training their dogs, as handlers it is our fault if things dont go to plan !!
I was fortunate to be shown ‘the ropes’ by someone I knew from training, and whilst out for a couple of days of working her dog, she was realistic in her approach and attitude, and if all went belly up - SO WHAT ! A great attitude and would have helped her relax more, which would have rubbed off onto her dog, and that dog may well have surprised her with the outcome in the ring.
So let me rewrite the comments I heard in a more accurate way …….
The complaints from the handlers should have been something along the lines of ...... “Don’t worry (dog’s name) It’s my fault let’s work on it and better luck next time, here’s your biscuit, because at the end of the day, you have done your best on the information I have given you”
The problem is always at the top end of the lead !!
