Lessons From Yesterday's Trial

First lesson - i didn't lose my patience with my beautiful girl when she popped her down stay.

Second lesson - she worked beautifully except for that one glitch - so she did very well for her second outing in an obedience competition - there was a lot to be happy about.

Third lesson - i came away from the trial somewhat annoyed that the trialling environment is not structured to help dogs succeed - but more to test them to the limits of their patience and training. This is not a rewarding environment for the dogs and it seems to have a very poor effect on the humans. I saw some dreadful Primate > Canid behaviour yesterday.

I saw one handler slapping his dog in the face during his warmup work - and i mean really slapping his dog in the face - i thought "if that is what he is prepared to do in public - what does he do to this dog when he thinks nobody can see him?" and my heart broke for the poor dog.

I saw one handler storm out of the UD ring with a grizzled older bitch in tow - the dog was shoved into her crate - a bowl of food shoved under her nose and the handler said "there - see that? You're not getting it" and threw the food down on top of the crate and slammed the door shut. Then the handler proceeded to complain loudly about all the "mistakes" the dog had made in the ring......

again, my heart broke for the poor dog

Yes, i was annoyed yesterday that the judge in the next ring couldn't wait for one minute to let the young dogs doing pre-Novice do their stays in peace without distractions. Yes i was disappointed that we didn't qualify and earn that second place - but i am SO GLAD that i left the ring happy with my dog - that i didn't take out my frustration on my dog. Thinking slowly about it i am SO GLAD that i didn't leave the ring thinking that my dog had "let me down" or "failed"

Its like this - if your dog learns that a consequence of going into the ring with you is that you will abuse him/her and be upset or angry - why would you expect your dog to do well in that unnatural and stressful situation that is an Obedience Trial??