Joined
·
10,258 Posts
I've heard it a time or two that all of the obedience exercises (from Novice up thru Utility) are related to real work a dog would perform.
I'm not sure I can agree with this statement because the fact of the matter is that there are very few times when working with your dog in a real world scenario that you cannot give a command more than one time. Nor do you have to stand a certain way or hold your hands a certain way.
Some of the best working teams (police dogs, search and rescue dogs) work AS A TEAM, and the handler gives a lot of cues and commands and encouragement to the dog so the job gets done. (I'm not talking competition, I'm referring to actually working out on the streets in a job with a dog.)
In competition, in the name of fairness, they had to make some rules so that everyone did things pretty much the same way, so the judging could pretty much be equal between all competitors and dogs. Thus the one command thing, or the holding your hands a certain way thing.
Also, it's always bugged the crap out of me to see dogs heeling with their necks craned up in the air. IMO this is just plain unnatural. At some point, some judges really liked this "look" and so it became vogue. A real working dog needs to look where he's going (dog's have amazing peripheral vision, so the neck craning really is not something we need to strive for).
I guess, as in any sport or competiton, there are things we like and dislike about the games we play. And for some reason, we keep playing.
What's your opinion?
I'm not sure I can agree with this statement because the fact of the matter is that there are very few times when working with your dog in a real world scenario that you cannot give a command more than one time. Nor do you have to stand a certain way or hold your hands a certain way.
Some of the best working teams (police dogs, search and rescue dogs) work AS A TEAM, and the handler gives a lot of cues and commands and encouragement to the dog so the job gets done. (I'm not talking competition, I'm referring to actually working out on the streets in a job with a dog.)
In competition, in the name of fairness, they had to make some rules so that everyone did things pretty much the same way, so the judging could pretty much be equal between all competitors and dogs. Thus the one command thing, or the holding your hands a certain way thing.
Also, it's always bugged the crap out of me to see dogs heeling with their necks craned up in the air. IMO this is just plain unnatural. At some point, some judges really liked this "look" and so it became vogue. A real working dog needs to look where he's going (dog's have amazing peripheral vision, so the neck craning really is not something we need to strive for).
I guess, as in any sport or competiton, there are things we like and dislike about the games we play. And for some reason, we keep playing.
What's your opinion?
But I know what you mean. I can't stand flyball for that very reason. The one and only time I was at a flyball event, it was so loud I had a headache that made me physically sick. I will never go to another flyball event.
