Leashes/novice classes

[Shoofly]

While we've got you here --

 

There's been an interesting thread about taking dogs to the post on leash. What are your thoughts on this?

 

That thread also branched off into a discussion on the lower classes - some view them as training classes, some want to wait until they feel competitive to run a young dog. What do you think?

[Lambert]

"There's been an interesting thread about taking dogs to the post on leash. What are your thoughts on this?"

 

I don't like to see a dog go to the post on a leash. I feel that the handler should at least be able to walk to the post with their dog under control no matter what bad things may happen next.

 

I know when I'm judging I always look askance at this and am waiting for the other shoe to fall. Having your dog walk around with you and behave properly is elementary for a stock dog. They need to be under control around stock and anything else in life so they are available to work.

 

 

"That thread also branched off into a discussion on the lower classes - some view them as training classes, some want to wait until they feel competitive to run a young dog. What do you think?"

 

 

I try not to take the novice classes to seriously but I'm pretty competitive so I don't always succeed. When I first start trialing a young dog I'm just out there to give the dog some experience. As the dog advances in his training I become more serious about the class and I begin to ask the dog to perform to a higher standard.

 

Part of the training use of the novice classes is for the dog to learn to take the pressure of competiting and winning which needs to be learned just like the outrun and the fetch. So as my dog gains experience trialing I begin to ask for the perfect obedience he will need later at the higher levels.

 

I also experiment with the other skills he will need to be really competitive and see where he is strong and weak. Can he lift the sheep to me with no direction? Can he take a re-direct on the outrun in the new field? Can he take 10 commands on the fetch and not lose his concentration?

 

So I don't wait for the dog to be perfectly trained to run him in the novice classes. But I do realize and handle the young dog as what he is a half trained project in the works.

 

Beverly