Opinions: Does Agility mess up Obed work?

[Dayzee]

Hi,

We've got 2 legs of our CD. I want to start training for the open trials over the summer and hopefully we can get our 3rd CD and go right into our first try at open on the same fall/04 weekend. But, when I mentioned that we will be starting agility this month, the lady at the school said that if someone is serious about Obed, they should stay away from agility. Apparently it's sending wrong signals, teaching them to read body language inappropriately and, in short, when you go back to Obed training you have to re-train them in a lot of ways. Any thoughts on that?

If I had to choose I would go for the obed work, because that is what interests me....Dayzee, I'm sure would pick the agility hands down. The agility is totally just for fun for her, but the Obed is something I take seriously. Now I'm so totally confused I don't know which way to go.

 

Thanks for any input.

Corinne

[BigD]

I have a CD on Buddy and have been doing agility for the past 6 months or so. We are training for Open but can't get him to NOT drop the stupid dumbell - STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID!!! - 3 feet from me and then "nose it' the rest of the way to me.

 

However, we had that problem LONG before we started to seriously train for it.

 

The agility has NOT messed up the obedience work at all. I think it has helped it because Buddy is happier, he gets worked more, he loves agility and is very focused on my commands and subtle body movement. That seems to translate into a more focused dog all around - I think.

 

There can also be some "my sport is better than that sport" angst too. Could that be what your trainer is suffereing from? The crazy obedience trainers that I work with preach the benefits of cross training all day long - they also include herding. And we all know that obedience totally SCREWS up herding...but that's a whole different topic!

Denise

[trailrider]

IMO obedience is fine tuned and more intensive in the agility training.

[Northof49]

Well consider this:

 

My old obedience dog who is no longer with me averaged 197 and up in his obedience work and competed in agility as well.

 

One year we competed in agility and obedience at the same venue. He pulled off three 199s (and I hadn't bothered with any obedience training for 9 months) and then went in and Q'd in Agility.

 

He was also working sheep at that time and I had competed in a couple of stockdog trials with him and he was also competing at flyball tournaments.

 

My other Border Collie that can compete in Canadian Kennel Club events, has obtained her OTCH with scores of 194+, titled in Flyball, she is ATChd out in agility. She works sheep regularly all year round, and in the summer time cattle.

 

They can do it all, and I don't believe that you can't excel in more than one venue either - all my dogs have.

 

I find that training in each area teaches me something than enhances my training in other areas. My come-bye, away to me and "there, walk up" from my stock work allows me to sweep my dogs wide around equipment and then call them in to do a specific piece of equipment in Snooker courses in agility. All that jumping in agility, particularly the spread jumps makes it so much easier to teach a dog the broad jump in obedience. My obedience fine tunes me and my dog in in our working relationship and teaches the dog the patience to perfect itself and contain itself.

 

Your body language is specific for each and everything that you do. Your footwork for obedience right turns, left turns, about turns, is not going to screw up your body language for agility or vice versa. Your body language for working sequencing in agiltiy is not going to screw you up for your obedience.

 

I have been competing in multiple venues with the same dogs about 13 years and have never, ever, had problems.