Obedience Troubleshooting

[The Spotted Devil]

Jess, I simply CAN'T play with or reward Zig in the ring - unless he is 100% focussed the whole time he will switch off and it is very hard to get him back. He is SUCH a boy

So, I use a bridge word in training ("good") that essentially means: great work! Keep working your @r$e off like this and we will have the BEST time when we leave the ring. You can pi$$ on anything and everything (within reason) and you will get some wicked treats too.

So if the judge is talking or between exercises, all I say is "good" and he is expected to maintain attention. Of course I had to build duration for this in training first. Not sure if that helps

ETA: Are you allowed to play tug in the ring? If so, could you play tug with the lead as a reward whilst you are talking with the judge? Honestly, at the end of the day, I always look at my dog as being the most important thing in the ring (and my relationship with him). If that means I come across as nervous or rude or vague then so be it - my focus is my dog.

Edited March 8, 2010 by The Spotted Devil

[J...]

Ptolomy's words before I walked into the ring at my first UD trial was just go in and have fun, focus on the dog, play and make the ring the best place to be and don't necessarily pay to much attention to the judge . As an example at our UD trial the other night while they were waiting to set up the articles or while they were picking up articles I got Ness to do leg weaves to keep her focused but also to perk her up a bit. If you have a trick that the dog really loves and have paired it with plenty of rewards you can use that in the ring to keep the dog enthusiastic. I guess a bit of play after each exercise if the dog finds it rewarding is fine .

Our novice recall for example is always done from the far side of the ring. You are allowed to play games on the way down to get the dog motivated etc.

Did the games in between exercises no worries as these were my guages as to how she was going motivation wise. If she won't engage with me in a quick high five/hand touch/pretend bark then it's a fairly good sign we're in trouble. I can't do these and not give my focus to my dog though - the not paying attention to the judge is not a bad idea, as I said I did appreciate the feedback but in reality it didn't tell me anything I didn't know. My ring skills are crap and I need more ring practise.

Jess, I simply CAN'T play with or reward Zig in the ring - unless he is 100% focussed the whole time he will switch off and it is very hard to get him back. He is SUCH a boy

Knew there was a reason why I got a second bitch

So, I use a bridge word in training ("good") that essentially means: great work! Keep working your @r$e off like this and we will have the BEST time when we leave the ring. You can pi$$ on anything and everything (within reason) and you will get some wicked treats too.

So if the judge is talking or between exercises, all I say is "good" and he is expected to maintain attention. Of course I had to build duration for this in training first. Not sure if that helps

I use "yes" which is amazingly handy in the obedience ring I found. But it's not enough to tide me over for that amount of time - very conscious of the fact that this is what I've been doing at agility training and the effect it's had on my dog. Lynda Orton Hill covered it a lot at her seminar as well, it's something she was really tough on.

ETA: Are you allowed to play tug in the ring? If so, could you play tug with the lead as a reward whilst you are talking with the judge? Honestly, at the end of the day, I always look at my dog as being the most important thing in the ring (and my relationship with him). If that means I come across as nervous or rude or vague then so be it - my focus is my dog.

Not sure about the tug in the ring. But she's more of a foodie once she's done in the ring so I use a bumbag full of her favourite foods which she likes to play with and mouth until I crack it open for her reward.

I think you're both right - I'll excuse myself from the judge under that reason exactly, my dog comes first!! Was just concerned about it being a bit rude but it's even ruder to my dog if I don't

[bedazzledx2]

Hi Jess. It can be a tricky one....you don't want to be rude to a well meaning judge but on the other hand you want to reward your dog. I am assuming this is Novice? My suggestion would be to praise her well for the last exercise which every judge will allow you to do before engaging you in a post mortem. If you see it coming then I would cue my dog to down (or sit) and stay and move away a few meters to have a chat with the judge. This means the behaviour is cued and you can then resume your reward routine when you release from the stay. Practice it in training and backchain it so the previous behaviour ... COP, becomes even stronger. Turn it to your advantage

Just a question for those who are experienced obedience triallers...

As some would know, motivation in the obedience ring is something we've really struggled with, and I'm working on heaps of reward reward and more reward for any good work Darcy gives me.

At both of our trials on the weekend the judges gave me some good feedback. Really appreciated it, don't get me wrong, but my agility training is screaming at me - reward your poor bloody dog!!! She's just spent 5 mins in the ring working her butt off for you and now you've just spent another several minutes letting her switch off and boring her to tears.

I had a very quick play with her when she finished her COP but I can't play with my dog in the ring and pay attention to the judge. Any suggestions as to what is acceptable from an obedience perspective?