leopuppy04 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Interesting conundrum for us all. We all say that we train our dogs.... but do we really??? Most of us search for ages to find the right thing that motivates our dogs to work for us - sometimes to the point of saying "my dog won't work unless I have....." We like to make excuses such as "my dog won't work in the heat/humidity/rain etc etc' or perhaps we like so say for general disobedience "My dog knows how to do it, he just chooses not to" A lot of people are apt to say "my dog is smart, they just don't like doing repetitive behaviours". LOL - so really.... who is trainning who Personally - I use a lot of excuses. I wouldn't be training unless both myself and my dog are having fun (sometimes it is harder than we think... lol).... If Leo were to lose interest in obedience/agility/herding and NOTHING could make him motivated, I simply wouldn't do it anymore - it is afterall 'for the love of the game'. I use the excuse "it is too hot/humid/wet" to train my dog - I am sure I could 'train' him to work in those conditions but I don't want to work in them, so won't make him . I'd love to hear other peoples analogies on 'who's training who' and some 'excuses' they have heard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 your not suppose to make excuses - didn't we just cover this in the other thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 LOL - yep - but I wanna hear them anyway - a nice light hearted thread about excuses people have made/heard . Not to mention the fact of who is training who since we go to the ends of the earth to find out 'just' what makes our dogs tick..... think the 'bumblebee in best in show'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Ness trains me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfgirl Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 I train Bear and Pearl but they are such good dogs that they allow me to think that I try very hard not to find excuses to train, if it is hot then I wait until it is cooler in the day and if it is raining sometimes (it takes alot to work up to) I still take them out and work them in the rain especially the drop as I figure if we get to trial stage and it is wet they have to (even though they don't like it very much ) drop in the wet and look enthusiastic about it We try not to miss classes only for a very good reason (well in my mind anyway) and I figure since they cost me a small fortune the least they could do for me is sit, drop, stay and come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 While doing trial run throughs at KCC the other week, my dog lost his focus during the retreive exercise as a poodle walked past very close to the ring rope. Immdediately the judge started making all sorts of excuses for him, so, I did'nt need too I knew it was lazy proofing on my part. I've heard them all, no really funny ones come to mind. In saying that, I train my dog in the rain at every opportunity, and have always had solid working dogs in the rain, but, this mutt I have at the moment is a total wuss if his toes get wet! No amount of proofing seems to help. Even if I let him roam off lead to do his own thing and its raining, he will go and hide somewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheres my rock Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) ok best excuse ever this was from a border collie breeder at a trial her dog was really wide on every right about turn do you know why do are you sure because her scientific reasoning for this dilemma was wait for it tri border collies are genetically made so they cant do tight right about turns and theres nothing you can do to fix it lol Edited March 27, 2007 by wheres my rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 I have border collies, they will work in any conditions and when half dead So no excuses from me (excect the working full time, running a property on my own and training 2 horses excuse!). Definately the animals train the person to be a better handler! But with my old girl - we trained together!! She is a lovely dog to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheres my rock Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 what sort of hosrses do you have jules i agree connor has worked even in pain i didnt realise he was in pain at the time he will work in 40 degrees and pouring rain about the only thing that gets in his way is if he gets nervous but as a trainer its up to me to make sure he is relaxed in the environment so if he shuts down its my fault no excuses here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAX Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) This is not really an excuse but one day in Open my dog and I were doing a drop on recall. When I said drop the dog hit the ground perfectly then went and rolled around on his back having the most lovely time. The judge asked me if my dog would like the judge to get him a Banana chair and a Pina Colada. I wanted to crawl under a rock. Of course he passed all other exercises. I tried to come up with an excuse but couldn't. Not one that didn't involve lots of swear words. Edited March 27, 2007 by PAX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheres my rock Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) funniest thing that happened to me i was teaching my dog to cover her eyes and she was very good at it we had also started trialling in ud on the signal exercise i asked her to drop and she did but wehn i asked her to sit she covered her eyes perfectly and ofcourse could no longer see my signal the judge nearly fell over laughing i told him last time she sat up a magpie swooped her and bit hr head and she was frightned rofl i dont think he believed me it did teach me to make sure my dogs really had things under cue Edited March 27, 2007 by wheres my rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAX Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Wheres my Rock, Quick thinking on that excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheres my rock Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 lol i know comes from living with a smart a@#@#s hubby lol weve had a few funny things happen another time with my boy i was training ud box this is wehn it first came out and the box at club was made from light weight pvc somehow as he dived into it he managed to step on the edge and cause the whole thing to flip in the air so being the good dog that he was he decided it was unsafe and retrieved it and dragged it back to me so i could put it in a safe place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwaY Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 ok best excuse ever this was from a border collie breeder at a trial her dog was really wide on every right about turn do you know why do are you sure because her scientific reasoning for this dilemma was wait for it tri border collies are genetically mad so they cant do tight right about turns and theres nothing you can do to fix it lol Sway couldn't do a tight right about turn.... Due to the size of my arse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheres my rock Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 rofl that would make it easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 haha WMR - love the magpie one! As to Pax - what can I say - that DOR 'just hit the spot'..... ok so should I be looking forward to trialling in the higher classes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloss344 Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Good fun thread. One excuse I heard recently was "he doesn't like doing this" when a handler was to cue his puppy to drop. I figured that was code for "we haven't been practising this during the week" Another one was "my dog won't focus on me because he's a retriever" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 LOL - I like the retrieving one. Yep i've heard the 'he doesn't like doing this' sooo many times. My friend stopped training her dog coz 'she didn't want to do it' (the dog, not owner).... lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 One thing I've always felt bad about is making them drop in the wet, I just feel so mean! But then I watch them on the same day, run and jump in the muddy dam, hmmmm who has who trained?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheres my rock Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 (edited) i dont have a problem with the he doesnt like doing it so long as the same person dosnt then say but i wnat to trial if the dog hates doign it then dont unless its something important I was told that border collies cant heel looking up at you they havent seen mary ray i assume umm Spitz breeds are impossible to teach retrieve and recall whippets cant be let of the lead So fare ive busted all those myths and the response i got was your lucky you got a good one haha I dont ask my dogs to trial in the heat because i doont like the heat i dont ask them to work in the wet because i dont however i still train them to perform under all conditions Edited March 28, 2007 by wheres my rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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