In response to “No praise for you.” a regular reader compares matching newbie handlers with green dogs to putting a first-time rider on an inexperienced horse. Hello … disaster calling. The question she raises is valid: Would green handlers learn more from running experienced dogs before they attempt to train their own green dogs? After all, you can get already-trained field dogs? Why not already-trained agility dogs?
One of Lilly’s playmates is a dog like that. I call him Charlie, hunting dog in a box. At about 15 months old, he sold for something like $2,000 because he’s already trained to point, flush, and retrieve. He’s a really sweet boy too, having been raised on a farm with his parents and littermates.
I’m bracing for criticism as I write this, so let’s just consider this a mental exercise. No flaming posts, please.
Might not new handlers enjoy a better learning curve, if they could play agility at classes with an experience dog who will run for anyone?
Yes, I know every dog is different. I know that part of the process is building the bond with your canine teammate. And, I know at least some trainers would worry about clueless students accidentally screwing up their dogs by rewarding the dog for something the primary handler doesn’t want.
I get all that. I really do.
Borrowing a dog would feel a lot like borrowing someone’s spouse. And, that’s just icky.
And, yet, when failure upon failure piles up on green handlers, like me, wouldn’t it be nice to have a decent run now and again, just to see what it feels like?
Maybe experienced handlers could allow their green friends to do a practice run on the training field with their late-career dogs. If it goes well, maybe the green handler could even split trial costs and try running the more experienced dog competitively to get a feel for a higher-pressure environment.
I honestly don’t know what the attrition rate is for first-time agility students. Maybe a lack of “success” is partly to blame. It’s just a thought.
Unless, of course, there’s some big-name handler/trainer out there who starts selling agility dogs in a box.
Oh, and I’m not kidding about the “ruining” thing. I’ve heard one trainer flat out say, “Don’t ruin my dog,” when students did things she didn’t like or didn’t allow. It reall y caught me by surprise.
That’s exactly right. How do you learn what to do when you’re having to deal with other issues besides just training and handling? And some people get very lucky with their first dog and simply can’t understand why someone who finds themselves with a dog who struggles with “easy” things, is having such a hard time.
But usually people who have had several agility dogs will find that they get one who presents more than the average challenges. When that happens they’ll usually do one of three things: blame the dog’s intelligence or their own training abilities, retire or rehome the dog, or try to learn from the experience and go as far as they can with the dog they have.
Honestly, I’m really not trying to stir up trouble. :o) I’m just playing with ideas, just wondering, just thinking out loud.
I truly love the team-building aspect of training. I simply wish sometimes that all the hard work was paying off in something others could see.
It’s hard to learn to be a better handler, when your dog won’t run.
I know a couple of instructors who regularly allow students to handle their dogs–and not neccessarily seasoned trial dogs either–in class or during a seminar if their own dog is injured or just too frazzled to work for an entire day. These people don’t believe you can “ruin” a dog that easily, especially if the dog has a good, solid foundation.
And I’ve seen students have some great “ah-ha!” moments while handling an instructor’s dog.
Have you seen the t-shirt that says “I’m the instructor–you’re the trainer”? It seems to imply that people want someone else to train their dog and that’s not good. But people buy already trained animals all the time. Look at herding dogs, for example. Farmers and would-be-trial winners routinely spend thousands of dollars for a “started” dog. I’m surprised that some agility people don’t go into the business of “starting” agility dogs. Could it be that there’s a romatic notion about one dog for one person at work here? Or is it that just that it takes too long to put a good foundation on a dog making the cost prohibitive?
I dunno, but I’m pretty sure that if you posted a entry like this on the Agiledogs list (for example), you’d get hate email for weeks afterward.