Are You A Dog Sports Whore?

[piper]

hmmmm guess I must be a dog sport whore.

Piper has titles in obedience, agility, jumping and herding. As a puppy she was shown in conformation, is trained to about TD level (just no time to actually trial her) and we do freestyle for demos and fun. Also started ET training last year.

At the moment the herding is my "main" thing. Due to injury to me we hardly do agility anymore but she loves it when we do and it is also why I gave in on attempting the ET. I got bored with obedience (Ness will verify how long it took me to pull my finger out and finish that title! lol)

I guess I am also a whore for how long I will travel to get to training, I drive 2 hours each way to get to herding for either a 1 hour private or 2 hour group class. It pretty much takes up my Saturdays.

At 1 point I trained 4 nights a week in 2 disciplines with 3 clubs, then I started taking puppy preschools and gradually cut back, dropping it back to basically nothing once I got injured. Sometimes I miss it and other times I wonder how on earth I did it all.

[MrsD]

personally I think Obedience/ Agility compliment each other nicely.

You see, I have always thought the opposite - agility & obedience are almost totally at odds with each other IMO. I think that agility & herding are alot more similar than obedience & agility & probably compliment each other better. Also agility & flyball seem to me to be things that would compliment each other as well.

ROM ;) at wannabe tart .

[leopuppy04]

personally I think Obedience/ Agility compliment each other nicely.

You see, I have always thought the opposite - agility & obedience are almost totally at odds with each other IMO. I think that agility & herding are alot more similar than obedience & agility & probably compliment each other better. Also agility & flyball seem to me to be things that would compliment each other as well.

LOL - yeah a lot of people seem to say that - yet honestly - I find that they do come together nicely in what I get out of them ;).

May I ask, since I haven't done much herding - how does agility/ herding compliment each other - is it the distance work?

[witheverythingiam]

I know that some people (especially in herding it seems) frown upon doing more than 1 sport with any dog, but I'm going to get around that by getting another dog - 3 dogs = 3 sports ;) . A bit more seriously, I am happy to do more than 1 sport with each dog, but now that I have been made aware of the pitfalls hopefully my training will be geared to minimise the negative impact on the things I like to do best (herding & freestyle).

But you already have 3 dogs at home - and I thought that 2 of your dogs were in training for Endurance?

Nothing wrong with letting your dog have a go at everything that's available? Rocky's tried his hand at Obedience, Agility (not trials though?), Endurance (titled), and now Lure Coursing... we'd LOVE to have a go at herding, and title in that like Boxers in the US, but alas, the herding fraternity here in Qld seem to have a thing saying no to Boxers as they are not a herding breed... ah well...

We also intend on trying out sledding, frisbee, and everything else on offer...

BOXER'S CAN DO ANYTHING!

-WithEverythingIAm

[witheverythingiam]

Jules - so you're the faithful type like me then? :D ;)

But MrsD - you seem to have a short memory - you were doing Lure Coursing for quite a few meets - perhaps you're a "tart" also? I don't mind being called a tart if it's cos I let my dog do what he actually enjoys?

-WithEverythingIAm

[witheverythingiam]

Yeah, but I am a tart within that! As in I like to go to different trainers etc! Love learning stuff.

The ultimate tart ;)

MrsD also went to more than one trainer for herding training... Imagine making a whole thread talking about ones self?

:D

-WithEverythingIAm

[witheverythingiam]

Ah... what about the extremes you go to get to training? I.e distance travelled? Or is that really starting to reveal addictions? ;)

:D

I travel almost 1.5 hours to go to Lure Coursing with my Boxer Rocky - he LOVES it - but there's people who travel further than us.

-WithEverythingIAm

[leopuppy04]

Ah... what about the extremes you go to get to training? I.e distance travelled? Or is that really starting to reveal addictions? ;)

:D

I travel almost 1.5 hours to go to Lure Coursing with my Boxer Rocky - he LOVES it - but there's people who travel further than us.

-WithEverythingIAm

haha - I find the more your dog loves the sport - the further you are willing to travel too :D

[Guest Piximatosis]

I would be more of a dog sports tart if more clubs ran at times I could get to them!

I only started full-time work this year and dropped all the after-hours things I was doing, so it's only been recently that I have been able to train at clubs.

Holly is training in Obedience at Blacktown, and we're going to try lure coursing at the next meet too! I would do flyball with her as well if I could get to a club but as I don't get home until 6.30pm (often later with public transport being what it is) I can't make it to Parramatta to train for it!

Brody is doing Agility at Baulkham Hills... if Holly moves up to advanced Obedience classes quickly enough (she should if the council would stop closing the darn training grounds when it's not even bloomin' raining!!) then I'll start taking him to Obedience too.

At the moment that's about all we CAN do... does this make me a wannabe DSW?? That's even worse than just being a DSW ;)

[ness]

Oh yes - Piper got her first CD pass at the same trial that Ness got her first pass which was ages ago ;) . Hmm I won't say how long it actually took you from finishing the title to actually apply for it (or have you still not ).

[SueM]

I am turning into a dog sports whore, Harvey is going to be competing soon in Obedience and I am purchasing a whippy puppy to get more into Lure Coursing,Whippet will also be going to obedience and showing if good enough....

Edited July 3, 2007 by varicool

[MrsD]

But you already have 3 dogs at home - and I thought that 2 of your dogs were in training for Endurance?

We have 3 dogs, but only 2 are mine - Ebony is Dagboy's, Jarrah & Jonty are mine. Ebony & Dagboy were training for ET, but neither of my dogs were ever in training, Dagboy did mention once training Jarrah but he's not old enough & unless I was going to do it I saw no point .

But MrsD - you seem to have a short memory - you were doing Lure Coursing for quite a few meets - perhaps you're a "tart" also?

Yep, we went to lurecoursing 2 or 3 times, more for the social aspect than anything else, dogs liked it but we decided it wasn't for us & we were also told that if we were serious about herding that lurecoursing wasn't a good idea. So given that we are serious about herding, we made a choice to stick with herding. Didnt realise that made me a DSW .

MrsD also went to more than one trainer for herding training... Imagine making a whole thread talking about ones self?

Wow, seems to be a common theme here, wonder where all this is coming from? ;)

Just for the record WEIA, we started going to herding training with one trainer, but after about 4 or 5 lessons they told us we couldnt come there anymore. We were left with nowhere to train & no one to help us, so then, knowing a bit more about the ANKC herding, we looked around & found another trainer to train with, one who trains in a style that we like & who we are happy to go to. We've been going to them ever since, no plans to change.

I dunno, what would you have done in the same situation if you found that you & your dog were really good at something & one trainer dumped you, would you have found another trainer so you could continue or just given up the sport? :D

Perhaps you shouldn't listen to all the gossip from people who have an agenda :D .

[MrsD]

I would be more of a dog sports tart if more clubs ran at times I could get to them!

I only started full-time work this year and dropped all the after-hours things I was doing, so it's only been recently that I have been able to train at clubs.

Holly is training in Obedience at Blacktown, and we're going to try lure coursing at the next meet too! I would do flyball with her as well if I could get to a club but as I don't get home until 6.30pm (often later with public transport being what it is) I can't make it to Parramatta to train for it!

Brody is doing Agility at Baulkham Hills... if Holly moves up to advanced Obedience classes quickly enough (she should if the council would stop closing the darn training grounds when it's not even bloomin' raining!!) then I'll start taking him to Obedience too.

At the moment that's about all we CAN do... does this make me a wannabe DSW?? That's even worse than just being a DSW ;)

Nahhhhh I don't consider doing 2 or 3 different sports (especially if you have more than 1 dog) is really being a DSW, 2 or 3 out of 12 isnt much .

[MrsD]

personally I think Obedience/ Agility compliment each other nicely.

You see, I have always thought the opposite - agility & obedience are almost totally at odds with each other IMO. I think that agility & herding are alot more similar than obedience & agility & probably compliment each other better. Also agility & flyball seem to me to be things that would compliment each other as well.

LOL - yeah a lot of people seem to say that - yet honestly - I find that they do come together nicely in what I get out of them ;).

May I ask, since I haven't done much herding - how does agility/ herding compliment each other - is it the distance work?

LP, yeah, working at a distance & also the dog being able to think for itself to a degree.

[B-Q]

at the moment i'm mainly interested in training buster for agility.

later on i really want to get into flyball, lure coursing, endurance, sledding (havn't looked into that), herding, obediance and tracking (hope to do that wiht buster also)

but I want to get my head around agility before i venture off to train for anything else, still, i think i'll try anything once. I think agility's gotta be my favourite so far though

[Mrsdog]

I think I probably take the title for the biggest DSW. Not only do I try anything and everything, but I also encourage everyone else to do the same. I have been responsible at my dog training club for starting classes in: Canine Mans Best Friend, Flyball and Canine Freestyle. There was a bit of opposition at first but I just kept chipping away and now these are all accepted classes that you can do at Sutherland Shire Dog Training Club. Of course we already had obedience and agility No, I am not the trainer in all these classes - I have managed to find people far better qualified than me to take over.

However.......I take my dogs through conformation until titled, then I must admit the showring doesn't see much of me, one of my dogs does agility, flyball, canine freestyle and I would like to do gundog, but time? And yes, I do think there has been a bit of confusion at times but the dog is smarter than me and seems to have worked it out.

I would pair obedience and canine freestyle together, as to look really good when dancing with your dog you need a high level of obedience and focus.

Flyball can be a bit misleading when trying to do agility as the dog (when learning) can be inclined to do any jumps that are lined up in a row, maybe not what is wanted, and can throw in a few extra obstacles when they are directly in front. :rolleyes:

Here is our schedule: Obedience Sunday morning, Flyball Monday evening, Agility Wednesday evening and special agility training Thursday evening for which I travel one hour each way. Before the mass obedience display at Easter we also train every Friday evening from February through to the Show, and we need a really good excuse to miss a night!

But I mean to say, how will I know if I don't try? And you know that I hate to miss out on anything, told you so before. Girls just want to have fun. :p

Signed: Jack of all trades, master of none.

[JulesP]

Well I think we all have lucky doggies! Getting to do lots of things and spending time with their mummies and daddies! :rolleyes:

[Guest Piximatosis]

Nahhhhh I don't consider doing 2 or 3 different sports (especially if you have more than 1 dog) is really being a DSW, 2 or 3 out of 12 isnt much :p .

Hehe, that's what I mean, I don't have time to do more than a couple but if I could then I would so I'm just a loser wannabe :rolleyes:

[MrsD]

I would pair obedience and canine freestyle together, as to look really good when dancing with your dog you need a high level of obedience and focus.

Yeah I agree with that, I think of freestyle as just an extention of obedience where you teach the dogs the obedience & then you can add whatever extra exercises you want - I love it :rolleyes: . How are you going with yours? Any plans on getting Richard back anytime in the foreseeable future or any other workshops or competitions coming up in NSW?

But I mean to say, how will I know if I don't try? And you know that I hate to miss out on anything, told you so before. Girls just want to have fun.

Go for it Noels, no need to miss out, there is plenty out there for everyone :p :D .

Nahhhhh I don't consider doing 2 or 3 different sports (especially if you have more than 1 dog) is really being a DSW, 2 or 3 out of 12 isnt much .

Hehe, that's what I mean, I don't have time to do more than a couple but if I could then I would so I'm just a loser wannabe

Piximitosis - keep trying, you need to give up work again, then you'll get there :p .

EFS

Edited July 3, 2007 by MrsD

[witheverythingiam]

But you already have 3 dogs at home - and I thought that 2 of your dogs were in training for Endurance?

We have 3 dogs, but only 2 are mine - Ebony is Dagboy's, Jarrah & Jonty are mine. Ebony & Dagboy were training for ET, but neither of my dogs were ever in training, Dagboy did mention once training Jarrah but he's not old enough & unless I was going to do it I saw no point .

But MrsD - you seem to have a short memory - you were doing Lure Coursing for quite a few meets - perhaps you're a "tart" also?

Yep, we went to lurecoursing 2 or 3 times, more for the social aspect than anything else, dogs liked it but we decided it wasn't for us & we were also told that if we were serious about herding that lurecoursing wasn't a good idea. So given that we are serious about herding, we made a choice to stick with herding. Didnt realise that made me a DSW .

MrsD also went to more than one trainer for herding training... Imagine making a whole thread talking about ones self?

Wow, seems to be a common theme here, wonder where all this is coming from? :rolleyes:

Just for the record WEIA, we started going to herding training with one trainer, but after about 4 or 5 lessons they told us we couldnt come there anymore. We were left with nowhere to train & no one to help us, so then, knowing a bit more about the ANKC herding, we looked around & found another trainer to train with, one who trains in a style that we like & who we are happy to go to. We've been going to them ever since, no plans to change.

I dunno, what would you have done in the same situation if you found that you & your dog were really good at something & one trainer dumped you, would you have found another trainer so you could continue or just given up the sport?

Perhaps you shouldn't listen to all the gossip from people who have an agenda .

They dumped you? A trainer? Why? Sorry I know nothing - just that you mentioned that you were with one trainer and the next you were going to another also - maybe I should come in Obedience training dog sports more often?

Aahhh So you're gonna do Endurance with Jarrah next year?

But don't knock us people who choose to do one sport, then change to give our dogs a bit of variety - not all dogs have as good focus at learning as a border collie etc... Some of us own Boxers :p They lose interest if something is boring - hence being no OT Boxers around... not even many CD or CCD ones :D

-WithEverythingIAm