Obedience Competitors

[Seita]

Dogs breaking stays and going over to other dogs is one of my biggest fears! My girl is very reactive and really doesn't like other dogs being in her space, I am always worried that if another dog comes up to her and pesters her she might have a go at it. I withdrew her from stays on Saturday night and was soo glad I did, the dog she would have been next too broke the sit stay and went over to greet every other dog doing the stays, it just worries me soo much!

My dog is exactly the same, it is the one thing stopping me from trialing at this point. I need the reassurance that someone is going grab the offending dog and have them under control in a flash.

I don't think it's fair to say that dogs like ours shouldn't compete. What if our dogs are the ones with the good stays who don't break them and then end up having another dog interfer with our dog.....

Why don't stewarts get their butts there pronto?

I know when I am stewarding I watch the dogs like a hawk and if they start to wiggle then I am already getting a leash ready if needed. For the morst part dogs change position or follow their handler which is why I keep competing.

Ella will ignore another dog when she has been told to work (including stays) but if a dog did come up to her she would get nervous but most likely stay. It's only if a dog was very very persistent that I think there would be a problem. I refuse to let this stop me competing because the chances of this happening are pretty slim. She stays beside dogs that she ordinarily doesn't like without any problems and ignores dogs that drop or sit up or wander off....

I don't think it's fair on our dogs to be told we should be competing either SAS!

There is one dog up here in QLD who is notorious for going over to greet other dogs, most of the judges/stewards know this and are ready for him. Even though I've been lucky enough never to be beside this dog in groups I won't let it stop me because I trust that the judges/stewards will catch him in time due to his consistency with doing this!!! The dog I watched on Saturday night was the first dog I've seen do this in the last two years aside from the other dog I just mentioned.

[africandreams]

this too has put me off trialling my girl also. She has a very good stay-will not break if the dog next to her ran off or broke position, but if it were to come up to her in her face she wouldn't be too happy.

Not helping the situation,at my first trial before going in, the lady who was supposed to be next to me in the stays tells me her male rotti had only been in 1 group stay training situation, and at his last trial got up and stood over the dog next to him. And the stewards did nothing

[RubyStar]

I know this can't be done in Open and beyond, but if a dog breaks it stay to get up and visit another dog and the steward is doing nothing about it or being slow to react, I would be in there like a shot to remove my dog. Not sure if this is "allowed", but I think it is good etiquette. I had a dog next to Ruby get up and approach her in the down stays, and the owner kindly went and got her dog away from mine. Ruby's tail was wagging big time, ready to get up and take on the invitation to play, but held that down so very well

[Staff'n'Toller]

I'm interested in this thread heading in any direction...I was asking based on the fact that I would love to trial Geordie and I would not put him in until he was rock solid.

My main worry is that if a dog stood over him or stood over and growled he may not like it. If a dog play bowed at him then he would probably just break and head off for a play lol.

I wanted to get an idea of how often dogs breaking stays happens, and how quick the stewards are to collect the dog as my first instinct would be to signal my dog to recall to me if I saw a dog break and I was at all worried about it's body language, but I realise how annoying that may be if it causes other dogs to break as well or that I might get in big heaps of trouble

[Staff'n'Toller]

-from the judge. My first instinct is to protect my dog obviously, just not sure if it is all worth my while IYKWIM.

[Tay.]

Our first novice trial (that we don't mention), Jess dropped in sit stays, another two dogs (either side of her) got up and walk forward and another couple dropped.

In our first novice trial that we do mention Everyone in stays that we were in stayed!

[sas]

I presume there is no actual issue if you go to your dog to protect it from a dog who has broken its' Stay and is approaching other dogs, excuse yourself from the ring etc.

I know you wont get the points but surely the safety of the dog is more important.

Not a great deal of dogs would appreciate another dog standing over the top of it.

Edited November 20, 2009 by sas

[Staff'n'Toller]

I presume there is no actual issue if you go to your dog to protect it from a dog who has broken its' Stay and is approaching other dogs, excuse yourself from the ring etc.

That's what I thought but I was kind of looking for confirmation from current triallers.

[Sayreovi]

I can understand people entering if like skye it appears to be trial specific fault, having said that a few owners need to be more considerate. I have had a dog stand over Beck growling at him. Beck didnt move. Judge/steward didnt move. And to add insult when i returned i didnt walk around beck and the other dog but opted to go direct to becks right side, fearing my pushing between them could inflame the situation, i got told off by judge, then other dogs owner told me its a good job my dog didnt react to his as she would have kicked his butt just like she did a rotties the previous week. I dropped obedience after that figuring it wasnt worth the potential grief.

Would it be considered rude if I yelled out to the steward to remove the damn dog or I would do it myself? If they didn't I wouldn't hesitate to go to my dog, in fact it would be my first instinct to do so rather then wait for someone to eventually remove the dog.

Plus that moronic owner!

Darcy's stays are one of his best points in obedience, but having a dog stand over and growl at a confident entire male laying down is just asking for alot of trouble!

I can already tell I wouldn't be too popular in the obedience rings

Edited November 21, 2009 by tollersowned

[dogdude]

I think most judges would react swiftly to one dog standing over another growling. I have never seen a situation such as this anyway. I think your dogs would have far more chance of getting stood over and growled at , at a dog park or on a daily walk. A trial is a sanctioned, controlled enviroment, not a game of Russian roulette.

Don't worry about it.

[sas]

I think most judges would react swiftly to one dog standing over another growling. I have never seen a situation such as this anyway. I think your dogs would have far more chance of getting stood over and growled at , at a dog park or on a daily walk. A trial is a sanctioned, controlled enviroment, not a game of Russian roulette.

Don't worry about it.

That's not what people here are saying... there are numerous stories of things that have happened to dogs in stays.

[dogdude]

That's not what people here are saying... there are numerous stories of things that have happened to dogs in stays.

Dogs break stays all of the time in trials. Nobody in this thread has stated their dog was attacked during a stay. I have been on the trialling scene since 1995, and I have not witnessed an attack during a stay yet.

There is very little to worry about,.....as I said, its a controlled enviroment.

[The Spotted Devil]

For our 2nd CCD trial, a GSD broke his sit stay and stood over Ziggy - I'm really not sure what the intent was but I don't like to take chances with entire males as Zig seems to be quite the target. Fortunately I had spent quite a bit of time training in parks where he had been under similar conditions. The Spotted Devil excelled himself - he remained sitting, kept one eye on me and one eye on the other dog and leaned back as far as possible without moving his bum off the ground. The steward and judge were very slow to take control of the situation in my opinion - especially when we were specifically told not to interfere should a dog break. Eventually the GSD leapt at Zig who was forced to break his stay to avoid him - he jumped sideways and thus upset another dog. The judge was gracious enough to allow both of us to re-do our stays and Zig won the ring. Another GSD handler kindly offered to have her dog do the stays with us to make up numbers and ensure Ziggy didn't have any bad lasting memories of the breed. I don't think the problem is quite as bad once you get out of CCD - I'd consider skipping straight to Novice with my next dog for that very reason.

Edited November 22, 2009 by The Spotted Devil

[kallistar]

I have seen many times dogs breaking thier stays in CCD (and in the old days Encouragement) and novice groups with some dogs standing over another dog (even to the point of going down the line to do so) to inviting the dog next to them to play.

It only takes a second for a problem to occur, but ages to fix when it has happened to your dog. I am speaking from experience here too..

Back in August this year I was sitting in my friends car and seen a lot of dogs do zoomies past the car and thought to myself what a stupid person has let their dogs off for a run while there is a trial on. Found out later that it was the CCD group sit stays. Handlers was going every where to get their dogs. It was lucky that no dogs was aggro in that group.

[sas]

That's not what people here are saying... there are numerous stories of things that have happened to dogs in stays.

Dogs break stays all of the time in trials. Nobody in this thread has stated their dog was attacked during a stay. I have been on the trialling scene since 1995, and I have not witnessed an attack during a stay yet.

There is very little to worry about,.....as I said, its a controlled enviroment.

Nup, sorry, not convincing

People kept saying the other dogs interfer with their dogs and stewards aren't quick enough.

I'm stoked you've had such a great run though!

[dogdude]

Nup, sorry, not convincing

People kept saying the other dogs interfer with their dogs and stewards aren't quick enough.

I'm stoked you've had such a great run though!

My old B.T was the victim of a humping once at Mount Gambier trial, and to his credit stayed put. Unfortunately 30 seconds later someones horse broke loose and done a zoomie, and the sound of its hooves made him stand up for a look. No other dog broke for that reason, and that trial was his only failure before I had to retire him due to a badly broken leg.

I have never entered CCD under its curent format, so I imagine that there would be alot of people trialling dogs that are definately not ready as in the old "Encouragement Class" days. By the time they start trialling in Novice, most of the problem teams have been left behind.