Why Do You Compete?

[huski]

This came up in a conversation today - why do you trial? How do you know your dog truly enjoys doing it and wouldn't rather be sitting around at home with the occasional training session? What drives you to compete - is it the fact your dog enjoys it or do you think its because you enjoy it and your dog would be equally happy doing anything? And those who have had the more challenging dogs - why do you persevere with competition?

Edited August 27, 2010 by huski

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

My girl definitely enjoys working, and doing things with me. She'd probably just be happy to keep going to class regularly, and training with me. Trials are really about the people in that respect, and I guess assessing when the dogs are ready to move up to the next level of training.

I have a lot of fun with my girl, and we enjoy trying different things; we're abbling in agility, going to give Dances with Dogs a go, and she'll be assessed as a therapy dog later this year. But I'm still nervous about the trial this weekend! Good luck to you, an everyone else who is trialling this weekend too!

EFS

Edited August 27, 2010 by CleoJ

[J...]

This came up in a conversation today - why do you trial? How do you know your dog truly enjoys doing it and wouldn't rather be sitting around at home with the occasional training session? What drives you to compete - is it the fact your dog enjoys it or do you think its because you enjoy it and your dog would be equally happy doing anything? And those who have had the more challenging dogs - why do you persevere with competition?

Because I enjoy it and my dogs enjoy it. I know they enjoy training because they both "compete" to see who can make the back of the car fastest and who gets to train first. I know they enjoy competing because they both go nuts when they see me get the trial gear out and they watch me obsessively through the sunroom windows when I get ready on the morning of a trial, just in case they get left behind.

I love learning about training, I love to see stuff come together and I love the challenge of getting the perfect run in either agility or obedience.

I also love catching up with friends at a trial, sitting around and chatting and just generally having fun. I love seeing different parts of the state and country that I might not see otherwise, meeting people I wouldn't normally meet and staying places I wouldn't normally stay.

I love having a reason to get out in the sunshine or the rain and the mud and just do stuff with my dogs. I love having a reason to walk out of my office or away from my job at a decent hour because previously I didn't. I love seeing my dogs have fun at the beach or the lake or wherever we are as part of their fitness training.

I love the compliments they get for their willingness to work and their enthusiam for their job, because above all else that's what really matters to me as a "trainer" - that they love their work. A dropped bar or a missed sit is nothing compared to a dog who enjoys her work. And on the days where we go clear and run the best run we possibly can, well that's pretty addictive and it certainly makes up for days where it doesn't go quite as well as it could've.

[huski]

My girl definitely enjoys working, and doing things with me. She'd probably just be happy to keep going to class regularly, and training with me. Trials are really about the people in that respect, and I guess assessing when the dogs are ready to move up to the next level of training.

I do agree that I think there is a human component that drive competition, obviously the dogs don't care about high scores or coming first etc!

I have a lot of fun with my girl, and we enjoy trying different things; we're abbling in agility, going to give Dances with Dogs a go, and she'll be assessed as a therapy dog later this year. But I'm still nervous about the trial this weekend! Good luck to you, an everyone else who is trialling this weekend too!

EFS

Good luck to you too!!!

[huski]

Because I enjoy it and my dogs enjoy it. I know they enjoy training because they both "compete" to see who can make the back of the car fastest and who gets to train first. I know they enjoy competing because they both go nuts when they see me get the trial gear out and they watch me obsessively through the sunroom windows when I get ready on the morning of a trial, just in case they get left behind.

I love learning about training, I love to see stuff come together and I love the challenge of getting the perfect run in either agility or obedience.

I also love catching up with friends at a trial, sitting around and chatting and just generally having fun. I love seeing different parts of the state and country that I might not see otherwise, meeting people I wouldn't normally meet and staying places I wouldn't normally stay.

I love having a reason to get out in the sunshine or the rain and the mud and just do stuff with my dogs. I love having a reason to walk out of my office or away from my job at a decent hour because previously I didn't. I love seeing my dogs have fun at the beach or the lake or wherever we are as part of their fitness training.

I love the compliments they get for their willingness to work and their enthusiam for their job, because above all else that's what really matters to me as a "trainer" - that they love their work. A dropped bar or a missed sit is nothing compared to a dog who enjoys her work. And on the days where we go clear and run the best run we possibly can, well that's pretty addictive and it certainly makes up for days where it doesn't go quite as well as it could've.

Thanks for your awesome post Jess!! That basically describes why I enjoy trialling.

I recently had someone tell me that my dog looks bored/unhappy to work, because competition is all about the human component. It just made me think, because I look at my dog who when training will jump into heel position and give me 110%, am I doing it for me or her?? Would she be equally as happy lounging around at home? I can't tell from her body language that she is bored (there is NO WAY I could hold her attention if she was bored, she'd just put her nose to the ground!), but it made me think about what drives us to compete and if it really is purely a selfish thing.

[RallyValley]

Not that I really compete much but I think dogs love training, going out, thinking, getting to be social. I think the competitions are a motivation for us to keep training which our dogs love and which builds our bonds. My dog loves the jackpots he gets at competitons and getting out for the day playing with other dogs meeting new people ect. If he is in the right mood he also loves doing agility equipment.

[Seita]

Cos I'm a competitive person and it's a good outlet for me! I love doing stuff with my dogs and I get to have a bit of competition to keep me happy. I know my dog/s would be just as happy being pets who gets a walk each day and love being cuddled etc. My dog LOVES to work but she would be just as happy playing fetch so trialling is all about me and what I want! If I had a dog who didn't like I wouldn't do it with them (I'd just get one who did ). I love that in obedience (and agility etc) you can be competitive but at the same time be supportive of others as it's not just about getting 1st place, it's about doing your best, improving, and of course getting those qually cards!

[Janba]

I only compete in herding with one of my dogs these days. I can't get enthusiastic about obedience any more despite having a dog with 2 passes at CD - its boring. I do love tracking but it interferes with herding.

The dog I herd with lives to work - sheep are his life. I have worked him with a bitch in season and he's ignored her till we finished working. I also really love working with a dogs natural instincts and there is something really special about the partnership of working with a dog doing what he's bred for.

[skip]

I think I may have been bitten by the agility bug. I might be a little bit keener than my dogs. They love training and being with me. They may not want to compet as much as me but I am still learning with them.

I love the way it feels when the dog is focused and the run is smooth and everything is relaxed and easy. I enjoy the social aspect of trialling and most people share a similar interest in dogs and training. I like to meet lots of different dogs as they are all so lovely. (And people :D )

I find a competition gives me more incentive to train and improve. I want my dogs to enjoy agility and I am learning more about motivation and handling. I just happen to enjoy competing as it measures how much we are improving/learning. BUt doing well means nothing unless my dogs are happy too.

I am considering getting another dog soon as I am unsure if my dogs are comfortable going much higher in agility. I would still train them even if they don't trail as they love the time spent with them.

[TerraNik]

I love trialling and Jedi loves it! He knows when we are at a trial and he is usually bursting at the seams to get into the ring (and tells me so even after we're done that we should go back in for a second time!) The enthusiasm he shows when he's working with me is what gives me most of my enjoyment. That goes for Soaks, too. I'm a competitive person, which probably adds to why I love trialling, but at the end of the day I just love having a day out with the dogs and being around like-minded friends.

Do I think Jed would be happy just hanging out? I don't think so. He's at his happiest when we are doing dog sports, whether that be training or in the ring.

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

Not that I really compete much but I think dogs love training, going out, thinking, getting to be social. I think the competitions are a motivation for us to keep training which our dogs love and which builds our bonds. My dog loves the jackpots he gets at competitons and getting out for the day playing with other dogs meeting new people ect. If he is in the right mood he also loves doing agility equipment. :D

CBR has summed it up for me, I think - our dogs love the work and the outings, competitions are really just about motivating us to keep at it!

[jesomil]

The dogs couldnt care less whether we trialled or not but it gives me something to work towards plus I am a bit competitive so like trying to do the best I can against others. Its fun getting to train the dogs with a goal in mind like titles.

The dogs love working but probably wonder why sometimes I turn into a nervous shaking mess (when we trial :D ).

ETA I persevered with a challenging dog in the past just to prove a point. It wasnt something all that enjoyable because it was such hard work but i wanted to prove it could be done. The dog enjoyed it though.

Edited August 27, 2010 by jesomil

[Kavik]

Jess summed it up so well!

I love learning about how to train the obstacles and how to improve our performance and the different handling involved.

I love seeing my dog's confidence and mine improve with each competition we do.

I love seeing how our training measures up in competition - the challenge of trying to get it right on the day the first time, and seeing how we go in comparison to others.

I am getting better at dealing with my competition nerves :D and that is good for me.

I love the social side, seeing and cheering on my friends and watching some AWESOME runs and dogs.

It is great that our hard work is now paying off and it is rewarding when I get compliments about my dog's performance.

My dog, being a working breed, loves to do any kind of work, he would certainly much rather be training or competing than on the couch (though he is happy to do that at the end of the day afterwards!)

[poodlefan]

I do it for the titles, to have a goal to focus training on, to have a purpose for all the effort I put into my dogs husbandry and to enjoy the company of fellow dog tragics at events. I enjoy watching others compete, love a good run no matter whose dog does it and in the case of dog shows love meeting and learning about new breeds.

My dogs seem to enjoy their days out and it sure beats leaving them in the backyard from their perspective.

Edited August 27, 2010 by poodlefan

[J...]

Thanks for your awesome post Jess!! That basically describes why I enjoy trialling.

I recently had someone tell me that my dog looks bored/unhappy to work, because competition is all about the human component. It just made me think, because I look at my dog who when training will jump into heel position and give me 110%, am I doing it for me or her?? Would she be equally as happy lounging around at home? I can't tell from her body language that she is bored (there is NO WAY I could hold her attention if she was bored, she'd just put her nose to the ground!), but it made me think about what drives us to compete and if it really is purely a selfish thing.

:D No worries.

The competition might be all about the human side but being a much loved pet who gets to compete has it's benefits for the dogs too.

In the end the dogs attitude tells the story and I've never seen Daisy look bored or unhappy on any of the videos you've posted.

Sadly there is dogs out there who do look bored and unhappy while working but you can't tar everyone with that brush.

[kelpiechick]

Oops, deleted.

Edited August 29, 2010 by kelpiechick

[huski]

:D No worries.

The competition might be all about the human side but being a much loved pet who gets to compete has it's benefits for the dogs too.

In the end the dogs attitude tells the story and I've never seen Daisy look bored or unhappy on any of the videos you've posted.

Sadly there is dogs out there who do look bored and unhappy while working but you can't tar everyone with that brush.

Thanks Jess. I don't see her as bored myself but found the idea of 'why do we do it' interesting none the less.

I agree I see dogs who look bored and disinterested working. Sometimes I wonder why the owner preserves when it's clear the dog is not enjoying it - or at least considers that their methods aren't working. For me part of what I enjoy about obedience is finding ways to make it awesome fun and super motivating for my dog.

Edited August 28, 2010 by huski

[pie]

I have a special one I started competing because it was the logical next step really, he was doing well at training but we were in a rut so it was time to take the next step and start trialling. It was terrifying at first for both me and him, he is a super nervous dog and small things can shut him down, sometimes I have seriously thought about not continuing to trial him after a particularly bad trial but then we have a good trial and he has a great day and it makes me rethink.

At the moment he goes okay at our regular training grounds where most of our trials are but doesn't cope well at 'away' trials, we have a plan to work on that!

I know it's me that pushes him a bit far sometimes and people on the sidelines probably watch and think he is one of those dogs that just shouldn't be out there but he LOVES training and he does get a bit better with each trial his confidence improves for the most part. It really is a rollercoaster sometimes! We've been trialling for less than 6 months and it's still a process of trying to figure out what works and what doesn't!

We only have one title so far (JD) but we are over halfway to JDX and just one pesky pass off AD and even though Kyzer doesn't know what that means I do, it means that against the odds we have managed to pull through and achieve something which at times seemed impossible Which just makes me appreciate him that little bit more.

[Mas1981]

I am not competing at trials yet only doing club competitions as my dog is not ready - I guess I want to compete because it gives me something to focus on working towards, I think my dog quite likes to work and do what I ask of him - when I watch the videos he looks quite happy to trot along beside me

[RubyStar]

I compete for me. I've finally found something in my life I am passionate about, that I enjoy immensely, and gives me something to do and aim for. My dogs enjoy training, they can't stand when it's not their turn! My dogs are also happy in the ring (obedience). Some days Ruby is away with the fairies, but she is still out there enjoying herself. The day that my dogs don't jump around wanting it to be their turn to train, is the day I won't ask them to anymore. They also are really enjoying agility, but we are a while off competing in that one. I will compete in agility too when the time is right because I'm competitive and aiming for those titles gives me some purpose Otherwise I'd be sitting at home with nothing else to do! And I wouldn't have made all the new friends I have if it weren't for trialling