Obedience And Showing?

[LisaCC]

I've been watching lots of videos of obedience trials lately (2 weeks holidays with nothing to do ) and noticed that when heeling all the really good dogs are focused so intently on the owner with their head up.

I've also been to a few dogs shows lately and noticed the opposite, head down etc, Im guessing to show top line and gait.

This got me wondering, does anyone do both obedience trails and shows with their dog/s, and if so do you have to train them to heel without the focus for shows?

[becks]

you don't teach them to heel for shows, you want the dog moving out away from you, preferably on a loose lead.

Dogs know which sport they are doing and work accordingly, plenty of dogs doing show and obedience. I personally don;t like the head wrapped around my leg with dog looking up at me position which is getting more popular now.

[DobieMum]

They also know the difference in collars too. I do showing and agility and wear 2 completely different collars and he refuses to show if he's on the agility collar.

[biker girl]

LisaCC, you will find that quite a few of us on this forum not only "do" showing and obedience but retrieving, agility, dancing with dogs, heel work to music,herding and even sledding with their "show dogs"

For me I do showing, obedience and sometimes a bit of agility and I find that even though I don't use different collars and leads, for my dogs it's the different way I hold the leash both on the dog and in my hand.

When I show the leash is in my left hand and I hold it up about chest height and quite forward................I show Gsds........... when I do obedience though the leash is still in my left hand, my left hand is placed on my left hip and that's where is stays unless I am giving hand commands.

Hope that helps

[LisaCC]

Thanks for your answers.

Biker girl thats how I supposed it would work.

When I did obedience with my lab (never to trial though) he got in the habit of focusing on me even during a relaxed walk.

Becks, If the head wrapped around look is more popular, would the dog be marked down for not doing that? I do agree that in some of the videos I was watching, especially the Crufts trials, the dogs head seemed to be so tight in front of the handlers leg that it seemed to be getting a bit in the way. I know I would find that annoying.

Edited December 1, 2012 by LisaCC

[Jumabaar]

I started off teaching my girl to gait for the show ring and separately reinforcing the heel position with her giving me focus. When it came to moving from the static heel position I did find she was a little confused but I made sure to keep it to just a few steps at a much slower pace than I gate her at to try and get her to understand it was a new trick.

There was a fair amount of time where she would forge ahead but she has finally got the hang of it- once I taught her to do a left about turn of all things which made it click as we only ever do right about turns in the show ring . So now we start heeling by doing some circles to the left before we do straight lines

Edited December 1, 2012 by Jumabaar

[HeroeswitBSD]

I have been teaching my Belgian Shepherd puppy heeling and obedience work like we do at the club; for the show ring I am holding the lead higher then for obedience and having her moving out away from me. It seems to be working so far and I will be working through any issues as they appear.

[Starkehre]

I do showing and obedience plus herding and agility. Some dogs I have taught to show gait prior to heeling and visa versa for others.

In training or showing if my dog looks at me whilst gaiting (happens occasionally) I calmly say "leave" they seem to cotton of very quickly. I train a different commands for the dog to watch my face, watch my hand and watch straight in front of them. I sometimes also train with another dog in front which encourages them to forge forward and gait in drive. My command for show gaiting is "go" They very quickly learn the difference in lead pressure, handler body language, clothing, venue etc. For all breeds I want my dog ever so slightly in front with my lead being constantly tort. It is amazing that even the slightest differences in handlers the dogs are incredibly aware of when we alter disciplines.

I also have the differences between all breeds and specialty showing to contend with. Not major but definitely additional training. I hold the leash differently and it is a different leash and collar than all breeds plus the dog gaits faster and for a longer period of time at specialty. And then there is clowns corner (double handling) and the is forgiven for a more natural free stack.

In obedience my leash is very loose or non existent. We teach focus before we do any heeling work.

All the difference required behaviours and movements are just broken down into small exercises, not really any different to training anything.

It is similar to how some people don't believe you do tracking and herding because if there are sheep or cattle in a paddock the dogs will automatically herd them. When tracking, the dog knows it is tracking. You train it to remain focused on the task at hand.

In addition, there is the relaxed walk. My youngster is just getting this one down pat now. That one is normally easily taught, but with heeling, specialty and all breeds gaiting and specialty clowns corner it can slow the proofing down a bit. Getting the youngsters to understand pulling hard is very desirable in some instances and not others takes a little longer, but still all possible. You see a lot of it in our breed with specialty/obedience dogs and most manage this really well.

Edited December 18, 2012 by dyzney

[HugL]

I do showing and obedience with my GSD.

Show work begins with placing the collar high on the neck and using the word "showing". My body is lighter and more open.

Obedience has the collar lower and I use "Working". My body is more closed and military. However, I can bounce around when he's cottoned on to which we are doing.

I can use the same lead & collar for both.

He also goes into a nursing home regularly and I have no formal commands to let him know, he just gets that one.

[BC4ME]

I show, do obedience and DWD with my dogs.

They know what to do by what commands I give them ie, 'Close' is for obedience heelwork and 'Off You Go' is for running out front for showing and of course the other million commands for DWD are a great way to keep your dog engaged whilst in the ring.

When the other dogs are being judged throw in a twist or twirl and it keeps them animated and focused.