Lablover Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Tonight on the way home from dinner I decided to swing by, my old obedience club. The memories came flooding back as I parked my car. The evening was mild so I sat and watched the various classes. I am still shaking my head. All those big classes, going round and round in aimless circles. People jerking their dogs around, no focus from their dogs, instructors telling the owners to yell commands to their dogs, and at question time everyone expecting their dogs to sit like well trained soldiers. Please learner handlers, at the very least, make sure you have time out with your dog at question time. Squat down and relax the both of you. I must be getting old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Here here, i was at training last Saturday and the amount of people who took it way to seriously was overwhelming. During question time in obedience because i have trained Darcy to a higher level then the one i am in (i havent gone to a testing day in about 3 months ) i play with him, get him to do his favourite exercises or just throw something so he can fetch it. Then there are others who yell at their puppies to sit when they dont really know what sit means yet in close range to other dogs yeah right I just wish everyone would read your post and have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 I wish I had access to training that was fun!! The only one here (that I have been able to find) is very old fashioned and just as you described. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Training is only as fun as you make it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Have more fun, relax, and not expect too much from them! And have a good sense of humour and be able to laugh when your dog decides to lick the examiner in the stand for exam! I now practice small, short exercises and try to improve them. I want to trial but I want to have fun too! I'm trying to learn as much as I can about any methods that will be fun and improve our performance. Have to admit the spitting food has really done wonders for our heeling! Although all this is much easier now that the dog I take to classes is dog friendly . . . Even with Zoe, the plan was to keep her attention and make it fun, so we did a lot of tricks if we had to wait (unfortunately hard to have down time with her in class). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Training is only as fun as you make it True - I'm always saying things like that to my daughter. Unfortunately however I took her with me and we "started" out together at Kennel Club training here. I had done training previously in Sydney but she'd never had hands-on experience herself. I thought it would be a good bonding thing (she is 12 after all ). Anyway - the lady who ran her class would yell at her if she did something "wrong" and point out to the class what she was doing wrong. She was horrible! End result was that my daughter doesn't want anything to do with training now so I suppose I should have said trainers that are fun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Thats basically what i say to myself everytime i go training so its good to live by. I would have told that lady where to go if she said something like that to my sister/daughter but thats just me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cloverfdch Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Our classes mainly used to be like that, but now that most of our instructors have done some positive training classes they are alot better . We did have fun on Sunday (Despitye the instructor), Elvis and 3 other dogs bombed out on going up to the next level but oh well next time maybe. Our class was very up beat and because of the rule changes next year (Victoria, Obedience trials) we worked on some new exercises. Our instructor is one of the few that did not take the positive training classes though, so he is still telling us to yank our dogs around, my reply always is the same "I would rather not, i prefer positive training" , that shuts him up pretty quickly, also he does not like people to use food . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawsaroundoz Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Lablover You getting old? I don't think so! (coz that makes me ancient!! ) I went along to an obediance club when i got up here - first time I have been training for awhile at a Club....I was horrified at how not fun it was for either my dog or me...I didn't go back, even though I had gone and joined before I went into class!! The Class has to be fun, the person taking the class has to be fun - a good teacher, some one you can approach and ask questions of. No good teacher ever makes anyone feel small or silly. Trouble is most Instructors get to be an Instructor because they have got a dog too a certain level, they have often never had any training on how to train people! My most fervant wish is that dog clubs would loosen up and forget all the trail stuff - teach people how to interact and have FUN with their dogs, the 'right about turn' stuff can come much later, if someone decides to go on to trialling. I learnt my best stuff - 'reading my dog' having fun and enjoying just playing games with my dogs from a wonderfull lady in Adelaide, Mary Mutch. Annie and Carlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopenfox Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 The club I go to now is still exactly the same as it was 11 years ago when I first went...check-chains, long, boring routines and long, boring lectures. Even the instructors are the same! One thing that's changed; flat collars, treats and toys were outlawed then. They are only frowned upon now. Most of the instructors haven't trained their own dogs for years either! Since I knew nothing at the beginning, I started off with check-chains and now use only motivational clicker training. The difference is amazing. Why would anyone aware of reward based training ever want to continue with 'correct and punnish' training? I'll soon be starting up a clicker training class so maybe I'll be able to slowly lure members away from the other classes and put the old instructors out of a job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogibear Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 I dont trian at clubs anymore i guess i out grew them lol. We were having a discussion similar to this the other day about the amount of pressure poepl put on pups its like the they ae sponges comment has gone haywire and people are forgetting to let them be pups and let them have lots of fun doing it. One person i spoke to recently was complaining of their dogs temprement saying he just isnt interested in obedience he is 1 and all the time he was watching me play with a atuggy with my pup and looked desperate for a game funny i have never seen this guy play with his dog talk about serious yb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helen Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Beautifully put Carlin's mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairo1 Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Hi There Lablover and the other respondents! An interesting topic and one that I have thought about recently too! Many years ago I was proud to be a club member but soon learned that I could have more fun in the army!! I knew little about dog training other than what I had read but I just knew that this wasn't what I wanted. . . Along with the rest of them and yanked, jerked and yelled commands for a short time before leaving. I was so disappointed that there were no other options and I was even more distressed that the clubs were so 'stuck in their ways'. Not long before I left I discovered FOOD!! That made training much more fun but of course it wasn't allowed on the training field. So I trained with a few keen friends, read a lot more and joined various training groups on the internet. I learned all about clicker training and started to attend seminars in Victoria and from there a whole new world opened up. No, I will never join a club of that nature again. I prefer to surround myself with like-minded people who are forward thinking and consider other options in training. Training should be fun - it is after all a hobby for most of us!! Just my thoughts Cheerio Cairo1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelpie-i Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 My first two dogs were mainly trained using mainly compulsion, no food rewards, just pats and praise - one by a private in-home trainer the other at a club. I knew no better other than to accepted the methods that were being taught by the instructors at that time. The results...dogs who were obedience but worked very robotically, with minimal focus and who generally looked as though they were not having a very good time. This was many years ago of course! Nowadays, it's a totally different story! The classes at our school are full of motivational fun, food rewards and even games. The instructors are having a ball as well as the dogs and owners. You can tell by the constant wagging of tails, prancing as they heel and the smiles on their faces. Of course, there are the normal "static" exercises that need to be practiced, but we quickly move onto other things and keep the classes interesting. Fortunately, more and more clubs and schools these days are adopting more motivational techniques and rightly so. I feel sorry for those who are stuck in the dark old days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 I trained my boxer with the choker tug and let go method, I trained Kim the same way then I went to some classes with a police dog handler which was no tug and let go but lots of tasty morsels. It took me a long time to get co ordinated but it is a much better way and Elka and I are about to have food obedience lessons. She loves food so this should be a breeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAX Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 I used to train a life time ago and have been out of it for years. When i got my dog (now two) i got back into it big time. I was very lucky that i got the opportunity to go to a trainer that introduced me to toys and working with drives. I am also prepared to drive hours to go to other seminars to learn more. I find it really hard to go to my club now, they have only just introduced food lureing and frown at toys, clickers and play in training. The president told me she hates tug......WhatThe, they think it is disruptive to the class. It makes it hard because i feel like going to club is teaching my dog to be disinterested and i want to teach him heeling is great and great things happen when we heel..........anyways I just do what is the right thing for my dog and feel sorry for the other dogs, luckily they have never known a better way. I would like to go to the club for group stays and probably will but thats about it. Luckily i am confident enough now in my training to say no to club methods and group heeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawsaroundoz Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Hi All Seems a lot of us share the same ideas! great minds.... Perhaps we will just have to start up some dog fun classes, as opposed to the dog obedience classes we have almost all had bad experiances at!...DoL Dog Fun!! Informal, for friends and other people who show some interest in having great well behaved happy friendly dogs and all working together to help each other....hey that would be worth doing, worth being a part of!! :p ;) Annie and Carlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-j Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Informal, for friends and other people who show some interest in having great well behaved happy friendly dogs and all working together to help each other....hey that would be worth doing, worth being a part of!! That sounds like a great idea. What sort of things would you think you would like in the class? LL: You're not getting old, you just have hindsight. cheers M-J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lablover Posted July 29, 2005 Author Share Posted July 29, 2005 NOW!!! there's an idea. Why don't we organise a day or weekend get together and swap ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogibear Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 I have tried to organise a few days like this where people get together to swap ideas help with distractions and generally have a bit of fun Years ago a few of us used to go to a aclub together and we would all go in the ring at once it was a lot of fun someone could be sending their dog to the box at the same time as someone doing a retrive over the high jump and another doing a recall across the ring we would do scent discrim with two sets of articles and two dogs things like that it was fun we chatted and called out to each other to watch out laughed and swapped ideas God i miss that bunch yb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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