Can A Dog Cope With More Then One Thing

[SwaY]

Tonight I had a brief chat on can a dog HANDLE more then one "sport" at a time?

Be it show, flyball, agility, obedience etc

I thought you would teach a dog one thing, get it to a good/great level, then maybe move onto the next.

They said they do 3-4 things. I asked if the dog gets confused at times, they said yes.

(this was obvious to me, just with some simple stuff they requested)

Do you do more then one "sport" at a time with your dog? ( example you train for agility and flyball or obedience and flyball or agility and show etc. )

And if so why?

If not why?

My thoughts, I would like to be good/great at one thing, before we introduced another.

Id rather be great at one thing, then sub-standard at 3-4 things.

Hope that makes sense

ETA spelling

Edited May 1, 2007 by SwaY

[wheres my rock]

i used to do agility obedience and retrieving at once never had a confused dog each complimants the other in many ways if trined right and well

Now i just do obedience and agility am teaching both at once dont have probs with cnfusion its all just trianng why do i do both at once because i like teaching both so why not at the moment we are working on heeling stay positions tunnel and seesaw

much of the foundations for both focus targetting working at a distnce moving ahead of me are neded for both anyway

[bridgie_cat]

we do obedience and agility & limited herding (oh I wish we could do more!) and because each is so different she doesnt seem confused at all... although other dogs at our school have probs going from agility to obedience and vice versa (as in get good at one then start another) because they understand the rules of one so well that they take these into the other area...

also one person cant get their dog to stand next to them after teaching them to stack in front for showing...

[Tim Fairchild]

You can do as much as you want if you put in enough time.

It's easier to do one thing.

[The Spotted Devil]

I've always combined agility and obedience with no problem. I'm working on conformation showing at the moment, but won't start doing formal obedience and agility until Ziggy is more mature...both physically AND mentally

I think dogs can understand the context of a behaviour....my dearly departed Australian Cattle Dog was sedate in obedience (probably a bit bored!), hyperactive in agility and completely nuts for her tricks routine. I've found that having a special show lead has really helped Ziggy distinguish between a casual stroll and no sniffing and lots of concentration required. Perhaps it depends on the dog and the owner....it's hard to keep one step ahead of Zig so I think multiple disciplines will suit him perfectly!

[Cosmolo]

We do obedience and agility with Cosmo atm and am getting her back into some scent detection, teaching her to do room searches etc. I think it depends on the dog as to how much you can do at once. When Cosmo was 8 weeks to 6 months old, she was doing scent detection, assistance dog exercises, basic no/ low impact agility and obedience (advanced) simultaneously. But just because she could do it, doesn't mean that my other dogs could have or future dogs will be able to. So it depends on the dog!

[TigerJack]

I do think some dogs area ble to contextualise and know what the job is. I do both Flyball and herding with my Kelpie and I have found that the herding has been of enormous help to her flyball. Improving at herding has given us a much stronger relationship and better focus and her flyball improved exponentially as the herding improved.

She knows they are different tasks and loves them both. She is revved and excited at flyball and barks alot but she is now very focussed on the job and doesn't stuff up much at all anymore.

She is calmer at herding but still very excited about it, she only barks when asked to do so. She knows she cannot work the sheep without doing it on my terms so she is calm and references me now. I think both sports would have taken longer if done alone.

I do not do agility so cannot comment apart from saying that it appears some agility body language is the opposite of herding signals we give our dogs so that would have to be considered.

My dog is far more focussed on me and far more obedient at flyball for havin done all the work at herding. She loves them both.

Jo

[leopuppy04]

I do obedience, agility, herding and showing.

My dogs never get confused between obedience and agility - after all agility is just another form of 'obedience' as is showing (IMO)

The problem is the time constraints and finding enough time to properly train the dog to the top level in each sport.

My dogs learn a variety of tricks including free shaping which many people say stuffs up your obedience and agility (coz you are asking the dog to think for itself and be 'creative') - there is definately no confusion there. In a drop stay my dog doesn't start to walk back, wave, bark and play dead.... they can define each activity. When i'm heeling the dog doesn't start weaving between my legs etc,etc.

The only reason I have 'difficulty' with showing (and I don't really think I do) is from my lack of 'training' the behaviour as well as me being a complete dimwit at it - I can't seem to present my dog properly

Herding I really can't say because I haven't done it that often - but I can vouch that if sheep are there and I ask my dog to do some obedience they will - they can switch from one to the other easily. Herding is also hard coz it depends on the level of instinct the individual dog has

ETA - I think it would be hard to excel at every sport if you attempted to do them all at once..... I have it made in my mind that I want to excel in obedience and agility.... so I concentrate more on these. I also actually find that the earlier you start training both and training both simultaneously works to your advantage. I had to do a bit of training to get Leo comfortable about working on my right side and ahead of me. But once we got that sorted he has been great - true versatility.

Edited May 1, 2007 by leopuppy04

[helen]

Bella did obedience and agility at the same time for a while.

Chazer is now learning tracking and agility at the same time with no problems

[SwaY]

The problem is the time constraints and finding enough time to properly train the dog to the top level in each sport.

ETA - I think it would be hard to excel at every sport if you attempted to do them all at once.....

Iv'e taken that part out, thats how i see it aswell.

This lady when i suggest she concentrate on one things (she asked for advice)

And get it to a good/great level etc, she didn't seem to understand what i was getting at.

Oh we do so much, we can't possibly be good at all of them. Yes she did say that

Iv'e only met her once, this was a 5min conversation so i could be wrong

[leopuppy04]

with me - I think that out of my 4 sports, I could only concentrate on getting 2 really good.

Herding is not a top priority for me, so I only go when I can

Obedience takes priority over agility atm as I'm concentrating on Leo's CD - when we have that, agility will take priority..... but I feel that I can successfully train both to a high standard in 2 dogs.... not more

but that is me and how it fits in to my time constraints.

Also - when I prioritise, I mean about the trials that I enter

[wheres my rock]

its not so much that you need to concentrate on one thing to get it perfect but you need to make sure everything you teach you teach to the best you can so you can pursue two sports but you dont then take a half arsed attidue to both

You'll most likely find the same person wouldnt do any better even if they foccused on one because it isnt the amount of area you trian in its how well you train each area

[SwaY]

it isnt the amount of area you trian in its how well you train each area

Good point!

[Sayreovi]

I train in Flyball, agility, obedience and showing. Plus i dabble in retrieving with Darcy.

The boys have no problem telling them apart, i use different equipment and commands for each. Ive found that each sport has helped the other immensly.

There is no way that i will become successful in retrieving if i continue the other sports as that takes up alot of time and training, which is why i dabble until he is going well in the other sports that i can concentrate on it.

[MrsD]

I've been told I should only do herding with Jarrah (because he is working so well & has alot of potential) & that I shouldnt be stuffing him up by doing obedience with him .

Im not sure if I'm ready to give up obedience with him though .

[wheres my rock]

i havent relly delved into herding but cant see how it would stuff him up look at judys sheltie thast an oc and has i think three or four herding titles now

[dasha]

I personally feel that dogs adapt to the situtation they are in and act accordingly.

I do 3 sheep training, agility and a bit of obedience with the dogs and they don't get confused at all.

I think give them credit for the brains they have.

I don't think it is any different to going to school. In 1 day we used to do Maths, English, Science, Ag etc and don't remember my maths getting me confused with my english classes. :D

Edited May 2, 2007 by dasha

[shoemonster]

You'll most likely find the same person wouldnt do any better even if they foccused on one because it isnt the amount of area you trian in its how well you train each area

I think this is a big part of it, it really depends on the clarity of the person teaching the dog and if they themselves get confused with it

[MrsD]

i havent relly delved into herding but cant see how it would stuff him up look at judys sheltie thast an oc and has i think three or four herding titles now

I think the problem is that obedience (working close to you, the same way as you move) tends to override the dogs natural herding instinct (working away from you, moving the opposite way to you ie balancing), so doing both at the same time could possibly confuse the dog. I think their comments weren't necessarily not to do obedience at all, more not to do it at the same time as the herding :D .

ETA - different breeds have different herding styles too, the kelpie style isnt really the same as a sheltie or GSD or BSD for example. I think the kelpie style is less conducive to obedience than many other herding breeds.

Edited May 3, 2007 by MrsD

[leopuppy04]

i havent relly delved into herding but cant see how it would stuff him up look at judys sheltie thast an oc and has i think three or four herding titles now

I think the problem is that obedience (working close to you, the same way as you move) tends to override the dogs natural herding instinct (working away from you, moving the opposite way to you ie balancing), so doing both at the same time could possibly confuse the dog. I think their comments weren't necessarily not to do obedience at all, more not to do it at the same time as the herding :D .

True - but wouldn't that be the same for agility too - working away from you?

I was told the same thing with Kinta - to stop all else and just do herding with her... .

I agree with you to a certian extent - yes, it does make it *initially* more difficult on the dog as they are now expected to think for themselves rather than wait on you for direction (to a degree). I think this is what they find hard - Leo has done heaps of obed, has no problems 'chasing' the sheep, but has difficulty when we ask him to 'do' something with the sheep as he is uncertian and *wants* direction.

But I think that once we overcome that hurdle, any obedience dog can also be a herding dog. There's also the advantage of the younger they meet the sheep the better

I think sometimes we underestimate the ability of our dogs to work in varying situations. If you can cope, I think the dogs can cope.