I'm no expert on dog signals so I watch the show as a whole experience & saw the dog didn't chase chickens & the family & dog were happy as an end result. I think CM gets things pretty much right but if you are telling me on this occasion his timing was wrong then I accept that it might of been too.

Yes.

Of course everyone would prefer something good but its not a perfect world.Sometimes you have to know what the consequence will be, especially when it comes to things that could be potentially life threatening. We are responsible to protect our animals & if that involves making them aware of consequence then thats fine by me. Sometimes you have time to take it slowly & let them learn the 'good way'. If that involves rewarding them thats also fine by me too. Every situation is diffferent.

I never knew about calming and stress signals until recently and am only now beginning to understand what they are and what they mean. I'll never probably understand most of it but I can try my best to learn more.

Some are really obvious and it seems that some on this thread are willfully ignoring them (even when pointed out in fine detail that you can't possibly miss it) because it will make them have to face the fact that CM doesn't understand dog behaviour or how to respond to it, which for some one who in on the tv as a dog expert I would have thought a rather essential ability.

the top agility trainers including the world champ use positive training methods
infact at any show i have been at if anyone tried to verbally correct their dog it tends to loose its confidence and knock a few poles down
also any 'heavy handling' like lead corrections, foot taps or even bad shouting are actually banned at shows

hwtm afaik are all positivr

scarter
im sorry the debate got a bit sideways there but the situation i was talking about ben was doing the obsticle, if you didnt understand calming signals it would look like all was well but i could see he wasnt happy

in the situation you mentioned i just keep going
ben gets spooked by new things sometimes, if there is nothing to fear, he hasnt had a bad association with the thing in the past i let him decide to do it hiself
sometimes if its safe i just drop the lead and walk away
ben decides its more rewarding to be with me and so makes the desicion to go himself, and he is so happy and proud of himself when he has been brave and overcome something

i do that cos i know him and how he will deal in the situation

if it isnt just him being startled or spooked by an unexpected thing but an actual real fear then i deal with that in a way best suited to the situation

O God !!

Gnasher's sighing, head in hand.

I don't give a ff whether or not someone should have had the dog walk at competition level. This was a FUN gathering of Northern Inuits, not a pedigree dog show or an Agility Competition.

My dog in common with most other dogs is perfectly capable of tackling an obstacle that appears to be a bit daunting. With my encouragement and a little time, about 15 minutes or so, he completed the task. My only regret is that I had to leave the course because of someone else coming up behind me, so I couldn't get him through the tunnel. I would have succeeded, but it would have taken time.

BTW, the dog was perfectly fine after this traumatic experience !!

My feelings exactly. Great post.

gnasher, not wanting to turn this into a fight but wanted to point this out for anyone else thinking about fun agility

the dogwalk isnt low just so as not to scare the dog, most dogs are pretty happy up there once they figure out its nothing nasty

the reason it should start out low is because it is narrow and dogs have to learn how to place their feet else they can fall off and hurt themselves

it sounds daft but dogs who havent been trained back end awareness tend to forget they have back feet and so can slip, back end first and get badly injured

its the same with the a frame, the dogs can get so excited to get over it if they are not taught how to do it correctly they can take flying jumps from near the top

agility is great fun for both you and your dog, but it has to be controled else it is not safe, and it is v wrong to just let people and dogs have a go with no help
someone should have came round with you to show you how to get the best out of the obsticles

That's a great post Scarter ... I would defo do what your hubbie did. With both Hal and now Tai, any whiff of fear, angst, concern or worry from me, and they were both onto it. Especially with Tai, he picks up on me being anxious when we meet his bete noire in the pub ... the dreaded black labrador !! Although I was being so careful not to display my feelings, Tai must have sensed the slight tensing of the lead, and my body, because he would start barking at this poor dog every time - it was so embarrassing. When I started to completely ignore the lab, keep striding forward positively, relaxed body posture and lead, Tai totally ignored him. Whilst OH was waiting with Tai at the bar to be served, I handed him the lead and went across to say hello to the black lab, who is a lovely boy. Tai barked, so I shot back to him and said Oi in my best CM voice. He immediately sat down and I went back to the lab. Tai just laid down with his back to the lab and ignored him.

No prong collars, no alpha rolls, no stringing up.

What I did with Tai is the basic technique that CM preaches ... calm, assertive energy, no saying the dog's name, me as boss conveying this message to both dogs, not just Tai. The black lab isn't perfect, he has been known to be very bad mannered too, but not any more. he knows that with me I will not tolerate him jumping up to say hello, or nearly knocking me over when I pass over the water bowl to him.

Good point about the red zoners, Labman ... thankfully. I think actually these are more of a problem in the States than here, because of the way they tend to treat their dogs ... leaving them alone all day in the "back yard" with many of them never been exercised, but left to exercise themselves in these large gardens.

Im at work and dipping in and out, so apols in advance for any offence I may have caused!

looks like another question/point on this thread im gonna have to chalk up to 'a non reply equals a strike out'.

im chalking up a record here