What do you dislike or not understand?

This thread is for you to post your dislikes of a certain dog activity i.e. showing/agility/htm/flyball...anything really, but tell us why you don't like it, if there's something about it you don't understand then please ask, don't just say I don't like it because it's cruel to the dogs, please give us some relevent information to prove your point.

There have been too many threads with people jumping to conclusions about peoples hobbies involving their dogs, without the proper information to back that up..and that just results in arguments and ill feeling. There are at least two threads like this at the moment, this is a friendly site, we all love our dogs, and it grieves me that a few ill chosen words can make people feel hate towards each other.

I'll start the ball rolling as I cannot get my head around HTM, I can see that the dogs enjoy it, well I'm assuming they do by the waggy tails and the barking...but what makes a person want to do that? Where do you start? How do you know if your dog is any good at it? Is it good for the dog or does it hurt them...I mean, surely some of those steps are not natural

The other thing is flyball...that looks a bit dangerous to me...I'm sure those that take part enjoy it and can enlighten those of us who know nothing about it

Good one Scorpio!

HTM--well the heelwork is the same as obedience but much looser and involves different positions of the dog in realation to you, so more or less as 'natural' as any dog activity.

Weaving through legs---I have taught that for years just for fun, spins----natural to some collies . Begs, roll overs etc, lots of dogs do those naturally. Personally I haven't taught a beg to a dog that doesn't do it on its own, play bows pretty natural for most dogs. Jumping ---some do it a lot naturally.

I think all those things are just normal behaviours put on cue and refined.

The real sticking point is the hind leg work. As I said in another thread I don't like it in excess. Etta will do a short balance and does to look out of windows or over the hedging, Champa lives on his hind legs and at the age of 12 still does jump up me a lot and can balance for a few seconds if he needs to.

Dogs never wear costumes, only decorated collars and I rarely go there. Some handler costumes I find OTT but you lose marks for no attempt at a costume. I think the music should be appropriate to the age/looks of the handler----but that is a personal view and any judging at all is often subjective even from the judges seat!

I discovered it at about the same time as I rediscovered weekends due to foot and mouth knocking agility on the head. It was great to train in the warm with cups of tea and the music makes it more fun. Apparently (according to a psychologist) because you are using both sides of the brain it is more satisfying than just using the logical training the dog side.

It is the hardest thing I have trained and in order to succeed you really do have to train more or less every day, the bar in competitions is getting higher every year.

That do you?

rune

I love HTM. It`s one of the few activities I can do with Daisy. It teaches her responsiveness, makes her feel good (lots of rewards) and for an intelligent dog with a low boredom threshold is the ideal game.

I can`t stand weight pulling. I think it`s bad for the dog physically and is an activity where the dog is set up to fail. (Weight is increased till dog can`t move it).

this is a personal view. If you love weight pulling tell us why

Brilliant thank you...I've never read anything about it from the heart and I can totally understand why it would appeal to owners, particularly those that enjoy the challenge of training for obedience. I expect it would take a certain kind of temperament for the dog too...one with a short attention span would possibly not be right for this?

I agree about some of the costumes

Thanks Claire...will be interesting to see about the weight pulling

Good thread Let's hope it stays constructive & informative!

It's interesting that both Rune & Claire have answered along the lines of "I like HWTM because my dogs love it"! Nothing to do with whether they personally enjoy it, but more to do with whether it provides mental stimulation & appropriate physical exercise in the interests of their dogs' welfare

I like all activities with dogs that the dogs like . I think things like obedience training & HWTM can be great activites & great fun if taught using pos reinforcement, to dogs that respond eagerly & happily & that the dogs aren't asked to do anything that could physically harm them.

I don't like flyball as I feel that it encourages the sort of OCD behaviours that BCs can be prone to, & that repetitive, energetic physical exercise such as flyball, can put undue stress on the dog's body if carried out for too long & too often.

I don't like showing because I really struggle to see what's in it for the dog.

I tend to like activities that engage the dog's innate & natural behaviours in ways that they are supposed to be used, without doing harm to the dog or others, & taught using reward-based methods ~ that's it in a nutshell really.

Thanks for that Wilbar

From the showing point of view I can answer that one...Henry, and my other dogs before him, have always loved attention, if we are out walking and someone stops to chat he will often stand and wait to be touched, when I get up in the morning he puts himself into the stand position, I kiss his head and run my hands over his body..he adores the attention and his tail doesn't stop wagging when we are in the ring and especially when the judge approaches him and gives him his fix. When we run round the ring you can almost hear him calling out "look at me everybody", he is so full of himself

He meets up with his friends, other dogs that we know are not going to attack him, and their owners...we all know each other and fuss each others dogs...they love the attention.

Henry also loves the car so any opportunity, even just to go to the post office, he's in the car like a shot, so the travelling to shows just adds to his enjoyment

I have no problem with any activity with dogs, as long as the dog and owner enjoys it.

P.S what I dotn understand, is why peopel like to dress up in Lycra and sequins?? , and that can be seem in the show world to LOL!!

I personally feel that any activity an owner does with their dogs is great as long as the dog enjoys it (important point), surely spending time and energy on your best friend is always positive.

Cant really get my head round why anyone has a problem with this, no-one is forcing anyone to take part in anything. Vive la difference!!

Lovely thread, great to see a positive exchange of opinions

I like the explanation of anything that is natural to the dog and doesn't put them in unnatural positions and is taught kindly.

I like agility, not tried it with my dog, but I like it because it encourages team work and co operation. I don't mind HTM to a point, but it's not my cup of tea really.

I don't mind obedience, I like the positive examples I've seen, but I don't like how specific everything has to be when it's at the high levels. I understand why, I just wouldn't want to spend time teaching things that specifically. But I respect the people that do enjoy it, and their dogs of course who work hard together, it's great from that point of view.