Not going to training club tonight with Zena

I've been sitting here um'ing and arr'ing about whether or not to go to club tonight after the incident two weeks ago and prior to that, because I now have her back on form, no sign of fear with anybody, no barking at anybody, getting in the car on our own without giving me a suspiscious look, total focus back on me, etc. etc.

It has taken me the whole two weeks almost to get her back on track, and her training here with me is spot on, so I decided to ring my breeder and see what she thought. When I told her what I'd been up to and how Zena has been, she agrees with me and said to leave it alone for a few months and then maybe go in the big class further on down the line. I then mentioned about working trials and she thinks this would be a brilliant idea because of course all sheps love tracking, and personally I feel this is the wtg with this dog, she would just love it instead of getting bored to death of it like she is with my current foundation class. We've already done it all once you see with the puppy class, so basically I'm doing it all over again and Zena's too smart for that, plus of course, that little incident with the trainer made her very stressed, and I would never have forgiven myself if I'd have walked through that door tonight and she hid under the chair again all night and I'd have spent another two weeks bringing her back to normality!

I'm wondering what the criteria is for these working trials please. Does the dog have to be a certain age? Does the dog have to be up to a certain standard of training, or would I get away with just an obedient dog as Zena is? Anyone know of anything good in the South East UK, preferrably West Sussex? Definitely my wtg and I'd enjoy it too watching HER enjoy herself!

The basic level of WT is CD(Companion Dog).

A dog needs to be at least 18 months old & to be at a good Class A standard of obedience-ie can work without commands in heelwork, retrieve, scent(search square in CD),out of stays, be able to jump a long jump, hurdle & scale 6 foot vertical jump.

I would never trial a dog without the dog being hip scored & I used to do obedience competitions first. Jumping should not even be considered before 12 months of age(& I always preferred over 18 months)

You can compete in CD @ a championsip trial without the dog aving gained it's CD at Open level, all the other trials you have to qualify at Open level first.

The work doesn't have to be so precise as Obedience, but there are less commands allowed from the outset-hence the dog needing to be upto A Obedience to start competing.

WT societies

You might want to consider VPG(Prev Schutzhund), different from WT & the jumps do not include the scale-instead they have an A frame. The tests are all unified, so no matter where you compete the test will be exactly the same in every respect except the venue !

Thanks for all that valuable info there Dyane. I've found out I have a german shepherd training club in West Sussex, so I'll maybe give her a ring tomorrow. I didn't realise it was quite so advanced tbh, I'm looking more for something a bit fun without having to be of the standard you've put in your first paragraph there She's obviously far too young to do anything near all of that, and I've never let a gsd of mine climb stairs or jump until over 18 months old either, but having said that Zena can jump 6ft high on her own before I can stop her!

I think it's something I'm going to have to research and investigate further, and maybe find another club who does something along these lines included in her further training so that it makes it more fun for her then. This is far too advanced for us to do at the moment then, I thought maybe there was somewhere they taught you how to track with your young dog, that kind of thing, rather than having to do quite a high level of obedience with it all, plus jumping a 6ft vertical scale!!! Something for the pending tray for the time being then, but I'll look around at some other clubs in my area and see what they do. Thanks again, much appreciated.

Hi Helena

Hey, working trials can be fun too, for you and the dog, and you don't have to compete in order to train. I do this with both Belle and Cox and they love it. Plus your dog does not have to be 18 months to start training, only to compete (obviously no high jumps til then though).

Dogs love the search square and the tracking phases, and the control (obedience) section does not have to be as accurate and faultless as the obedience competition standard or schutzhund. Go along to a club and see what you think, I'm sure they will accept Zena even at her young age.

Dogs which do working trials are often trained in that vein from puppyhood, eg baby tracks, getting them to be really interested in articles and think of them as toys, etc.

It's fun and doesn't have to be competitive at all. Hey I've been doing it for about 7 months now with Cox and I haven't entered him in a trial yet.

Thank goodness! That's just what I'm looking for to actually TRAIN to do it, something that's not only fun but interesting for Zena, she'll take to this like a duck to water from what I've seen of her so far. That's just what my breeder said too, she said forget the Shutzhund, the working trials and tracking will be far less strict, so that's why I jumped at it. I want to find a local (ish) club that actually does the training for it just like you seem to have found and I bet Cox just loves it!!!

Sounds like your'e doing the right thing if it's stressing her out. I hpe you find something that suits her:

I agree with dropping out of the training class if you are not happy with the way Zena reacts there, or to the instructor's approach. Keep on training her yourself, as you have been doing, and you will do fine

Yogi is learning to track (for fun) and he absolutely loves it, and I love watching him. I am sure Zena would love using her nose too. I am really lucky in that I have the help, assistance and experience of an ex MOD dog handler and a police dog handler both fairly locally who are happy to help me train him. In fact, I was out with the MOD handler tonight, and we did three different tracks and Yogi loved it - as did I He is now crashed out in the garden fast asleep

It would definitely be worth looking into - if you can find someone locally to help you.

Also, would you consider agility training in the future (when she is over 12 months old?) as I am sure she would love it.

Working trials is great but for competing you do really need to be quite dedicated to the training.

I opted out in the end as I did not enjoy the 6ft scale but I loved the training for the search square (got full marks for our first and only trial comp. search square ) and learning about tracking and so on.

IMO you can learn the exercises and train them and enjoy that but don't need to compete unless you want to.

Some WTs clubs are rather traditional in their approach and will use punishment but it varies really with individual trainers, some are now very positive in their methods because they are getting good results.

Lots of luck anyway whatever you decide to do

Wys
x

Oh Lucky you Kirsty, I'm jealous yet again!!! Agility would suit her down to the ground, but for me, she'd have to be over 18 months to consider it I'm afraid, but yes, in fact, I have a woman who trains shepherds in this field comes to our village every Sunday morning and uses one of the horse's fields over the road, so I might just pop over there on a Sunday morning and have a chat with her. For the moment, I'm looking for something just like Skilaki is doing with Cox, Zena would love it, and I'd love watching her with that tail going like mad coz she does that when I've thrown her ball into the long grass and tell her to find it, she loves my "find it" and she always does and she's always so pleased with herself, that I know if I can find something where she uses that sharp nose of hers, she'll have a whale of a time, and so will I!



Oh so will I, and that's exactly the kind of thing I want to do, not all this sit, down, stay etc. coz I can do that any old place can't I Well done to you for getting those full marks at that!!

I'm going to be busy on Google finding something local that's not only fun but a lot more interesting for both of us. I was enjoying my training at this club, and I do like that trainer, but there really is no point carrying on with a stressed out dog, and yes, I know I can get round it, and MAKE her settle in that hall with that trainer, ignore her trembling and backing up against the wall, but quite honestly, why would I want to do that when she's such a young impressionable dog and we were doing just fine up until that time, plus all of that undoing I have been doing over the past couple of weeks, I just couldn't risk it walking in that door last night, I would never have forgiven myself if we went back to 2 weeks ago. I always listen when my dog is telling me something, she she couldn't have said it any clearer really could she No, I want to keep the relaxed, happy, BOLD puppy that I have, I have never done the timid gsd before, and I certainly don't want Zena to be turned into one either!

A strange thing. I met a friend of mine up on the green yesterday lunchtime who used to have shepherds and he asked me where I did my training. When I told him, he was quite concerned, and told me that he used to actually train for them, but he left because he didn't like their training methods (he even mentioned the exact name of MY trainer for Zena's class! ) He told me to leave there and find somewhere else, and that's what originally got me um'ing and arr'ing about going last night, and now I'm glad I didn't!

I've e-mailed them yesterday and thanked them profusely for all their help, but due to some personal circumstances I can no longer attend classes, so at least they can fill my space now with somebody who is waiting.

If you are interested in working trials training Helen, have a look for a club close to you on the WT site ...

www.workingtrials.co.uk