31/08/2024
TO CLARIFY 🙈:
🐕 Taking responsibility for your dog’s behaviour applies to ALL handlers. Including situations like not standing at the finish line, even if your dog has no issues.
🐕 This applies to ALL behaviours. Reactivity, staring, lunging due to overexcitement, leaving the ring, not working around food, unreliable recall, lack of startlines, etc.
🐕 The suggestions made on Agilitynet to help with the behaviour issues seen at shows are all great suggestions for management. However, the only thing that is truly going to reduce or remove these issues is training - gradually building up to your dog being able to perform the necessary behaviours and skills in a show environment.
If you’re active in the agility community, you’ve probably seen the flood of complaints on Agilitynet about unacceptable behaviour at shows lately. Let’s be clear: the solution is simple and straightforward:
TRAIN YOUR DOG.
Your dog’s behaviour is entirely your responsibility. It’s not up to the show organisers, ring managers, or fellow competitors to manage your dog for you. The real issue here isn’t the size of the space, the layout of the rings, or whether they’re fenced in—those are just distractions from the core problem. The problem is a lack of proper training and preparation.
If your dog isn’t ready to behave appropriately in the ring environment, they shouldn’t be there. It’s as simple as that. Until your dog is truly prepared, keep them away from the ring. It’s on you to ensure your dog is trained, controlled, and ready to participate in these events safely and respectfully.
The solution to these issues doesn’t lie in changing the show environment; it starts and ends with you and your commitment to training. Take responsibility, put in the work, and only bring your dog into the ring when they’re fully ready. The safety, enjoyment, and fairness of these events depend on it.
***EDIT TO CLARIFY***
🐕 Taking responsibility for your dog’s behaviour applies to ALL handlers. Including situations like not standing at the finish line, even if your dog has no issues.
🐕 This applies to ALL behaviours. Reactivity, staring, lunging due to overexcitement, leaving the ring, not working around food, unreliable recall, lack of startlines, etc.
🐕 The suggestions made on Agilitynet to help with the behaviour issues seen at shows are all great suggestions for management. However, the only thing that is truly going to reduce or remove these issues is training - gradually building up to your dog being able to perform the necessary behaviours and skills in a show environment.
