formal obed compromises agility?

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by martemchik

It gets difficult when I have to "position" him before an obstacle and he's on my right (I tell him to be on my right) but he'll run on either side of me and will stay there as long as I don't say "heel."

In order to position mine I use the side command to get her in a good sit, then I run it with her on my right. It works because she is in the sit/stay position. Today they had me go way ahead of her while she was in a sit/stay, if I don't do it that way, she passes me up. So either she's really fast or I'm really slow

[martemchik]

Originally Posted by llombardo

In order to position mine I use the side command to get her in a good sit, then I run it with her on my right. It works because she is in the sit/stay position. Today they had me go way ahead of her while she was in a sit/stay, if I don't do it that way, she passes me up. So either she's really fast or I'm really slow

Yeah I need to teach him another command for the right side...just haven't gotten around to it. A lot of it is handler error though, so hard not to say "heel" when he's not right next to me and even if I don't say it he wants to go on the left side most times. It's a blast though...I haven't been this aggravated with training since we learned to take the dumbbell. Really brings you back and you have to remember that they will make mistakes at this point. I expect close to perfection in obedience, and what really gets to me is when he doesn't listen/ignores me. Tough when starting out in agility because it is so open and so fun, don't want to squash that drive, but also don't want to allow him to do what he wants.

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO

I have seen dogs have the same problem that Liesje had-the dog not willing to work on the right. My trainer has worked with a few dogs like this and while it took a lot of work to get through it, they are getting better, but it can create a lot of extra work.

I've also seen this be a problem, along with the dog being comfortable with a distance away from the handler. The default position in obedience is against the handlers leg on the left side and that's not going to help on an agility course.

Big influence of obedience vs agility is how the obedience was taught. Older strict correction based (leash based) obedience tends to suck the fun out of training with mom/dad. Also does NOT reward offering new behaviors and allowing our dogs to think for themselves. When your dog is always on leash with a training collar it's much easier to 'make' the dog do something rather than off leash training that makes we handlers figure out a smarter way to TEACH the dog to figure it out. Agility has TONS of things our dogs need to do on their own and figure out on their own with their focus on the course and NOT pinned on the handler 100% of the time.

More positive based obedience with clickers/markers/treats/toys and the dogs happy attitude being a priority RATHER THAN JUST THE FOCUS BE THE BEHAVIOR (no care if the dog is slow/reluctant/hating it all... as long as they do it then that's the goal) tends to give a better overlap with agility and doing well.

There are MANY obedience dogs that also do very well with agility. But it tends to have alot to do with the way the obedience was taught plus the handler being aware of the needs in both sports.

Interesting (and painful to watch) story I saw a few years ago at an agility trial from a guy who CLEARLY came from the obedience world and decided he could easily teach this 'agility' on his own in the yard (who needs classes!). He had some big dog (malinois? GSD? Belgian? I can't remember). He set the large dog at the start line, did a lead out, released the dog that did a wonderful job of going fast over the 1st jump, headed fast for the next (and correct jump) but was going to be ahead of the handler so the guy CALLED THE DOG BACK so they could go together. Then the guy sent the dog over the next jump (again the dog is ahead ) so the guy AGAIN calls the dog back by saying 'heel'. IT WAS CRAZY! The guy took this fast drivey dog and literally got it back into 'heel' position after each piece of equipment. Of course the run was a nightmare of off courses and refusals and confusion for the poor dog. Plus the guy was FURIOUS cause I'm sure he was so embarrassed by his dog ( ) in front of everyone. I was so pissed when I saw him leash his dog up after the run and you could see he was angry as he aggressively corrected and heeled that poor wonderful dog off the trial grounds.

[kbella999]

When I got Rusti she was very heavily obedient trained from her previous owner. She could only work on one side of me in agility. Even taking her to the park to walk and get her to walk on both sides was a challenge. I jokingly said she was blind in one eye. After a lot of work, she can now work on both sides of me but she is still a velcro girl but not as bad as she used to be.