Them's fightin' words!

I’m blowing off a little steam today, maybe because it’s snowing AGAIN and winter seems endless and cruel. Or maybe just because I’ve always wanted to write about this but never seemed to get my thoughts put together until now. And perhaps they still aren’t put together as well as they could be but here they are.

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“My dog hates obedience.”

“Obedience is boring.”

“We started in obedience but now we do agility because it’s so much more FUN!”

I cringe when I hear people say things like that. Unfortunately, for the people saying them, they are very true. I have no doubt the speakers and their dogs find obedience training very unrewarding.

Which is a total shame because obedience training is not only a blast, it’s a great way to improve your relationship with your dog. Agility training is, too. The difference - and herein lies the problem - is that obedience training takes more work (mental and physical) on the handler’s part to ensure the process is consistently fun and enjoyable, while also ensuring learning takes place. The learning process in agility provides natural fun for the dog (jumping, tunneling, etc.) that is not present in obedience, leaving a motivation/reward gap that has to be filled by - guess who? YOU the trainer.

What? You have to WORK to make obedience training fun? Really? That sounds like too much work for me. (Insert sarcasm here.)

At my club’s recent awards banquet, one of our members put together a fun photo show that played continuously during the evening. It featured pictures of members’ dogs in both the obedience and agility rings, as well as candid shots. It was a lot of fun to see the different expressions on human and canine faces and look at their body language.

Two photos in particular stood out to me and of course they were of Phoenix. The first showed the two of us during a heeling exercise in the Novice obedience ring at his very first trial. His head is up, eyes bright and ears are pinned back a little. He is trotting, his tail is carried slightly below level. It is a classic example of a dog concentrating fiercely on his job. I was very happy to see him working with that degree of focus.

Contrast that with the next photo: Phoenix airborne over a jump on an agility course. He has a totally wild look in his eye, his ears are forward and his tail is curved up and to one side for steering. He exudes energy and joy.

I heard someone comment, “There he’s doing what he REALLY likes.”

Ouch. That hurt.

Then, on second thought, the anonymous remark didn’t sting quite as much. Many casual observers of the obedience ring (or those who have become disillusioned with the sport and gone to the “more fun” allure of agility) fail to look beyond obedience’s veneer. Of course heelwork is not going to reflect the same body language as an agility run. Endurance runners do not have the same style as sprinters. But is one sport truly more “fun” than another?

Let’s look at this from another angle. Consider competitive barrel racers and Olympic-class dressage riders. One discipline is all about speed and maneuverability. The other, about precision, control and flexibility. Both require an incredible amount of physical and mental skill. Both require many hours of training and conditioning, as well as communication and understanding of animal nature. And the riders who excel in either sport are the ones who absolutely love what they are doing and transmit that delight to their horses not only during performances but during training. Two different disciplines. Two different performance styles. One thing in common: the riders find fun in the process as well as the performance.

Obedience got a bad rep back in the jerk and yank days of drilling and compulsion. Fortunately, the sport has changed tremendously since I got my first CD in 1977. Still, some folks are put off by a bad experience with an instructor or judge and flee to agility, claiming it’s more “fun” while dismissing obedience with a dramatic eye roll and “Boring!” I’ve seen lots of agility dogs who are scared of the equipment, who run amok in stress reaction and pay little attention to their owners. Is this the “fun” that was missing in "boring" obedience?

The point here is that training issues will plague every handler from time to time, no matter what discipline you chose, “fun” quotient not withstanding. Perhaps the trainers who dismiss obedience as unworthy of their time should look beyond the mere technical aspects of heeling and straight fronts and study the foundation of trust, respect and teamwork developed through regular, enjoyable traditional obedience work.

I work hard to make sure Phoenix's obedience training sessions are exciting, challenging, motivating and energizing for both of us. Yeah, it’s a lot of work because he’s a difficult dog to stay ahead of. My goal is for our obedience work to reflect joy, trust, teamwork, enthusiasm, drive, animation and precision. I'll do what it takes to make that become reality. That is never boring.

Humans, like dogs, move toward the area of highest reward. Those who find obedience training rewarding will continue to enjoy it. Those who don’t will either change their methods until it becomes more fun or leave it entirely to pursue a different venue they perceive as more rewarding. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart and have fun. It's okay if you truly don't enjoy one thing and prefer doing another thing instead. Just don't say the thing you don't enjoy is boring or stupid because you weren't willing to put out the energy to make it fun.

I have friends who do obedience only. I have friends who do agility only. I have friends who do both, plus Rally, Schutzhund, therapy work and other disciplines. The things you can learn from cross-training are invaluable.

Today I am thankful to have friends who show in a variety of performance venues and are always willing to share new training ideas.