Obedience Skillz

[aardogs]

Yeah, we don't really have them. Panic and I have been taking an obedience class this winter. I used to take obedience regularly with Maxie (she loves it!) but Panic has never been to one. 
He KNOWS everything up to open level, in theory at least. But we're having a little bit of trouble with the application of those skills. And honestly I'm having trouble with it in general. Obedience as I know it is very repetitive and quite tedious and doesn't involve a lot of happy fun excitement or rewarding. I don't like doing really long stretches of "serious" behaviors so I'm struggling to make it more fun for Panic and I. I know it's possible for us to enjoy and get a lot out of obedience, so I think this is and will continue to be good for us.

Oh and there's another problem. Panic really likes to bark when he works. He never barks in agility, but he barks ALL the time when doing any obedience or trick behaviors. And apparently this is frowned upon in obedience. Hmm.

Comments

[moodypdx.livejournal.com]

Check out Denise Fenzi's blog and youtube account. I loved her seminar I went to last year. She makes obedience fun.

[aardogs.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thanks.

[talesofmyboys.livejournal.com]

Obedience doesn't have to be any of those things. My dogs think obedience is exciting and fun and it should be very rewarding. But yes, barking is usually frowned upon. :-)

[aardogs.livejournal.com]

I agree it doesn't have to be. Honestly Panic does enjoy it and i try to make it very rewarding--I'm the one that finds it boring ;)

[ripnpaws.livejournal.com]

I hate that stupid barking rule. I never tried to get PK's CD because of her barking. Rip does not bark in obedience and I should be working on his CD right now while I am doing nothing else.

Good for you for working on it with Panic.

[aardogs.livejournal.com]

I think barking (in moderation!) is pretty cute! Definitely shows hes having a good time. But my classmates don't feel the same, so I'm working on it. ;)

[foggydogs.livejournal.com]

It's a lot more work to make obedience fun for the dogs, but I really feel more bonded to my dogs when we're doing obedience than agility. Nice to not have the agility obstacles to compete with :)