Comments on: I don’t want to, and you can’t make me

By: Natalie

Natalie — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:07:23 +0000

That is too cute!! Thanks for sharing!!

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:50:47 +0000

“Of course, they don’t realize that a pet gets trained one way or the other”

—(and)or the owners do. :O)

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:38:20 +0000

Oh yeah … it’s like my silly neighbors, who stuff treats into their yappy dogs to shut them up. Wow, I wonder why THAT doesn’t work?

They’re such sweet women — two sisters, sharing a home — and true animal lovers. But they think training a dog “breaks his spirit.” Of course, they don’t realize that a pet gets trained one way or the other.

Oh well.

By: The OTHER Pat

The OTHER Pat — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:30:20 +0000

What had me chuckling was that the handler was (inadvertently, I’m sure) actually *rewarding* her for plopping down. Why do I say that? Well, watch and see when and how the handler gave her the treat - puppy would plop, handler would try to get her to move, and then would walk TO her and feed her the treat AS SHE WAS LAYING THERE. Over and over.

So puppy was learning “Oh, if I plop down and lay here, I’ll get a treat. And if I don’t get my treat right away, I just have to wait a *bit* longer and she’ll come over and give it to me!”

I’m sure the handler was too rattled to even realize this at the time, but she should have held the treat out far enough ahead of the puppy that the puppy would have had to get up and take some steps FORWARD to get it.

Hopefully she’ll think of this if it happens again. And hopefully puppy didn’t learn this lesson TOO well! LOL!

By: FrogDogz

FrogDogz — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:22:11 +0000

Years back, we had a handler showing Tessa for us in puppy class. Half way around the ring, and Tessa noticed me hiding behind a tree near ring side, watching her show, and she PUT. THE. BRAKES. ON.

She would NOT move. Not for anything. The hander tried tried tried — gave up, picked her up, and carried her around. The judge was very understanding - the handler was pissed at me for making her look bad by distracting my dog.. lol!

That was almost fourteen years ago — Tess just turned 14, and she is still just as stubborn, and just as much a mommy’s girl. She ended up needed 1 more single to finish, and never getting it because showing traumatized her too much. Lack of a “CH” doesn’t change how lovely she is, though :)

By: Selma

Selma — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:31:49 +0000

The would not usually pick a dog up until they had left the ring except for placing them on the examination table as is the practice with Toys.

The idea is actually to never carry your dog at a show (unless it’s really crowded and unsafe not to) because the judges are always watching the dogs even outside of the ring.

So, the judge gave her permission, not an instruction, to pick up the pup.

That is one smart little dog and now she knows how to get attention. I suspect this will be repeated. LOL

By: EmilyS

EmilyS — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:29:53 +0000

I think that AKC Conformation is like Obedience.. you can’t leave the ring unless the judge excuses you (which rarely happens, as far as I know.. but in Conformation, you don’t even get excused if your dog, um, “fouls” the ring) I know in Obedience, you have to ask, and your dog has to be sick or injured. Not like agility, where if for ANY reason you don’t feel able to compete, you just ask to be excused (really just a formality) and leave the ring.

I’m sure the handler was extremely nervous; she was trying to do the best for/with that puppy. I bet she was GLAD to be given the chance to leave.

By: Lis

Lis — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:12:09 +0000

No, that was the toy group competition. The little pup had already worked hard just to get there, and it was her first show.

She’d had enough.:)

By: straybaby

straybaby — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:24:58 +0000

EmilyS, I was wondering about that. I’m not experienced in shows and wasn’t sure what the ‘routine’ was when something like this happens (they are dogs after all, lol!~) Personally I thought she did pretty well giving it the ol’ college try while still being positive with the pup. At what point (when at a big show!) do you say “Oh, well, we’re done” when in the middle of showing your dog? Keep in mind, I live with a Dal and am used to public displays of humor ;)

Another question, that was the breed competition, right? Was that ring large? At the Garden for Westminster, the breed rings are much smaller it seems. . . they usually have 6 on the floor at once.

By: EmilyS

EmilyS — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:21:46 +0000

You can hear the judge telling the handler to pick the puppy up.
I suspect she was not an experienced handler (maybe the owner or breeder), or she would have done it sooner.