What are some of the main differences between competition and pet dog training? I’m not referring here to the dogs that are selected, I’m referring to the training.
Competition Training has less emphasis or expertise regarding problem behaviors outside of competition. In fact, some dogs are not raised to be pets at all. They train on a field and go to a kennel the rest of the time. I find that the trainers who know a lot about how to win don’t know much about animal behavior, especially regarding problems in the home or in public. They avoid putting their dogs in the same types of social situations that you and I would do to avoid their prized dog from being influenced by these things.
Competition Training is very focused upon mastering reinforcement techniques that are geared towards getting the maximum points. Since many of these dogs are not going to be faced with naturally occurring temptations in these controlled environments, the trainers are spending most of their efforts on creating the perfect picture that will adhere to the current interpretation of excellence by the judges of their sport. For example, competition heeling in a sport might have a dog prancing alongside the owner with its nose pointing up to the sky. That looks great as a style in competition, and it does limit the distractions during the events, but that form has no utility for a dog in the real world. Try that with a companion dog on a hike or up and down stairs and watch them trip and fall. There is less need in these controlled setups to have to correct a dog since those temptations aren’t going to be something they are faced with during what they are being trained to do.
Competition Training looks more at the small details of every skill than most pet dog training. Pet dogs are rarely trained to any standard; thus, most can’t be trusted to do excellent work in difficult situations. Competition trainers are trying to eliminate all the grey areas in the dogs’ mind so that there is only one correct way to do things. That gets them snappy, fast, precise and happy performances. I must inject standards of performance for my students and their dogs to make up for this. In all the pet dog classes I ever took, the closest thing we had to standards were borrowed from competition. Thus, many of the exercises were geared towards getting competition points rather than ensuring that our dogs would be snappy, fast, precise and happy in the real world.
Competition Training is generally done by people with more experience than pet dog owners. It isn’t their first rodeo. Many have intermediate or advanced skills for the competition exercises. Pet dog owners have no skills, and it takes time to not only build motivation in their minds, but also to refine their motor skills and understanding of how to work with their dog or any dog.
I received a text the other day from one of my past students:
Student: By the way, __ is just such a well-trained dog, thanks to you. I see examples every day of how our training paid off… She is amazing! She sits so nicely while being leashed up. If I tell her to “stop!” She immediately sits. If I need her to “drop it” she does. When we get out of the car, I say, “Go to your house!” And she runs (off-leash) to the front door. She is fantastic!
Me: Well, you did all the things that I recommended all along
Student: We definitely tried! And we did homework.
Her skills are now at an intermediate level, and if she decided to go into competition, either with her current dog or the next dog, she would have the foundation to begin that process. The next level would be for her to learn to design and work out her daily/ weekly/ monthly / yearly lesson plans to get those first ribbons. Someone generally needs to show you how to do that, whether you model yourself after what you see others do or get a coach.
Pet owners can learn a lot from competition handlers (not all competition dogs are owned by the handler): motor skills, perseverance, standards of performance, how to motivate their dogs, and such. Good competitors practice the way you’d learn to play a musical instrument… and that is wise. Competition handlers can learn a lot from those who work dogs outside the ring. I have worked with a number of their dogs over the years that had behavioral problems that their competition trainers had no idea how to solve; it wasn’t their specialty. Their trainers were always very eager to figure out how I did what I did. Sometimes that wasn’t possible because the handler didn’t understand what I did and couldn’t communicate it, and it came about almost like magic. Dog was fixed, and then they could rejoin their competition classes. Same with some of the handler/ owners who have show dogs. Their show dog trainers often have no understanding of either how to train any skills or how to fix problems or prevent problems before the dog is entered into shows.
Speaking of show dogs, I remember a student with a Keeshond. They signed a contract from the breeder that required them to show the dog as a requirement of buying the dog. Knowing what everyone wanted, I geared the lessons to get the dog ready for upcoming dog shows. I still remember, after their first show, getting a video of the dog from the event in California. All the other dogs were nosing around the grass, looking bored, goofing off, or not walking nicely on the leash. My student’s dog strutted her stuff in there, looked great, and they walked away with a first place ribbon. Same thing on the next event. On the other hand, one of my students stopped our lessons and continued with a show dog trainer. This was a normal 4 month old goofy puppy, and the trainer was already having them put a choke chain on the dog to force it to stack and walk. I warned them that would make the dog look droopy in the long run and take all the spirit out of the dog, but to no avail. Too bad for the dog; they were impatient and believed the wrong advice.
There are other differences between competition and pet dog training programs. Often the pet version relies heavily on punishing the dogs for doing anything other than being a walking carpet. That look won’t work in the competition ring. Lazy owners want a dog fixed in a week or two by someone else… ship the puppy off to military school and beat the initiative out of the dog good and well. At least the good competitors have a longer-term plan and give their dogs sufficient work and time to grow into being ready to do adult level performances.
What do you want out of your dog?
You can have the best of both worlds, but that will mean you can’t fall into either of the above ditches. You can gain the skills, have a good plan, and promote a happy dog that can perform well. Maybe your dog loses a few style points in the event since your dog learns more practical versions of the skills. Maybe your dog is allowed to be a dog and isn’t living in a cage when not training, and you must learn to live peaceably with your dog and vice versa.
Plan accordingly.