15 Říj Are there any dogs not suited for dog sport obedience?
Are there any dogs not suited for dog sport obedience?
One of the things I like about dog sport obedience is that it’s a very inclusive sport. It has very few restrictions, making it accessible for the vast majority of dogs and handlers at various levels of skill, size, experience, age, breed, temperament, agility, etc. From chihuahuas and yorkshires all the way over to bullmastiffs and Irish wolfhounds and everything in between, I have seen it all. It’s great!
However, there are a few exceptions of dogs that might not be the best fit for this sport. But that group is very narrow and very specific.
Lazy handlers who simply say, “My dog is no good in obedience, he just doesn’t have the right temperament/breed/size/personality for it.,” are usually wrong. Most of the time, it just takes a different approach or maybe a creative way of rewarding your dog, to work with these dogs.
Physical limitations
Let’s first cover the obvious physical restrictions. There are few. Obedience isn’t an overly physically demanding sport. The most difficult exercise from this point of view would be the meter hurdle, A-frame, or some of the other obstacles used in IRO and similar branches of obedience.
Obviously, a chihuahua won’t be able to jump over a meter-high hurdle. But then again, there are many obedience options that do not include obstacles like this, such as OB or even some of the titles from IGP with no obstacle exercises or lowered hurdles to match the dog’s height.
So yes, having a small dog limits you somewhat, but it doesn’t mean you can’t title him in obedience. You can – and many have – with great success. And that’s about it, really. There aren’t really any other physical limitations in this sport. Isn’t that great?
Health concerns
Obviously, your dog has to be healthy when engaging in any dog sport (obedience being no exception). If you have an older dog who has back or joint issues or a weaker heart, you should definitely consult a veterinarian before attempting obedience.
However, it is certainly possible to do obedience with older dogs or dogs with minor health problems if you are responsible and careful. Again, there are titles you can get without needing to jump any hurdles or do anything overly physically demanding. There was one very famous dog in the Czech Republic who competed in (back then) IPO 3 until he was 11 years old!
The one and only required trait
As you can see, the physical restrictions are pretty minor. Keep them in mind and make sure your dog isn’t overburdened, but other than that they shouldn’t limit you.
I believe there truly is only one limiting factor for obedience, one attribute of the dog’s personality that can define how well he will do in obedience. And yes, in some extreme cases this might disqualify a very small percentage of dogs from obedience. What is this mysterious trait?
The amount of energy the dog is willing to spend to make his life better.
That’s it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Now, what does it really mean? It’s the willingness of the dog to do something in order to gain something he wants – most often a reward, of course. The greater this willingness to strive for something, the easier it is (generally speaking) to work with a dog. You could view it as the sum of the dog’s drives (the instinctual needs for various resources, like food, prey, safety, etc.).
Let’s picture this with an example. The easiest one could be a very simple thing – making a dog follow a treat in your hand. Moving the hand around, motivating the dog to follow it and rewarding when he does so. A very basic exercise to work on food drive and a precursor to training heeling.
Usually, dogs understand this exercise right away and enjoy it as it isn’t complicated and promises an easy reward. But there are exceptions. I have personally seen a dog who was willing to take a treat only when it was offered to him right in front of his snout. When the hand moved away from him, he immediately lost interest in the treat and was unwilling to move just one or two steps to get the reward. He didn’t want to spend any energy to get the treat (make his life better).
The circumstances matter in this case. If this dog were a small puppy, there is a good chance this would improve with time. Puppies develop their drives and motivation as they grow. So don’t despair if you have a puppy like this.
Another possibility would be an exhausted dog – whether from physical activity or perhaps from extreme heat. I wouldn’t hold it against a husky if he refused to move a paw when it’s desert hot.
The rare exception
So in the end, a dog that is unsuited for obedience is one that even under ideal circumstances doesn’t want to spend any amount of energy to get a treat or a toy or any other reward. (Emphasis on “ideal circumstances” and “any amount of energy”.) Essentially, it has to be an all-around extremely low-drive dog.
If you’re struggling with a low-energy dog, don’t give up. Your dog might just need some special treatment, fewer distractions, very short sessions, and time to slowly work his way up. Only if it is really impossible to make him show the tiniest amount of effort should he be classified unfit for obedience.
Baring the physical limitations discussed earlier, this is the only valid excuse for not doing obedience with your dog. And to be honest with you, I have seen a dog like this only once or twice in my entire life.
Your pup might not be the future world champion. But given enough time and thought, the right method, reward and lots and lots of praise, he can do obedience and have fun with it. And so can you.
Just be mindful and everything will work out. I promise.