I asked members of our online community to ponder the reasons one might show a dog who is not prepared or engaged. I realized through my own reflections that these are two questions. After all, a dog who is unprepared for the ring work may or may not also be a dog who is disengaged in said ring.
Sparkle’s early Novice B runs, for example, involved happily leaping up on me instead of fronting on the recall, and who could forget how she created confetti out of my armband on the stay at the 2017 Specialty?! Not quite ready to qualify — but she sure did have a great time in the ring and she was certainly engaged.
Not prepared doesn’t have to mean not engaged, and there is an important difference when we consider how to proceed.
I like to check my implicit biases to hopefully minimize the impact they have on others (and myself). Maybe there are reasons to show a disengaged dog that I am missing? I find the best way to explore bias and test out our thinking is in conversation with others.
I decided, therefore, to reach out to Alison Jaskiewicz, a wonderful trainer/handler of multiple OTCH and High in Trial Berners and an AKC Obedience Judge. I asked her specific questions to get her thoughts about showing an unprepared and/or a disengaged dog; in the interest of transparency, here is what I wrote to her:
My perception is that taking an "unprepared" dog in a ring is fine IF said dog is happy and engaged -- and handler expectations are reasonable. I guess what I mean is this -- unprepared in terms of precise skills probably won't ruin things.
But unprepared in terms of the dog is not engaged and not having fun is a whole different thing -- I see zero value in taking that kind of unprepared into a ring.
Maybe I am missing something? Maybe my own biases are showing? Hence my question(s) to you, if you have time to answer:
When, if ever, is there value in taking a disengaged dog into an obedience ring at an actual show? In your experience, does doing that impact future performance -- positively or negatively? And if one finds one's self in the ring with a disengaged dog, what might one do?
Alison’s response, shared with permission, is as follows:
I would always prefer to NQ with a happy dog than Q with an unhappy one. After all, this is my friend and buddy by my side. I was the one who chose to enter a trial and if my dog is unhappy I am responsible.
I agree that showing a dog who is not engaged in the game makes no sense at all, particularly if the handler has longer term aspirations. Everything a dog does in an obedience ring is a learning experience.
Occasionally a dog will disengage at an event or even in the ring and we have choices to make. We can subtly alter our handling and our own energy, we can engage more between exercises, we can opt to politely leave the ring. Those are learning experiences to be considered and thoroughly evaluated. If repeated often [showing a disengaged dog], I think the showing relationship will likely suffer.
As to any 'value' of taking a disengaged dog into the obedience ring - I suppose each of us gets to decide what we 'value' at any given time. Some people will choose to 'value' a quick and dirty CD [Editor’s Note: Also called the Git ‘er Done CD and yes, I have done couple of those 🤷🏼♀️😂].
I think you and I both believe that any showing should be an extension of a loving relationship with our dogs in everyday life and do our best to help people find the magic of a happy working connection with our dogs. We are seeking TEAM in an engaging, positive, loving way.”
Alison and Tristan on the occasion of one of their all-breed High in Trials. Tristan was the 2019 BMDCA National Specialty High in Trial dog, and is the BMDCA’s 2019 Top Novice B Obedience Dog and Top Open B Obedience Dog.
And so there you go, my Friend — additional Food for Thought.
Thanks to Alison for taking the time to answer — she also offered some great ideas for the Ring Nerves conversation that I will share this weekend.
As I see it, we seem to be circling back to Goals but with a new twist/question: Are your current choices supporting or hindering your Aspirational Goal(s)?
The question may be mine but the answers are all yours.