Dock Diving was on the schedule at one of the local harvest fairs this weekend.  I have considered dock diving as a sport for Delilah so we decided to check it out.

I thought I was prepared to see the way people hype their dogs up for this type of event, and was pleasantly surprised to find most of the competitors we reasonably reserved.

There were some people who were trying Dock Diving for the very first time, in which case a couple of the dogs were timid in trying.  This one little gal, wasn’t having any of it.  One of the “stage hands” tried to entice her by bouncing her ball in front of her, but she wouldn’t budge.

The young lady sitting next to me had a lab mix puppy and she was checking out dock diving because she thought her puppy would like it.  When this little gal wouldn’t go in I heard my neighbor say, “Push her in.”  I cringed inside and mentally pictured the dog ending up in a shelter because he was so anxious and she couldn’t handle him.

Later during the program I was pleased to hear none of the dogs are ever pushed, shoved or in the announcer’s words, punted into the pool.

There were three entries who worked on hyping their dogs up, two of them worked their dogs like this

But the third one, was the one that almost had me running out of the stands to smack her in the head.  The worst part is she is a veterinarian.

This was her second run through and I missed capturing the first one on video, but the first time the dog was up she was actually hitting his nose with the ball.

And yes, she is screaming about 3 inches from his ear.

Needless to say, if I choose to participate in this sport with Delilah, I will not be hyping her up.

Do you think there is a chance that these dogs can become reactive in other aspects of their lives?

What is your take on dogs in a competitive sport?

There are a lot of people who work with dogs, who will tell you not to use the word “No” with your dog.

I’m not one of them.

For me “No” is the same things as “ACK” which is a word (sound really) designed to deter your dog from whatever naughty thing they are doing.   It’s a marker really, similar to a clicker which reinforces positive behavior; “No” is a marker which says “that’s not a good choice,” “stop doing that” “look at me for direction.”

I use “No” a lot.

Especially with Delilah.

“No” (when I can tell she’s thinking of taking off on me during our walk.)

“No” (that’s not where you are supposed to be, when I am working in the kitchen and she is under my feet.)

“No” (those dishes are in the dishwasher to be washed not licked clean by you.)

“No” (get your nose of the counter.)

No is a very good marker if it makes your dog stop and look to you for direction.

This afternoon after our walk Sampson went outside to cool off in the pool.

I was in the bedroom and I heard the screen door shut and I knew he was coming into the house soaking wet.  I ran to the closet for a towel and as I did so I saw him step into the house; I said “No, stop.”

I didn’t even say his name, just “No, stop.”

He was waiting for me when I got to him with the towel.

No is a word you can use with your dog.

Today Hubby came with us on our walk, I was a bit nervous because he tends to be very critical of my training methods. Hubby doesn’t believe the dogs should have treats every time they come up to me.  I feel if they get a treat every time they come to me, it reinforces that good things happen when they are around me.

I’m still not really sure if I should give them treats if they come to me on their own accord, but that’s what I’ve been doing and it seems to be working.  The thing I’m finding about using positive reinforcement during our hikes is there are certain food items that are more valuable than others.

So far I’ve used a bunch of different treats, People Crackers, Hot Dogs, Roast Beef, Freeze-Dried Salmon, Ground Beef and Duck that looks like a really long, really fat Slim Jim.  By far the treat that works best for Delilah is Roast or Ground Beef.  She would get about 50 feet away from me, turn around to look at me and if I gave her the slightest bit of encouragement, back she came.   Every time.

I still have her on the check cord which also seems to be working well for her.  Today we walked close by the area she is prone to taking off in.  She turned and took a few steps in the wrong direction and we called her back and she came!

Our walk was cut short because it started raining really hard, but I wanted to reward her for being such a good girl (and also help tire her out a bit) so we had a quick came of fetch in the field.

Wet but happy.

This is a blogpaws blog hop, you can get your code here http://www.blogpaws.com/2011/09/wordless-wednesday-some-reasons-to-get-your-2012-blogpaws-ticket-early.html