It was a tough day for us, way busier, way more dogs - including a loose dog which apparently belongs to the farm, running around the property & into the barn. One person just shrugged and said that the dog often shows up when they rent the facility for agility and that he's harmless.
Ha. That's how you know you're speaking to someone who doesn't have a reactive dog.
I don't care if he's harmless. Having a dorky wiggly golden running up to Daisy would have pretty much ended the day for us.
Fortunately by this point, I'd put Daisy away in the car with her kong. We were just waiting for the round to finish & our scoresheets.
She had struggled with the tight quarters in the set up area, & the lack of space in the practice area, but managed to hold it together, even with dogs staring, and dogs barking/snarling at her from crates. She was tense (& yeah, I was tense too!), and our scores showed it.
It's a good thing that our first trial in December was quite a bit more quiet and gave me the confidence to come back for the 3rd leg. If *this* had been our first event, I'm not so sure that I would have come back.
You know, it's nobody else's fault that I have a reactive dog. It's not mine either - I adopted her that way and I've worked hard to get her to the point where she can pass for normal in many circumstances. And I get that the world doesn't have to bend to accomodate me & my needs.
OTOH, CARO likes to talk about how it's open to everyone, & right on the scoring sheet there is a tickmark for indicating whether a dog or handler are disabled.
And that's when I got to thinking: Is reactivity a disability?
Is it reasonable to hope for, to ask for, a bit of accomodation in the facility & event planning, so that more dogs like Daisy can participate?
My dog can do the exercises. She can function with lots of distractions.
What my dog struggles with is getting into the actual rink. Sometimes, into the actual building. I was waiting outside for ages while a group of people with dogs, including one on a flexi zinging around all over, just hung around talking, right in front of the entrance!
It wasn't urgent for me to get inside so I just waited, doing some BAT, some LAT, keeping Daisy loose and learning, but really, it was kind of silly and I suspect just due to lack of awareness on the part of the people - who I'm sure would have moved if I had asked. But you know, one doesn't always feel like asking.
Is it unreasonable to expect a bit more awareness? To make it clear to all participants that all entry ways & exit ways are to be clear or people and dogs? To not have people and dogs milling around the registration table which is RIGHT beside the entrance to the competition rink?
Would it be unreasonable to have the competition rink itself more securely fenced? With closed gates rather than huge open gaps at entry & exit? Would it change the nature of the competition too much to have rigid fencing & maybe the fence covered with tarps? To not put stations right beside the fence so that a dog has to approach the fence within feet of people & dogs on the other side of an orange plastic mesh?
With secure fences and closed gates, I'd consider moving on up the levels, which take place offleash. She's more than capable of doing the exercises, but I will not risk it with flimsy fencing and wide open gates.
So, she's done. She's Miss Daisy C-RNCL (I think. Haven't got the certificate yet!), who loves to heel, loves to prance, loves to work, but she won't compete in higher levels unless accomodations can be made.
I'm just wondering: What are we really scoring when we make it impossible for a dog to participate because of the way the venue is designed?
Could different facility set up's be used to enable more dogs to safely participate? Could we have an F Stream for Feisty Fidos where there are more secure provisions for the facility, more separation from other dogs?
What do you think? Is reactivity a disability like blindness or deafness & is it like when the handler needs a solid surface for their wheelchair? Does reactivity deserve a special accomodation?
An aside, sort of, not really related but I was thinking of it.... consider a 2009 CBC radio doc:
The Education of Ashif Jaffer (Canada) Not so long ago, the idea of a student with Down Syndrome in a university was unthinkable. Ashif Jaffer wants to change that.You can hear the doc in the archives here (it's in the 2nd half of the show, after Michael Ignatieff discussing his book). I was just thinking about the limits of accomodation when I remembered this documentary.
Yeah, I know, people not dogs, serious problems not dog reactivity, university not a dog sport .... but, still.
10 comments:
It's hard to say.. if trials are designed specifically with reactive dogs in mind, then they should also be designed with sound-sensitive dogs in mind, dog-aggressive dogs in mind, young/excitable dogs in mind, etc. I think it's ultimately impossible to please everyone, especially given the constraints of where clubs are able to hold trials (wouldn't we all love for trials to be held in a private, sound proof room!!).
What I think is the best plan for a reactive competition dog is a diligent owner, like you, who chooses trial sites based on size, what type of ring environment the dog prefers, etc. That's something I've done with Marge (who is mostly sound sensitive with a bit of reactivity) and her agility career - I'm very selective about where we compete. With Rally and Obedience, we only compete at our home club.
I think that other exhibitors should also be courteous and not let their dogs run up to yours or make a big fuss by barking or anything like that. Things like that should be taken seriously by trial officials. Ring entries and exits are supposed to be kept clear as per the rules of most organizations. Additionally, I think the fact that there is a loose dog on the trial grounds is a huge problem and I'd write to the trial officials if I were you because that's a huge liability!
I think what is called for is just more awareness and consideration. When I am working with Gatsby, I HAVE to be hyper aware. I have to see things before he does so I can stay in control. It's something I'm really proud of and notice lacking in people with "normal" dogs, they don't have nearly the focus and attention on their dog that I do.
I would like to see Rally courses be more generous with the buffer between path and gate, but not necessarily that gates need to be more of a barrier. I was at an AKC Rally trial for Bernese Mountain Dogs and the course was really too tight for the dogs. This was a specialty, so it's not like the judge didn't know she would get all big dogs.
Congratulations on the title!
Maybe ( and since I have NO experience take it with a grain of salt) you could pick one or two of the major things (the exits, or the fencing or something) and make a gentle suggestion to the organization in charge?
Congrats. And your previous post too - very interesting!
First of all, congrats on the title!
I get what you are saying in this post. I think the things that you've mentioned here, you could put in a nice letter and send it to the organization as your suggestions as how to make the experience better for dogs like Daisy. Perhaps suggest tarping or otherwise blocking the sight lines at the fence where there are stations very close, instead of the whole fence?
I do know though, of someone that holds agility trials right next to a field of alpacas. She went to Costco and bought a big roll of landscape fabric that she puts along the fence so the alpalcas are out of view while the dogs are running.
The type of fencing probably depends on the venue. Some supply fencing, but most don't, and depending on the scale of the event it could be as simple as a line of tape strung between poles, or rented, rigid, metal fencing. Are you worried about a dog coming into the ring while you are in there?
I've only attended agilty trials, and usually the issue is with dogs leaving the ring, not others coming in. I agree though, there should be something to block the ring should the owner request it.
As to people milling around the entrances and exits to the ring, doors of the building, etc, unless there is someone there constantly monitoring it, it is going to happen. Even myself, who has a reactive dog, tends to forget sometimes:( There's nothing wrong with asking someone to move so you can pass through an opening safely, and the 'decent' people tend to feel embarrassed that they are in your way in the first place. No one should have an issue with that, unless you are bitchy yourself when you ask:)
I don't know if you've done it, but perhaps taking Daisy to a few events as an observer, where you just work her on focusing on you, and getting used to the activity going on around in the building might help a bit too?
There's an agility trial at Cloverdale on the weekend, and there's always lots of room up in the stands where you can have your own little space:)
We've noticed a huge difference with Luna, and how much more comfortable she is at trials. She'll still snark at a dog that gets in her face, and if the owner is dumb enough to let their dog do that, well that's their problem.
Thanks for all your comments!
With Daisy, I'm worried about her running out to kick some butt. Some reactive dogs I know, once they have a job, whether it's the agility course, or fetching a ball, so long as they're doing that job, they're fine.
But the more independent dogs (like the northern breeds, ahem) tend to say "yeah, this is an important job & I'll get to it. First though....I'm just gonna tell that yappy thing over there to show some respect....I'll be right back Mom!"
I do think that with just a small bit of tweaking, many more dogs could participate. But realistically, the sport is what it is because people get involved and want to play it. The people there were lovely & had lovely dogs & were just enjoying their day.
Maybe if a group of us had a feisty fido dog sport club, we'd set things up differently :-) I'm going to ponder a bit whether I want to actually do anything about this :-)
Just wanted to add that sometimes people will round up a few 'helpers' to stand across the gateway to block their dog from leaving:)
At our club's agility trial last year, we did totally block the fence on the starters/advanced ring, and apparently some people appreciated that:)
Look what I just came across!
http://www.dogtrainingraleighnc.net/VirtualAgilityLeague/VALOR_home.html
Karen - that's so awesome! thx for posting it.
Amazing post! I have a reactive dog and she also has her RNCL title but because of her reactivity that's probably as far as we will go. I don't think that trials need to be completely catering to reactive dogs, but if there was courtesy and rules in place and a secure ring....everyone would be happier. Some of the CALMEST dog events I've been to have been ADBA pit bull events because people just assume you respect each other's space.
AJM - thanks for your comment! & Good point about ADBA.
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