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mellowmardigan t1_iteywq4 wrote

That is really neat. I'm not a follower of dog shows and what not, but from what I have seen, I always thought they have practiced these courses prior to the events. I guess it makes sense considering the trainers could set up all of the same obstacles in their practice runs that they might encounter during competition.

Edit: word

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Thecna2 t1_itgm9a3 wrote

The idea is to test the ability of the dog to follow instructions given to it by its trainer. Its not a memory/speed test. SO you'll see a lot of instructions given to it at every step. Thats the test.

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[deleted] t1_itg48re wrote

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mellowmardigan t1_itio37y wrote

I can see how that would be. When we got our first dog, my wife and I had a friend come tutor us on training her for basic command/response stuff. It felt really good when Maggie would pickup what we were trying to get her to do. I imagine that is how teachers feel when their students learn new concepts and ideas, or especially when they overcome obstacles like learning difficulties to learn various subject matter....well, good teachers that care I should say.

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starkicker18 t1_itmicj0 wrote

Am a teacher, also worked with a few dogs on agility. I'd say the feeling when my students get something we've been working on, and the feeling when my dog gets something we've been working on are very similar. You feel so proud of them and you want to celebrate their accomplishments.

But the amount of trust you ask of your dog is just next level. You can communicate to your students to explain the what and why of a lesson. The challenge is helping them make the right connections so that they can do it on their own. When they finally do, it feels awesome as a teacher.

But with a dog you don't speak the same language and you can't explain what and why. You just try and teach them and show them they can trust you and one day it clicks for them "oh, you want me to do that!" and then they do! Then, if they are like my dog, they look at you like "wow you're really excited I did that... it wasn't really that big of a deal. Look I'll do it again. See! Easy" and by that point you're just fussing over them and rewarding them like crazy because the did it!

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