Mudcaker t1_itf9kv6 wrote on October 23, 2022 at 5:15 AM

Reply to comment by Magnus77 in TIL that the dogs in competitive agility don’t rehearse the course ahead of time. The courses are randomized at each competition, and the trainers (without their dogs) only see the layout beforehand on the same day. When the dog runs the course they are literally seeing it for the first time. by Pyraunus

Recognising is one of the problems. Some dogs see the tunnel, think “I know what to do!” and run into it. But that was meant to happen later in the order. The dog needs to pay attention and listen and the handler needs to be clear with audio and visual cues, as well as facing to avoid temptation and assumptions from the dog. Having a dog run the wrong object or go in the wrong end of the tunnel is really common at the ones I’ve been to.