Liesje
Posted : 7/12/2008 4:16:55 PM
Cita, I did read over the test elements several weeks ago and we did gun fire practice at Schutzhund club, but I think dogs are either gun shy or they are not. We mainly did it to see who was and who wasn't. If she was gun shy, I wouldn't press the issue. We would not have sent in $25 and drove 5 hours just to fail anyway (and unlike the CGC, at least with this instructor when you fail one portion you are excused, you don't finish the test) and I would not continue to subject her to gun fire if she were gun shy.
When I first read the test items they did not seem *that* bad, but after going to this club and doing a walk-through with the instructor, the test proved more demanding than I originally thought. For example, I am glad we did rehearse gun fire because that scared ME more than Kenya! I did not realize the gun would be 5 feet away, hidden behind a blind so you don't know when the gun will fire and it is very loud and close. I supposed you can try each thing so you have a good guess as to how the dog reacts, but you can't really train for it. So much training, even manners and temperament, has the dog looking to the handler for cues, and for this test you cannot even LOOK at your dog (you must look at the object or the stranger) so any cue you train won't apply. You simply stand planted, holding the leash. We did meet with a trainer a few weeks ago and tried to simulate some of these things, but the test was a lot different and her reactions were basically the same, I can't think of how I could have influenced them one way or the other without months of trying to modify the behavior/reaction.
Now when I got Kenya she was reserved and skittish. We haven't really trained that away, per se, but instead we do other things that give her outlets for her drive and build her confidence. We avoided things that spooked her and focused on what she enjoyed. Gradually, the spooky things became non-issues. For example, when I first got her I inadvertently dropped a huge book and spooked, went sprawling across the linoleum. Now she stands five feet from gun fire, unaffected. So I guess building the dog's confidence and trust in general is the round-about way of "training" for this test.
I really do think it's as good a test as any and if the instructor is strict and serious about it, the dog's true temperament will come out. Today one of the dogs that was supposedly one of the toughest and aggressive dogs hopped off the metal grating several times and flat out refused to walk on it, was totally spooked by it, he looked so scared!
We definitely got our money's worth because not only did she do the real test, but first we had a 2.5 hour car ride there, then when we arrived the property was surrounded by vehicles containing dogs who all lunged and went nuts in their crates as Kenya passed, and right before she stepped into the ring, someone started cutting concrete!