Showing, rules & regulations,evaluation systems,merits ribbons titles and EMOTIONS. The ongoing human conflict of interest which animals just do not care about yet are severely impacted by.
Any show, exhibition or competition in which animals are involved do have one essential priority that must be enforced no matter what – the protection and preservation of the integrity of our partners, their well being physically and/or psychological and the utmost respect for their place and status in nature and our lives.
Eventually we all encounter the same outcome of showing….there has to be REPAIR WORK done as a result of rules and dynamics that are just not written by the animals themselves but by those that believe they understand how dogs or horses operate in nature.- unfortunately most don’t or just prioritize selfish commercial interest and the lust for sensations expressed by their spectators.
In the jump disciplines like air retrieve or extreme vertical the hosting organizations require that a dog must jump at the bumper until it fails two times consecutively or three times overall. So fact is that any time one enters those venues one can be 100 % assured that the dog no matter how hard it will try will in the end NOT succeed. On top of that the owner is deprived of their right and ethical obligation to protect the animal by withdrawing at a certain length/height. Those rulings are obviously incorrect just applying common sense of positive reinforcement and experiences to strengthen the confidence, trust and willingness of your animal to go to a show and perform. And you as the handler must do the right thing here – protect your dog and work on productive rule changes and give your dog a voice !!
We, the humans make decisions for our partners that trust in us, respect and accept us even heal us and help us as good as they understand and can. Those decisions can not be jump in ice water, run until you break, eat garbage, put your head on your chest because the judge likes that, take your own bath, fit your own tack, love my spur and foremost WIN FOR ME.
Never forget to praise and love your animal in what you consider a defeat. Remember that as more difficult a trick to train as more fragile it will remain. Cheer for them even louder and laugh with them harder. The show defeat only means something to YOU, they do not care but hey will feel that you do. Sometimes even literally.Showing is a matter of human character and when done correctly will bring out the best in us because our best friend did win in the end. Against all odds because they wanted to and because WE mastered THE HUMAN FACTOR !!
