In article ,
(Melinda Shore) wrote:

In article BZa_k.411170$TT4.267580@attbi_s22,
Robin Nuttall wrote:
shrug pretty much every top trainer I know allows intact bitches to
train while in season.

I've found this to be an enormously interesting discussion.
This is something that comes up a lot in mushing, because
people tend to have so many intact dogs and because you've
got teams on the trail at the same time.

We field train with bitches in season (including my own). I was really
happy not to have to pull Marcie from activity then, and even the intact
boys being run manage to deal with the situation. Life doesn't stop.

My classes are puppy and basic and advanced, but not competition. We
don't allow bitches in season, because quite honestly, most of the
students have enough challenges and aren't really looking to proof their
dogs to that level. OTOH, Marcie came into season without me
realizing it at first, and marked all over the damn place one day!

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Melinda Shore wrote:

I've found this to be an enormously interesting discussion.
This is something that comes up a lot in mushing, because
people tend to have so many intact dogs and because you've
got teams on the trail at the same time. Some teams can
deal with it and some can't, but the big issue is always
that while you might know the abilities and limits of your
own team you really don't know that much about who else is
out there and regardless of how well-trained yours might be
it's a pretty safe bet that somebody else's isn't quite so
disciplined.

I can see this as being somewhat different for your situation, because
of what you describe. In the type of training we do (obedience, agility,
breed, schutzhund) it's far less likely that something accidental will
happen because the bitches in question train with pants on. Hilarity can
ensue when a young bitch goes down a line of jumps the first time with
pants on (what *are* these things????)

In Europe dogs compete in season in agility. I somehow don't think that
European male dogs (or their owners) have some sort of speshul seekrit
way to deal with girls in season. They're expected to, they train for
it, they deal with it. End of story.

And when you relate it to real life, in real life a dog who ceases all
brain function if a girl is in season is likely to not last long because
he's going to be blindsided by something or somebody. The last thing a
police officer wants is a dog veering off a bad guy to go chase a bitch
in season. It's true that on Mythbusters the one thing that did distract
the protection dog was the scent of a girl in season; but my bet is that
trainer started working on that issue the next week and if they had the
dog back again he'd act differently.

"Robin Nuttall" wrote in message
news:BZa_k.411170$TT4.267580@attbi_s22...
Dogs, even boy dogs, are not stupid. They figure out pretty fast
that they can't always indulge the gonads. That's a pretty good lesson to
learn.

I think I made it pretty clear right from the start that I was talking about
a two second lapse in focus. Not a dog who was actively trying to indulge
the gonads. And it happened to both male and female dogs. A large
percentage of them. For an entire day of trialing.

And it happened because 1) another handler broke the rules and 2) the club
wasn't prepared to remove scent - whether from an in season bitch or from a
dog peeing on the floor.

I have been able to train my dogs, male and female, to not lose their brains
when in the vicinity of an in season bitch. And when faced with an
over-friendly dog just as we step in the ring. And a barking dog crated
just outside the ring. Focus is focus. And these are dogs. I haven't
figured out how to shut off their noses yet.

Judy

In article 16c_k.466946$yE1.185640@attbi_s21,
Robin Nuttall wrote:

In the type of training we do (obedience, agility,
breed, schutzhund) it's far less likely that something accidental will
happen because the bitches in question train with pants on.

In field training, they run naked! Soggy panties would not be good.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com