Westminster Agility Tonight

[Miakoda]

Not sure about a clip, but basically, there was a chair by the exit and every time a new dog would become first in the class (even if temporarily) the owner replaced the old 'first' dog/owner. The rottie was on a lead by his owner. A gsd finished the course and upon finishing ran up to the rottie before the gsd owner could grab her dog. The rottie kind of lunged, the rotties owner sort of kicked the gsd away and the gsd owner grabbed her dog. Really that was it. I had a front row seat and saw it reasonably well but it was super quick.

That doesn't sound like too big of a deal. High stress environment, excited dog rudely rushed another, other dog said "get outta my face".

Some of the Facebook comments are just ridiculously horrifying. A bunch of supposed intelligent purebred dog owners jumping on the "Rotties are vicious and shouldn't be trusted out in public" bandwagon.

 

[Elrohwen]

That doesn't sound like too big of a deal. High stress environment, excited dog rudely rushed another, other dog said "get outta my face".

Some of the Facebook comments are just ridiculously horrifying. A bunch of supposed intelligent purebred dog owners jumping on the "Rotties are vicious and shouldn't be trusted out in public" bandwagon.

I didn't blame the rottie - I was surprised there wasn't an issue earlier. Having a dog run off the course right into the face of another dog isn't generally a good idea. Plenty of dogs would have had an issue with that, but the smaller ones could at least be on the owner's lap and out of the way. The rottie owner was trying her best to keep him controlled while dogs ran at him, but the GSD came a bit too close.


I personally loved watching agility on tv. I hope they keep it up! I thought it was weird that so many older or slower dogs were running, but it makes sense now that I know how they chose the dogs. I'm just disappointed that the guy I know didn't make it with his chessie. Also, funny seeing Diane Bauman there. I know she's a local.

 

[Miakoda]

I wish I hadn't missed it. I would've like to watch it as well.

As for the way it was done, welcome to the wide world of sports. Look at highschool and college sports. Divisions were created so that the smaller schools, or schools just not as good, still have a chance at being "state champions". College football and the BCS is another good example of how it's not the best teams that make it to the bowl teams. This was all done so that the not-as-good teams and/or smaller schools still had a chance of 15 minutes of fame.

I understand that it sucks to be at a smaller college or one with a smaller recruiting budget, but IMO it's not fair to the truly better teams that get shafted become Timbuktu got a bowl game out of "fairness".

There really no win-win in any of the above situations. The lesser dogs (or teams) want the same chance at the big trophy, and if things stayed the same, there's just no way it would ever happen.

 

[Laurelin]

I winced at the rottie and GSD for a couple reasons 1) It was just poor planning. They should have had a wall between the person and dog in the chair and the course. It just wasn't good and a lot of dogs, particularly while still 'high' from running the course, would have issues suddenly finding themselves face to face with another dog. 2) I knew people would say crap since it was a rottie and GSD. No fights would be good but a fight between two 'dangerous' breeds would be worse as far as PR goes for those breeds.

 

[yv0nne]

I know for a FACT Briar would have snarled& snapped at a dog at the end of his course when:

a. it was so unexpected. We've never seen a dog in there& never thought you ever would due to
b. the high most dogs are on while coming off a course. Seems like an odd decision

Penny wouldn't have snapped ..but she would have been startled& backed off by seeing another dog there.

I didn't see the clip. Hope they hurry up& get posted!!

 

[Laurelin]

I did have to laugh about how they were making a big deal about the 16" mixed breed and "oh how cool it would be for a mix to win this!" and it was a sport bred mix LOL.

Oh me too. And they went on and on and on....

 

[crazedACD]

Clip to the rottie/gsd thing..sorry my camera phone is so crappy.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=822299394452096&l=391015071183925436

Even if you don't have Facebook you should be able to see it.

 

[BostonBanker]

The incident between the Rottie and GSD was just so horribly set up. Both handlers did a great job in the situation and prevented it from being a real issue. I am shocked they had the chair there. This from a venue where you lose your Q if your dog steps foot in the exit chute without a leash on, because they are so concerned about safety.

I definitely didn't mean to imply that none of the dogs deserved to be there. Some of those dogs are absolutely competitive anywhere in the world. I just wish it were a more competitive group as a whole.

The whole thing was of course the talk of the agility trial today, and the general consensus was that it should have been labeled as a demo. To call it a "Championship", but allow the entrants to be chosen by random draw isn't fair. Having said that, I have no idea what the solution is, and have no dog in the fight as I don't really do AKC. It will be interesting to watch how they handle things next year. It's such a great way to get the sport out to the public, I hope they keep working to make it better and better.

 

[Miakoda]

Yeah, that falls under "Just what the heck were they thinking!?" Stupidity.

 

[Aleron]

Well the GSD was not the only dog the Rottie had an issue with. She was having a really hard time with him and pretty much all of the dogs leaving the course. There were multiple shots on TV of her trying to hold the dog's mouth closed, covering his face, him trying to get away from her to get to the other dogs. She really seemed to be struggling tryibg to keep her dog from attacking the other dogs who came past him. It did look bad from the standpoint that most people think all dogs should be happy dog park type dogs. I bet next year there will be a different set up for the current winner. But the dog was not acting in a way that is abnormal for his breed. Even the Rottie standard allows for an "aggressive or belligerent" attitude towards other dogs.

Oh me too. And they went on and on and on....

They really, really did. It's funny that people think mixes in competition are looked down on. Often it tends to go to the extreme the other way. They're like "this wonderful mix here competing...oh it's so nice to have mixes competing!!" They gave Roo! a special award just for being a mix who won LOL