Obedience and your
fox terrier.
Foxies are not like most dogs to train and yet you must train
them to bring out their best.
Fox terriers will pick up training work very
quickly, I have found , BUT, beware do not repeat something he has learned too often or he
will refuse to continue. He will also pick up any training mistakes much better than
anything you want him to learn. He learns quickly when it comes to working out when he is
able to get away with not doing what he is commanded to do. So I would say that fox
terriers are quick learners but….they have trouble being obedient because they learn
quickly. Getting dizzy?? Just imagine how your fox terrier can confuse you.
If you are going to do obedience work with your fox
terrier, plan your training schedule so that you do not do too much of the same thing in
one session. At the same time, don’t progress too quickly, and reward him the same
way you would with any other breed. Once he has learned something, then go on to the next
thing. You don’t need to reinforce as much as other breeds, but you do need to proof.
Put your dog in as many different situations as possible and repeat the exercise you want
to proof.
Don’t compare your training progress with
other people in your class as you may get disappointed.
Some instructors are unfamiliar with terrier
training so be aware that you may need to adjust the training to suit your dog.
Your dog may need to mature before you can achieve
results.
Most of all -BE CONSISTENT!
Lots of fun and laughs are to be had when training your fox terrier. They may even
teach you something!
I have learned many things about obedience from my fox terriers.
Southside Dog Obedience Club runs from Nathan Rd Kuraby on Monday nights 7.30pm.
.
Obedience Clubs in your area are in the Queensland Dog World. Call the 'Canine Control
Council' for phone numbers.
Give it a try!
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Obedience and your foxy
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By Vicki Mcfarlane
It would appear looking at the relatively
few fox terriers in Queensland, Australia which have their C.D. titles that fox terriers
are difficult to teach anything, but if you have ever owned a fox terrier you would know,
that is not the case. It would seem that the breed has been used for an activity (fox
hunting) where the dog has to think for itself.
Being independent thinkers is where 'hounds' and
'terriers' are different from 'working dogs'. Working dogs are the usual choice for
obedience work. The case I can think of where this independent thinking was obvious
to me was when I was performing an obedience demonstration with my fox terrier
('Sparky' as shown above) in a team
having several different breeds and their trainers in front of a large crowd of Brisbane
exhibition goers. The caller, caught up in the excitement, decided to do something which
we had not rehearsed. We were to all leave our dogs and walk a few meters away and then
call them in a recall one at a time. The other ten or so dogs did their exercise as usual
and everyone was waiting for the more experienced dogs to do their ‘drop on
recall’ exercise. Since it is usually the case where we only ever leave our dogs in a
line when we are doing a long stay exercise, my fox terrier ‘Sparky’ would not
come to me when I gave the signal (which he was usually consistently good at) because he
had looked at his situation and thought for himself. It would have been something like
this – "My owner only ever leaves me in a line when she is going to return to me
– she must have forgotten the routine. I will just stay here until she has worked it
out." No amount of calling or coaxing would persuade him to come to me. In front of
the crowd it was most embarrassing as he was doing CDX work at the time. I am certain my
reputation had suffered according to those trainers with other 'working dog' breeds. But
alas, that is the fun of working with a fox terrier. You have to be one step ahead of them
all the time.
Sparky, a fox terrier goes
through his paces at a dog
obedience class.
Photo and comments as shown in a local
newspaper when we first started our Obedience Club at Southside Dog
Obedience Club.
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History of Obedience with fox terriers in Queensland.
According to the C.C.C. a dog called Ch. Pedam Joromina C.D.X. was the first fox
terrier to achieve obedience status in Queensland (I believe it was in Brisbane). This was
apparently in the 1950s. No obedience title was awarded to a fox terrier again until more
recently, in 1986. Smoothspec Red C.D.X. Q O&FT 531 attained it’s open title with
Helen Major in Cairns. Also in the same year Wellsmere Pink Punk C.D.Q O&FT 843 in
Rockhampton. Diane achieved a double title of C.D. and A.D. with Foxadine Tan Magic Q
O&FT 843. I myself finally got through a C.D. with Ch. Cindisue Superspark C.D. and
also with Ch. Foxylair La Lola C.D. in 1996. I have also seen some fox terriers around the
obedience ring since then so I am sure that there are more to add to the list.
If you know anything more about these dogs and people who has achieved results with a
fox terrier in obedience (in the past or at the moment) please let us know as much of this
information is not recorded.
Vicki Mcfarlane email vicki@petmotel.com.au (07) 32005764
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