LIVING WITH A PERFORMANCE MIN PIN
by Kathy Morris
P erformance dogs can be quite challenging to train and live with—that is what makes them good performance dogs! If they were easy to train, they would not have the drive and stamina necessary to be competitive with the other dogs that we find in performance and com- panion events. Performance handlers look to the Min Pin standard—fear- less and alert; then add curious, ready to explore and independence as basic requirements for a competitive dog. Of course, all of this means we need to be constantly challenging the dog—or he will take it upon himself to chal- lenge us. So, a wonderful bond is es- tablished as we work our way through the various sports that make us a fabulous team. To be successful in performance events, communication between the handler and the dog is extremely im- portant, just as it is in conformation. While some folks wait until their dog has his championship to do any for- mal performance training, most start training early and intuitively. To have a confident dog in conforma- tion and/or performance events and
certainly for life, all puppies should be exposed to many different condi- tions. This would include walking on different surfaces, climbing in and over boxes, walking on narrow boards or garden walls, walking near playgrounds, going to hardware stores, and experiencing just about any sight, sound, surface or scent that can be found. Then, in the future, un- usual encounters will just be a part of life and not frightening. Working with each puppy for five to ten minutes, three times a day, seems to be best for building a good work ethic in the dog. This means not only working on the dog’s attention to you and their response to you in learning to stand, sit, stay, down and come; but also playing, chasing, tugging, going for a hike or walk, and those behav- iors that build drive and desire. Some call them tricks. I call them learning behaviors—and the more a dog learns, the easier it is to teach him the next behavior. Patience and consistency are the key. Min Pins can now be seen in so many events—they have earned titles in not only Obedience, Rally, and Agility,
but also BarnHunt, ScentWork, Lure Coursing (CAT and FastCat), Earth- dog, Dock Diving, Carting, Track- ing, Farm Dog, Canine Good Citizen (all levels) and Trick Dog (all levels). Many of these performers also have Champion and Grand Champion in front of their name. Some choose the sport for their dog based on what the human wants to do; some let their dog decide what it likes best. Cross train- ing in many activities is the norm for many—it keeps the dog sharp and out of trouble. One handler said it well— “every dog should have a job to do. This makes living together so much easier”. It also keeps the dogs on their toes so when they do compete in the ring, they have the brain stamina to do so. Performance dogs seem to be working in their chosen sport(s) until they are 11 or 12 and stopmostly because of ar- thritis or other slowing down issues. However, even though these dogs may be retired from competition, they still want to do the work. I had a sev- enteen-and-a-half-year-old dog that went tracking on a Friday and passed away in my arms two days later.
72 • T op N otch T oys , A pril 2019
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