Agility and vision

Post date: Aug 4, 2013 11:35:16 PM

On the topic of dog vision issues and agility trials, this is a place Trevor and I trialed this weekend. He did okay in the Std ring (4th place), but like many dogs, he struggled in the jumpers ring. It was narrower, and a large percentage of it was surrounded with white walls. So the net effect from the dogs' perspective was white obstacles disappearing against white walls. There were many missed obstacles and refusals. Dogs especially avoided the jump at the back of the ring next to the cargo net. A lot of dogs never saw the weaves as they raced past them.

This was our second time at this venue. The first time Trevor was tentative in the jumpers ring, but he did the course. This weekend he did 2 jumps and then refused to go on. He would not take any more jumps in that ring, even on our way out. It reminded me of how psyched out he used to get on the jumping exercises at indoor obedience trials (and indoor class, for that matter). Somehow related to vision, worsened by fluorescent lights?

I worried that this venue would be a challenge for him, given his history, but I figured it was worth a shot. I was hoping that things would go better this weekend since he had already been to it once. But it was worse. We skipped today, and I won't take him back there.