Ellie has competed in a few obedience shows this year. She mainly did training rounds but did actually work a couple of full rounds too. She achieved a 6th place in Novice at Cippenham show and a 4th place at Woburn show.

Her main faults are her inconsistent heelwork position which is slightly crabby (bottom out) and I seem to knock her out of position with my knee. I didn't seem able to get her to work evenly or with her head up. She tends to trot a couple of paces then hop a pace. Even working her out wide didn't seem to improve the position and she just didn't seem able to physically adopt the correct position.

In early December I took her to see a chiropractor who found that Ellie was carrying her head and shoulders very "off centre". We concluded that this had probably been a problem for a long time and it may have been caused by a bump or fall months ago or had even just developed over time. Consequently, Ellie has learnt to carry herself this way and had developed muscles in all the wrong places.

Ellie has had a couple of chiropractic treatments and I am trying hard to get her to carry herself more level. I am now walking her on my right to try to address the stiffness in her left shoulder and trying to gently build up wide left handed circles with me on the inside to build up a higher head position and develop more correct muscles.

I think that the nature of "Dog obedience" is that the dog is worked in an unnatural position, always on the left of the handler with the head craned upwards and to the right, and that this exacerbates any physical problems the dog has. I wish obedience were more like dressage. The two are often compared but, at least dressage involves the horse being worked equally on each rein. Why shouldn't dogs be trained to work on either side? I can't see the whole sport accepting this principle, I think that's a bit too revolutionary...

This page was updated on 2nd January 2006