Sport versus Work - Page 6

Susie don't you work in an office, several studies have demonstrated multitasking is inefficient and counterproductive.

Lol@ vk:-)

Cutaway, its what the dog is trained for that is either sport or real work...nobody ever died because a sport dog missed an article on a track.

There is no 'right or wrong' any more than chosing to grow a crop of flowers or a crop of vegetables is right or wrong....one is pretty to lookat, the other can sustain life...the effort invloved in growing flowers and vegies is similar but the end result is vastly different. Same as sport and real work in the dog world.

I am in the camp that sport is real work for the dog.

I think it should practical work V competition.....they are both work and require good working dogs to do them well.

There is a reason why good sport dogs and good service dogs have essentially the same lineage/pedigrees, they are more the same than different.



Unless you folks are talking about "real, old school" GSD....then you are prolly just a BS artist.

No one is denying that the dogs all come from similar pedigrees, the question was...is sport and work one and the same; I say of course not. Not any more than a football player playing football equals a special ops soldier taking out a sniper. Jmo.

But the training that made the soldier is essentially no different than sport complete with rehearsed scenarios, skill building, judges, score cards, qualifying trials, simulations,awards......hell they even use computer games to make the soldier.

Yeah, and that football game is going to win a war or at least win a battle...NOT.

Not any more than a football player playing football equals a special ops soldier taking out a sniper

the analogy is rather weak. a consistent analogy might be: not anymore than buying a dog to tend to a commercial sheep operation equals buying sheep to muck about with one's dog(s) ... which is still leaves a debatable argument. but to borrow from js mill -- you can't argue tastes and preferences.

This whole argument is pointless. I have sold dogs for real work that did not have what it took for upper level sport. They can be PP dogs and LE dogs because they have the necessary drive and decent nerve.
For a dog to do well in sport he must show power, drive and control. Many dogs fall apart when you attempt to put all these 3 together including many of the dogs that go for LE or Personal Security work hence why they ended there in the first place.

Some sport dogs, do not show any power. Due to a lack of consistency in judging these dogs are many times given more points for being technically correct which is where much of the Sport vs Real argument comes from. Same happens in KNPV, RING and IPO dont fool yourselves.


 

Is work and sport interchangeable? Has nothing to do with taste. Neither does equating a football player with a special ops soldier have anything to do with taste. If one wants to PLAY football one does not need to train with the Special Forces. If one wants to go fight in a war and shoot the enemy, one does not train with a football team but joining the Special Forces might get you to the battle with a sniper rifle.
As for a dog tending a commercial sheep operation and having a couple sheep 'to muck about with yr dogs' , who is making any claims those are equal...Call the end training what it is...sport or work. BTW, obedience and training are common denominators in any endeavor using dogs, including pets.

Does it take work to train and title a dog in a sport, ie, dock diving, agility, ipo...sure. Does that equate to real work by the dog and handler...no. Jmo.

 

The op asked if its simantics and  stated one is not more important than the other. I didnt see the op's question as sport dog vs 'real dog' ( the most over debated topic in history of dogdom) but is sport equal to real work.....discussions are only pointless when learning is prohibited by those who have the only answers.