simple excercises at high precision V difficult excercise at low precision - Page 1

which is the better test of temperament, trainability, nerve....etc??

Neither!....they both reflect training skills of trainer.

I don't use "precision" to judge temperament either way.

what do you use it for??

Exactly what Gustav said: precision reflects the skills of the trainer! (Or lack thereof!)

It also reflects the dog's level of training. (DUH!)

ever hear '' you can not put a  shine a bm''?   the dog needs to meet the handler/trainer near the half way point. It would be foolish to think top trainers do not look for top dogs and some of them might meet the standards of this chat room.

The level of precision tells me how much the handler cares about precision.  Obviously they will seek out dogs that are easier to train with their methods and can meet their standards for that level of precision and "flash".  I think a lot of dogs could be a lot more precise but the handlers just don't make that a priority or are not as good at training as some of the top sport trainers/handlers.  Also I think a lot of very precise dogs have temperaments that are not desirably for me, personally.

This is not unique to IPO.  I now do agility with my SchH dog and sometimes let my instructor work with my dog.  She is a very experienced handler/trainer and has competed at a much higher level in agility than I have.  My dog looks like a totally different dog when she handles him.  Obviously his temperament does not change from one handler to the next....

There's a reason OB is only one part of many.  It says something about the dog and the trainer, but hardly everything.  Just like barking isn't everything in protection, but it is something, and biting isn't everything, but grip behavior is something and a-frames and jumps aren't everything, but are something etc.  It's all part of a bigger picture which very few are even remotely capable of seeing these days.  

zdog
get all those attributes together and you have a winner part of anything does not win a lot
Steve1