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Originally Posted by spidey  I don't think it's cruel or abusive necessarily, I just think it's unnecessary and a bit silly. I train my dogs to understand a cue which means "if you've got to go, now and here is the time and place", and thus far I have never had an accident in the ring or car (and I have travelled thousands of miles with my dogs, we regularly drove from Texas to Canada). IMO, matchsticking is done by people who can't train or can't be bothered to teach their dogs a cue word (which is really very easily done), who can't plan enough time to get their dogs out and about so they can take care of business in their own time, or who feel they need to have control over every single aspect of their dogs (which I think is creepy). |
My dogs understand their cue word and often give me 'courtesy squats' even when they don't need to evacuate.
I have used a match two or three times in 9 years... sometimes dogs are not comfortable off their own turf, and therefore will hold it... when that turns into 3 days of holding it, I'd rather provide my dog relief than not...
This took place twice with a young dog who was new to showing... and once with an adult dog that was new to me - in both cases, the dog wasn't completely comfortable environmentally, and this had nothing to do with my laziness, lack of planning or a need to be a control freak...
I've never had an issue just travelling with a dog, only when going to shows a couple of times... which can be a very stressful environment for an unseasoned dog.
I don't know why it works, I don't really care... all I know is that my dogs were much more comfortable afterwards.