Harry -

If you have to holler whoa at your dog, then yeah, it might not be all that broke.

But if you scream whoa to your dog from about 5 ft. away...well... that borders on intimidation to me and I tend to view that in the same way as the clearly prohibited tactic of the handler standing in front of its dog at the flush...to lessen the likelihood of the dog breaking and chasing by blocking it physically.

Intimidation can take many forms. BUT...

Intimidation ain't what we should be showing as "finished " dog work. A quiet caution, a wave of the hand or just... "the look"... should be all that is necessary for the dog to be reminded of it's training. IMO of course.
RayG

--Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
:
:
: FWIW, I am also not a fan of a handler
: looking at their dog in the eye and
: hollering WHOA immediately before going in
: to flush. I won't pick up a dog because of
: it.,..but you just made placing that dog a
: whole lot harder IMHO.
:
: RayG
:
:
: Damn Ray, If I'd done that, in some trials I
: might not have had enough dogs for three
: placements! There was a pro handler back in
: the day that was particularly bad that way
: iirc. He would whoa a dog multiple times
: while standing right in front of the dog
: before he flushed. I'd usually tell the
: other judge, "Kinda makes me wonder if
: that dog is really broke" Harry
:
:
:
:
: