Obedience Questions

[aussielover]

What age can a dog or puppy starting doing actual obedience trials?

I was on the DOGS NSW website and they CD level looks quite basic, I would assume a puppy (<12 months) could do most if not all of these exercises.

Novice (C.D.)

Obedience trialling at the Novice level consists of the performance of a number of exercises in a formal ring situation. These exercises are:

* Heel Free

* Stand Free for Examination

* Recall Retrieve on the Flat or Change of Position

* 1 minute Sit Stay

* 1 minute Down Stay

Three passes of a minimum of 170 points out of a possible 200 under at least two different judges will qualify the dog for the award Companion Dog, which follows after the dog's name and is normally abbreviated to C.D.

What is a change of position?

Also, I've heard many top obedience trainers get their puppy at 6 weeks of age and all the dogs are kept outside in runs, so as to maximise the trainers "status" to the dog.

I would love to get into obedience with my next dog, but I also want it to be able to get on the couch with me, sleep on my bed, live inside?

Is it possible to achieve the higher levels if you have more "relaxed" house rules?

I know my current puppy would be good, she can do most of the above exercises (we don't do a conventional heel though) but she is a guide dog so no competitions for her

[RallyValley]

(Waits for an obidience person to come into the thread and explain)

[Primedogs]

What is a change of position?

In this instance, you have to leave your dog in a stand stay/wait and walk out to about 3m infront of your dog then command them to drop/down. The dog must then stay in this position while the handler returms to the dog and untill the judge says exercies finished.

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

Yup Gotta agree it LOOKS easy , and most young dogs do learn these things quite quickly , not as simple as it appears a trial is very different for your dog to training at a club or in a familiar area .

for example puppy will be happy to sit stay at your local park with a few known distractions and hold quite well , puppy gets tired and lays down , hmmm buy buy points in a trial .

Most do not feel ready to trial until the pup is between 8- 18 months dependant on the dog and handler some wait longer some get in early.

Umm 6 weeks confine and train no have not seen that one in action for about 20 years the dog tends to come out of the lack of socialisation a bit skitz no good in a trial.

For a good idea go to the local dog training clubs mock trials see what goes on and the level of the dogs competing , your dog when under trial should not break from a stay heal sit or down without being told , now here is the hard one the handler must give a command only once to the dog in any form they cannot reinforce they must be very aware of their body as you are not allowed to cue other than your first command . no treats or toys in the ring.

after you have watched a Mock trail have a day out at a full trail , this will give you the view as to what people are aiming at

Good luck it is a lot of fun , but I must admit never worked harder for something than I did for my dogs titles

[TerraNik]

What age can a dog or puppy starting doing actual obedience trials?

6 months of age (though this doesn't mean that every 6 month old OB trained puppy is ready).

Also, I've heard many top obedience trainers get their puppy at 6 weeks of age and all the dogs are kept outside in runs, so as to maximise the trainers "status" to the dog.

I would love to get into obedience with my next dog, but I also want it to be able to get on the couch with me, sleep on my bed, live inside?

Is it possible to achieve the higher levels if you have more "relaxed" house rules?

Absolutely you can have a highly trained dog who lives inside the house, plays, etc. Our dogs are pets first, then obedience (or other sports) dogs.

[bedazzledx2]

Good Lord!!!! Where did you hear this?!!?? Speaking for myself (and I think Brookie would rate pretty highly ) He sleeps on my bed although he has to share it with the cat! I have trained and trialled a number of O C"s (stands for Obedience Champion....or Occasionally Clever...depending on the day ) and they have all been house dogs. 6 weeks is too young except under dire circumstance, rescue for example. Most puppy's are sold at 8 weeks from a responsible breeder.

ANKC rules allow dogs to compete at 6 months of age although most puppies would not be mature enough at this age. Personally I wait until they are around 2 but that can vary with individuals. Change of position is when the dog is left in a stand and on command goes into a down and in the higher classes sit, come and finish.

What age can a dog or puppy starting doing actual obedience trials?

I was on the DOGS NSW website and they CD level looks quite basic, I would assume a puppy (<12 months) could do most if not all of these exercises.

Novice (C.D.)

Obedience trialling at the Novice level consists of the performance of a number of exercises in a formal ring situation. These exercises are:

* Heel Free

* Stand Free for Examination

* Recall Retrieve on the Flat or Change of Position

* 1 minute Sit Stay

* 1 minute Down Stay

Three passes of a minimum of 170 points out of a possible 200 under at least two different judges will qualify the dog for the award Companion Dog, which follows after the dog's name and is normally abbreviated to C.D.

What is a change of position?

Also, I've heard many top obedience trainers get their puppy at 6 weeks of age and all the dogs are kept outside in runs, so as to maximise the trainers "status" to the dog.

I would love to get into obedience with my next dog, but I also want it to be able to get on the couch with me, sleep on my bed, live inside?

Is it possible to achieve the higher levels if you have more "relaxed" house rules?

I know my current puppy would be good, she can do most of the above exercises (we don't do a conventional heel though) but she is a guide dog so no competitions for her

[wuffles]

Have a look on Youtube, there are lots of videos of CCD and CD trials

We go to obedience training, we love it, and Ava is smart... but we are nowhere near ready to trial. I'd say although it's definitely possible, it would be rare for a dog under 12 months old to be truly ready for the precision required in trialling (particularly one with a novice handler such as myself).

[RubyStar]

Yup Gotta agree it LOOKS easy

+1

My girl trains beautifully. Get her in the ring and depending on the day and her mood, it's a complete different story

I could put up a video of her on the same day - one video a trial, one video training a couple of hours later, and you would see the difference

My dogs are my faithful household companions first and foremost, and I won't ever sacrifice them being a close part of my life and them getting to do fun "doggy" things just to have a better chance at earning a few extra ribbons

Edited July 28, 2010 by RubyStar

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I'd rate Ness as a top obedience trainer, and her dogs don't live in crates outside.

If you do want more attention from a dog it can work, but so can crating it on competition day and ignoring it until you're ready to work. The quarantine dogs and police dogs sometimes live the "no attention unless we're working, and only get food when we're working/training, kind of life" but they are working or training nearly all day anyway.

Lean what you can about "training in drive" and (distraction)"proofing". Also read the "triangle of temptation" info and "nothing in life is free" (NILIF) stuff. And find a balance where you're happy to work with your dogs.

My dog is great but yesterday I arrived at class a bit late and she wanted to sniff and greet and couldn't so the second she was off lead for an agility run - she was off. Eventually I caught her, did first run on lead and subsequent runs off lead - all good. But anyone could sabotage an obedience trial for us by a liberal distribution of possum poo. And we'd be out. Even though we train on a ground covered in it.

The other thing is that each doggy lesson tends to be context/location specific, so while you might get perfect heelwork out in the park, on the footpath might be a different story. Or you might have a well behaved dog at home, but go visit a friend and you have to re-train all the stuff the dog "already" knows.

I would not get a puppy at 6 weeks. Mine was 10 weeks. Some breeders like to wait until the puppy is 12 weeks though new owners get to visit before that.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/your-...puppy-education

TOT

http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=52

NILIF

http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=100

I do variations of TOT all the time. Ie we have improved our long term stays and our recalls by working for and in front of the temptation of our dinner. NILIF is something I go back to selectively if I'm having trouble with dog not doing what I want, like playing "chase me" instead of "lets get lead on for walk". I don't do all the NILIF stuff but if I was obsessed with high competition scores, I probably would.

[aussielover]

Good Lord!!!! Where did you hear this?!!?? Speaking for myself (and I think Brookie would rate pretty highly ) He sleeps on my bed although he has to share it with the cat! I have trained and trialled a number of O C"s (stands for Obedience Champion....or Occasionally Clever...depending on the day ) and they have all been house dogs. 6 weeks is too young except under dire circumstance, rescue for example. Most puppy's are sold at 8 weeks from a responsible breeder.

ANKC rules allow dogs to compete at 6 months of age although most puppies would not be mature enough at this age. Personally I wait until they are around 2 but that can vary with individuals. Change of position is when the dog is left in a stand and on command goes into a down and in the higher classes sit, come and finish.

Haha, actually sadly my animal behaviour and welfare lecturer told us this....

hmmmm

he has some "interesting" views imo.

Thanks for all your answers!

I am sure it is much harder than it sounds! But would love to get into it even if just for fun.

[bedazzledx2]

I would suggest that his information is 20 years out of date!!!!

It is a lot of fun and its worth going to a couple of trials to watch.

Good Lord!!!! Where did you hear this?!!?? Speaking for myself (and I think Brookie would rate pretty highly ) He sleeps on my bed although he has to share it with the cat! I have trained and trialled a number of O C"s (stands for Obedience Champion....or Occasionally Clever...depending on the day ) and they have all been house dogs. 6 weeks is too young except under dire circumstance, rescue for example. Most puppy's are sold at 8 weeks from a responsible breeder.

ANKC rules allow dogs to compete at 6 months of age although most puppies would not be mature enough at this age. Personally I wait until they are around 2 but that can vary with individuals. Change of position is when the dog is left in a stand and on command goes into a down and in the higher classes sit, come and finish.

Haha, actually sadly my animal behaviour and welfare lecturer told us this....

hmmmm

he has some "interesting" views imo.

Thanks for all your answers!

I am sure it is much harder than it sounds! But would love to get into it even if just for fun.

[Allerzeit]

Novice (C.D.)

Obedience trialling at the Novice level consists of the performance of a number of exercises in a formal ring situation. These exercises are:

* Heel Free

* Stand Free for Examination

* Recall Retrieve on the Flat or Change of Position

* 1 minute Sit Stay

* 1 minute Down Stay

It's actually a 3 minute down stay in Novice class I wish it was only 1 minute!

[mirawee]

The other thing to remember is that all exercises are done one after the other (well except the group exercises which are done once all individual runs are completed) and without being able to reward except at the end of each exercise and even then you can't use toys or food. So while a dog could do all exercises by 6 months of age they wouldn't necessarily have the attention span to string them all together in one go. And generally around that age they hit teenagerhood and forget everything they have ever been taught anyway for a few months

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

by all means aussielover give it a go , it is fantastic fun and a never ending source of amusment ( make sure you are good at laughing at self) frustration and outright joy when things go right , check out agility and flyball runs as well , will give you a good Idea as to the atmosphere that the trials create

[rakaaz]

Novice (C.D.)

Obedience trialling at the Novice level consists of the performance of a number of exercises in a formal ring situation. These exercises are:

* Heel Free

* Stand Free for Examination

* Recall Retrieve on the Flat or Change of Position

* 1 minute Sit Stay

* 1 minute Down Stay

It's actually a 3 minute down stay in Novice class :D I wish it was only 1 minute!

Yes it is 3 minutes, but sometimes it feels like 30 minutes