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How Do You Get Into Dog Sports?


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This is what I have done so far with Kaos who is 11 months in preparation for agility:

Drive Building

Recall

Sit

Drop

Stand

Send Away (Go!) - I am training this as go to a target (plastic lid with food on it) - he can do up to 40 paces

Contact training with a flat board 2o2o (I still need some help with this one)

Hind end awareness with raised surface

Tunnel

Open channel weaves

Groundwork like front crosses

Recently started

Stays

Ladder for hind end awareness

Gees that looks like a lot! It isn't really :mad

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Diesel is 3 and I am just starting to think about getting him ready to compete in obedience. We need to work on stays and dealing with his excitement/stress in new locations/situations. But he has matured nicely and has good focus now and is calmer. There is no way I would have tried to compete with him before, neither of us were ready (this is the first dog I have gotten this far) and I certainly don't see it as a failure. We still both have a lot to learn.

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Hi Poodlefan

EddyAnne is still a semi active member of DOL, although I have never spotted him in the training thread for some reason. They live in Sale, Victoria. He did have a website which contained a lot of info about training from an early age (I think from about 10 weeks old. It was a very interesting website with many good hints. When I recently searched for it , it was no longer on the net. I must contact him and find out if it is still available to view. They are very well known in Victorian obedience circles.

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There are many dogs that obtain their UD titles at around 1 year of age or shortly after.

I would have said very few and these are dogs usually have very experienced handlers.

Just out of interest at the BC national last year the youngest dog in novice was just 2 years old , in open 17 months (no CDX title) and UD 3 years 5 months.

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Hi Poodlefan

EddyAnne is still a semi active member of DOL, although I have never spotted him in the training thread for some reason. They live in Sale, Victoria. He did have a website which contained a lot of info about training from an early age (I think from about 10 weeks old. It was a very interesting website with many good hints. When I recently searched for it , it was no longer on the net. I must contact him and find out if it is still available to view. They are very well known in Victorian obedience circles.

EddyAnne is no longer a DOL member and yes, all their websites are deleted also.

Edited by molasseslass
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Hi Sne

My advice is to look at making your obedience training more interesting to your dog, rather than looking for more to stimulate him at this stage. You still need a reliable level of control while in aglilty, and having full control of him in an emergency situation is more important than running an agility course IMO.

He actually loves obedience, but can tire of the same things quickly. He absolutely loves to heel (although we're still at the early stages of that) and recall, and will reliably do sit/stay and drop/stay (well reliable enough for his current level of training) and the trainers are for ever commenting on his amazing focus. It was just that when teaching the 'stand' I found that he could get quite 'bored' (although I may have confused that with lack of confidence) with that, and so along with making my rewards (especially for that) better, I also taught him some other more 'fun' things that I could slip in every now and again (like targeting). I've found that now that I do that - I always am ending my home training sessions with him wanting to do more, and offering sits/drops/heels long after we're finished in the hope of more rewards.

So I guess I worded it badly when I said "boring" obedience - its more that he craves to learn, so I just wanted to give him something new to work with. I still intend to make obedience my main focus of training.

Leopuppy - thanks for you advice! I taught my golden to go around a bucket from a small distance (it was the best thing I could find), so I might try that with my 10mth toller (dog in question). Teaching rear end awareness had been on my list of things to do - though I was planning on reading up on it thoroughly before I attempted to try it. And I suppose my next step in targeting is to a distant object! All in good time though :mad

Kavik can I ask what "Contact training with a flat board 2o2o" is?

Edited by Sne
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It might be better to have Vickie or sidoney explain - they will do a much better job :mad

For the contacts in agility, I am teaching Kaos to stop on the contact zone with two paws on the obstacle and two paws on the ground (2 on 2 off). At the moment I am using a board flat on the ground, not an actual obstacle. It is proving to be a bit tricky! We are improving, but I can see that Kaos sometimes cues when to stop on my body language.

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I don't think it matters what you teach a young dog so long as it is fun and within their physical capabilies. Any training (so long as it is positive) will help build up a working relationship and the dog is learning that training is fun.

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Dogdude, I know who EddyAnne is and that he does/did obedience (I think he's a judge??) He and I crossed swords many a time on the DD issue.

18 months for an OC seems almost unbelieveable to me - I'm not saying that I doubt you, but wonder if the term "obedience champion" refers to the actual title or is a generic reference to obtaining an obedience title of some kind. OC hasn't been around all that long.

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There are many dogs that obtain their UD titles at around 1 year of age or shortly after.

I would have said very few and these are dogs usually have very experienced handlers.

Just out of interest at the BC national last year the youngest dog in novice was just 2 years old , in open 17 months (no CDX title) and UD 3 years 5 months.

I agree, very few, it is not the norm to have dogs competing in UD by 12 months old. I'd be interested to know how old these dogs are now & how many are still competing in obedience.

Interestingly this very topic came up between my friend whos a senior obedience judge & myself about a month ago (Poodlefan, you know who Im talking about :) ), she currently has a GSD who is still competing at 9, the dog is an OC (back when geting an OC actually meant more than it does now) & she's now working towards her UDX title. She has people who's dogs are burnt out by the time they are 5 or 6 constantly asking her how she manages to have dogs who still work so well into their senior years & she always answers the same - she doesnt push them when they are young.

Poodlefan & Vickie - I agree with you completely :mad .

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Mrs D:

Interestingly this very topic came up between my friend whos a senior obedience judge & myself about a month ago (Poodlefan, you know who Im talking about ), she currently has a GSD who is still competing at 9, the dog is an OC (back when geting an OC actually meant more than it does now) & she's now working towards her UDX title. She has people who's dogs are burnt out by the time they are 5 or 6 constantly asking her how she manages to have dogs who still work so well into their senior years & she always answers the same - she doesnt push them when they are young.

I sure didn't push Ted when he was young. He gained his CD last year aged 9!!! :mad

Edited cos Ted was 9 not 8.

Edited by poodlefan
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Poodlefan:

His website refered to OC (the real deal) ie) 5 qualifying scores over 185 and a class win) . He stated that if there was not an age limit for trial entry, then at least one of his dogs would have done it even sooner.

He uses food drive, and does not train with a lead or chain. I only noticed a post around a month ago of his in the BSL thread.

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Please dont think that I reckon every Tom,Dick & Harry should buy a pup and start training immediately, just that I think an experienced handler should have the ability to recognise a stressed out pup.

I find MrsD's reference to a very old competition dog very interesting.

I never really thought what I might do if I ever trained an OC after the fact, I think I would just retire it. I think EddyAnne may have done the same, what more is there to make it a challenge?

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Dogdude:

I never really thought what I might do if I ever trained an OC after the fact, I think I would just retire it. I think EddyAnne may have done the same, what more is there to make it a challenge?

Some people simply do it for enjoyment Dogdude. You see more of that in agility I think.. fully titled dogs run by people who simply love the sport ( and watching their dogs have a good time).

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I sure didn't push Ted when he was young. He gained his CD last year aged 9!!! ;)

:) ;) yayyyyyy for Big Ted!! ;) :D ;)

Dogdude, if your only motivation is to get a piece of paper then I guess you would retire the dog - luckily her motivation is more than that :rofl: .

Edited by MrsD
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MrsD

Everyone enters dog sports for different reasons. What is the reason to do obedience in the first place......?? To acheive a dog that is behaved in public at a reliable level.

Perhaps you might think of something really intelligent to add to the thread ?

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MrsD

Everyone enters dog sports for different reasons. What is the reason to do obedience in the first place......?? To acheive a dog that is behaved in public at a reliable level.

Perhaps you might think of something really intelligent to add to the thread ?

Some of the worst mannered dogs I know are top obedience winners ;)

Competition obedience and an obedient dog are totally different things.

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MrsD

Everyone enters dog sports for different reasons. What is the reason to do obedience in the first place......?? To acheive a dog that is behaved in public at a reliable level.

Perhaps you might think of something really intelligent to add to the thread ?

Some of the worst mannered dogs I know are top obedience winners ;)

Competition obedience and an obedient dog are totally different things.

You are so right Janba... I can think of a few UD titled dogs who only recall in the obedience ring. ;)

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