How Long Did It Take You To Title?

[Guest Piximatosis]

Just out of curiosity and as a subject for chatting :D

How long did it take you to title your dog/s in your chosen sport/s? From the day you started seriously training, to the day you got your final pass?

Having earned the "lowest" title (CCD, AD etc), did the successive titles come more easily or were they just as (if not more) challenging than the first?

I just like hearing everyone's stories

[Tim Fairchild]

I got my first ever AD qual with a dog called misty... It was the only one she ever got :D I eventually gave up with her (tho later went back years later and got her JD)

I move to Mr Garibaldi. A suppose it took a couple of years to get an AD. We were new then. His daughter get her AD JD in the first year I started working with her.

Now, I think Mr Garibaldi took something like 6 years to get a TD, while years later I got a TD with Duke in the first double trail I ever went to. I trained about 6 weeks. He was a natural.

You get better with your later dogs, and sometimes you get lucky

[Cala]

Started training her at 16 weeks of age, for CD. Titled at 9 months of age. would of been quicker than that but she came on heat between the 2 and 3rd legs and sort of lost the plot a little bit......... someone suggested that it is best not to train them while they are on heat!!!! Training is kept up all the time now........ Not out of the yard when she's on heat.

[Sayreovi]

Dunno, what do you consider serious training?

I train once a week in agility and flyball but its hard to be seriously training with a dog thats a pain

Edited May 3, 2007 by tollersowned

[Guest Piximatosis]

Ahh I'm not being too picky about the definition of "seriously training". I suppose I meant when you were actively training with a purpose in mind..

Like I've had my Rotty x for two years now... we are only just starting to train with the aim of actually titling... if we title a year from now for example, I'd say it took a year to train her to her title, rather than including the two years where we didn't actively train and saying it took three years... if that makes sense.

Edited May 3, 2007 by Piximatosis

[Sayreovi]

Well in that case, Nova took 4 years to get a performance title, Darcy has only been training for about 6 months and is yet to be trialled.

Oops, silly me, Darcy had been trialled in Flyball, he only competed in one race well, what he did wrong can only be trained out of him at comps so he has to wait until after the Nationals now.

Edited May 3, 2007 by tollersowned

[jesomil]

First dog i would have started seriously training her at about 8 - 9 months. She had her CD at 18 months then CDX at 2 years. Then i started agility and she got AD at 3 years.

Second dog i started training from a young pup. Her first novice pass was at 14 months then she had a litter, then second pass at just under 2 years.

[superminty]

Can't remember how long it took for our CD but I started training for agility seriously (as in regular classes once a week and not much in between) in February last year and we had our AD and JD titles by September - this is a dog with fairly extensive obedience training but no agility foundations at all. She was 4 yrs old at the time.

Edited May 3, 2007 by superminty

[leopuppy04]

hard one - I think I started seriously training Leo for 'trialling' at 18mths.... say Jan 2006.

Entered encouragement in May 2006 although I still say I didn't start 'trialling' until August 06 as that was when we started under the new rules.

Gained our first pass at the first CCD trial we entered.

2mths break - entered next trial in Oct 06 and gained another pass.

Straight into another 2 trials in Nov 06 and had 2 fails (on the stays)

Went back and over the summer proofed all of the exercises.

Next trial entered March 07 - entered 3 trials - passed all 3 with IMO very good scores....

First CD trial was April 07 - failed miserably

I think it really depends on how much time you have though.

Agility - started 'seriously' training June 06 - first trial March 07 - first Pass at our 2nd trial - April 07 (one pass in JD).

[JulesP]

Fern got her CD in 3 trials but I am really slack and hate driving so from encouragement to 3rd CD pass took a year because I pretty much did it all at Croydon! I did manage to drive to Knox. She just about 18 months when she got her title. She had started puppy school at 8 weeks and I was fairly serious with her from the beginning. She hurt her leg and couldn't jump so that was that.

I will probably not even start Brock until he is 2yo. He is much more insecure then Fern was and needs the time to grow up. Fern just lovvveddd working.

[MrsD]

God, how long is a piece of string?

First 2 dogs were like chalk & cheese, one took forever (because he was downright naughty!), second was really quick.

Current dogs - Jarrah is already doing Open ring work like retrieves, drop on recall & broadjump without any problems, but he needs plenty of proofing. He's ready to go into CCD & CD if I can get his sit stay more stable. I've only owned him since December.

Jonty started training in Aug last year but hasnt had alot of work since Xmas, Im hoping to have his CCD & possibly CD by the end of the year.

[Livi]

I might be able to answer this in 5 years time

Will be interesting though as I've started both dogs, one a BC X (I think) a month ago and the other a dobe last night

I think the BC is easier to train, she has a confidence issue though. The dobe, well if I can ever get him to focus on me for more than 10 seconds while other dogs are around and to stop thinking "heel" means "charge!!!!!!!!!" we might get there one day.

I have worked on him walking 'nicely' on a lead without dragging me around so he is a pleasure to walk and have around the home but we are basically starting from scratch with the 'formal' obedience.

EG- He knows sit/drop/stand/stay but not in an 'obedience' sense of the word (if that makes sense?)

[Seita]

My first dog was awful... it probably took me a few years to get him to some kind of trialling level! But he never got a qualify (for obedience that it). But agility and jumpers now theres another story... he probably got both novice titles within a year or so of starting serious training, he was fantastic.

I also trained and handled a dog for someone else at this time and had her novice agility and jumpers titles within a year of starting training her - not bad considering I trained her once a week and handled her a trials!!!

My next dog, she started training from word go as a pup, I had her in her first sweepstakes (I'm in QLD) at around 1year old and she had her title by 18months old... Agility and Jumpers were the same as the first dog, I started training her and had her first couple of passes within a few months of starting training. The titles did take somewhat longer to finish due to my moving to brisbane with her for uni and doing no training nothing for around 18 months. THen back into the ring after no training and finished the titles in a couple of trials!

My current pup, I started serious training with her at around 6months old (she's now 12months old) and I expect a novice title (obedience) by the end of the year, perhaps even a cdx as well! She just needs some polish on her heel work and then shes ready for some more serious proofing and then off we go!!!

[Guest Clover]

I started training Clover from day one for basics, she started formal classes at 14 weeks and withing probably 2 years we started trialing classes. But in the time we trialed she only got her encouragement pass and bombed out in Novice.. we are aiming for her Novice title for this year before her 9th Bday .

We started Flyball training when she was 3 years old and she started competing maybe 6 - 8 months after. It was probably 10 months before she got her FD title. It has taken 5 years for her to get her FM (Flyball Master) title and that was the big one i wanted her to get before retiring, but she is still going strong and having fun so who knows she might get her nxt Flyball title yet :p.

Elvis started foundation training in Flyball strait away and was doing a little bit at demo's by 12 months and competing by 14 months. He got his first 2 titles at his first competition (In his first race ). By about 10 months i gave up on obedience, but would love to do some drive training with him and try again.

Tinny i got at 2 years old, she started what would have been puppy foundation work in Flyball as soon as i knew she was a foster failure. It took about 6 months to get her ready for competiton, but she didn't actually start running properly until about 7 months later. She got her first title at the first comp she ran well at (Not the 2 she had been entered in previously).

[sandyl]

We started agility training beginning of 2006. Our first agility trial was March 2007. So far we've got 2 legs towards our JD title. Nearly there

[wheres my rock]

first dog had open withing 12 months of starting trianing we got him at 14 months from the pound

second dog i think was around the same then a further six months for ud but we hardly trial we only travel a short distance or dont bother lol

[J...]

I've done obedience with Darcy from day dot, never really taken it seriously til I seen/stewarded my 1st ever obedience trial in mid-March. Decided that it didn't look as scary as it sounded, entered her in a trial for the end of March, got two passes and two thirds. Entered Easter trial and came away with a NQ and a pass (2nd on a countback) and her CCD title at 16 months 1 week. I'm pretty happy with that cos Darcy's my first dog

As for agility, well she's not old enough yet, she'll be two weeks too young for Ballarat next weekend :p She turns 18 months in June, and there's no more local trials til October

[Astro Boy 2]

My first dog i trialled was COSMO my papillion, I started training him when he was a puppy, he won the encouragement ring when he was 2, after his third try at getting a pass ( he knew what he was doing, but i let him down) and then 2 weeks later we entered Novice in 3 comps at Gippsland over a long weekend and he came home with his C.D. title.