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Obedience at a competitive level

Agree with all of the above, and things you can do at home; make her sit stay in different places in your house, big reward for staying when you return...recall game in the house...put her in a stay and go hide then call her....big party when she finds you. Keep her mind busy by playing focus games. Food in your closed hand, "leave it" until she looks at your eyes then she gets the reward. Enjoy that pup!
 
@Ravenbird we did start some classes!! We got a few classes in, then weather started getting bad, and now I'm laid up from surgery, so it will be a bit before we get back into it, but we got a good handle on basic positions, attention focusing and started on heel. I have plenty to reinforce at home until we're able to go again, and I'm hoping my surgery doesn't set us back, since I'm not able to do pretty much anything right now
 
I'll keep you in my thoughts for healing from your surgery! I'm glad you got to do a little in classes so you have ideas to work on at home when your are able.
 
Someone give me the good the bad and the ugly! I want to get into something with Gemma (hubby already said no way for IPO :mad:) and conformation is out- shes working lines and (so I've heard) sable GSDs aren't "accepted" very well since there's really no specific coloring/markings. Anyway, obedience has really been intriguing me, and curious what all I could expect! At what age should we start formal classes for it?

I'll start out with the ugly - read the rule book! You can very easily NQ or DQ without realizing it. Also if you know the rule book, you can sometimes salvage a Q when disaster appears imminent. Don't be intimidated because judges really do want you to Q.

The good is you develop a relationship with your dog like no other. You get great war stories. You have memories that pop up in weird moments that make you smile. The time Anna was the last dog standing in an Obedience trial and was all alone for the group exercises. I was in the blind and heard the stewards laughing and saying how cute her ears are and she looks like Yoda. The time a bad dumbbell throw went way off to the side, Cooper retrieved it and realized he had to make a big dogleg to return and the judge said "It's nice to have a dog that thinks." The time a flock of sheep split in two and Sabrina just put her head down and brought the renegades back without a command from me. These memories are priceless.

The bad isn't really bad - it's when you don't Q. Diva would always do something in the ring to NQ us. Once we were doing the Heel Free along the backstretch and she stayed in heel position, but decided to buck like a bronco the length of the backstretch. Then there was a time we were at the end of the individual exercises. She came to Front in the Recall. I was already counting points and I figured we were in the low 190s. The judge told me to call her to Heel. Instead of going to Heel, she grabbed mouthfuls of grass, threw them up in the air and leaped after them, all while staying close to me. The judge said if he ever wanted a movie of a happy dog playing, that was it, but we were excused from the group exercises. There's no way I would trade those experiences for a green ribbon.

If you live in eastern PA, I can name some clubs.

If you're just starting out, attention is what I'd focus on. I put treats in my mouth and call the dog's name. When he looks at my face, I spit the treat at him. I teach a young puppy to stay on my left side but not heeling when I take a walk. When they naturally stay on my left side, that's when I start teaching heeling. While doing this, I work attention by spitting food at them when they look at me after I call their name.

There's a sport called Rally you can enter before entering Obedience trials. Rally was founded to teach and compete with individual Obedience manoeuvers in a laid out course in which you can praise your dog anytime. It has titles and classes similar to Obedience.

I consider Obedience to be the requisite foundation for doing other sports. I also do Herding and Barn Hunt and having a pre-trained dog that listens to me made a big difference when the dogs begin them. A friend who does only Agility started doing Obedience and she now has a better handle on her dog.

I don't think I even scratched the surface of what you want to know. Please ask question and I as well as the other forum members will try to help.

Happy training and good luck!
 
I came across this article this morning I encourage you to read.

Competition Dog Sports Etiquette ~ Denise Fenzi's Blog

I had two experience with Novice A handlers that come to mind.

I was watching a Novice A handler with Cooper sitting quietly by my side and we were about 10 to 15 feet away from the ring in the area where people were sitting. The handler stopped heeling and furiously told the judge that my dog was looking at her dog and to make me take my dog away. The judge lit into her telling her that her business is inside the ring and what happens outside the ring is no business of hers. (If Cooper was active or misbehaving, we wouldn't be anywhere near the ring.)

It was a long, hot summer day and the show was running late. Open A just finished and the stewards were calling the Novice B dogs. A Novice A handler was outraged that B was before A. She was telling the steward that A comes before B in the alphabet and her A class should be run next.

If you're new and don't understand something, ask an experienced handler.
 
Thank you SO much @obbanner !!! I knew you'd be super knowledgeable and helpful on this topic! I'm in central PA- but more east than west lol.

I'll have to touch base maybe tomorrow- I'm falling asleep typing right now but do have a few things I wanted to touch on!
 
I came across this article this morning I encourage you to read.
That's a great article, especially for those of us who have never ever competed in a trial. The comments below the article shouldn't be missed either, gives some more insight to the show world. I know Asha absolutely hates to be stared at by people or dogs and it's my job to keep her eyes on me, but this makes me even more aware that I will need to be very vigilant in & out of the ring. Also I love the idea of Rally before Ob. for us newbies. More relaxed, getting to talk to the dog etc. Same moves, just put together differently. I'm doing a self-study course through Fenzy but haven't done a live class yet - They do have a huge variety of online classes, nice for those of us in the boonies a million miles from instructors!
 
also @obbanner - I noticed in your dumbbell video from last summer AJ is wearing a prong. Everything I've read on AKC shows prohibits the use of prongs or e-collars anywhere on the show grounds. Is this seriously enforced? Like the potty area and just to bring them from the car to the crate area? I can keep my dog on a formal heel without her "hearing aids" as I call those magic collars, but her relaxed walk can turn to pulling in a busy environment. I know, I know, more work to do. Just curious about that rule.
 
also @obbanner - I noticed in your dumbbell video from last summer AJ is wearing a prong. Everything I've read on AKC shows prohibits the use of prongs or e-collars anywhere on the show grounds. Is this seriously enforced? Like the potty area and just to bring them from the car to the crate area? I can keep my dog on a formal heel without her "hearing aids" as I call those magic collars, but her relaxed walk can turn to pulling in a busy environment. I know, I know, more work to do. Just curious about that rule.

I've never seen the rule enforced nor have I seen it flagrantly violated. People try to make one trip, so have the crate, article bag, cooler with treats, tote bag and their dog, so I've seen people bring dogs in on prong collars so they can make one trip. I've done it myself. This may be a geographic situation, as I show entirely in NJ, NY and PA.

Barn Hunt Association allows covered prong collars with quick releases to be used in the blind. I heard the AKC are also allowing them, but I can't find such in the AKC Rule books (The Obedience/Rally Trial Manual as of Aug 2015 is on the AKC website.)

You reminded me of another Novice A story. I worked as a steward at a trial and wasn't entered. I had a young dog with me to get her used to the hub-bub of trials. I took her behind the parking lot during a period I wasn't working and was doing training with her. A very young woman who looked like she could have been in her late teens scolded me for training with a prong collar on showgrounds. The show was at a fairgrounds and the show didn't rent the entire premises. I didn't know where the boundaries were, but I reasonably thought I was off the AKC part of the fairgrounds. Some fairgrounds are huge, such as Bloomsburg in PA. When I'm pretty sure I'm off AKC territory, I put on the choke collar and long line, and wander around.

I'm assistant show chair for an upcoming breed specialty Barn Hunt trial that's held with an AKC breed specialty show. We must have clear demarcations for where Barn Hunt Association rules apply and where AKC rules apply.
 

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