The Ultimate Guide to Your Very First Obedience Trial
By Laura Beck
This article was originally published in the March/April 2007 issue of the AKC Family Dog magazine. It is reproduced here with permission of the author.
“Good morning. This is the heel on lead exercise.” Judge Michael Bavilaqua preceded his introduction to the first Novice exercise with a welcoming smile. We were at the Coyote Hills Kennel Club Show and Obedience Trial held at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. It was the summer of 1995 and I had entered my briard, Tasha, in the Novice A class. It was our first obedience trial.
When my husband and I got Tasha, I had no idea how to train her. After a few months, she grew into a large, unruly dog. By 6 months, she weighed more than 60 pounds and stood over 25 inches tall. If she and I were out walking and another dog approached us, she’d get very upset and frightened and would bark and jump on me. It was very embarrassing. It was also very dangerous. I could barely handle her.
We started obedience classes. I took Tasha to many classes and seemed to get nowhere fast. My fault. I didn’t make time to practice what we were taught. The instructors shook their heads and passed us from one class to another.
One Saturday, however, we wound up in a class where the demo dogs, a pair of shelties named Tara and Misty, worked their magic on us. They trotted in heel position wherever the instructor went and watched her continually with attentive, loving eyes. I was hooked.
From then on, Tasha and I practiced every evening after I got home from work. We continued with group classes once a week and even took some private lessons. I was determined to teach Tasha to heel.
We learned to break the big picture into its smallest parts and study and practice each part separately. I began by luring her into the correct position and sincerely praising and rewarding her with treats when she got there. Tasha loved treats. We worked on the stationary heel position for weeks – no movement, just praise, treats and a release. Then we progressed from the stationary heel to one step heeling. We doubled that for two steps, then four and eight. When she was really good at eight steps, I started randomizing her treats. After many evenings of work, I was able to delay the treats and reward her with a jackpot at the end.
Next, we worked on halts, then right turns, left turns, and about turns. Every new task was attacked separately. When I felt comfortable and confident with our heeling on leash, I tucked it in my pocket and pretended we were heeling off leash. Weeks after that I got really brave and unsnapped the hook. Finally, one of our trainers suggested that I take Tasha for a “CD.”
“And what is a CD?”
According to the Obedience Regulations published by the AKC, “the letters CD (Companion Dog) may be added after the name of each dog that has received qualifying scores in Novice Classes at three obedience trials.” Sounds clear enough, but I still didn’t understand.
“What is an obedience trial? What are the Novice Classes and what is a qualifying score?”
Breed clubs, specialty clubs, obedience clubs and even agility clubs, I found out, can hold obedience trials where dog and handler teams are judged on how well they can perform a set of exercises. There are three levels of exercises, Novice for beginners, Open for intermediates, and Utility, for advanced dogs. Novice is further divided into A and B classes. Novice A is for owner-exhibitors who have never before put an obedience title on a dog. Novice B is for everyone else.
The Novice exercises include heeling your dog on leash, heeling him off leash, having him stand for exam (and the judge touches him three times, once on the head, once on the body, usually the shoulders, and once on the hindquarters) and doing a recall from directly across the ring. They also include group sits and downs. You, your dog and up to 11 other teams walk into the ring and line up for a one minute sit stay and a three minute down stay. And that’s it!
Each of the exercises is scored. For example, the Heel Free exercise is worth 40 points. The Recall is worth 30 points. You qualify (pass the test!) if you and your dog earn more than half of the available points in each exercise and a minimum total score of 170 out of a perfect 200. Each time you qualify, your dog earns a “leg.” Three legs earn him the CD title.
When I decided to enter Tasha, a trainer handed me a premium list and told me how to fill out the entry form on the back page. The premium list, a booklet published by the host club’s Trial Secretary or Superintendent, tells the who, what, and where of the trial – everything you need to know to enter and participate in the trial.
She cautioned me to get my entry in before the closing date. The Trial Secretary or Superintendent must receive your entry by the closing date and time in order for your entry to be processed. Usually, but not always, the closing date is 12 Noon on a Wednesday 2 ½ weeks prior to the trial date.
I mailed Tasha’s entry in plenty of time. A week before the actual trial, an official judging program along with my exhibitor ID and armband number arrived in the mail. The judging program showed when the Novice A class was scheduled to start and listed all the armband numbers assigned to Novice A exhibitors. There were a total of 14 Novice A exhibitors. Our number was last.
The judging program may add, “A walk-thru prior to the start of the Novice A Class will be allowed for handlers without their dogs.” The judge must allot 15 minutes prior to the start of the Novice A class to answer questions and familiarize exhibitors with the ring. Most judges walk the exhibitors through the heeling pattern. You can actually go into the ring and practice (again, without your dog) while the judge is calling out the heeling commands.
Judges also use this time to help put Novice participants at ease. Judge Lori Drouin from Fall River Mills, CA likes to begin her walk-thru with a reminder that this is a sport. “The rulebook is a framework which tells you how to play the game. It explains how you can get a 200 and how you can’t. Your dog may make a big mistake but, there is probably nothing that your dog can do that hasn’t been done in the ring already.”
She reviews the basics of what she is looking for in a qualifying performance and then urges exhibitors to check their dog’s listing in the show catalog (the official listing of all the entrants) to verify that his AKC registration number has been entered correctly. “When your dog qualifies, you want to make sure that he gets credit for his work.”
Judge Judi James from Salem, Oregon also starts with a welcome to her sport. Judi remembers going to her first trial with her Golden Retriever, Robby. It was a very warm day and she was at the end of a very large Novice A class. She was concerned that Robby not become dehydrated and gave him plenty of water. Robby drank so much that when they finally got into the ring, Robby flooded it!
Judi reminds exhibitors that if they don’t hear an instruction, they should stop and ask. She also reminds exhibitors to be alert as to how they touch their dogs in the ring. “Touching to praise between exercises is certainly encouraged, but touching to position, for example pushing down on the dog’s hind end to sit him is not.”
Many exhibitors like to arrive at the show grounds about an hour before their class is expected to start. (Classes may start later but they cannot start prior to the time published in the judging program.) An hour should give you sufficient time to set up a crate and chair, find the potty area for your dog and the nearest restroom for you. It should also give you time to observe the trial as it is going on around you and give your dog time to adjust to this new environment.
I like to bring a chair, a soft-sided crate, a small water dish, water for my dog and for myself, and a supply of dog treats. I have a special show collar - it’s a plain buckle collar with no dangles (no tags) – and a special, plain, show lead which is just long enough to loop down from my dog’s collar and then up to me. My goal is for the judge to see the loop the entire time we are heeling on leash.
As soon as I arrive, I set up my dog’s crate and my chair. Then, I like to walk my dog around the vicinity of our ring – without disturbing any exhibitor working in the ring. At least 20 minutes or so before my class is scheduled to start, I check in with the stewards at the table by our ring. They’ll ask for my armband number, check me off as present and hand back a paper armband. It is especially important for Novice exhibitors to check in early so the judge can plan when he/she will do group sits and downs.
I make sure my dog visits the potty area and then take it easy until the dog ahead of us is in the ring. At that point, I’ll take my dog out of her crate and let her stretch. I’ll walk her around some to get her moving, do some short attention exercises and get her focused on me. Then, the fun begins. It’s our turn in the ring!
Tasha was really excited to attend her first trial. She thought it was an adventure. Because I had misread the judging program, we arrived hours before our class started. We walked around and met many new people and chatted with our friends and walked around and walked around. When the judge finally called us into the ring, I was exhausted. Tasha, however, took everything in stride. In her eyes, I could see her reminding me to smile and have fun. This was our sport! We were a team! We had made it!
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A Woman and Her Dog: Titled At Last
By Laura Beck
Originally published December 1995, Wall Street Journal. Published here with permission of the author
My partner and I earned a CD recently, after four years and countless hours of preparation and three qualifying performances. Since then, I’ve been drawing interest and praise. The CD really belongs to Tasha, who can add it to her signature each time she paws a print. Tasha is my four year old Briard, who until last month was just my dog. Now, she is my Companion Dog, in full, Mon Jovis Tasha de l’Etat d’Or CD.
Until two years ago, I had no idea there were titles for dogs other than Champion. I associated the American Kennel Club solely with the dog shows where dogs are led around the ring on a short leash. As I can testify now, the AKC also offers a number of obedience titles: Companion Dog, Companion Dog Excellent, Utility Dog, Utility Dog Excellent, etc.
Companion Dog is the first and easiest title to earn. But then “easy” is relative. Having no prior experience as a trainer, I found easy to be quite challenging. Tasha is a Briard, by instinct a sheepherder, a leader not a follower. She, in particular, has always been more comfortable barking orders than following my commands.
To earn the Companion Dog title, you and your canine partner work as a team at three sanctioned trials earning a minimum qualifying score of 170 out of a possible 200 points. In addition, you must earn more than half of the points available for each exercise (you can’t zero out on one and still pass). The trial consists of exercises performed individually and in a group. For the individual exercises, you heel your dog on a leash, heel a figure eight, stand your dog for hands-on examination by the judge, heel off leash, call your dog to you from across the ring and return her to the heel position.
Sounds easy. However, heeling is defined in the rules book as having the dog positioned with her shoulder at the seam of your pants. When you stop, she stops automatically – no verbal cues, tugs on the leash or touching. She sits quietly by your side waiting for your next move. You’re allowed one command each time the judge starts you off and that’s it. When you walk, your companion is expected to walk with you. When you change the pace or turn left or right or do an about face, she follows suit, all the while remaining in heel position. Ideally, your dog should lift her head so she makes eye contact with your left shoulder or the left side of your face. She puts her faith entirely in you and stays glued to your left side. If you walk through the ring ropes, into a wall or off a cliff, she does too, with enthusiasm. And best of all, the two of you – at all times – should appear to be having fun.
But let’s get back to reality. I am a novice handler. Tasha is a green, somewhat jittery briard, and every trial location is a strange environment. The first trial in which we participated was indoors at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Tasha was the only briard in obedience and several of my “briard” friends showed up to watch our performance. We were the last entrants in the Novice A (beginning beginner’s) class and by the time the ring steward called our number, my nerves were in shambles. The judge greeted me with a smile and quietly asked if it was my first time in the ring. It was that obvious.
With my friends on the sidelines, Tasha taught me humility. Instead of heeling in position, she chose to lag about three steps behind. I made the classic mistake of walking slower so she could catch up and she got even slower. When I halted, she followed suit but stood rather than sat by my side. For the heeling off leash, she let me walk part of the exercise by myself and when I got back to her, joined up for a shaky but seated finish. It was an awful performance, but somehow we earned a bare minimum of points to keep us in the running.
Group exercises consist of sit stays and down stays. Handlers as the humans are called, sit their dogs in a line and walk to the other side of the ring. The dogs stay in place for one minute – one long, nerve –wracking minute. Handlers then return to their dogs and down them. Again the handlers leave, and the dogs lie in place for three even longer minutes. One minute into the down stay Tasha sat up and we were instantly nonqualified.
The second trial we entered was at Yuba City, California. This time we were outdoors. We were fifth in line, after a bulldog and four others who at 8 a.m. refused to sit on the cold, dewy grass but otherwise put on fine performances. Tasha had no problem sitting. For the last individual exercise, the recall, I sat Tasha and walked across the ring. The judge signaled me and I called her. Tasha continued to sit. She stared at me and I stared back. I willed her to move. The judge stared at both of us. I called Tasha again and ever so slowly, she unglued herself and trotted toward me. The second command nonqualified us.
The following week, we went to a trial in Pleasanton, California. Tasha’s overall performance wasn’t as good as that at Yuba City. Heeling off leash, she was at one point so concerned about something outside the ring that she walked head first into me. But, we finished all the exercises and somehow earned out first qualification – in the jargon, our first “leg.” After all the entrants finished, we went back into the ring and received a qualifying green ribbon. A week after that, we went to Dixon Calif., and earned our second leg.
For our third and title leg, we went to the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo, Calif. This time the trial was indoors in a large gymnasium-type building. When Tasha and I walked in, we were hit with a wall of noise. Six rings were arranged in groups of three, side by side with a narrow aisle down the middle. People and dogs were elbow to elbow. My heart sank. The distractions seemed overwhelming. I was seriously tempted to scratch our entry, take Tasha and run home. I didn’t and somehow, we got through the individual exercises.
Ten of us lined up for the group sits and downs. The judge called, “Sit your dog.” Tasha was already seated so I remained silent. “Leave your dog.” I issued a firm “Stay” and walked across the ring. At the other end of the line, a dog got up to sniff the dog next to him and was excused. Disappointment rippled through the handlers. One minute was getting longer and longer. Another dog got up and he, too, was excused. Finally, “Return to your dogs.” We survivors walked back to our dogs.
For the last exercise, the judge called, “Down your dogs.”
”Tasha, down.” Tasha lay down.
“Leave your dogs.” I told her to “Stay” and walked across the ring. Almost immediately, another two dogs stood up. Time dragged. Tasha shifted slightly and so did my stomach. I counted. One one-thousand, two one-thousand….
“Return to your dogs.” Just as we were starting back, the dog next to Tasha stood up. NO!! He strutted in front of her and danced in a circle. NO!!! This can’t be happening! Tasha, stay, stay, stay. My heart fluttered as I approached the dancing dog, walked around him, then around Tasha and up to heel position. The judge paused and I held by breath. “Exercise finished.” We made it!
In dogdom, earning a CD is merely a beginning step. A total of 6,923 dogs earned CDs in 1994, including 762 Golden Retrievers, 603 German Shepherds and 254 Poodles. For Briarders, however, a CD is reason to celebrate. Nine Briards earned the title in 1994- and at least one in 1995.