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Laurie Beck's passion is competing in Obedience with her Briards (with a little Rally and Agility thrown in). Laurie and her current Briard, Page, have gone farther in AKC Obedience than any Briard ever has. This article will help guide you through your first Obedience trial.
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 at least half 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!
10 Training Tips with a CD in Mind
- Approach each training session with a positive attitude.
- Plan your training session in advance. Make each minute count.
- Break tasks into their smallest components. Teach the components separately. After your dog understands the components, start putting them together.
- Work on the most difficult tasks at the start of your training session. Be sure to balance difficult tasks with easier ones so your dog gets plenty of positive reinforcement.
- Vary your routine from session to session. Keep your dog guessing as to what’s coming next.
- Be generous with praise and praise when it counts – at the instant your dog performs correctly and while he is in the correct position.
- Be generous with rewards and reward when it counts - at the instant your dog performs correctly and while he is in the correct position.
- Teach your dog a release word. When he’s completed a task, praise, reward, and release him.
- Be consistent.
- Remember, your dog just wants to have fun.
- And a bonus…. Smile and have fun with your dog!
10 Tips for a Most Successful Trial
- Read the rulebook. The Obedience Regulations published by the AKC is the final authority for all obedience trials. The book can be downloaded from the AKC website (www.akc.org). It really does have all the answers.
- Be a spectator first. Before entering your dog, visit a trial. Watch some of the advanced classes to see how their teams work and be sure to watch Novice A.
- When you are entered, plan the timing of your arrival at the trial site so that you don’t have to rush.
- Make sure there are no dangles (IDs, Rabies tags, etc) hanging from your dog’s collar or his lead.
- Take advantage of the Novice A walk-thru. This is the only time you’ll get to ‘practice’ in the ring at a sanctioned trial.
- Potty your dog before going into the ring. If your Novice class is large and you go into the ring for the individual exercises early, you may also want to potty your dog before the group sits and downs.
- The judge may precede each exercise by asking whether you have any questions. If you do, ask them. He/She may next ask, “Are you ready?” Your positive response cues the judge to start the exercise. If you are not ready, just say, “No.” Take a deep breath. Connect with your canine partner and then tell the judge that you’re ready.
- Listen to the judge and command your dog after you’ve heard his/her instructions.
- Once you surrender your lead (after the Novice Figure 8 Exercise), you can gently guide your dog by his collar to the start of subsequent exercises.
- After you leave the ring, be sure to congratulate your dog and yourself. You made it!!
- And a bonus…. Breathe! Smile and have fun!
Where to Find AKC Obedience Trials
- The AKC website (www.akc.org)
You can search for trials by the name of the host club or by date and/or location. Click on Events and then Events and Awards Search. Then follow the instructions. - The AKC Events Calendar published as a Supplement to the AKC Gazette magazine. Obedience Trials in the Events Calendar are organized by date and location.
- Websites of the annually licensed AKC Superintendents. Note that the superintendents may not include local trials held by dog training clubs or trials put on by other superintendents.
The major superintendents are:
Baray Event Services, Inc. www.barayevents.com
Jack Bradshaw Dog Shows www.jbradshaw.com
GarvinShow Services, LLC www.garvinshowservices.com
Roy Jones Dog Shows, Inc www.royjonesdogshows.com
MB-F, Inc www.infodog.com
McNulty Dog Shows, Inc www.mcnultydogshows.com
Jack Onofrio Dog Shows, LLC www.onofrio.com
Bob Peters Dog Shows, LTD www.bpdsonline.com
Rau Dog Shows, LTD www.raudogshows.com
Kevin Rogers Dog Shows www.rogersdogshows.com
Nancy Wilson nancronw@aol.com