josie
|
competitive obedienceDoes anyone do competitive obedience with a HPR breed?? I'd like to hear more about the ins and outs of this...
I know there is someone (Neil Short?) who has made up an Ob Ch Golden Retriever - amazing when you think about how many collies he must have had to battle through! 
|
Vital K9
|
I do competitive obedience with my Vizsla! This is something I never thought I'd do and there are times when I wonder why I do, but nevertheless, my little Viz girl is very good at it and I feel I owe it to her to compete.
Shandy has one leg towards her CKC CD (companion dog) title. She needs 3 legs in total to get that title. This is the Canadian system, which is rather different to the English one, so for anyone not familiar with how it works in Canada: you need a qualifying score at an obedience trial to gain each leg. Qualifying means 170 points or more out of a maximum of 200 and you must pass each exercise. The exercises you have to perform are 1) heel on leash and figure 8, 2) stand for examination, 3) heel free, 4) recall, 5) long sit, 6) long down.
So basically you have to do all that pretty well at 3 trials to qualify for the title and move on to the next level.
As with all trad obedience, it's pretty stiff and starchy. You can give only limited commands or hand signals and no treats of course. The dogs have to work very close to you, which is not a very natural position for most HPR breeds I find and the trials are fraught with distractions, just to add to the colour of it all ... birds landing in the ring ... interesting sniffs on the ground ... bitches in season in the conformation ring nextdoor ... someone sitting ringside eating crisps!!
I refuse to take any of it very seriously, so I'm unlikely to be a top obedience champ, but I'll do as much as my dog is happy to give and it's useful discipline for all other sorts of dog sports anyhow.
|
Allyson
|
There are a number of gundog breeds who compete at the highest level in Obedience in the UK.
The most popular are Golden Retrievers but there are GWPs in HPRs and others working "C" only.
|
josie
|
Ok, what is C? And what is A? I really don't get the obedience classes and how people progress through them?
|
Allyson
|
Have you got a KC yearbook?
All the requirements are under the G regulations.
Basically if you are a beginner you start at:
Pre Beginner
Beginner
Novice
A
B
C
If you have qualified a dog out of Beginners then you start your next dog in Novice however young it is etc.
The classes have a higher degree of difficulty and if you win 3 CCs in Championship C then your dog can have Ob Ch in front of its name.
The first 3 classes contain only HF, HOL, stays, recalls and retrieves.
The last 3 classes contain more difficult heelwork, longer stays, harder retrieves, positions on the move, scent work and distance control.
I keep saying I shall have a bash at it myself, when I have time! 
|
Lori Vickerman
|
I've been doing obedience with my Vizsla as well but I haven't competed yet. We've been in classes for many months, but I don't really take it seriously enough either.
One of the best dogs in the class right now is a Brittany spaniel!
|
josie
|
Well that all sounds understandable 
What is the standard like in Pre Beginners? I have found a list of the exercises required and I think I understand them, and I'm tempted to have a go - but in my mind I have this mental image of all these collies having the most incredibly straight sits and being absolutely perfect in every tiny detail, even at Pre Beginner level.  Is that what it's really like??  Just how "precise" do we have to be, in order not to look ridiculous and be the laughing stock, at even the lowest level!?
|
Allyson
|
There are lots of breeds not just BC/WSD competing in pre beginner/beginners and TBH i have always found fellow competitors and judges/stewards to be most encouraging especially when you work "another" breed.
Weimaraners generally have a problem in Obedience competitions because a) they are short haired and so all errors cannot be hidden behind hair and b) because they are so long, turns need to be carefully worked out etc.
Go and have a go, what is the worst thing that can happen?
If I have amused someone else whilst competing it is better than making them miserable!
|
stubournazza
|
Hi - I currently work a very short haired lurcher in obedience -Novice as she won out of beginners. There are all sorts of breeds competing and a friend of mine has just won out of Novice with her mini dachsund.
As with everything else so long as you take it as a day out to socialise, have fun, work with your dog -oh and there happens to be a judge and steward and you will always go home with the best dog. Whatever your dog does another will have been there and done that!! 
My munstie enjoys working as as obedience is not the most motivating of sports the rewards have to be very motivating!! His first show will be on 15 july at 16mths old. He is no where near ready but we will use the experience to gain credits by training in the ring and rewarding etc so that when he comes to work proper he is relaxed in the ring and hopefully understands that it isn't a boring place to be.
Just go as nfc to a few shows or enter companion shows so you can see what's what and make your decision then. The sport needs more people and especially those with different breeds!! 
|
|
|
