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Dog Obedience Basics at AthleticDogs.com
Obedience Basics
Currently, more dogs participate in obedience than any other dog performance sport. Obedience encompasses the basic training that all dogs should have (such as sit, stay, and the like) and raises the bar for those who want to train for even higher degrees of accuracy and style. Obedience trials are going on practically every weekend, all year round, all over the world.
The basic objective of obedience trials is to recognize dogs who have been trained to behave in public and private, around other dogs and people, in a manner that “will reflect credit on the sport of obedience at all times and under all conditions.” The actual obedience trials (competitions), however, are focused on the perfect execution of a set of specific tasks, as directed by his or her handler. As it turns out, if your dog is trained to succeed in obedience trials, they are going to be impressively well behaved the rest of the time too!
The Obedience Trial
At an obedience trial, the handler must lead the dog through a series of predefined obedience exercises that are basically impressive variations on fundamental skills like sit, stay, come and heel. The trial judge evaluates the performance and submits a score. A passing score is usually 170 out of a possible 200, with at least 50% of the points for each exercise. The more accurate and precise the dog’s response to the handler’s commands, the higher the score.
Obedience trials provide a double competition – all the dogs participating compete against each other, and each dog competes to improve his or her own standing. That is, there are awards given to the top four scores in a trial, but every dog who achieves a qualifying score earns a leg towards an obedience title. Once the dog has earned a specific number of legs, the AKC issues a certificate acknowledging the title accomplishment.
Successful obedience requires the handler and dog to work together as a team. Training for the sport is not only good for both your and your dog’s physical health, but a working dog is a happy dog (even if the work is sit and stay).
Shop for obedience products and training aids at
the AthleticDogs.com store!
