Obedience

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Here I am having to eat humble pie. After vowing and declaring I would never do obedience because A) I didn't need it and B) it was so boring. Obedience is actually quite fun IF you go about it the right way. My dog actually enjoys training but this is because I make it fun for him. When I first started he would hide as I got his training collar out, now he bounces at the door eager to train. I use mostly positive training techniques and he choses to do the work I ask him to. Obedience isn't for everyone or everydog. Obedience and Manners shouldn't be confused.

Did you know the sport of obedience in America, was founded by a woman who wanted to prove the intelligence of her Standard Poodles? We should all probably keep in mind that obedience sprang from a PR campaign to prove that purebred dogs were not stupid! Since the dogs involved in this were Standard Poodles, their trainer naturally selected behaviors that were well within a poodle's repertoire - jumping, retrieving, heeling, etc. Had Mrs. Helen Whitehouse Walker been the owner of Cairn Terriers instead of poodles, we might all be trying to fit our St. Bernards into a 9" piece of pipe and convincing them to hunt rats to demonstrate their brilliance!

Did you know that the first obedience trial in America was held in 1933 and was based on series of exercises patterned after those held in England under the sponsorship of Associated Sheep, Police Army Dog Society? Since 1933, the competitive sport of obedience has come a long way attracting thousands of competitors and all types of dogs, including your "I'd-really-rather-be-relaxing-or- swimming-than-walking-around-in-some-silly-pattern" dog.

ANKC Obedience Levels

	CCD Community Companion Dog used to be known as Encouragement. We started at this level where all the exercises except the recall and the stays are done on lead. It took a little while for us to get our first pass partially due to my neverousness. The lead is a great telephone wire which tells your dog how you are feeling and your dog will correspond accordingly.
	CD Companion Dog also known as Novice. Same as above but all exercises are off lead. You also can chose between doing a retrieve exercise or change of postion. Both of these are the foundation of exercises in the next level.
	CDX Companion Dog Excellent also known as Open. Again all exercises are done off lead. You have to do the retrieving section and the change of position on the recall. You have a choice though on either doing distance control or directed jumping. Again these are both the foundation for exercises in the next level. Lastly all the stays are done out of sight.
	UD Utility Dog. As the name suggests a dog successful in this category is capable of completing many different tasks. Scent Discrimination and Hand Signals are tested. Also you can choose either speak on command, food refusal or directed retrieve.
	UDX Utility Dog Excellent, this is the highest level added 1st of July 2006. It involves various types of scenting work, distance control, send aways, multiple retrieving and a temperament test. At the end of 2007, to my knowledge, there is only one dog with this title.

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