My Dogs

Would you love to earn AKC titles with your dog? Teamwork is the key in competition events, and perfection isn’t necessary. Taking yourself too seriously is a hindrance. Having fun and a sense of humor as you and your dog travel through the process of AKC Rally and Obedience titles is what making memories is about.

If you’d like to train your way to titles and cherishable memories, contact me.

Here are some examples of memories I made with my dogs in the ring and during play time.

TRICKS AND TRICK DOG TITLESTricks expand on the basics you’ve taught your dog. They are fun for the dog, fun for pet parents and fun for your audience of friends and family. Some tricks are fun and useful. Retrieving, for example, can come in handy if you’ve injured yourself and need help with fetching something off the floor. Directing your dog to back up down a narrow hallway when the two of you have met head on could come in handy someday. Need help carrying your umbrella? Your dog can pitch in. Steer your dog onto or around furniture or your bed with a hand touch. Besides usefulness, training dogs to do tricks is just plain fun. And the possibilities are endless. Your imagination and the dog’s physical abilities are the limit.This is my dog Dudley earning his Trick Dog Championship. I’m a Certified Trick Dog Instructor, and available to help you train your dog to do tricks.

 

RALLY

This is AKC Rally Excellent. It’s the third and final level in Rally competition. It’s the handler’s job to follow the course via signs, numbered between 1 and 10 to 20 depending on the level, and talking to the dog is allowed. Novice and Advanced preceed Excellent. Novice is done on leash; otherwise the exercises are done off leash. At each station, the handler cues the dog to perform the exercise. Points are taken off for mistakes, missing a station, or doing a station incorrectly. Rally is a good way to get started in AKC competition. It is judged less rigorously than traditional obedience courses, and is a lot of fun. To earn a title, the handler-dog team must earn three passing scores of 70 out of 100 points in three AKC trials judged by at least 2 different judges. Any breed dog, including mixed breeds, is permitted to compete. Click here for more information on Rally from the AKC website.

OBEDIENCE

This is AKC Novice Obedience. Unlike Rally, the handler is not permitted to talk to or signal her dog after the initial signal is given during an exercise. For example, the judge gives directions on the heel pattern and the handler gives one cue to the dog whenever they move from a stopped position into heeling. Afterwards, the dog is to pay attention to the handler on turns, pace changes, and halts without receiving any further verbal or hand signals from the handler. Heeling a figure eight, stand for examination, recall, sit and down stays are also included in Novice obedience. A handler-dog team must complete 3 trials with qualifying scores of 170 to 200 losing no more than half the points of any exercise. Any breed dog, including mixed breeds, are permitted to compete. If your dog does not have a pedigree, you can register him through the PAL program or for mixed breeds, it’s the Canine Partners program. Click here for more information about AKC Obedience competition.

 

PLAY

Play is important in a dog’s life, and so is novelty. Introducing new situations, such as a kiddie pool, and letting dogs take their time to explore it is one of the ways to keep your dog’s mind and body in shape. My dogs play with toys and enjoy fetching and playing keep away from each other, so when I introduced a kiddie pool in this video, outside of the Aussie water babe, the other dogs were a little apprehensive of the water, so I added a toy to the mix. This brought out their competitive streak, curiosity, and bravery. Tackling the water was completely of their own doing. Pushing a dog into something he’s afraid of will only grow the fear. But letting dogs go forward at their own pace, though it may seem slow to us, is the fastest and most humane way to proceed.  Dealing with the repercussions of fear is a long process.  Take it at the dog’s pace and the bonds of trust will extend between your dog and you.

AGILITY – JWW

AKC Agility has three levels. Novice, Open, and Excellent and two jump height divisions, Regular and Preferred. It also has four classes of trialing, JWW (Jumpers With Weaves), Standard, FAST (Fifteen and Send Time) and T2B (Time to Beat). The four classes, scoring, and all AKC agility regulations are detailed in this PDF.

Here is a video of a Novice JWW run with me and my Dobie, Leissl. Sometimes there are tunnels in a JWW course, but not in this run.

Novice courses have 6 weave poles and Open and Excellent courses have 12 weave poles. That’s one way to tell them apart. Novice must have 14-16 obstacles, Open 16-18, and Excellent 18-20. Pure or mixed breed dogs are permitted to trial. Agility is a lot of fun! You can talk to your dog through the whole run, but touching is not allowed.

 

AGILITY – STANDARD

AKC Agility has three levels. Novice, Open, and Excellent and two jump height divisions, Regular and Preferred. It also has four classes of trialing, JWW (Jumpers With Weaves), Standard, FAST (Fifteen and Send Time) and T2B (Time to Beat). The four classes, scoring, and all AKC agility regulations are detailed in this PDF.

Here is a video of an Open Standard run with me and my Dobie, Raven. Besides jumps, weaves, and tunnels, Standard includes obstacles such as the dog walk, teeter, and a-frame.

Novice courses have 6 weave poles and Open and Excellent courses have 12 weave poles. That’s one way to tell them apart. Novice must have 14-16 obstacles, Open 16-18, and Excellent 18-20. Pure or mixed breed dogs are permitted to trial. Agility is a lot of fun! You can talk to your dog through the whole run, but touching is not allowed.