Obedience Trials - CD, CDX, UD

[faust]

I was curious if anyone here has tried doing obedience trials with their Danes? I was considering maybe trying it with Faust later on and was curious if anyone else had success with it.

[Sara]

I think obedience is great fun - and this year I'm going to learn Rally <G> or so I hope. Danes can do really well - it's about putting the training time in!

Conformation has taken up so much of my time the last few years, but I'm finally back obedience training dogs again and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

[kahluadanes]

I compete in obedience & rally with my Danes. I've titled Danes in both. Currently Banjo has his RN and hopefully will be going for his RA this summer. He will also be going for his CD.
He got his RN in his first 3 times out with high scores.

One of my Danes got her CD first 3 times out getting 2 firsts and a second with high scores and she beat out "traditional" OB breeds. :) :)

As for open OB, Danes do well in that as well...believe it or not Danes like to retrieve and they do jumps very nicely.

Danes also do very well in tracking.

Dale

[bluedanemom]

My boy has been phenomenal at obedience! My girl, well, she's just pretty :) lol! He also does agility and has started tracking and dock dogs. Danes are very eager to please dogs, IMO, and do well in numerous activities because of it.

[Greenmagick]

Ivy's mom has her CD. Her breeder does a lot of obedience and agility with her dogs.

[ouesi]

Can someone remind me again what non registered dogs and mix breeds can compete in? I know agility, and CGC, but as far as obedience?

[Sara]

The AKC has just started up a program for mixed breed dogs (where they would compete in everything EXCEPT conformation), and the AKC already has a program for non-AKC registered dogs - once they are spay/neutered they can get an ILP number, assuming they look like a pure bred breed, and then they can compete in everything EXCEPT conformation.

[ouesi]

Thanks Sara! Trotting over to the AKC website right now...

[Firetiger]

Krypt is doing Obedience and Rally. My suggestion is to start off in Rally. It is a lot easier to get started in. The judge does not interact with you or the dog, you get to keep the dog on leash throughout, talk to your dog as much as you want, and take your time.

With obedience, the heeling off leash takes more time, and if Faust is at all shy, like Krypt, it may take time to get him to tolerate being handled by a judge while you are 6 feet away. Novice obedience is actually very simple otherwise.

I think by the time you are dont training for Rally, your dog should be able to do obedience novice as well, just work on heeling off leash, AND DISTRACTIONS!

What I am finding to be the most difficult thing with Rally is finding the competitions that will count as legs to the title.

I think danes are very able to do Rally and Obedience, you just have to be aware of a few things they will have difficulty with, like finishing on left and right sides. I can walk you through a trick to teach them to finish around the right if interested. Im not very experienced yet, but if you ever have any questions or anything, PM me.

[kahluadanes]

I have never had any problems with any of my Danes finishing left or right. I haven't found too much that they have had difficulty doing or learning as far as rally and obedience....agility is another issue since often the equipment isn't sized for a Dane such as the tunnel, tire jump and weave poles.

Dale

[faust]

I think the hardest thing will be finding a club or teaching facility here in Austin that does Obedience trials. I see a lot for rally O or agility but not so much specific to trials. It is still a long time off as he will not be neutered for awhile so will not be able to get his IPN until that time. I would love to start learning tho and working with him as we wait for him to be at a comfortable growth point to alter him.

[kahluadanes]

Most but not all obedience trials are held in conjunction with breed shows. Just check out the AKC site for clubs in your area/state. Also check infodog for listing of events and when/where they will be held.

Dogs have to be at least 6 months old before they can compete anyway.

Dale