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Here's a picture of an award I won for my Obedience Title (it's the "CD" in my full name). Pretty cool, huh? I won this award in Marin and it was my "first leg" (I thought I could only have four!) in the Companion Dog title. I won my full title at the 1996 Golden Gate Kennel Club show in San Francisco. I won First Place in the Novice A division and got to work in the big ring in front of a whole bunch of people. |
Mom and Dad put me in my very first obedience class when I was only a little pup. I went to a place in Santa Clara, CA called Finity's End Dog Training. This is where I learned my basic obedience skills such as sit, stay and come. Then when we got Gypsy, her breeder wanted Mom and Dad to take her to Art's class at the Saratoga School for Dogs. So rather than her and I going to a different place, I started to go to Art's too. I learned a lot from Art. He was a very good trainer. Right now, both Gypsy and I go to Deep Peninsula Dog Training Club. I'm in Open obedience training and Gypsy is in Novice 2 class.
My first obedience trial was in the fall of 1995 at the Golden Gate Boston Terrier Club specialty show. I placed High in Trial and got a humongous ribbon and a huge crystal bowl. I wanted to use the bowl as my dinner dish but its sooooo big that I almost fell into it when I went to eat my food. There goes that idea! Although swimming in a big bowl of kibble makes me drool.
Then I went to the Santa Clara Dog Training Club's All-Breed Obedience Trial held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, CA. I didn't place, but my score was good enough to earn my second leg.
In AKC obedience trials, you need 3 scores of 170 or more under 3 different judges to earn a title. There are 4 levels of titles. First level is the CD which stands for Companion Dog. This is what I have now! For a CD, you have to be able to heel with and without a leash, sit, stay, come when called and stand for examination by the judge.
Next is the CDX which stands for Companion Dog Excellence. This is what I am training for. In addition to all the CD exercises, you also have to retrieve a dumbbell and jump over high jumps and broad jumps. When I first heard about retreiving dumbbells, I though I was suppose to go get Gypsy but then Mom explained that a dumbbell was an obedience article and not my sister.
After CDX comes UD (Utility Dog) and OTCh (Obedience Trial Champion). You have to practice a lot and be really good to get to these levels.
Anyways, back to my story. My third leg, the one that qualified me for my CD title, was from the Golden Gate Kennel Club Show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I placed first in Novice A division. I got another big ribbon and my name was announced on the P.A. system throughout the arena. This is one of a handful of benched dog shows left in the United States. Benched show means the dogs being exhibited have to stay on site in the benching area for the entire run of the show. These are fun shows to go to because you can really see the dogs up close and talk to their owners and breeders. (GGKC dog shows are held every year on the first weekend in Feburary.)
Here are my obedience trial statistics:
Novice Obedience:
Open Obedience:
Gypsy also has her CD. You can read more about her obedience trial experience on her page.
You can also read more about AKC obedience regulations and trials on the AKC's webpage. You can go to this site from the links page.
Last modified: Friday October 17 2008