# Obedience newbie?



## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

You can learn it, it's lots of fun. 

I recommend watching lots of videos until you find a style that you like, to make sure you'll get a result you like. I like attention heeling.

Here is a spoo learning the style: 




This is my model: 



 Simba is really cool. He does sacrifice accuracy for energy at times, but I like that.

This dog is more accurate, not a lot of heeling in the clip though: 



 This is the trainer that Marina worked with to train Simba

The reason I post the videos is because if you go to a regular pet class you might end up teaching behaviors that inhibit competitive obedience. Go to someone who competes.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

I train (and am beginning to compete) in obedience with my miniature.

As tortoise said, it is common for pet-obedience classes to allow or even train behaviour that you will then have to retrain if you are interested in competing, but it's not that big a deal. It's all gradations of the same behaviour, really.

I find it great fun, but it can be tough to find a good, reward-based competitive obedience trainer. I go once a month to a woman who specialises in small dogs (she trains and competes Corgis). She is probably 90% non-coercive, but does sometimes slip into methods I'm not comfortable with. Which is fine, as I just ignore her at those times, and she's okay with it :smile:. Everyone in the class jokes that I'm soft as butter, but my dog is as precise in his work as everyone else's, AND he's a very happy worker, which some of the other dogs aren't.

I would find some local obedience competitions and go along to watch. Speak to people (but not just before they go in the ring!) and ask around for a good trainer or training club. Then go and watch a few sessions to make sure you and your dog will be happy there.

I try to keep in mind that competitive obedience is fun FOR ME, but not necessarily for my dog. So it's my job to inject the fun into it for him. Otherwise, it is too easy to get so focused on the precision needed that it becomes drudgery for the dog. 

Good luck!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

In the Simba video what I found most impressive was that she got him to stand from a run. I can get Swizzle to drop to a down or sit from a run but stand I can do only from a walk and it is a bit iffy. Any suggestions?


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## neVar (Dec 25, 2009)

Been doing rally (a subset of obedience) and will venture into the obedience ring again this summer with my Spoo.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

CT Girl said:


> In the Simba video what I found most impressive was that she got him to stand from a run. I can get Swizzle to drop to a down or sit from a run but stand I can do only from a walk and it is a bit iffy. Any suggestions?


I think the stand-in-motion is easier than the down or sit out of motion. I tend to get a dog that will halt but not drop.


Just back up and build confidence in the stand. Break it down to little steps, basically start over. Stand out of motion is physically easier for the dog, and if your dog can do the sit and down out of motion, I'm confident you can teach it.

Stop training anything out of motion for a month or 2. Then go and only traing the stand out of motion - no sits or downs. You should get it, but might lose it temporarily when you start mixing it up a little bit adding in the sits and downs out of motion.


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## afkar (Dec 9, 2011)

I do obedience with my spoos as well as tracking. It is great fun & as you are really competing against your own performances it is a self rewarding thing. The people are usually really friendly & can be very helpful too. I am looking to try Rally O this year as well.


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## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

Thanks everyone! I will look into it and see what I can find locally. It does sound pretty cool, and I LOVE that first video!

Right now we are in a generic puppy kindergarten class, but I'm not too happy with it...most of the dogs aren't as young as mine (looked like most of them were 9-12 months old! Dante is only 3 months.), so they knew a lot of the basics already. The class seemed to be geared more towards them, which was frustrating given that it was advertised as a kindergarten class. And more correction techniques than I would have liked...might be more appropriate for my adult dog, but for my shy puppy maybe not so much. It is only once a week for 4 weeks, and I've only been once, so I think I'll at least go to the others and see if we learn anything useful...if nothing else, it will get him used to being around other dogs and people. But I'm already looking for a better class. Oh well. 

Hopefully we'll get the basics down soon, but it is slow going with his short attention span, lol! How old were your puppies before they could focus on something for more than 60 seconds?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I don't know where you are, but if you look on the AKC website (if you are in US) you will find information in their events section on getting started in obedience, agility, rally, etc. They also have a directory of clubs so you should be able to find an obedience club that gives training classes.

I took my puppy class at a chain pet store. It was ok and didn't really set us up with bad habits, but the bar was pretty low there. It has been very useful to train with people who have experience in trials. For her CD title leg, Lily ended up high in trial!


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