Obedience

The oldest of formal canine companion sports came to the U.S. after WWI and has its origins in military and police dog training. American veterans came home with tales of marvelously trained dogs that worked as a team with their handlers, retrieving items and following directions at a distance. Obedience demonstrates how dogs can work as a team with humans to perform useful tasks.

In Obedience each team of dog and handler starts with 200 points with points deducted for handler errors, crooked sits, and failure to perform an exercise. Each exercise is alloted a number of points  and the team must finish with at least half of the points for each exercise and a total of 170 to receive a qualifying score. Three qualifying scores under different judges wins the dog an Obedience title. AKC offers three Obedience levels: Novice (Companion Dog or CD), Open (Companion Dog Excellent or CDX), and Utility (Utility Dog or UD). AKC titles are added to the end of a dog's registered name such as, Rosie Coyote CD CDX UD.

Novice exercises

• Heel on-leash and figure 8--dog walks with shoulder near handler's knee while handler does turns, changes speed, and does a figure 8 around two people.
• Stand for Examination-Dog does stand-stay off leash as handler walks out 6 ft. Judge touches dog on head, shoulders, and hindquarters and has handler return to dog.
• Heel off-leash--same as heel on-leash, but off-leash and there is no figure 8.
• Recall--dog remains sitting as handler walks out 20 ft., turns, and calls the dog. Dog sits in front of handler and returns to heel position.
• Long Sit--Sit-stay for 1 min. with handler across the ring, done off leash and as a group.
• Long Down--Down-stay for 3 min. with handler across the ring, done off leash and as a group.

Open exercises

• Heel off-leash--same as Novice Heel-off leash but includes a figure 8.
• Retrieve on flat--dog retrieves thrown dumbell.
• Retrieve over jump--dog goes over jump to retrieve thrown dumbell and comes back the same way.
• Broad jump--dog does sit-stay in front of broad jump as handler walks to side of it. Dog is sent over the jump and returns to handler.
• Drop on recall--Same as Novice recall, but dog is asked to lie down about half way and then complete the recall
• Long Sit--Same as Novice long sit, but 3 min. and the handlers leave the the ring
• Long Down--Same as Novice long down, but 5 min. and the handlers leave the ring

Utility exercises

• Signal exercise--Same as heel-off leash in Novice, but only using only signals. At the end dog does a stand-stay as walks away then faces the dog. Handler signals dog to down, sit, come, and return to handler's side.
• Directed retrieve--Dog retrieves one of three white gloves spaced across one side of the ring as designated by judge.
• Directed jump--dog is sent across ring to sit facing handler. Dog returns to handler over one of two jumps designated by judge.
• Moving stand--Dog and handler heel and handler signals a stand stay while walking on. Judge examines dog as in conformation ring except for teeth and scrotum. Dog returns to heel position.
• Scent Discrimination--Dog locates item last touched by handler from among identical items. Items are numbered for identification. Dog retrieves one metal and one leather item.

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