.com Forum · Obedience Forum

Although I am surely no expert on Obedience, that very fact may have helped me quite a bit when it came to deciding to write a "Help Page" for those of us that have no clue when it comes to OB trials. I know there are quite a few people playing SD who have trained and trialled AKC obedience champs, and would like everyone to look over this draft and comment on anything you see that I have missed (or totally botched) as far as explaining how to get started in Obedience on Showdog. If you are a beginner and read this and got totally lost, I would like to know this, too. If I can simplify, or elaborate on any confusing points, please let me know.


First, you must pick your dog. Some dogs are "naturals" at Obedience, and others take more work. The thing I have noticed on Show Dog is that some breeds take a lot longer to train (raise the stats) than others. I do not think it is impossible for any breed to get an Obedience title, but some will just take longer to train. There is no age limit to competing in Obedience and the dog can even be on your Retirement Couch (altered), as long as he is over 2 weeks old. Dogs will do MUCH better in shows if their conformation traits are sessioned to 20s (Show Obedience, Condition, Muscle Tone, Coat Condition) and the appropriate OB (Obedience) traits are sessioned to 20's or close to 20's. I do not know if the dog is never sessioned for conformation, but sessioned for OB, how he will do in trials. If a dog has a 10 (or close to a 10) for Temperament, he will do better than if he has a worse stat for temp. Dogs over 200 days old will be harder to condition for OB, and may not do as well as their younger counterparts. I have not found the age of a dog to be a problem, I have some very old SD dogs that have titled.

Ok, next, your dog is chosen, and you have him all sessioned up, now what? There are presently 3 titles your dog can earn by competing in the Obedience trials on Showdog; CD, CDX, and UD. The AKC registry offers a UDX and an OTCH, also, so hopefully they will be coming to SD in the future since we are modelled after that registry.

The first title he can earn is a CD (Companion Dog). He needs to be sessioned for the top row of Obedience traits:

Heel On Lead (HOL), Figure 8, Heel Free, Recall, Long Sit, and Long Down
Training Heel On Lead before you train for Heel Free and Recall will help
Training Long Sit before Long Down will help

Get those traits as close to 20 as you can before you waste your time and money by entering him in an Obedience trial. The Obedience trials on Showdog are indicated by a sillouette of a sitting dog, to be able to tell them apart quickly from the Conformation shows. You do not have to worry about which class you are entering your dog in, as it is all done automatically when you enter him. He will start in "Novice A". In this class, there will be 4 "winners", similar to the "Best in Show" dogs, and runner ups, in Conformation shows. You do NOT need to be one of these 4 winners to get your obedience title, so do not despair if your dog winds up with a DNP (Did Not Place). MANY more dogs will be DNP than get a placing in an OB show!! All your dog must do is get a qualifying score of over 170 to get a "leg" toward his OB title, the "CD". DO be alarmed if your dog places a NQ (Non Qualify). That means he did not get a leg toward his title, and you need to session him more, or maybe he just had a bad day.

Dogs can be entered in ONE Obedience trial every day no matter how many Conformation shows they are in, so each dog can be entered in 1 All Breed Conformation Show, 1 Breed Specialty Show, and 1 Obedience Trial, every day! However, the more shows your dog is entered in each day, the more stress the dog will be subject to, and he may not do his best in any of them! If you enter more than 3 Obedience trials per kennel, per day, your dogs will also suffer in the trials.

Enter your dog in 3 different Obedience shows. If you have trained him well and are lucky, you will get 3 qualifying scores (over 170). Sometimes, he will be the only dog in a breed entered, or just be dang good, and get a note on his Obedience results page "Top (whatever breed) in class"!

If you do not continue and train your dog for the next Obedience title, but continue to enter him in Obedience shows, he will be entered in "Novice B", where he will compete with other dogs in a similar state. He can only get ONE CD title, no matter how many times he is entered after he gets the first. You can see that it is to your advantage to continue to train him, so he can get his CDX (Companion Dog Excellent) if you continue to enter him in the Obedience shows.

Once your dog has his CD, he is ready to move along to get his CDX. You need to session the next set of OB traits for your dog:

Drop On Recall, Ret (Retrieve) on Flat, Ret (Retrieve) Over High Jump, Broad Jump
I have not found that there is an advantage to training one of these traits before any of the others.

If your dog has previously earned his CD and his traits are close to 20s, enter him in 3 more Obedience trials. He should automatically go to the "Open A" class, so he will be competing against dogs that are trained for their CDX titles, too. You need 3 qualifying scores, just like for the CD, to get the CDX title. Do not worry about DNP (Did Not Place), but an NQ (Non Qualify) score will need some reevaluation. The dog may be entered in too many shows that day, or not be trained adequately. After you get your 3 scores above 170 in the Open A class, you will get your CDX!

Now for the cream of the crop! The next title is the UD (Utility Dog). The traits are:

Signal Exer (Exercise), Scent Descrimination, Directed Retrieve, Mov (Moving) Stand for Exam, Directed Jumping

If your dog is not trained adequately to move up to the UD competition, he should be entered in "Open B", but will not get another CDX title. If everything is looking good, you need to enter your dog in 3 more trials. He should be automatically entered in the "Utility A" class. If he gets his 3 qualifying scores over 170 (legs) he will get his UD title, congratulations!

Each title that you receive is better (more advanced) than the previous one, and replaces it. You should never see a dog with the titles, CD, CDX, UD after his name. When he earns his CDX, it supplants the CD. When he earns his UD, it is understood that he has earned his CD and CDX, earlier. Working titles usually will FOLLOW a dogs name, while Conformation titles are in front of it.

To see the trials you have entered, or check your results, go to the dog's "Show Results" page. There is a separate page for Conformation Shows and Obedience Trials, so do not forget to click the link you need.

Following, is a list of breeds ranked from easiest to hardest to train, for SD obedience trials. Just because a breed is not on this list does not mean you cannot get a title, it just means the dog of that breed will be bit harder to train for it:

Golden Retriever
Labrador Retriever
German Shepherd Dog
Border Collie
Shetland Sheepdog
Australian Shepherd
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Rottweiler
Belgian Tervuren
Irish Water Spaniel
Doberman Pinscher
Belgian Malinois
Flat-Coated Retriever
Standard Poodle
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Belgian Sheepdog
Newfoundland
Australian Cattle Dog
Curly-Coated Retriever
English Springer Spaniel
Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Airedale Terrier
Bernese Mountain Dog
Weimaraner
Vizsla
English Foxhound
Dalmatian
Miniature Schnauzer
American Water Spaniel
Boxer
Collie
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
Portuguese Water Dog
Papillon
Keeshond
Irish Setter
Brittany
Standard Schnauzer
German Shorthaired Pointer
American Eskimo Dog
Border Terrier
Black and Tan Coonhound
Norwegian Elkhound
Otterhound
Giant Schnauzer
Jack Russell Terrier
Greyhound
Schipperke
English Cocker Spaniel
Canaan Dog
Sealyham Terrier
Puli
West Highland White Terrier
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
German Wirehaired Pointer
Anatolian Shepherd
Gordon Setter
Bouvier des Flandres
Bearded Collie
Great Dane
Field Spaniel
Siberian Husky
Irish Terrier
Australian Terrier
Manchester Terrier
American Staffordshire Terrier
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
Borzoi
Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Basset Hound
Clumber Spaniel
Samoyed
American Cocker Spaniel
Whippet
Briard
Saint Bernard
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Pomeranian
Cardigan Welsh Corgi
Pug
Welsh Springer Spaniel
English Setter
Scottish Deerhound
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Alaskan Malamute
Cairn Terrier
Yorkshire Terrier
Dachshund
Old English Sheepdog
Boston Terrier
Norfolk Terrier
Silky Terrier
Scottish Terrier
Miniature Pinscher
Shih Tzu
Bloodhound
Wire Fox Terrier
Smooth Fox Terrier
Welsh Terrier
Tibetan Terrier
Bulldog
Kuvasz
Kerry Blue Terrier
Akita
Pointer
Brussels Griffon
Irish Wolfhound
Mastiff
Bedlington Terrier
Bullmastiff
Great Pyrenees
Chinese Shar-Pei
Finnish Spitz
Affenpinscher
Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
Toy Fox Terrier
Beagle
Bichon Frise
Pharaoh Hound
Maltese
Chow Chow
Chinese Crested Dog
Italian Greyhound
Lowchen
Saluki
Norwich Terrier
Sussex Spaniel
French Bulldog
Skye Terrier
Chihuahua
Lhasa Apso
Miniature Poodle
Shiba Inu
Basenji
Miniature Bull Terrier
Ibizan Hound
Toy Poodle
Manchester Toy Terrier
German Pinschers
Havanese
Afghan Hound
Bull Terrier
Japanese Chin
Tibetan Spaniel
Pekingese
Spinone Italiano
Irish Red and White Setter
Harrier
Komondor
Lakeland Terrier
Leonberger
Neapolitan Mastiff
German Spitz
English Toy Spaniel
Dandie Dinmont Terrier
Alaskan Klee Kai
American Foxhound
Australian Kelpie

These statistics are based on titles earned vs registrations for each breed in the AKC.

Is there any advantage to entering the Novice B rather than Open A? My dog has 19s for all her Open exercises, so should be able to compete, but should I enter her in Novice B instead?

i would just like to say thank you for this. its very imformative and should be alot of help to alot of people. you did a very good job

Thank you aurora and Ardfern for your responses. All the OB questions I had/have are fresh in my mind. After digging around and finding the answers, I thought it was about time to put it all in one place for easy access. It has worked for me, and I hope it is concise and accurate enough to work for others, too. OB is quite complex and very difficult to figure out for yourself (well, in my opinion, anyway). I would like to thank all of those who helped me compile this information, even if you don't know you did, lol. If you posted ANY enlightening information on this forum, thank you, as you were a big help to me in putting this together.

Ardfern,
I really do not know if there is an advantage to entering Novice B over Open A on Showdog. If there are payouts you can win, cash is always an advantage, lol.
In REAL life... the 3 qualifying scores you need for each title must be earned under different judges. I do not know if that applies, here on SD.

To quote from the AKC website:

"Upon completion of the UD title, dogs may earn the Utility Dog Excellent (UDX) by receiving 10 passing scores in both Open B and Utility B at the same show."
I do not think SD is set up for a dog to compete in both classes in the same show. At least, not yet.

"The Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH) title is often referred to as the "PhD" for dogs, is the highest obedience honor a dog can receive.

To obtain an OTCH title, a dog and handler team must receive 100 points by placing first, second, third or fourth in the Open B or Utility B class and a first place in Utility B and/or Open B three times."

So you see, there MAY be an advantage to entering in OPEN B, I did not find anything on NOVICE B, if the more advanced titles are ever added to SD.

There is also the NOC (AKC National Obedience Champion) title. The NOC is a title that goes before the dog's name. It is very rare and there have only been 7 of these in the past 8 years according to the AKC site. One dog won it twice. It is an invitational competition and your dog must be the top OTCH and OTCH pointed dog in a breed, nationally, to be invited. The title is only awarded to ONE dog a year.

Maybe someone with a lot more experience than me can jump in and explain the "points" earned by placing in the "B" classes. Remember, these very prestigious titles appear to be for the cream of the Obedience crop, not for the majority of us that do not have dogs that actually "place" in OB trials.

Thanks again for the comments.

How Many Legs Do they Need until they get their First title CD ( I know in Real Life its 3 Same on SHow Dogs ???)

Thanks for your help - it's great when someone takes the effort to collect information in one location!

There is no SD advantage to entering your dog in Novice B or Open B.
In RL people enter Open B may just to get the ring experience again if it has been awhile.
I usually enter my dogs in at least four shows that way if they blow one there is a back up.i have noticed if the dog is only sessioned to 19 and young or a "non typical" obed breed (like bassets) they sometimes blow the first show.

you did a GREAT job explaining all of the Obedience stuff. Very easy to follow.

Nice!

I did find one place where the info needs fixed:

quote

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You do NOT need to be one of these 4 winners to get your conformation title, so do not despair if your dog winds up with a DNP (Did Not Place). MANY more dogs will be DNP than get a placing in an OB show!! All your dog must do is get a qualifying score of over 170 to get a "leg" toward his OB title, the "CD".

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Shouldn't "conformation title" be "obedience title"?

No, he's comparing.

Thanks SpringWind, I didn't like the way that read eaither, after you pointed it out. I am bumping this in hopes that it helps some of the people who have a lot of questions.
Good luck in the shows, to you all.

How many legs do you need to get for your dog to earn his first OB title?

Excellent guide! Thanks for the hard work you put into this!

Wow, this answered all my questions all at once, just as I was about to go make a lot of mistakes. Thanks for putting this together!

~DC

www.showdog.com/Users/obedienceResults.aspx?id=1399718

This is my boy, Hudson. He is sessioned up for his CD and has two qualifying scores. I suppose that means he needs one more qualifying score for his CD? I hope to go all the way to UD with Hudson.

Julie @ KK

Bump
Cause I had to look for this for too long.

quote

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posted by Pacificgold
How Many Legs Do they Need until they get their First title CD ( I know in Real Life its 3 Same on SHow Dogs ???)

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LOLOLOL I am such a newbie!! I thought, OMG your dog can lose legs in this game?!?! D'oh...yes I am a blonde.

Thank you so much for the help. I thought I would try one of my older dogs in obedience and he just got his CD title but I had no idea what it meant. I am much the wiser now!
Ali

BUMP

Quite helpful. There seems to be a real lack of obedience info in the help center, but this fills a lot of gaps. Thanks!

Wendy, Mountain Magic

Thank you for this post- I had a lot of questions on obedience, but now I don't have any left!

Awesome post. Answered all the things the help center left me wonder.

Thanks so much for this post I have been working on everything! Now I understand how to go about gettting her a title, being to old to show.

Thanks again this is very helpful! I couldn't really find out how to go about it in the Help Center but I am new and I could of been looking in all the wrong places.

A real quick question would being pregant effect how quickly i could train a dog for the trails?