18th March 2007

Train your dog for Crufts

Read more: Behaviour Dogs | Comments (0)

If you watched any of the recent Crufts Dog Show you may have thought "my dog could do better than that", or, like many of us "If only my dog were that well behaved!" Either way, now's the time to do something about it.

The new arena at Crufts played host to the parts of the competition we could all relate to – whether or not our particular dog is a pedigree. Agility, Flyball, Heelwork to Music and dog displays were an inspiration. With the new law requiring us to keep our dogs under control more than ever, it's time to consider using some of these fun competition skills to train your dog to be a better companion and a more obedient individual.

In the dog agility competition, the dogs undergo a time trial, where they must manoeuvre, with the guidance of their owners, through, over, and around different obstacles. Any mistake made by the dog is penalised by adding time to their result. Dogs must qualify during the preceding year to compete in individual or team events.

Likewise in the obedience competition, dogs qualify by being successful at shows during the preceding year to compete in the Dog and Bitch UK Obedience Championships, UK Inter-Regional Team Competition and the crowd's favourite - the Obedience World Cup. The prizes are awarded to the most obedient dog according to the judges after they have undergone various demanding activities, such as offlead heelwork at different paces, distance control, retrieve, sendaway, stays and scent discrimination.

Lastly, the Flyball competition is a relay-style race. Teams of four dogs compete against each other in a knock-out competition. Each dog jumps a series of four hurdles, and then steps on a box, which is rigged to release a ball. The dog must then return to the start of the course to tag one of its team, which then repeats this process until all the dogs have finished.

Competitive Obedience is a sport, and has been such since the early fifties. People probably get involved in Obedience in the first place through Dog Training Clubs. Only a small number of those involved in dog training clubs go there for competition training – most just go to train their dogs in basic obedience and socialisation with other dogs. Not only that – it can be fun!

Those that stay long enough at the club may first go on to attend and "compete" in those Exemption Shows that have Obedience Classes. For the majority of Exemption Shows you just "show up" and enter a Class on the day, for which you pay a nominal entrance fee.

To join a DTC you don't have to register your dog with the Kennel Club, nor to enter Exemption Shows. However, when you compete in Club Matches with other KC registered clubs or enter Limit or Open Shows, your dog has to be registered (even rescue dogs, and crossbreeds have to be registered in their case, under the Obedience and Working Trials register).

Limit, Open and Championship Shows are run "by the Kennel Club" and "Under Kennel Club Rules". Each Show will have a "Closing Date" for entries a few weeks before the actual event, which means you must pre-book your place, and pre-pay your entrance fee (around £2, £3 or £4 per Class). Classes at these Shows are known as Pre-Beginner, Beginner, Novice, "A", "B", "C", and Championship "C" (in ascending order of ability / experience), and the "Tests" to be performed for each of these Classes is predefined in the Kennel Club rules. In general you have to win twice in a lower class to progress on to the next level. Only winners of the Championship "C" Class (which are only at Championship Shows) go on to compete at Crufts.

So, if you think this could be your year, and you want to be ringside rather than beside the TV for next year's Crufts, a good place to start looking for information is http://www.obedienceuk.com/, who provided us with much of the information above, and who also have a useful list of local dog training clubs which you could join. Click here to go straight to this page. And if any of our readers make it to Crufts by next year, please let us know so we can follow your progress!