Tambaqui Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 things to remember:- use a full length lead - you can use a flat or correction collar but you can't correct your dog in the ring - keep your lead loose in heeling as most judges will dock you points every time the lead goes tight - you need to wear your number when in the ring so don't forget your arm band or a saftey pin - bring a chair! Trust me I still forget this on occaisions - a crate or mat for your dog to be in or on - wait until the judge tells you to do something. Don't move forward until the judge says forward and don't praise your dog until after the judge has said exercise finished - if you do a wrong turn in the heel work don't correct yourself, the judge will redirect you - focus on giving clear signals, plenty of people get nervous (me included) and give terrible signals which the dog doesn't understand - Something I did when I started trialling again last year (break of about 4/5 years) was drop my hands after the recall signal so that they hit my legs and made a noise. I didn't realise I was doing it and was told after that this would normally be classed as a second command and that I should avoid doing it in future - You can only say heel after moving off from a stationary position not while you are moving - You can praise your dog and give it pats between exercises - There is no correct side to the start peg no matter what anyone tries to tell you, stand on which ever side you like - Keep an eye on your ring so you don't miss your call - I went through a phase of missing mine, which is not the end of the world in obedience but it does piss the stewards off! - Tell the judge that you are new to trialling and they will usually check to make sure you understand the exercise and don't be afraid to ask questions before the exercise or even after the exercise - For later levels, something that a new trialler at my club just discovered if you drop the dumbbell don't pick it up! If the dog picks it up you won't fail the exercise you'll just loose some points. She picked it up thinking she'd already blown the excerise only to be told that if the dog had of picked it back up she would have passed and got a qually that day! And above all else, you take the best dog home at the end of the day so don't get too disheartened if you don't get the qually! GOODLUCK!!! I'm doing my first trial next month at Southern Obedience Dog Club and will be entering my GSP Bella and my parent's Dobermann Tyler (I will be handling him as well for them)! Thank you for posting all those tips! and the next one, especially the first question as my little Bella is a perfect description of a major distraction and tend to not focus at time, so at least I now know how to avoid losing points on the heeling as some you have mention is what I have been doing! Tyler is the opposite of Bella, very switched on! But he gallops and then jumps on me on an off lead recall! So funny! But got 30 days to fine tune both of these babies for their first CCD trials! So excited! I'd take my Min Pin Clancy for the trial, but he is too immature for it! Everything is a game to him! lol With 2 weeks of obedience training at the club out due to Clancy's show, gotta start putting in some work at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 things to remember:- use a full length lead - you can use a flat or correction collar but you can't correct your dog in the ring - keep your lead loose in heeling as most judges will dock you points every time the lead goes tight - you need to wear your number when in the ring so don't forget your arm band or a saftey pin - bring a chair! Trust me I still forget this on occaisions - a crate or mat for your dog to be in or on - wait until the judge tells you to do something. Don't move forward until the judge says forward and don't praise your dog until after the judge has said exercise finished - if you do a wrong turn in the heel work don't correct yourself, the judge will redirect you - focus on giving clear signals, plenty of people get nervous (me included) and give terrible signals which the dog doesn't understand - Something I did when I started trialling again last year (break of about 4/5 years) was drop my hands after the recall signal so that they hit my legs and made a noise. I didn't realise I was doing it and was told after that this would normally be classed as a second command and that I should avoid doing it in future - You can only say heel after moving off from a stationary position not while you are moving - You can praise your dog and give it pats between exercises - There is no correct side to the start peg no matter what anyone tries to tell you, stand on which ever side you like - Keep an eye on your ring so you don't miss your call - I went through a phase of missing mine, which is not the end of the world in obedience but it does piss the stewards off! - Tell the judge that you are new to trialling and they will usually check to make sure you understand the exercise and don't be afraid to ask questions before the exercise or even after the exercise - For later levels, something that a new trialler at my club just discovered if you drop the dumbbell don't pick it up! If the dog picks it up you won't fail the exercise you'll just loose some points. She picked it up thinking she'd already blown the excerise only to be told that if the dog had of picked it back up she would have passed and got a qually that day! And above all else, you take the best dog home at the end of the day so don't get too disheartened if you don't get the qually! GOODLUCK!!! I'm doing my first trial next month at Southern Obedience Dog Club and will be entering my GSP Bella and my parent's Dobermann Tyler (I will be handling him as well for them)! Thank you for posting all those tips! and the next one, especially the first question as my little Bella is a perfect description of a major distraction and tend to not focus at time, so at least I now know how to avoid losing points on the heeling as some you have mention is what I have been doing! Tyler is the opposite of Bella, very switched on! But he gallops and then jumps on me on an off lead recall! So funny! But got 30 days to fine tune both of these babies for their first CCD trials! So excited! I'd take my Min Pin Clancy for the trial, but he is too immature for it! Everything is a game to him! lol With 2 weeks of obedience training at the club out due to Clancy's show, gotta start putting in some work at home! Don't be in too much of a hurry to stop Tyler from rushing to you on a recall, believe me you want to keep that level of excitement and don't want to risk ruining his recall! My girl used to do this as well and the advice I was given was to ask the dog to sit when it was about a metre or so from me so she had time to stop before crashing into me!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 My advice to a new trialler would be that there should be nothing to worry about concerning lagging, focus etc, as these things should already be well proofed in your training. There really is no point trialling if your dog has focus issues. There will always be plenty of future trials to enter. I think the best advice experienced triallers could give, would be to ecourage a thread that focuses on promoting questions regarding trial preperation (the breakdown of individual exercises, and how we "fix" things). What is generally learnt at dog school, is almost opposite that, that experienced triallers use, to prepare their dogs for their first trial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Wise words as usual dogdude . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Q2 - you start with your dog sitting at heel. The judge will say the next exercise is the recall please remove your lead. You hand the lead over and the judge asks if you are ready for the exercise. The judge will ask you to heel forward and then ask you to halt. They will then ask you to leave your dog and will tell you to about turn when you are about 10m away. The judge will then ask you to call your dog, once it's in front of you and sitting the judge will ask you to return to your dog. Just wanted to add to the bolded bit. When the judge asks you to about turn, don't automatically turn around to face your dog and stop. You must keep walking back towards your dog until they tell you to halt. Sometimes they will say "about turn and halt", that is the only time you can stop as soon as you turn around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Here is a thread full of tips for those new to the obedience ring! http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=159876&hl= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 excellent link, thanks rubystar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natsu chan Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Don't worry just go and have fun. The worst that can happen is that you make a muck of it and in that case there is always next time. Good luck! Tambaqui I may or may not be trialling at southern things are very up in the air at the moment. But if you see a short person with glasses and very long hair with a collie (there's not many of us around) do pop over and say hello. I'll be in the novice ring if I'm there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tambaqui Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Don't worry just go and have fun. The worst that can happen is that you make a muck of it and in that case there is always next time. Good luck!Tambaqui I may or may not be trialling at southern things are very up in the air at the moment. But if you see a short person with glasses and very long hair with a collie (there's not many of us around) do pop over and say hello. I'll be in the novice ring if I'm there. Will do! :D I am possibly rethinking about Bella's entries at the moment and dogdude, you make a good point about dogs with focus issue. Interestingly my parents brought it up and said to maybe give her a break for a while. So I will consider it after this weekend, but I don't think I will enter her as she can be unpredictable when she is not concentrating. So I will be entered but with the Dobermann Tyler and I possibly will be bringing my Miniature Pinscher, Clancy to this trial (I just love to bring him along as he loves going out and meeting new people and getting pats!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 My tip would be that when you are at the starting peg before each exercise & the judge says "Are you ready?" actually LOOK at your dog & make sure he/she is ready too (ie, sitting, giving focus etc). We had this drummed into us over & over & over again at our club, no use saying you are ready if a half a second before the judge asked your dog stood up/lay down/is looking behind them/got bitten by an ant etc. Second top tip has already been mentioned by someone but I will repeat it because it's important - always do EXACTLY what the judge tells you to do ie if you leave your dog in the recall & the judge says "about turn" after you have walked away, don't about turn & halt, turn around & keep walking & wait until the judge tells you to halt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Second top tip has already been mentioned by someone but I will repeat it because it's important - always do EXACTLY what the judge tells you to do ie if you leave your dog in the recall & the judge says "about turn" after you have walked away, don't about turn & halt, turn around & keep walking & wait until the judge tells you to halt. LOL on that note I have had a judge forget to tell me that the exercise was finished. I stood there with Ella sitting at heel watching the judge waiting, he asks me what I'm waiting for and I said for you to tell me that the exercise is finished. He laughed and said it was finished! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Second top tip has already been mentioned by someone but I will repeat it because it's important - always do EXACTLY what the judge tells you to do ie if you leave your dog in the recall & the judge says "about turn" after you have walked away, don't about turn & halt, turn around & keep walking & wait until the judge tells you to halt. LOL on that note I have had a judge forget to tell me that the exercise was finished. I stood there with Ella sitting at heel watching the judge waiting, he asks me what I'm waiting for and I said for you to tell me that the exercise is finished. He laughed and said it was finished! was it one of the newer judges or one of the older ones who's memory was going? :D (just so everyone knows, I'm just joking, I actually know alot of the Qld judges & they are lovely ;) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraNik Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 My tip would be that when you are at the starting peg before each exercise & the judge says "Are you ready?" actually LOOK at your dog & make sure he/she is ready too (ie, sitting, giving focus etc). We had this drummed into us over & over & over again at our club, no use saying you are ready if a half a second before the judge asked your dog stood up/lay down/is looking behind them/got bitten by an ant etc. Yep, I don't even look at the judge when they are asking me that. The entire time before an exercise I am looking at my dog, keeping eye contact and occasionally talking to him. When the judge asks if we're ready, I reply "We're ready" but I am still looking at my dog until we start heeling off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Not sure if it has been mentioned in the linked threads, but when the trial is completed, always leave via the ring gate, and never over the rope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraNik Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Not sure if it has been mentioned in the linked threads, but when the trial is completed, always leave via the ring gate, and never over the rope. Oh and to add to that - always put the lead back on your dog before you leave the ring!! (you will have just finished your recall with your dog off lead) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptolomy Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Dare I ask who your judge is???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 is it polite to mention to the judge when you are at that first start peg that its your first trial? Just in case I have a blonde moment they can explain the exercise... Or should I not say anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seita Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 is it polite to mention to the judge when you are at that first start peg that its your first trial? Just in case I have a blonde moment they can explain the exercise... Or should I not say anything. I found alot of judges in CCD asked if I had any questions etc so I think it would be totally fine to mention that this is your first trial. Don't be afraid to ask if you aren't 100% sure what the judge wants etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptolomy Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Good luck tomorrow Africandreams Your judge is lovely BUT will try and engage you in small talk and will offer you lots of training advice. Make sure you don't forget that you have a dog on the end of your lead who you should be paying attention to. Looking forward to hearing how you get on. Come and say hello - I will be the one running from ring to ring ;) GOOD LUCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
africandreams Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 thanks Ptolomy haha i will prob have too many nerves to engage in small talk with the judge! In saying that, I am going to go and enjoy myself whether we do well or not! Learning experience for my dog and I! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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