I have a confession to make. I've never trained a dog for competition. My dogs are the best, sweetest, most wonderful pets in the world, but they're untitled. Not even a CGC.
My first clicker dog, Rain, had severe arthritis, and it was clear at an early age he wouldn't be my clicker star. So it was with great hope I chose my next puppy, a curly coated retriever. His pedigree was outstanding, and he was bred for performance. Both of his parents were titled in conformation, obedience, agility, and hunt tests. I had dreams of doing all of those and more! His breeder listened carefully to my wish list and chose for me a pup I named Pax.
That was five years ago. Pax has since matured into a stunning animal with an incredible temperament. He is, simply, perfect. Biddable, brilliant, athletic, enthusuastic, gentle, sweet, and funny.
Too bad his trainer is capricious and lazy.
Although I had great fun training him as a puppy, until recently I hadn't thought much about training him for competition. In fact, I spent most of the last two years thinking more about horses than dogs. But a recent perusal of Sue Ailsby's fabulous Training Levels sparked my curiosity. How much did Pax remember from his puppy training? As it turns out, quite a bit. He tested out of all of the Level One behaviors and nearly all of the Level Two behaviors. Within another couple of days, he had finished Level Two, and we were making good progress on Level Three. Suddenly the dreams of competing with my dog were reawakening and didn't seem quite so far-fetched.
At the end of October, I looked at the AKC Web site and found out there's a show in my area in January. Two and a half months... I could get Pax ready to show in the conformation ring by then. Couldn't I? How hard could it be?
Fairly difficult, I discovered, for a dog who hadn't been off the farm in two years. My first big challenge was going to be teaching him to focus in the great wide world -- especially around other dogs. So I decided to enroll him in a basic obedience class nearby. He already knew the behaviors that would be taught in the class, leaving me free to concentrate on our real goals.
He has attended two classes thus far, and I'm much impressed with my sweet boy. In the first class, he was much distracted by the other dogs, vocalizing occasionally, and lunging in desperate attempts to go visit and play. My attempts to focus him on me were met with avoidance. In the second class I was more proactive about keeping his mind focused all the time. The difference was remarkable. Only one lunge and sixty minutes of solid work.
In my concentration on getting Pax ready for class, my focus wavered from the Training Levels and even from the conformation show. I began playing around with fronts and finishes and heeling, and I started thinking about training him for competition obedience.
Maybe Pax could have that competition career after all.
