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  1. #1
    Puppy Labowner's Avatar
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    labs & obedience titles

    At our training school yesterday, we got into a discussion about which breeds are best in the obedience ring. Most felt that goldens were among the leaders & labs not so much. Just wondering how many labs on our board have CD and above titles? What ages were these titles obtained?
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  2. #2
    Real Retriever fidgetyknees's Avatar
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    I would agree I think goldens would be better, I think they are smart and generally laid back .... and therefore owners are more likely to do activities like obedience with them instead of more active activities. Labs are just as capable but owners just chose not to do obedience as much .... I haven't done a trial since our CD, but definitely more goldens than labs at trials.

    Zola was 1 when she got her CD would have pursued it more but she went the reactive route and I cannot do out of sight downs and sits with a reactive dog.

    We do agility as our main sport, and she excels at that ... almost MACH2 and she is a little over 3 years old now.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    I have always wondered too! see a fair number of goldens competing, and only a handful of labs. Scout finally got his CD early this summer, he is 7 1/2. I really wanted him to have that title, it seems that its something that most well-trained dogs should be able to do. He did his PCD last fall. His issue is the healing. He loves some of the other exercises, and no problem with the sits and downs (as we've worked on those since starting Rally). We are working toward his Novice Intermediate now, I don't know if he will get his CDX or not. He does however have his RAE-3 with 2 more legs needed for his RAE-4. Which he would have had last weekend, except it was an outdoor trial, with motorcycles to distract him, and ducks and geese, oh my.....3 trials, so 6 runs, nq'd in Advanced the 1st trial, so no leg, nq'd in Excellent the 2nd trial, again no leg...finally got both runs the next day in the 3rd trial.

    I think part of it is that yes, labs like to work, but they like NEW and DIFFERENT, whereas a lot of the goldens just like to work for you, period. they don't seem to get bored, Scout gets bored. I was planning on working toward his WC this spring and summer, then we had the unfortunate coyote incident, so missed all of the training courses. Ah, maybe next year! a Senior getting his 1st water title!

    And for Zola, isn't there a similar title in AKC to the CKC's Novice Intermediate, there are no group sits and downs in the Novice Intermediate, maybe try that one if she;s reactive, but likes the Obedience stuff? there's the send over broadjump, some heeling, recalls, and I think signals is introduced. but no out of sight sits and downs.

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  6. #4
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    Goldens tend to be a tad less independent, which makes them better at Obedience. That's a huge generalization of course, but what I see. I know tons of Labs with advanced titles in our area though (including my own - see my signature for their titles). Tyler, who unfortunately has passed on, who was the two time National Obedience Champion a few years ago and represented the US at Crufts was a Lab! There are probably just as many Labs as Goldens in our area, although at the tournament we went to (which drew from a wider area there were tons more Golden's). The big Obedience breed around here is the Border Collie.

    In terms of ages, I don't know about Jolie, although I think she was about 3 (we didn't own her then). Scully got her CD before turning 2, Mulder at 3 (I was waiting for him to mature a bit), Chloe I think was 2. CD's have never been a problem for my guys, but we always seem to have something come up to delay the more advanced titles (with Scully and Mulder it was my pregnancies; Chloe my cancer treatment and then her injury).
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  8. #5
    Real Retriever fidgetyknees's Avatar
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    Slight change of subject.

    We will get dog number 3 at the end of next year or beginning of following depending on when the breeder we have selected does a repeat breeding of the litter we want.

    Anyway I start talking about doing obedience and agility with this new dog and hopefully being able to do the obedience all the way through this time. Anyway hubby pipes up that he thinks he would like to be the obedience trainer this time. I was very happy to know he was actually interested in maybe doing a dog sport. Only disadvanttage is I use obedience as a team building tool for agility when the dog is young.

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  10. #6
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I think Goldens and Shelties are the top obedience dogs I see around here. I have 2 with CD's, several with various rally titles and lower obedience titles. If I had more time, I could probably have more of them with titles.

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  12. #7
    House Broken Aerodogs's Avatar
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    Goldens are very popular in our area, as are BC's. There is one Black Lab nearing her OTCH that frequents the trials in our area, but we've never had another Lab in our class, except LRC Nationals. In fact, one of the show photographers took a photo during groups and there were eight or so Goldens, a Poodle, and the token Lab, lol. Ryder was two when he finished his CD. Other venues have simply taken priority, but I hope to finish his CDX sometime in the near future.

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  14. #8
    Senior Dog windycanyon's Avatar
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    I've lost count. Let's see, I just enrolled puppy #13 in a rally nov class at 4.5 mos... hehe. The other 12 all earned at least CDs.
    I have put CDX's on 5 generations (8 total) of labs w/in a 10 yr period. My Nov A dog was 2 when she finished her CD in 1997, and ~4 for her CDX due to some bad advice along the way... Now that I have the routine more down pat and I no longer listen to people w/o the same basic training goals as I, I've finished a few as young as 2 at CDX as I was able to move right up from Novice to Open. Tango and Roxy are a bit slower to mature at 3 and 4 already, and though I had Tango in the ring w/ some "close but no cigar" moments, we went into a stall this past winter due to litters taking all my time. I think w/ both of them, there is no real rush anyhow. I do hope to have Kanzi (baby) ready for competition next spring/summer though, if not before for her RN which I use basically to get mine onto the show grounds anymore. Her mom was 9 mos when we started Rally (debuted w/ a 99 and 1st place in a large class), earned her CD at ~18 mos and went directly into Open. We finished that right after her 2nd bday.

    I've laughed and told a few people my secret on Open. Try to do it when they are still "young and dumb". The older they get, the wiser they get to all that ring stuff! lol. Anne

    PS Here they are practicing their "Group Stays" today.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails -b8b92-jpg  
    Last edited by windycanyon; 08-15-2014 at 10:55 PM.

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  16. #9
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    I've wondered this too!
    Last edited by Georgie; 08-15-2014 at 08:12 PM.

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  18. #10
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    It depends. Where I live, when I take my dogs to shows you'd think I have some rare breed of dog. Besides my two, there are three black Labs, a chocolate, and a yellow that compete. The chocolate is retiring this year (he's about ten) and the yellow should have retired long ago. Sad that I have been going to trials and matches for just a few months and I already know all the Labs in the local circuit. They are better than that, in my opinion.

    In another major metropolitan area that I've lived in, you'll find many more Labs who are highly competitive. There is a breeder in that specific area who is the only breeder that I know of in the whole US that breeds moderately sized conformation dogs that excel in field as well as in the ring (we're talking the highest levels of obedience and many HITs at all breed shows, not just specialties). I'm sure there are more that I am not aware of, but if there are, they are rare. I know of a few breeders who have competitive dogs but they are not to standard.

    I see a lot of goldens at shows as well. Some border collies, a few shelties, a handful of poodles, and papillons are gaining in popularity in the show ring around here. Then there are the rest and I have seen them all. Rarely do you see mixed breeds or even "designer" mixed breeds at trials, which I find really interesting.

    Linus received his CGC at 7 months, his beginner novice title and his rally novice title right when he turned one, so most of his legs were earned at 10 and 11 months. He has won every class he has been in against goldens, dobermans, Labs (including his own big brother), rotties, border collies, etc. Of course, that was in the A classes. We are working on perfecting his heeling and I hope to get his CD in a year, when he is two. He could most likely get his RA soon, but I need to do more off-leash work in public places before I attempt it. That being said, we worked really hard, and I think that nearly any dog/trainer team who trained as much as we have could do the same. It's mostly time, commitment, and money -- though more of the first two. Two to three times per week training, practicing at home and away, weekend matches, books, and videos. It's like a part-time job. Sam got his CGC and RN at the age of almost 4. Though I trained often with him his first year, I let his formal training lapse until he was three. Had I kept at it, he would've done just as well as Linus.

    I have found the Janice Gunn or Denise Fenzi ways work well with my Labs by making games of everything. Otherwise, they get bored. I also make it a habit to pay the most attention to my dogs when training. For example, we only play fetch when training and it's also with a special toy. So, they actually really look forward to training. When they stop paying attention the ball, treats, and attention go away. It works well for us.

 



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