Competitive Dog Obedience Training
Some dog owners like to try their hand in obedience trials, just to see how well they and their dog can work together. Training for obedience competition needs a dog to be reliable in obeying commands, and very accurate in their performance. While it might be okay for your dog to wander away from your leg when you are strolling along on a leisurely walk, this will cost you valuable points if you are in the competition ring.
There are many distractions at obedience trials, such as barking dogs and unfamiliar people, and dogs need to be trained to be obedient in spite of all that is happening around them. Some exercises are a little unusual and very distracting, such as the figure 8 heeling exercise.
Dogs heel close to their handler as they walk in a figure 8 pattern around two people standing close together. You can imagine that a dog may not see the point of this, and will just wait for their handler to come back to them.
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