Best in Show Part 4

Focus

My favorite events at a dog show are Obedience Trials and Agility Trials in that order. Both sports take a lot of preparation, devotion, consistency, and focus between the handler and the dog. A dog that gazes with such intensity into his/her master's eyes is most likely an obedience or agility dog.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Toy Group

Golden Retriever, Sporing Group

Poodle, Toy Group

Here is where the focus and eye contact come into play. This exercise is called the Drop On Recall. At the judge's cue, the handler leaves the dog at one end of the ring, and positions her/himself at the other end.

The handler calls the dog, but before the dog gets to her, she orders the dog to drop into the down position.

At the judge's cue, the handler calls the dog again, into the "front" position, where the dog sits squarely at the feet of the handler.

Portuguese Water Dog, Working Group

The exercise finishes where the dog get's into heel position, square at the handler's left side.

Belgian Tervuren, Herding Group

"Heel" position is where the dog stays square at the handler's left side, whether stationary or in motion, turning left, right, about face.

Can you see now the importance of eye contact during this exercise?

Another exercise is the Sit and Stay, and Down and Stay. The dogs are lined up at one side of the ring, and at the judge's cue the handlers leave their dogs in the sitting or laying positions. They leave the ring for three minutes, out of sight.

As you can see, the Manchester Terrier does not pass this Sit and Stay exercise.

In this Down and Stay exercise, the Golden Retriever is obviously to anxious to stay down. While the Border Collie is totally at ease even in the absence of her handler. Did the lack of eye contact cause the Manchester and the Golden to lose their focus? Hmmmm...

The sport of Agility is an obstacle course with various apparatus that challenge the dog's acrobatic ability. The team competes to run the course as fast as they can. And of course, the dog will only know which hurdle to jump, which chute to go through, and when to weave through the poles by watching the handler's cues.

Standard Poodle, Non-Sporting Group

These sports require such intense focus!