Dog Training – Part 2

Written by Margaret Walker

This article was taken from 'French Letters' Issue No.5 Dec 1999

Obedience Tests

An obedience competition is made up of five separate classes, or Tests as they are more commonly known. Each of these tests has a series of exercises within them, which become more complex as you move from one test to the next.

The tests are known as, Special Beginners, Novice, Test A, Test B, and Test C. Although the only requirement necessary to enter any of the tests is the ability of the dog to perform the required exercises for that particular test, each test requires a higher degree of skill and handling. The natural progression is to start in Special Beginners and work steadily through to Test C. (Or perhaps I should say slowly through, Smudge is nearly 5 and is currently competing in Test A, and she started at Novice level.)

Special Beginners is for new dog and handlers. Once a dog OR handler has won this test, they may not enter it ever again. If that handler starts competing with a new dog, they must skip Special Beginners and start straight in Novice.

Once a dog has gained the required number of wins in any class from Novice onwards, it must progress upwards, it cannot go back a class. When the dog reaches Test C it stays in that class for the rest of its competitive life.

When a dog has gained one 1st place in Novice it is no longer eligible to enter that test and must move up to Test A. A dog can win four 1st places in Test A before being required to move to Test B. The same applies to Test B, and Test C has no time restraints or qualifying requirements. Although a dog cannot go back into a test it has already won, it is able to compete in a higher test without having gained the required number of 1st places in the previous test. More often than not, a dog/ handler who are doing well in, say Novice, will also be competing in Test A. This overlap is common practice right from Special Beginners. However if you should happen to win a higher test before the lower one, you have lost the opportunity to ever win that lower test with that particular dog.

Just as in Breed competition there are 3 levels of trials in Obedience these are Ribbon Trials, Open Obedience Trials and Championship Obedience Tests in increasing order of importance. These correspond to Ribbon Parades, Open and Championship Breed Shows.

Wins in any Test only count for that type of show or lower. Hence a win in Novice at a Ribbon Trial does not prevent the dog continuing to compete in the Novice class at Open Ob. Trials or in Ch. Ob Tests. Conversely, if it wins in Novice class at a Ch. Ob. Test it cannot then compete in Novice again at any level even though it has not won at the lower level of show. Normally dogs tend to win progressively in Tests and in Show type so for example a dog may have won Novice and therefore be competing in Test A at Ribbon level,but be competing in Novice at Open Ob. Trial level and possibly still competing in Special Beginners at Ch. Ob Test level though that range would be very rare!