Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Passing Level 4 of my Obedience class

2 Saturdays ago, I passed level 4 of my 6 levels of Obedience. The levels in my obedience class are similar to human grade school, and we take tests to evaluate if we are good enough to pass on to the next level. It gets harder and harder, and more demanding of both me and Mum, who is my handler/trainer.
Here are the Level 4 Testing Requirements
  1. Behavior 1 - "Sit" to a "Down" and return back to "Sit" position, with the lead on ground, and no body queues from handler. (Offleash)
  2. Behavior 2 - "Sit" and "Stay" under distraction with lead on ground. (Offleash) Mum steps back 10 feet and the tester (Lisa) stomps her feet as she walks around me, and I'm not supposed to break my "Sit".
  3. Behavior 3 - "Formal Recall" with lead dragging about 20 feet away from handler. I am put in a "Sit" position, mum walks away to about 20 feet, and then she calls me, "Kimi, Front" which is my formal command for 'come and sit right in front of my knees'. All this with no body queues.
  4. Behavior 4 - Heel on lead with automatic sit. Mum and I walk together, and then Tester Lisa says, "come to a halt". Without a prompt from Mum, I must sit nicely right next to her left leg.
  5. Behavior 5 - Attention for 10 secs. Mum commands me to "Watch", and I stare back into her eyes for 10 secs without looking away.
  6. Behavior 6 - "Stand" and walk to end of lead. I am put into a "Stand" which is a command for stacking or posing. I am not allowed to move any feet and must stand very still, no matter what. Mum tests me by pushing my back down a little, and then pulling on my leash to test if I will move. No, I will not move. Then she walks to the end of lead, and then returns to heel position.

Conditions of testing:

Handlers can only say the commands once.

Absolutely no corrections during the test. The leash must not become taut at any time.

No bait bags, no treats, or rewards during testing. Verbal praise is allowed only when the tester gives the command "exercise over".

1 Comments:

At 6:10 AM, Blogger kelly barton art + design said...

kimi...you rock! maybe you could come be a mentor to my girl!

 

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