The obedience section of the dog show has several levels of competition including the Novice level which consists of basic commands such as doing sits, stays, downs, heeling on leash and off leash.
The Open level has basically the same requirements as the Novice level, except this level requires jumping, hurdles and retrieving objects.
The Utility level requires the basic levels, open levels, and requires a dog to distinguish various hand signal commands from the owner, plus find the correct glove that the judge specifies, as well as finding a scented metal and leather article.
Nancy says that it takes a lot of time and effort to train a dog for obedience. Most people in obedience work very hard at it. It can take years to train a dog to do some of these commands, explains Nancy. But it is very rewarding and fun.
Nancy Bowman has been in the dog world since 1980 when she started training a Pekingese in Obedience. Nancy has taught and trained all levels of Obedience and has shown in both conformation, Obedience and Rally.
