Does obedience have a future?

While I have been out of obedience for a few years. I have always enjoyed performance working. To me confirmation is like watching paint dry. no excitement a dog can be dumb as a box of rocks but has the looks can win in breed. ( I do know it is more than that) I once saw a bumper sticker," a real show dog has titles on both ends"

Tim
 
Here in the UK I consider formal obedience (as opposed to rally or HTM) still very popular, and a number of the people at my agility club also train obedience and compete at both. For instance, you don't see Rally Obedience at Crufts, but you do see lots of formal obedience. I think the KC are trying to make obedience more inclusive and interesting. Last year they had the Obreedience competitions, which were a team sport and each team had to consist of a specific breed. One of my agility friends competed with her Australian Shepherd. I really enjoyed watching the variety of breeds, from the chihuahua team to the rough collies. I'm not sure how much coverage it got on television, as I watch everything online rather than just the edited highlights the TV people think I want to watch:wink2:

Obedience has never been for me. Too much precision and standing still (for me that is!), though I do enjoy heelwork. Equally, in the UK at least, it is a very hard sport to progress in. You can be years working out of a grade, for instance, and so you need to be really committed and dedicated. That's why I know people who do formal obedience who also champion rally, because it is much more accessible and you can progress and achieve things. That being said, I really can't imagine formal obedience ceasing in this country.
 
I don't think people who watch these competitions know just how much training the owners/dog have done to get to that point. Most people who own pets think 'oh ya, we're going to train Fido ourselves, that's so easy to do', they don't realize how much time is invested in teaching that dog to do all those things. Piper and I have just started his level 2 last week and I work him at least 30 minutes twice per day plus his walks and I know he's not even close to being done his training. But it is oh so rewarding when we're on a walk and I see another person walking their dog and I put Piper into a sit/stay and he does it and doesn't attempt to greet the other dog, I mentally am doing a happy dance when that happens haha
 
Obedince and Rally Obedience

Hello!

I see that more and more Change from classic Obedience to Rally Obedience.
Instead with almost no comunication in Rally comunication and cheer up is not only allowed but even appriciated.
Rally starts very easy even goodies are allowed in competition on different parcours stations. Then the level rises and there the handler is much more in duty because the stations in Germany are up to 3 single excercises with Minimum space.

I do Obedience, Rally-Obedience and Agility:biggrin2:
 
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