obedience

[dab_20]

i just got a purebred cocker spaniel. i am thinking about joining 4h when hes grown up so i can do obedience with him. and possibly agility. is it harder to train cocker spaniels? i did have one before but i am not the one who trained her cuz i was to young at the time.

[Vette]

I dont know anything about Cockers,, other then they are adorable. ;) :D
and just wanted to wish you the best of luck with your pooch.

and wheres the pictures? ;) LOL

[dab_20]

my dad brought him camera over so i took a few pics of sammy and my toy poodle mix molli. when he emails them to me i will put them in a thread! :)

[k9krazee]

I can't wait to see them both!!

[gkristian]

i just got a purebred cocker spaniel. i am thinking about joining 4h when hes grown up so i can do obedience with him. and possibly agility. is it harder to train cocker spaniels? i did have one before but i am not the one who trained her cuz i was to young at the time.

it all depends on the dog. some dogs will learn fast and some slower, but that doesn't mean that they cant learn it...and when you do teach him obedience and get to the advanced classes make sure you make it fun for him...and that goes for after you start agility. most dogs find agility more fun than obedience, and you can't blame them...they get to run around, go through tunnels and jump...if you don't make obedience fun for your dog they won't like doing it. i compete in both agility and obedience with Foxy, but i always have to work harder in obedience because he doesn't enjoy it as much.

Hope that helps:D

[Flatcoatluver]

yeah agility is fun for the dogs, I would to obedience first because the dog still has to be well behavied to do agility.

[lv4dogs]

Any dog can do obedience. Some may be better than others but all can learn. I would enroll the pup into classes as soon as possible though.

And Breanne is right, obedience should be taught first, so they learn their manners & the such. Also obedience will teach the dog many other htings needed for the agility course. And most of all, once a dog experiences agility, obedience is usually no longer fun for them so they often do not do well if they do agility first.

[Flatcoatluver]

I forgot to add something to my post.
Belive it or not, agility is hard and its really important for your dog to know obedience becuase you going to have them off leash and the dog has to listen to you. The dog need to know stay, come, stand, sit, down, right, left, out, and to go get it, Then with agility you are gonna learn more terms too. Agility is a hard sport, but when your dog start getting into it and you ender her in the first trial and she qualifies, personally it was the best feeling in the world to me. I started balling my eyes out in the ring, the judge just laughed at me and pet zoey after words. To me it meant that me and zoey can work as a team so basically to obedience first. :)

[dab_20]

thank you everyone. i am not going to do obedience right away. he needs to be potty trained and learn some basic commands first. in 4h it is a rule that you have to do obedience for a year before your able to do agility.

[Flatcoatluver]

i am not even with 4h so i know totally differnt rules, I personally wouldn't do 4h but thats just my experience in my hometown and it might be differnt in yours.

[dab_20]

well i live in a small town so 4h is the only place you can show and do agility with your dogs.

[lv4dogs]

Obedience classes will help you teach the commands that he will need to know, it will also help socialize him, getting him used to other dogs being around etc...
If you plan to show in obedience it is a lot better if you enroll them into classes when they are puppies, and take classes until you are ready to show. Sure you don't have to show right away but I'd get him enrolled into a class right away. HE will learn SO many things that he will need to know for the show ring.

And most towns don't have their own obedience trials, you have to travel &/or wait for them to come near you. So later on you can show out of 4h, when you can drive to other competitions and when they come near you.

[dab_20]

well the closest puppy classes are in st. cloud. (32 mi) and i am in hockey, piano, plus homework, my mom wouldent have time to drive him there. and it costs wayyy to much. its at petsmart. we took missy (my old cocker) there and it didnt teach her anything at all. all it did was give her even more stress. we do have the papers still from those puppy classes, so i could just train him myself. he will get alot of interactions with other dogs. (my friends dogs, neighbors, etc.)

[boxer_babe]

They are medium hard to train, they are not hard to train, but at the same time, not easy!