In terms of points, is it worth it to:

Be loud yet very animated?
Less animated but less loud?
Train the noise away? And if so...any idea on how long that takes?

And is point deduction in correlation with amount of yacking? Or is it a standard deduction?

In other words, how much should I monkey with this:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v15/keinhaar/?action=view&current=Picture004-3.flv

I was "excused" from an AKC competition because my dog barked through all the exercises. Now there was some debate among the bystanders as to whether that was legitimate or not.

I opted never to show under that judge again.

At least in an AKC competition, barking is a fast way to lose points or to NQ. There is some leeway in this from judge to judge, but in general, one bark = one point, short bursts of barking during the exercises = 2-5 points, continual barking like in your video = NQ or excused as it's considered out of control behavior. Barking in between exercises, so long as it's not too excessive, isn't penalized.

Your dog is wonderfully animated and is a good working dog, it would be a shame to NQ or be excused for barking. I would highly recommend you put a stop to it immediately as the longer you tolerate it, the harder the habit is to stop.

I have seen people start to correct this by using collar corrections, move up to making the dog carry a dowel in his mouth, to working with a barking collar on, depending on what works for the dog.

Steve,
First question, how old is your dog?

And are you specifically asking about points during a SchH trial ( which will be graded *very* diffferently than an AKC event ) ?

 Quote: Will Rambeau

Steve,
First question, how old is your dog?

And are you specifically asking about points during a SchH trial ( which will be graded *very* diffferently than an AKC event ) ?

Which one is stricter about it?

AkC judges tends to reward a more "correct" robotic type obedience with the dog's working attitude being less important than in SchH.
So I find for absolute percision, high lvl AKC OB looks better than SchH OB.

That being said, SchH OB when compared to comparitive AKC OB lvls is much harder.

SchH OB by it's very nature is far more athletic ( literally - the distance of a BH pattern would be more than a good many AKC OB people could do ). The SchH long down in particular gives AKC dogs a big problem.
Let's not even talk about dumb bell weights, lol.

Being a long time AKC obedience person that knows nothing about SchH, I'm just curious why you think SchH OB is so much harder and what's so different with the long down? As for the attitude, it's true that you don't have to have it in order to get a good score, but you won't get the great scores without it.

As for the dumbbell weights, I don't really consider that much of an issue, it just has to do with what you train with. Also, most SchH dogs are relatively big dogs and can handle the weight. In AKC, you have all sizes so it would be very hard to have a weight requirement.

As for the size of the pattern, who cares. In order to train to a high level you are training usually outside or in larger areas, so it's not like we can't do it. I will say that this doesn't really apply to the people that are only competing with minimal goals. They seem to train only enough to get a title with a poor score that really doesn't mean much to the rest of us. Sigh.

I'm not bashing SchH competitions - more power to them - but get tired of them bashing us and I am really curious about these comparisons.

I train for both! AKC is more anal about correct position. Attitude of the dog, not so much although the higher level competitors of both have animated dogs.
I've seen big points taken away for excessive barking in AKC and Schutzhund obedience.
I've found more biased people in the AKC. When our club goes to an AKC trial you can hear the mumbling in the crowd "Schutzhund people' "bzzzz, bzzz bzzz"!
We've also gone to AKC trials and kicked butt on the first day , then with identical performances did squat the next in placements. We KNOW people have ran to the next day judges and complained about "those Sch people should never have gotten those kind of scores". Some judges seem to listen and adjust accordingly.
The dumbell CAN make a difference. It says in the AKC rules that the judge can approve/disapprove the dumbell. I had that happen for the first time this past spring. I got to the ring and the judge said "You can't use that heavy dumbell here". OK, I borrowed a small, AKC dumbell. My bad! My dog thought it was a fetching stick cause he got it, tossed it in the air, then ran up to me "STANDING" and danced around waiting for me to take it and toss it again. That was on me though. I've read the rules, just chose to take my chances. Cost more then a few points!
Going from a soccer sized field, outside, to a small 30x40 ft ring, inside can be a HUGE factor if you don't train for it. The noise level alone can confuse dogs that aren't used to indoor training.
In AKC you do exactly as the judge tells you and only WHEN the judge tells you. In Schutzhund you have to know the complete routine because the judge doesn't say much of anything. That includes a much larger heeling pattern, 3 different retrieves, a long down and a send out.
I also don't hear anywhere near the excuses from Sch people that I hear at AKC trial. To many furbaby folks that anthromorphosize (sp) their dogs mistakes in AKC.
In reality, the differences are whether or not you train for both, in both environments and your dog is ready.

You mentioned the long down. In schutzhund it's with handler out of sight, while the next competitor is doing his ob routine, on the same field.

And the gunfire..... isn't that SchH only?