I've been toying with pursuing a CD with Danke recently.
This has increased my interest.

 Quote: cheri grissom

I've only been competing in AKC for about a year, but that's long enough for me to know Bob speaks the truth!

Valerie, this is just my view on the whole subject, but I think dog training is a journey as opposed to a destination. Yes, the goal absolutely is to have 100 percent of your dog's focus, 100 percent of the time. In the real world, however, we dog trainers are only human and the dogs we love and train are only canine. That vision of perfection, though, is always in our mind, and each tiny step that gets us closer to that picture is tremendously satisfying.

So, no, you're not expecting too much to have a non-distractable dog, as long as you realize it's a long-term goal, and even the most experienced trainers and the most seasoned competitors constantly work at it.

Well, I'm not sure where I made any indication that I thought this was an overnight thing. Of course it takes awhile and yes, it is a journey. That's kind of what I was saying in the beginning...that whole bonding thing, that's part of the journey.

What I DID misunderstand, because I have never competed, is that I thought dogs were supposed to have that down pat before they ever competed.

So, no, I don't expect over night miracles and yes, I do most certainly look forward to the journey and all the little triumphs along the way.

No, I did not know about competitions and that they don't have to have it down pat to compete. Again, I'm not in to competing, I'm just in to learning how to train my dog much further, "deeper" you may say, use what he naturally has and let it blossom in to something positive.

I still stand by my thoughts though that if someone is going to get upset over a kid chowing down on a hot dog in the front row, instead of getting upset about it, just take that as a cue that more training is needed. That's how I think.

Don't bite my head off for that, like I said, I've never competed with dogs, and don't plan on it...I just think it would show me where we can improve.

Isn't that how it is in any type of competition? If it didn't go the way you had hoped, you take what you learned and find where you need to work and improve?

ANYWAY, these are merely opinions and not meant to ruffle feathers or be misunderstood as me expecting things to happen on day one.

 Quote: valerie munk

Betty, I like your style. It's not "stalking", it's perseverance.

 Quote: bob scott

Having also done AKC OB and Schtzhund I will go out on a limb and say AKC can be much harder for a few reasons. They are often indoors in very crowded conditions with contact with other dogs almost impossible to avoid. The "audience" is within feet of you and your dog in the ring. That includes the little ahole with the hot dog or ice cream cone.
I've shown in a metal building during a hail storm where the majority of the dogs folded from the noise.
The judging is also very anal compared to Schutzhund. In Schutzhund you may be told your dog was crowding you and you loose a few points. In AKC the judge's pencil will fly with every contact the dog makes with you.
Then there's the people in AKC. EEEEK! They freak out if someone farts at the other end of the building because "My dog was stressed because a fart scared it as a puppy."
I've seen folks get screamed at because "your camera flash is going to spook my dog".
As far as protection sports and breed, the DVG is open to all breeds and mutts alike.

You're cracking me up even if it's true. I'm not sure I could handle people that get that anxious over trivial things.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the point of the obedience and things of that nature to teach your dog to focus on you DESPITE what is going on around you?

That's what I gathered from reading as much as I have. It's one of the first steps in training...that dog learns to focus on you at all times and can do so regardless the distraction such as brat with hot dog, farts or hail storms.

Or am I expecting too much?

One thing different about AKC and Schutzund is the dog.
Often time AKC are rescue or just next to usless pets that are "just out to have some fun with mommy". Nothing wrong with that but the solid, focused dog has to put up with all sorts of crap.
for example;
Out of sight down in the Open class. 12 dogs laying down in the ring, 3 ft apart while the handlers are outside the building.
After the required 5 mins the ring steward comes out to get us and she looks at me and says "great job". I get the same from 3-4 others on the way to the ring. I'm thinking "WTF, it's just an out of sight long down. How can that be a "great job"?
I get to the ring and there is a big Terv type fluff ball that is laying right in front of Thunder and his tail is smacking Thunder in the face with every wag. All Thunder did was turn his head away.
The Terv had gotten up and as the ring steward walked toward it he layed back down almost on Thunder's front legs. The judge left it there rather then possibly disrupting the whole line.

Thunder, my "killer" Sch III, that everyone avoided , took first in Open that day. That's focus!

AWESOME!!!!!!!

Valerie, I was NOT biting your head off. If it came across that way, then you really misunderstood me. To the contrary, I thought I was addressing some of your questions about the expectation of focus amidst distrations. That's all. No judgment, no criticism, just friendly discussion.

LOL Bob! I can completely relate. Depending on the show, you can have entries that are really ready for the ring and others that are entering for various other reasons (supporting the club, "showcasing" the dog at a specialty, etc) - at the ACD national specialty there are a lot of people who enter because it is the National or because they want to support the club with entries.

A few years back I had Finn in Open B at our National. Finn was a dead on solid stay dog. Believed that anything out of the ordinary was a proofing "trick" :-) At that specialty we went out of sight for the sit stay and I began to hear some gasping and murmuring from the audience. Turns out another intact male broke, went over to Finn and "punched" Finn in the side of his chest with his nose. Finn just stared straight ahead and steadied himself against the offending dog's nose punches before the steward could come and remove the offending dog. I hope that Frost can be that solid one day :-)

Bob and Ingrid, that is absolutely amazing. I don't know if I'll ever get that kind of focus from my dog but that's the kind of thing I would like to work towards. Simply because when he does focus on something, he is dead, locked focused.

I'd love to learn and train him to focus on what he was told to do and not break it, regardless of what is going on around him, until I release him. I'm sure that would take a LOT of hard work, a lot of training and hours but it's something that I would like to work at.

Cheri...sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had bit my head off...I guess we have different ways of saying things depending on where we are from. Not only that but the internet does not always express how we mean what we say...so, if I offended you, please accept my apologies. It was a lighthearted thing but came out wrong.

 Quote: Valerie Munk

Cheri...sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had bit my head off...I guess we have different ways of saying things depending on where we are from. Not only that but the internet does not always express how we mean what we say...so, if I offended you, please accept my apologies. It was a lighthearted thing but came out wrong.

Gotcha. I guess there was a little misunderstanding on both our parts. Like you said, the typed words on a discussion board lack all the tone and nuance that would happen in a face-to-face conversation, so it's easy to take something in the wrong way.

 Quote: valerie munk

Bob and Ingrid, that is absolutely amazing. I don't know if I'll ever get that kind of focus from my dog but that's the kind of thing I would like to work towards. Simply because when he does focus on something, he is dead, locked focused.

I'd love to learn and train him to focus on what he was told to do and not break it, regardless of what is going on around him, until I release him. I'm sure that would take a LOT of hard work, a lot of training and hours but it's something that I would like to work at.

Cheri...sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had bit my head off...I guess we have different ways of saying things depending on where we are from. Not only that but the internet does not always express how we mean what we say...so, if I offended you, please accept my apologies. It was a lighthearted thing but came out wrong.

I think those reactions are as much (or more) about a connection with the dog as it is about training. The dog "trusts" what you ask it to do. Not just doing it because you say so. There are a ton of mechanical dog out there.
OB competition means the dog can perform a particular routine. That doesn't make the dog necessarily a better house dog or a better mannered dog. That's more about the connection between dog and handler.
I'll take a good old truck dog over a competition dog any day but it's also nice to have both in one dog.