A Pup For All of The Rings
Mike & Claudia Clifton
Semper Fi Boxers
Fayetteville, Georgia
So, you’ve got that new pup! And BOY, Does she look good!! Breed ring, look out, here she comes! But wait a minute. Every time you drop something, she picks it up for you. For that matter, she’s finding and bringing you stuff that you DIDN’T drop! And she can clear every baby gate in the house? What a little monster! What do you do with a pup like this? How about everything?
This pup is opportunity knocking. No, not knocking, POUNDING on your door! This is the opportunity to show the world that your pup can do anything. What kind of “anything,” you may ask? How about Conformation, Obedience, Agility, Tracking and God only, knows what else you may think of?
Most of us have been taught that you do not, EVER, train a conformation dog in obedience, right? The reasons most often given are that the dog will sit in the conformation ring, right? Or it will ZAP the dog’s spirit. Right again, right? Or wrong? Or both?
Obedience training will indeed make the dog more focused on the handler and a little less “showy.” And yes, the dog will have a tendency to sit in the ring. Obedience training though, is the foundation that all other performance and working activities will be built upon.
Now, stop and think about it for a second. What chance do most of us really have of finishing a Boxer out of the puppy class? I’m thinking of snowballs. Some place REALLY warm … While we are waiting to start seriously showing in conformation, why not do something that you CAN title in, like obedience for example?
Almost every conformation person reading this is choking on the “O” word, maybe even laughing at the suggestion! They have visions of their Boxer’s imaginary tail tucked between its legs while the handler drags it around the ring, right?
Regardless of the method that you chose to use, you can start your Boxer in real obedience training when they are about four months old. Our target time from starting obedience to titling is 14 to 16 weeks. Even if it takes you 24 weeks, you can still have your Boxer AKC Companion Dog (CD) Titled by the time they are ten months old.
Now, let us change gears. In contrast to obedience, agility encourages the dog to be less focused on doing precision exercises, yet still able to follow the handler’s commands from a distance.
Agility encourages the dog to be a bit more of a free spirit. It is still a set of precision exercises, just a different “type” of precision. The dog is freer to actually enjoy what it is doing.
Agility actually fosters, encourages and reinforces the type of attitude needed in the conformation ring. It will bring back any of the edge that may have been lost to obedience.
Agility and Conformation are two sports that absolutely can be done at the same time. Except for the five-second sit on the table, I’ve rarely seen a dog sit on an agility course. You can show your dog in the breed ring on the weekends and train in agility during the week.
The only conformation/agility conflict might be that you will have an agility trial on the same weekend that you have a conformation show. If this is a conflict, you can continue agility training just for fun for you and the dog.
By training this way in agility, when Rover finishes his conformation Championship, you can take him out immediately, have fun with him and earn his agility titles.
We begin our puppies in agility when they are about 10-12 weeks old by simply walking them through the jumps with no bars up. We get them used to the contact obstacles simply by letting them get on the equipment while well supervised.
Having the puppies familiarized with the equipment at an early age makes it easier to start in more structured agility training when you finish the dog’s CD title. And having that CD title helps to ensure success in the agility ring by giving you control of the dog.
Our plan over the years has been to let each sport, support and/or build on the others, thereby building the “whole” dog.
Want to have fun with your Boxer? Try Agility!
Copyright
2003
Semper
Fi Boxers
Michael
& Claudia Clifton
All
Rights Reserved
Not
to be reprinted or copied in any format without express written approval.